Career
Busch first rose to prominence as an interpreter of political songs, particularly those of Kurt Tucholsky, in the Berlin Kabarett scene of the 1920s. He starred in the original 1928 production of Bertolt Brecht"s Threepenny Opera, as well as the subsequent 1931 film by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. He also appeared in the movie, Kuhle Wampe.
A lifelong communist, Busch fled Nazi Germany in 1933 with the Gestapo on his heels, eventually settling in the Soviet Union.
In 1937 he joined the International Brigades to fight against the Nationalists in Spain. His wartime songs were then recorded and broadcast by Radio Barcelona and Radio Madrid.
After the Spanish Republic fell to General Franco, Busch migrated to Belgium where he was interned during the German occupation and later imprisoned in Camp Gurs, France and Berlin. Freed by the Red Army in 1945, he settled in East Berlin where he started his own record label and worked with Bertolt Brecht and Erwin Piscator at the "Berliner Ensemble".
A beloved figure in the German Democratic Republic, he is best remembered for his performance in the title role of Brecht"s Life of Galileo and his recordings of workers songs, including many written by Hanns Eisler.
He also made a memorable recording of Peat Bog Soldiers. From "Canciones de las Brigadas Internacionales" and "Solidarität"
Adelante Campesinos
Am Rio Jarama - "On the Jarama Front"
Ballade der XI Brigade on YouTube / Lied von der XI Brigade - "Song of the XIth Brigade"
Los Campesinos - "The Peasants"
Las Compañías de Acero
Los Cuatro Generales
Himno de Riego / Riego Hymne - "Colonel Riego"s Hymn"
Hans Beimler
Des Lied von der Einheitsfront" / Einheitsfrontlied
Lied der Internationalen Brigaden" / Lied Der Interbrigaden - "Song of the International Brigades"
Mamita Mia
Die Moorsoldaten - "Peat Bog Soldiers"
Nuestra Bandera - "Our Flag"
Peter, Mein Kamerad - "Peter, my Comrade"
"Spaniens Himmel" or "Die Thälmann-Kolonne" - "Spain"s Heaven" or "The Thälmann Battalion" (Page 30f)
Ach Ihr Wege
Aufbauleid
Ballade von den Säckeschmeißern
Der Barrikaden
Dank Euch Ihr Sowjetsoldaten
Diplomaten
Der Graben
Der heimliche Aufmarsch
Es Kommt der Tag
Frieden der Welt
Kämpfen wie Lenin
Kampflied gegen den Faschismus
of Korea
Lenin
Lied der Bergarbeiter
Lied der Interbrigaden
Lied der Partei
Lied des Werktätigen
Lied vom Adler Stalin
Lied vom Vaterland
Linker Marsch.