Freitag, Dezember 29, 2006

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...

Montag, Dezember 18, 2006

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...

Donnerstag, Dezember 14, 2006

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...

Montag, Dezember 11, 2006

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!

Freitag, Dezember 08, 2006

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...

Dienstag, Dezember 05, 2006

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...

Freitag, Dezember 01, 2006

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...