James Last - Sing mit (1973)

James Last - Sing mit 2 (1974)

James Last - Sing mit 3 (1975)

James Last - Sing mit 4 (1976)

James Last - Sing mit 5 (1976)

James Last - Sing mit 6 (1977)

James Last - Sing mit 7 (1980)

James Last - Sing mit 8 (1980)

James Last - Sing mit 9 (1982)

James Last - Sing mit 10 (1982)

Well, that´s the way a New Year´s Eve Party should be. Yes, I thought it would be with ALL of these records, the "Sing mit"-series from James Last from 1973 up to 1982. Who could think of a bigger party than that? I mean, a party with approximately 8 hours of music to sing-a-long? With all the favorites like "Ein Männlein liegt im Walde" and "Wir klappern mit Müh' alle Wirtshäuser ab"? Well, I´ve uploaded them all, but they seem to be gone from the harddrives of my favorite host, you know who... I´ve re-uploaded number 10, subtitled "Wir wollen Spass!" for you, which features all the hits of the so called "New German Wave" of that time. Every country had a "New Wave" at that time, and so had Germany. The vast majority of my guests may not know these songs, but most Germans do, believe me. It´s haunting them... Haunting them up to now, when a 45-year-old teenie like "Nena" sings her songs in a duet with a blondie from Britain called "Kim Wilde". Hmm... Teenies like it, so why don't you? Even if you don´t know German at all, here´s your chance to sing along with Hansi on this most notorious record, which has never ever been released on CD. Please enjoy Hansi and his interpretations of the songs of the New German Wave of the early eighties...

Jo Ment - Merry Merry Christmas (1968)

This will be my last Christmas-post this year. I have introduced Jochen Ment before, he was one of the members of James Last´s Big Band. Here´s his Christmas LP, which is a great one too. "Happy sounds make happy Christmasses!" That´s an ancient saying. Well, I´ve just made it up, but maybe it will become a proverb someday... But until then we will listen to Jo Ment and his happy sound and celebrate Christmas with him...

Klaus Wunderlich - Weihnachten mit Klaus Wunderlich (1971)

Klaus Wunderlich is the first big name in Germany, when you´re talking about electric organs. The other name is Franz Lambert, whom I have introduced before, but Klaus was the first to introduce these instruments to the German audience. Have I ever shared a LP from Klaus before? I don´t think so, but it´s time now...

Klaus received his first piano at the age of seven, and later on he accompanied many famous German artists on their tours, such as Caterina Valente. He also worked as a newsreader at the famous German "Tagesschau" from 1959 to 1962. Besides the Hammond-Pops series, which I have seen partially on other blogs, he published recordings with names like "Sound 2000" or "Synthesized Old Evergreens" that had worldwide success. He had a way of playing his instruments, by using their timbres, that was unknown to that point. However, this sound could only be created in a studio, not played on stage. People and critics were struck by the way in which he was able to create such perfect music in his studio without outside assistance. Here you can listen to the first out of two Christmas albums he released, from the year 1971. Some Christmas-organ-LPs sound like if they were recorded for being played at funerals, but this one doesn´t. At least not all the time...

Klaus Wunderlich died in 1997, but I´m sure if you´ll play his music on Christmas Eve, he will be listening from somewhere, and he´ll be delighted too...

Bert Kaempfert - Christmastide with Bert Kaempfert (1963)

This is a must-have for every serious lover of Christmas music. Great instrumental music, just as we know it from Bert. Six popular Christmas carols along with six of his own compositions. Yes, Mr. Kaempfert also composed Christmas stuff. You´ll be amazed by his titles like "Jumpin' Jiminy Christmas", "Jingo Jango" and "Holiday for Bells", I´ll guarantee you. Unfortunately I cannot share this with you, because this has been released as a CD called "Christmas Wonderland", and there has been a CD called "Dreamin' and Swingin' Christmas Wonderland", which features eight non-christmatical (I just made that word up, it means "not Christmas related") bonus tracks from other albums. But as we are almost gotten used to, they of course have a different cover. So, if you order now, you should have your Christmas with Bert right on time... Remember: This one is highly recommended!

Kay Webb - Happy Christmas Dancing (1971)

It´s Kay Webb again. Have you found out something about him? No? Neither have I. When I search on information about him, I only get Ray, Jay and Kaye Webb. Well, I just say "him", because female bandleaders were quite rare that time. Even today... But again we have a sexy cover, don´t you think? One of Santa´s little helpers sitting on his lap while he is not even fully dressed... Hmm... And I bet you thought it´s cold at the north pole... But now on to the music: If you already got James Last´s "Christmas Dancing", which I shared last year and which I highly recommend, then here´s your chance to get "Happy Christmas Dancing". Now your Christmas party should get happier than it was before. Other people´s Christmas recordings (e.g. Ethel Smith) sound like they were supposed to be played at funerals, but not this one. Now get yourself another punch or egg-nogg or anything and start to dance around the Christmas tree...

James Last - Weihnachten & James Last (1973)

Well, this is definitely a crowd-pleaser. Not only for the music, but for the great cover-art as well. Just look at Hansi sitting in his sleigh, with all the tiny bubbles surrounding him, announcing the titles of this record. How sweet is this... Although Hansi seems to freeze on this cover just like the other people did on the covers of his "Beach-Party" album series, your Christmas is not complete without this record from 1973. But he´s got his coat and his sleigh, just like you, right? And now Christmas may come...

This LP has been reissued in Germany on a CD called "Weihnachten mit James Last". In the USA this one is called "Holiday Classics". It also has a different cover, which is a pity. There´s no download here, but if you´ll get yourself the CD, you can take my cover picture from here and make your CD look like the original LP...

Ben Best - Happy Christmas Party (1967)

Finally! It´s the first of December - Time to start the Christmas season, although it seems that I´m the last one to start this year... Let´s begin with an album from the best year ever: 1967. Best year ever? Ben Best? The Best of Ben Best? Well, if my name was Ben Best, I couldn´t think of a better name for my group than "The Best of Ben Best". In the 60´s he released several LPs on the Intercord label, among them is this nice Christmas album with the nude blonde on the cover. I guess she´s not even wearing a slip, just take a look between her feet. We all know what she might expect from Santa... Well, enough sexist talk, but you´re only permitted to download this file, if you´re over 21 years old and if it´s legal to view naked women in your country, so I blocked this file for younger downloaders and for downloaders in countries, where nudity may cause problems e.g. Saudi-Arabia and the USA. If you´re trying to download from there, or if you´re younger that 21 years, you´ll only get a virus when you unzip the file. This virus will make you invisible for Santa Claus and you will get no presents on Christmas Eve, so you´ll better think about that! To all the others: Please join Ben Best at his happy Christmas party...

Das Hotcha Trio - Mundharmonika Rhythmen 2 (1972)

I did a Blues-Harp workshop recently, when I remembered that I got some great harp-records on my own. Johnny Puleo and Jerry Murad´s Harmonicats have been posted on other blogs and the "Zounds! What Sounds" album by The Polyphonics as well. What do I have left? Well, this little gem by the famous "Hotcha Trio". I cannot tell you much more about this record than you can figure out yourself by reading the title. The Hotcha-Trio were obviously three people playing harmonicas. This was their second LP called "Mundharmonika Rhythmen", so they titled it "Mundharmonika Rhythmen 2". In English: "Harmonica Rhythms 2". If you liked Jerry Murad and his Harmonicats, Johnny Puleo and The Polyphonics, this trio will be suitable for you. If you don´t like harmonicas at all, maybe you want to think about whether to listen to this stuff or not...

Kai Warner - Oriental Nights (1978)

This is only partly a russian-themed album. On the seventh day, we leave Russia by crossing the Orient with this jewel by Kai Warner, whose real name was Werner Last and who was a brother of Hans (James) and Robert. He released over 60 records both for Polydor and Philips. His debut "Pops For Minis", which was shared before by a fellow blogger (sorry, but I forgot where I got that), was released in 1966 and he released records until his death in 1982. Warner's "Go In"-records did the same for his career as the "Non Stop Dancing"-records for his brother Hans, a.k.a. James. Nevertheless they were not nearly as successful. Beside his own records he arranged and produced several German artists like Schlager singer Renate Kern. Kai Warner's records are still a popular attraction for easy-listening collectors in Germany, especially since nothing has ever been released on CD yet.

This album features the all-popular "Sabre Dance", some oriental standards like "Caravan" and "The Sheik of Araby", plus seven (!) of Mr. Warner´s own compositions. Among them is "Mustafa", which became an all-time carnival favorite in Germany. This album from 1978 is pretty rare and a real collector´s item.

Kai Warner passed away in 1982, and you should enjoy his oriental music.

Jo Ment - Moskauer Nächte (1973)

Day number six in our Russian week features Jo Ment. Jochen Ment played in the big bands of James Last, Bert Kaempfert, Roberto Delgado and in the bands of many other big german names. These big bands consisted of many fabulous soloists (such as Robert Last, "Big" Jim Sullivan, Steffan Pintev, Benny Bendorff and Ladi Geisler), and all of these players were especially notable for playing in a wide variety of musical contexts. Many musicians have been part of these bands for half of their life. Jochen Ment, for example, whose bandoneon sounds made James Last´s "Biscaya" unforgettable, was a great accordion, saxophone and clarinet player as well. Mr. Ment released several albums of his own, among them many "party"-albums. This is Jochen Ment´s version of a Russian themed LP, which were really popular at that time.

Jochen Ment died in 2002.

Kay Webb - Pop Party in Petersburg (1972)

And on we go with our Russian party, day number five. This time we visit Saint Petersburgh with this nice alliteration and a guy called "Kay Webb". I don´t have a single clue who he is or was, I only know that he put out many many records on the "Maritim" label in the early seventies. I have about 30 of them. Most are follow-ups to other bandleader´s successes, so this one is quite similar to Frankie´s "Wodka à Gogo", which I have introduced before. There are other titles by Kay Webb, like "Alte Meister bitten zum Tanz" which walks in the footprints of James Last´s "Classics Up to Date" series, and "A Banda Mexicana", which is Herb Alpert style.

I think, but I´m not sure, "Kay Webb" is a pseudonym for some guy who never really existed, to put out the budget versions of Herb Alpert, James Last, Frank Valdor and Kai Warner. Maybe it was an alias for one of them? Who knows? Do YOU know? Then please leave a comment and explain it to us. And one more thing: If you should discover that "Kay Webb" is a single white 32-year-old female lawyer, who lives in New York, or is a 26-year-old self-made man who deals with used cars, this may not be correct. Please use your search-engine the right way then...

But now, here´s good ole Germany´s "Kay Webb" with his russian orgy. ORGY??? Well, if you knew what "poppen" means in German, then you´ll possibly blush. I guess it didn´t have that meaning back in 1972, so your "Pop Party" will just be an ordinary party, but remember: Life is what you make it! It all depends on you...

Frank Valdor - Wodka à Gogo (1969)

And one more time we take on a journey to Russia. This time it´s the great Frank Valdor again, the "King of Dynamic Party Sound", as it is stated on some of his records. I talked with Mr. Valdor on the phone recently, he´s 67 years old now, but unfortunately he´s not touring anymore. He´s really a nice guy to meet, you should know. Mr. Valdor released about 1,200 records during his 50 years performing and producing music, and he played the trumpet and the trombone himself. This is THE russian-like party album, 2 x 17 minutes packed with great russian-gogo music. You´ll also recognize, where your favorite exotica-artists got their inspirations for titles like "Stranger in Paradise" and "The Carnival Is Over", just to name a few.

On the back cover you´ll get some great recipes to fix the ideal dinner for listening to this record: Russian "Borschtsch" + "Ice-coated Vodka", which is in fact a deepfrozen bottle of vodka in the middle of an ice block. Well, "Nastrovje!" then...

To me, this is one of the best Russian-themed-LPs ever. Please enjoy Frank Valdor once more, this time on his trip to Russia...

Franz Lambert - Abends an der Wolga (1980)

Here´s post number three for the "Russian Week". It´s Franz Lambert, the other German big name when you´re talking Hammond or Wersi, besides Klaus Wunderlich. He started in 1969 playing organ in his parents´ restaurant. Soccer-fans may know him as the composer of the official FIFA-hymn, and he is supporting the German national soccer team with his music during every world-cup since 1978 as the halftime time-permitter. At the special request of Joseph Blatter, the FIFA-president, he performed his hymn live in Berlin at the world-cup-final 2006, he played both of the national anthems as well.

If you would like to dance to his music, I suggest that you have dinner at his parents´ restaurant, and hopefully he drops by to play for you. He still does this about once a month. If you´re interested, you can find the dates here:

http://www.felsenkeller-heppenheim.de/termine.html

But now, on to the music: This album, titled "At night down by the river Wolga" features organ-versions of Russia´s most beloved melodies. If you listen closely, you can hear some Russians saying "Nastrovje" and "Trink, Brüderchen!". Quite funny. To me, this is one of his best records, not only because it´s a concept-album, but for the almost perfect performance on the Wersi-organ as well. Please enjoy Mr. Lambert at his best...

James Last - Russland Erinnerungen (1977)

And one more trip to Russia, this time again with James Last, the more famous brother of Robert. As you know, Mr. Last likes to travel around the world and to visit other civilizations. In 1977 he remembered some of Russia´s favorite tunes, and this is the record which has the famous "Der einsame Hirte" ("The Lonely Shepherd") on it. Written by Hansi himself, it features panpipe virtuoso Gheorghe Zamfir from Romania on the... make your guess.. yes, the panpipe. If you´re talking panpipes, forget about fake Indios in your pedestrian precinct. You cannot get around Gheorghe Zamfir, he´s THE icon of the panflute. Two legends together on this great record, who could ask for more?

Ray Conniff - Happiness Is (1965)

THE man who popularized vocal choruses and light orchestral music in a mix of popular standards and contemporary hits of the 60s is Ray Conniff. And this is the classic Ray Conniff, just as we all love him: Nostalgic, bright, happy and a little kitschy. I like him for bringing light music to me, he´s constantly making me happy and helping me feeling relaxed. If you too want to know what happiness is, just check out this album, it will show you...

Si Zentner - The Swingin´ Eye!!!!!!!! (1960)

Man, this is a crazy cover, isn´t it? And it features some crazy song titles as well, like e.g. "Yes! We Have No Bananas". And it has 8 (eight!) exclamation marks on the cover. Weird, that is... Germans might know the banana-song from the post-war era as "Ausgerechnet Bananen", younger ones might know it from the "5-Minuten-Terrine" commercial...

Trombonist Si (Simon) Zentner was born in 1910. He is best remembered for leading a quality big band, beginning in the late 1950s long after the big band era had ended, when many of the nation's ballrooms were closing down. Si began recording for Liberty in 1959, and after assembling a large touring swing outfit, toured steadily. A great PR man and promoter, Zentner's bands won an amazing 13 straight Down Beat polls for “Best Big Band.” Perhaps the most important among the regular members of the bands Zentner formed was pianist Bob Florence, whose arrangement of a twist-version of Hoagy Carmichael's "Up a Lazy River" crossed over into the top 50 pop charts, winning a Grammy for Best Instrumental, and gave Zentner his biggest hit. Mr. Zentner died in 2000 from leukemia...

Actually, here you´ll get some great swingin´ private-eye music here, some excellent spy sounds. The cover alone is worth this post...

I just found out that this one is still available, so I don´t post the link. Please get this one at your trusted record dealer...

Lester Lanin - Plays for Dancing (1964)

First of all I must apologize to you, the visitors. I changed my email due to continuous spamming, but I forgot to change my notifying address on blogger. Therefore I did not receive any comments over the past four weeks. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it´s fixed now. If you want to leave a comment, please feel free to do so. But now on to the music:

Born in 1907, Lester Lanin had a career as a bandleader spanning over 70 years. His grandfather, father, and six of his nine brothers were all bandleaders as well. He was called the "High Society Band Leader", because he played at the White House to Buckingham Palace to the grand ballrooms of the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers, and played at every presidential inauguration since Eisenhower except for two: Jimmy Carter thought he was too expensive and George W. Bush didn´t ask him. Lester composed the music for Grace Kelly's engagement party with Rainier and the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. You see, you can hardly get higher in society than that, right?

Here´s your chance to get a piece of the cake: Even though Mr. Lanin himself died in 2004, you can book his band under 212-265-5208. Just give them a call and hire them for your next wedding or birthday-party. Remember: Your society party without Lester Lanin is not a society party! If you can´t afford it, here´s a cheaper way to be a perfect host for your High Society guests: Just play this record...

Fritz Schulz-Reichel - Man müßte Klavier spielen können (1964)

First I want to draw your attention to the post on top of my page, called "My lacking lasts". I added a link which leads you straight to my wishlist on "RateYourMusic". I would be glad, if you happen to have one or the other record and consider uploading it. Thanks, and now on with the music:

Fritz Schulz-Reichel was one of Germany´s best piano players. He was born in 1912 and played so called "bar-music", for sitting in a small bar, sipping your Martini, nibbling some peanuts and making your move on the lady next to you. He also was a great composer, most Germans will know his tunes, like "Bon Soir, Herr Kommissar", "Im Café de la Paix in Paris" or "The Man with the Banjo". But the success came with playing songs on a mistuned piano and calling himself "Der schräge Otto", to the rest of the world: "Crazy Otto".
The title of this LP means something like "you should be able to play the piano", to score with women, that is... He also had a TV-show with the same title.
This little gem is real bar-music from 1964, and now you can order a Martini or a Creole´s Cream with 1 or 2 olives, depends on your style. Fritz died in 1990, to salute him, you should order a beer for the piano man...

Frank Valdor - Live in Rio (1972)

Frank Valdor. Hmm. Very little is known about Frank, except that he´s from Hamburg and still touring with his topless and non-topless costumed girls and a band of 9 to 16 musicians. I hope, that he changed his girls in the last 30 years... But if you look at the back-cover, you´ll see him in his legendary seventies-Elvis-like-suit, that he still wears on stage. The music is not as bad as it looks, on the contrary! Very good arrangements and surprisingly good orchestrations. And this is not a Live-recording, the title may be a little deluding. It´s a great record of Brazilian music plus it´s got some good-looking girls on the cover. Who could ask for more? And now fetch yourself a mulatto girl (or boy, depends on your taste) and start to dance...

Roberto Delgado - Letkiss (1964)

Do YOU remember this dance? Well, I don´t, ´cause I wasn´t on this earth at that time. It was good old Germany´s Roberto Delgado, who made this popular back in 1964. It´s an adapted dance from Finland and it had a lot of successors with names like "Letjanka", "Letjulischka", "Letvodka" and "Letborschtsch" or something like that. The dance itself is with some turning and hopping, you know, like "you put your left foot in, you put your left foot out" etc.

Now please enjoy Mr. Delgado, or plainly "Horst" as we know him with a very fine piece of unusual hop-and-dance-music.

Bert Kaempfert - Ssh! It´s... (1967)

Ssh! Don´t you dare to talk! It´s Germany´s greatest composer again...

(I just discovered that only the back-cover is contained in the file. As front-cover please take the one above.) SSSSHHHHHH!!! (Yes, sorry...)

Dick Schory - Re-Percussion (1957)

This album is credited to Richard Schory, who is not the brother of Dick, it´s in fact his alter ego, or just his nickname. Well, Dick is the nickname, not Richard. Or was his real name Dick and his nickname was Richard? Anyway... Dick (or Richard) was a percussionist at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His popularizing of percussion music in 1957, when this album was released, paved the way for an entire movement in pop music in the late 50's and early 60's that lasted up to 1969. I posted the fantastic "Music for Bang, Baaroom and Harp" earlier, so here is it´s predecessor from 1957. Please enjoy Mr. Schory´s percussion ensemble...

Bobby (Boris) Pickett - The Original Monster Mash (1962)

Yep, why not join other people´s traditions? Especially when they´re fun... There´s been no such thing as Halloween in Germany, but lately you can buy Halloween-equipment to stuff your house. I cought myself scooping a pumpkin and preparing pumpkin-soup yesterday, that´s when I thought I could post a Halloween-album. Even if it´s not instrumental. Well, you can´t say "singing", that´s going a bit too far, but let´s call it "vocal"...

Anyway, this is my contribution to this years Halloween-craze, it´s a long play record, but it features only one smash-hit (for further details see title). Now fetch your costume and listen to Bobby Pickett and his Crypt-Kickers. If you don´t have a costume, you can disguise yourself as a mummy with a few rolls of toiletpaper. Or even cheaper, but not necessarily healthier (depending on where you live) the classical "Adam" disguise. All you need is a leaf, the size depends on... well, you know what...

Sonny Bono - Congratulations, Mr. Hammond (1967)

No, not THAT Sonny Bono! Not the guy who was married to this native American singing sensation, who starred in the Airplane!-movie and who became the mayor of Palm Springs later on. Or is it really him? Did he play the Hammond organ as well? Hmm, I don´t know. And I couldn´t find out either. But there is "Cinderella Rockefella" on it. Wasn´t that Sonny & Cher? Oh, no, that was that couple from Israel, what were their names again? Oh, yes: The Ofarim Family. Or was is just a duo? Abe and Es? What about Gil? Isn´t that their son? But that´s going a bit too far... This is a record from the year 1967, pressed in Austria. Austria is well known for its exports, especially since they brought the Gouvernator to California. So, if you like Hammond-sounds, you should get this record, since this is definitely without Cher. I promise... :o)

James Last - Around the World (1970)

Wow, I almost started a discussion on another blog about sharing files that are not your own. A few people joined this discussion, some pinheads as well, but it was only meant as a comment. So, here are my thoughts concerning this topic:

If you are planning on re-uploading my files and putting the post on your blog, I cannot and I won´t prevent it. It´s good to share music with other people, that´s why I´m doing this, because other people are sharing with me. And to save mankind some everlasting sounds. But please don´t adorn yourself with borrowed plumes (I got that phrase from the LEO dictionary). You may re-tag the files if you want, because mine aren´t tagged at all. But it should be a point of honor to mention the person who gave it to you, because he did the work to bring it to you. He bought the record, he ripped it, he remastered it, he took the pictures of the cover, he edited them, he uploaded the file (which alone takes me about 90 minutes per 50 MB, due to my slow internet-connection!) and he wrote the post on his blog. That should be enough for a little "Thank you", don´t you think?

For those peabrains, who still don´t get my point, here´s a vivid example: Imagine this situation: It´s your birthday and your beloved uncle gives you a Mercedes, which he has bought and restored in many days. Now, whom do you thank: Your uncle for giving it to you? Or Mercedes-Benz for manufacturing the car? Well, I wonder how many letters Mercedes has in their archives...

And another one: Now imagine that you are the beloved uncle. You bought an old car, you´ve restored and refurbished it in many days, and now somebody steals it. The thief gives it to your nephew, because it´s the nephew´s birthday. He doesn´t even mention your name, or where he got this car from, he just tells the nephew: "Hey, nephew, I don´t know where I got this car from, but you should thank Mercedes-Benz for building such a fine car!" Now, if you were the uncle, would you feel happy?

Well, I wouldn´t. To me, it takes a lot of fun out of blogging, seeing other people giving away my work without mentioning my name and / or website. Now, to optimize the sound is a lot of work too. I won´t do it anymore, so you´ll get the real vinyl sound with all the crackle, pops, hisses and other surface noises. Of course I´ll still restore and clean the record itself, but if there´s someone out there who will do the work to remaster this gem, I´d be thankful and I would certainly download it. But now on to the music:

Every real friend of instrumental music should own this James-Last-Box, but it´s pretty rare and therefore very hard to find, especially in a good condition. It contains 3 LPs with one country on each side. That´s in fact 6 countries, Mr. Last has visited musically in 1970: Spain, Mexico, Russia, Italy, France and England. Is your home-country among them? Well, mine isn´t, but Hansi put out a few dozens of other LPs interpreting the music of Germany. This box set resides way up there with a handful of other outstanding records he made, like "Well Kept Secret", "Voodoo Party", "Happyning", his version of "Hair" and many others. Just wait ´til you´ve heard his "Sabre Dance", "Kosaken-Patrouille" or his about 7.5-minute-version(!) of "Greensleeves". And now, sit back in your armchair and take the tour around the world with Sir Hansi and his Orchestra...

James Last - Op Klompen (1969)

Hmm, only 14 people who dropped me a mail for the Jimmie Haskell file. Not very popular, these space-age-records, I guess. Enoch Light went away about 200 times, Les Baxter too... Or is it that people are a little lazy when it comes to do a little thing before getting something?

Well, anyway: Time´s up for Jimmie, here´s another gem from good old James Last. This one is for our friends from the Netherlands and it´s from 1969. "Op Klompen" means to wear these obscure wooden boots, just like Hansi does on the cover. Holland´s (and Germany's) favorites are nice to hear, try to sing along if you dare, but don´t mix up the words... ;o)

Here´s the tracklist:

1) Hoog op de gele wagen
Een karretje op de zandweg reed
De paden op, de lanen in
Hela, gij bloempje

2) In 't groene dal in 't stille dal
Langs berg en dal klinkt hoorngeschal
't Zonnetje gaat van ons scheiden

3) Moeke, d'r staat 'n vrijer bie de deur
Catootje
Daar kwam ene boer van Zwitserland
In Holland staat een huis

4) Vier weverkens
Hoe zachtkens glijdt ons bootje
Knaapje zag een roosje staan

5) Door de bossen door de heide
Limburg mijn vaderland
De bloempjes gingen slapen
Op de grote stille heide

6) 'n Boer wol noar zien noaber tou
Het kwezelken
Daar was laatst een meisje loos
Wel Annemarieke

7) Des winters als het regent
Wie rusten wil in 't groene woud
Roodborstje tikt tegen het raam

8) De wielewaal
De uil zat in de olmen
Een vreemde arme snuiter

Phew, that was hard to type, believe me... Now I´m waiting for Hansi "In Scandinavia", ´cause I still don´t have it...

Xavier Cugat - Bread, Love and Cha-Cha-Cha (1957)

And one more time the great Xavier Cugat, this time he brings to us some bread, some love, and a lot of cha cha cha cha cha cha cha...

Enoch Light - The Private Life of a Private Eye (1959)

I´ve seen this one on another blog, but I´ve prepared this one before, and it´s too great to forget about it. These are spy sounds, as you may have already guessed. Get out your long coat and the sunglasses...

Bert Kaempfert - 6 Plus 6 (1972)

Hmm, six plus six equals... Maybe you can find out how many tracks are on this LP from 1972 by my favorite composer? But let me give you a hint: If you count the months in one year, you get a similar result. If you count all the hours in one day (including the night) and divide the sum by two, what will you get? How many disciples did Mr. Jesus have? Well, this last question was just to give you a hint if your mathematical skills are a little weak. But then you should be good in religion! If you think that you got the correct answer, then simply ... well, you should ask someone who knows this...

By the way: The shadow on the cover is me holding my camera. But you can only see it, when you look very closely. So please don´t bother...

Jimmie Haskell - Count Down! (1957)

This is THE outer space album of that era. And to me it´s one of the best either. It features the theremin and some talking alien, and the style is close to surf-music. On the cover you can see Mr. Haskell himself playing his self-developed synthesizer. This one is a must-have, if you like space-age music.

And one more thing: On the picture above you can see the stereo-version. I found that picture on the web, when I prepared this post. My version is the mono-thing, which should be in better quality than the stereo-version, according to some reviewers. I can´t tell, because I haven´t heard the stereo-thing. My file includes pictures of the front and back cover as well.

Enoch Light - Beatles Classics (1974)

Another one from the fantastic Enoch Light, this time the Beatles get a classical treatment. If you like the Beatles and if you like Enoch Light, this will be the perfect mix. The album is from the year 1974, but it hasn´t lost it´s charm yet, and I guess it never will...

Sid Ramin - New Thresholds in Sound (1963)

*sniff* ... No presents, no congratulations, no flowers... *sniff* ... But it was my blog´s birthday! I´ve been blogging one year now, and nobody notices... *sniff* ... Sad, sad, sad... But what can I do? Nothing. Except bringing this post to you without the link. That´s my revenge. For not noticing! That´s all your fault! And I tell you: You´ve missed a really great record by Sid Ramin from the year 1963...

James Last - Käpt'n James auf allen Meeren (1973)

Captain James continued his journey in 1973. This time "auf allen Meeren" which means "on the seven seas". The expression in German is much better, ´cause it says literally "on every sea". There are more than seven, aren´t there? Anyway, for those who haven´t discovered more than seven yet, there was a map included, also to follow Hansi's tour with the finger. Here you will get it without the map, because we all use our GPS today, don´t we? So, if you still got some Rum left, pour yourself a glass. If not, get another keg and off we go again!

And here´s the tracklist:

1) Ein Morgen im Hamburger Hafen
Hamburg ist ein schönes Städtchen
Muß i denn
Blow Ye Wind
Wo die Nordseewellen
Kleine Möve, flieg nach Helgoland

2) Good Mornin'
The Sailor Boy
Rule Britannia

3) Greensleeves
Auf Fahrt
Fuadach nan Gaidheal

4) De Käpt'n, de Stüermann, de Bootsmann un ick
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

5) All Hands on Deck
Drei Matrosen
In Portugal
Von Porto nach Barcelona

6) Lady of Spain
Carmen Marsch

7) Shenandoah
Sorrento
Santa Lucia
Ferry-Boat Serenade

8) Piräus
Ein Schiff wird kommen

9) High Barbaree
Havah Nagila

Los Indios Tabajaras - Sweet and Savage (1957)

Hmm, I know what you want to say. We all know those Indios with their flutes playing "El Condor Pasa" in the pedestrian precincts of each and every town. And yes, it´s annoying me too. But this one is different. Yes, dear friends of great music, as you might already know, "Maria Elena" is one of the best guitar instrumentals ever written. Here you can listen to the original version by the famous Indios, it hasn´t lost it´s charm yet. This nice Bolero will complete a nice evening with your partner more than "El Condor Pasa" ever can, believe me...

Neil Hefti - Hefti in Gotham City (1966)

This is like a soundtrack to the '60s television series Batman, since all of the tracks were written and performed by Neal Hefti for use on the TV show. There's the familiar "Batman Theme", of course, as well as a number of rousing adventure and comical villainous themes. Here comes this little gem directly from Gotham City. Batman à Gogo! Here we gooooooooo!

James Last - Games That Lovers Play (1967)

So, after some requests there should be something new on this page as well: This is one of my favorites from Hansi. A classic one from the year 1967, featuring four of his own compositions, among them the title track. Please enjoy James Last at his best...

Xavier Cugat - The King Plays Some Aces (1958)

And some more hot rhythms for Sweden, where it´s cold out there... Is there something like summer in Sweden? Or are those blonde hot girls just a cliché that hasn´t been verified since Agnetha in the late 70´s? Anyway, please enjoy some hot Cugat, pouring oil in the glooming fire of Sweden´s girls. And women, of course... And their men... ;o)

Bert Kaempfert - Golden Memories (1975)

Would you like some memories? I guess so. And especially when they´re golden, right? This is one of Bert´s later albums, it´s from the year 1975, and features six compositions that he did together with Herbert Rehbein. Some Gershwin, Hammerstein and Kern is added, and you have this great album. Please enjoy the great Bert once more... And please download the cover-art from here, because I prepared this post without having my digi-cam...

The Beach Boys - Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) (1965)

I´ve seen this one on another blog, but the file was gone, so I thought I could put up this one too, although it only features one instrumental. But this is a classic one by the Beach Boys and you should listen to this. It features some major hits by the boys, like "California Girls" and "Help Me, Rhonda". "The Girl from New York City" was a response to "The Boy from New York City," a hit by The Ad-Libs earlier in 1965. "Then I Kissed Her" was a cover of the 1963 Crystals hit, "Then He Kissed Me," obviously switching gender roles. If you like those boys, then get this album while summer lasts...

Xavier Cugat - Cugat Cavalcade (1958)

Another one from the great Xavier Cugat. It´s a "Best of..." from 1958 and is a request. Have fun, Lasse! :o)

James Last - Happy Lehár (1969)

Franz Lehár (1870 - 1948) was an Austrian composer from Hungary. He studied in Prague and spent his life writing operettas, which are light versions of operas, as you might already know. He was a close friend to Giacomo Puccini and was inspired by his operas as well. But here you get the James-Last-versions of his greatest hits, which he mostly wrote for tenor Richard Tauber, whom we know from the classic Pogues´ song "The Sick Bed of Cullaillallain" or so. (Pardon my Irish.) But I´m drifting off... Anyway, even if you hate opera, if you get sick from operettas, then give good old Hansi a chance to get you back on track to the happy music between the two world wars. For my American guests: Between 1918 and 1939...