Helmut Zacharias - Tea Time in Tokyo (1964)

Helmut Zacharias, der Mann mit dem eisernen Lächeln. Ist es da verwunderlich, wenn er Themen aus dem Land des Lächelns aufgreift? Wohl kaum. Sehr wohl zur Verwunderung Anlass gibt aber die Tatsache, dass er hier auf dieser großartigen Platte aus dem Jahre 1964 nicht nur traditionelle japanische Melodien spielt, sondern vielmehr Eigenkompositionen im japanischen Gewand zum Besten gibt. So zum Beispiel das Titelstück, das ich Ihnen heute präsentiere.
Diese Platte ist für mich eine seiner besten und abgedrehtesten Scheiben überhaupt. Groovige Rhythmen aus den 60ern gepaart mit exotischen Einflüssen aus Japan. Das ist der Sound, der uns Ende der 80er als "Ethno-Beat" verkauft wurde. Dass Ofra Haza keine Innovation war, sondern Helmut Zacharias der Vorreiter dieses Musikstils war, können Sie hier nachvollziehen. Ziehen Sie aber beim Hören keine Holzpantoletten an, die könnten Ihnen beim unerwarteten Zucken des Beins, das gern tanzen möchte, vom Fuß rutschen...

Helmut Zacharias - Tea Time in Tokyo

Santo & Johnny - Santo & Johnny (1959)

Dave Harris - Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals (1960)

Dave Harris spielte Tenor-Saxophon mit den sogenannten "Powerhouse Five". Ziemlich jazzig, übrigens. Auf dieser Platte interpretieren sie die Musik von Raymond Scott, den Sie ja bereits als Avantgardisten kennengelernt haben. Falls Sie also einen intellektuellen Zugang zu dieser teils recht abgedrehten Musik haben, dann dürfte dieser Klassiker hier nicht neu für Sie sein. Falls nicht, dann haben Sie hier die Gelegenheit, mal in diese Scheibe reinzuhören. Falls es Ihnen nicht gefallen sollte, dann können Sie sich aber an dem ungewöhnlichen Cover delektieren. Oder "delirieren", wie die blonde Jura-Studentin bei Günni Jauch neulich meinte. Kaum zu glauben, wer so alles in der heutigen Zeit ein Abitur erhält. Naja, die Quote muss wohl erfüllt werden, aber nach wie vor sollte der Leitsatz gelten: Wenn man keine Ahnung hat, einfach mal die Fresse halten. Das gab´s übrigens schon im alten Rom: Sic tacuisses, philosophus manisses. Frei übersetzt: Hätten Sie die Klappe gehalten, hätte man Sie weiterhin für gebildet gehalten...
Aber jetzt besteigen wir endlich Raymond Scotts Schlitten und fahren ein Stück durch Sibirien. Zusammen mit Dave Harris und seinen Powerhouse Five!

Dave Harris - Siberian Sleigh Ride

Bob Thompson - On the Rocks (1960)

Ebenfalls ein kleines Juwel habe ich hier, eines vom legendären Bob Thompson. Bereits letztes Jahr habe ich diese Platte erwerben können, und allein das Cover ist es schon wert, diese Scheibe zu besitzen. Ich habe allerdings seinem Sohn Spencer versprochen, dass ich Mr. Thompsons Musik nicht über´s Netz verbreite, aus diesem Grunde müssen Sie sich mit dem großartigen Cover zufriedengeben... Sie sehen, dass die Wünsche der Künstler bzw. deren Nachlassverwalter von mir respektiert werden. Sie können Mr. Thompsons Webauftritt übrigens hier besuchen:

Bob Thompsons Seite im Netz

Leo Diamond - Skin Diver Suite and Other Selections (1956)

Hier kommt ein besonders schönes Cover, nämlich mit einer Meerjungfrau drauf. Neulich schrieb mir mal ein Besucher, dass er Platten mit Meerjungfrauen drauf sammelt. Ich habe, so meine ich mich zu erinnern, drei davon: Les Baxters "Jewels of the Sea", Nelson Riddles "Sea of Dreams" und eben Leo Diamonds "Skin Diver Suite". Gibt´s vielleicht jemanden, der mehr hat? Außer dem Soundtrack zu Walt Disneys "Arielle" natürlich. Mit echten Meerjungfrauen drauf! Dann schätzen Sie sich glücklich und sagen mir, welche Platten Sie da haben, denn die brauche ich natürlich auch... Aber jetzt begeben wir uns ins Meer und tauchen ab mit Leo Diamond und seiner selbstkomponierten "Tauchen-ohne-Taucheranzug-Suite", mal ganz frei übersetzt... Vielleicht wollen Sie aber doch lieber trocken bleiben, deshalb hier ein Stück von der B-Seite. Wir fahren über die dunklen Hügel nach Haus. Kommen Sie gut an!

Leo Diamond - Ride the Dark Hills Home

Heino - Liebe Mutter... (1971)

Liebe Gäste!
Sonntag ist Muttertag, mehr brauche ich wohl nicht zu sagen.
Falls Sie noch nichts zum Verschenken gefunden haben, dann aber los! Ansonsten biete ich Ihnen diese wundervolle LP unseres Lieblingsbarden Heino an, ein Konzeptalbum zum Thema Mutter, auf dem aber auch Beethovens Neunte nicht fehlen darf. Am besten, Sie hören diese Platte zusammen mit Ihrer Mutter. Viel Vergnügen! :o)

Berry Lipman - La Parranda Party (1974)

Berry Lipman, der mit richtigem Namen Friedel Berlipp heißt, wurde 1921 in Burgdorf geboren. Er begann seine Karriere mit klassischem Violinenunterricht und war während des zweiten Weltkrieges ab 1940 bei den Luftwaffenmusikkorps in Celle und Oldenburg stationiert. 1945 bekam er sein erstes Engagement als Musiker mit einem Gastvertrag am Staatstheater Oldenburg, 1947 ging er als Komponist an die Wuppertaler Bühnen und kam mit Rhythm & Blues als Arrangeur, Komponist und Instrumentalist beim NWDR und SWF Koblenz in Kontakt. Er wurde 1964 Komponist für das Plattenlabel EMI und arbeitete für Gitte, Conny Froboess, Chris Howland, Lale Andersen, Cliff Richard, Charles Aznavour, Dalida, Zarah Leander und vielen anderen. 1967 wurde er freier Musik-Produzent und gründete das Berry Lipman Orchester, das sich durch das Spielen vieler Evergreens im TYPISCHEN Easy-Listening-Stil auszeichnete. Zur Zeit habe ich wieder mal eine Phase, in der ich NUR Berry Lipman höre, weil es der "richtige" Easy-Listening-Sound ist. Seine größten Erfolge waren "Keep on Smiling", der von James Lloyd gesungen wurde, "The Girls from Paramaribo" und eben "La Parranda", die er auch alle selbst komponiert hat. Hier präsentiere ich Ihnen letzteren Titel, hören Sie doch einfach mal rein...

Bert Kaempfert - A Swingin' Safari (1962)

I always wanted to present you this album from 1962, because it is one of Bert´s best albums ever. It was so good, that he released another African-sounding album named "Safari Swings Again" in 1977. Unfortunately the follow-up was not such a big success as this one. You may know this tune from the radio, maybe from other artists, who covered this great piece of music, but here´s the one and only original Bert Kaempfert, who actually wrote this song. Now you may take a seat in the zebra-striped Land Rover and go on safari with Bert...

Blonker - Fantásia (1980)

Dieter Geike from Hamburg, Germany, is still an excellent guitar player. That´s what he always was, but not only a guitar player. He is a great composer as well. "Blonker" was his one-man-project, and he composed and performed several great classic guitar instrumentals. Since I could not decide which one to post for your listening pleasure, I bring you two pieces of superb easy-listening guitar, written and performed by Mr. Geike.

I´m not sure whether his LPs were available in other countries or not, but his first one (called "Fantásia") is out of print in Germany up to now. Well, I´m sure that you know his tunes, ´cause they stand right up there, side to side with other great always recognizable guitar instrumentals like Fleetwood Mac´s "Albatross", The Allman Brothers´ "Jessica", Duane Eddy´s "Rebel Rouser", The Shadows´ "Apache" and The Spotnicks´ "Amapola". This is THE easy-listening guitar from Germany. Both tracks are written by Dieter Geike, and I bet that you´ve heard at least one of them before. Here are "Sidewalk Café" and "Indigo" from 1977, both featured on this classic and excellent album. See if you can get yourself a copy of this, it´s highly recommended...

Ooops, I almost forgot: The great cover paintings of Blonker´s albums were done by his pal Ulrich Schütt. Superb artwork that is...

John Keating - Space Experience (1972)

Das "Charly-Bar" Trio - Charly´s Piano-Cocktail (1963)

Well, here you have all the favorites from the German charts of the year 1962. Played by the "Charly-Bar Trio", I guess they were the house-combo of "Charly´s Bar", where ever that may have been. But if you´re about to sip a cocktail at Charly´s, please say Hello to the music-trio there and tell them that I really liked their record. Man, this is such a great bar-music sound! Now! Get me my favorite Whisky! I must play this record over and over again and again...

Kai Warner - Warner Plays Wagner (1971)

Well, it´s just one letter, but what a difference that makes! Warner interpretes Wagner. No other artist of the Easy-Listening crowd ever DARED to touch Richard Wagner, because he was always related to a) a gay Bavarian wannabe-king named Ludwig and b) a psychotic wannabe-worldleader named Adolf. He was their favorite composer, and they both became fanatic of him. Ludwig´s castle "Neuschwanstein", which you can visit in Disneyland (for my American guests) or in Germany, a little south of Munich, had all paintings of scenes from Wagner-operas in it. One favorite track of Richard Wagner was featured in the "Blues Brothers" movie too, namely the "Ride of the Valkyries", when Henry Gibson flew away in his car...

Despite all those negative connotations, Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) was one of Germany´s best composers. And Kai Warner (whose real name was Werner Last, and who was a brother of James) was one of Germany´s best bandleaders, so what could have gone wrong? Nothing! Nevertheless, this LP doesn´t feature Wagner´s "boombastic" opera sound. Most people can hardly stand a three-day opera like "The Ring of the Nibelungs", so Mr. Warner took the melodic stuff of Richard Wagner like "Winterstürme", "Abendstern" or "Am stillen Herd" to please the crowd on this great album from 1971. It´s VERY rare, because many Germans didn´t like it in 1971, and it wasn´t a million-seller back then...

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!

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.

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...

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...

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...

James Last - Ännchen von Tharau bittet zum Tanz (1966)

Here we start with the "Hansi-Craze" I promised. This is hardcore, I´ll tell you. Ancient German folksongs in swingin´ rhythm. Some people (such as me) say that this is a masterpiece. And so it is. Even if you´re not old enough to enjoy this kind of music, you can still swing a little the easy way with James and his singers. So grab your grandparents and dance a little. But slooooowly... ;o)
You can get this fabulous record in three pieces, because I can only upload up to 25 Mb. Sorry for the inconvenience...

And here´s the tracklist:

01) Wem Gott will rechte Gunst erweisen
Üb' immer Treu und Redlichkeit
Ein Männlein steht im Walde

02) Sah ein Knab' ein Röslein steh'n
In einem kühlen Grunde
Wenn alle Brünnlein fließen

03) Du, du liegst mir im Herzen
Der Mai ist gekommen
Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust

04) Ännchen von Tharau ist's
Es zogen drei Burschen

05) Lang, lang ist's her
Muß i denn
Mädele ruck, ruck, ruck

06) Horch, was kommt von draußen rein
Ein Jäger aus Kurpfalz
Freut euch des Lebens

07) Gold und Silber lieb' ich sehr
Wenn ich ein Vöglein wär'
Am Brunnen vor dem Tore

08) Steh' ich in finst'rer Mitternacht
Weißt du wieviel Sternlein stehen
Nun ade du mein lieb' Heimatland

09) Guter Mond, du gehst so stille
Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten

10) Das Lieben bringt groß' Freud
Im Krug zum grünen Kranze
Es klappert die Mühle am rauschenden Bach

James Last - Voodoo Party (1971)

Finally! I got it, YES! Thanks to Gary from Soundsational! This is really a fantastic record. Strange, when you listen to "Mr. Giant Man" or "Voodoo Ladys Love". I think they took some drugs when recording this, but what kind of? If you know what they took, please let me know...

But even if you´re still drug-free, I highly recommend this record!

Herb Alpert - Volume 2 (1963)

Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass! One of my all time favorites anyhow. I grew up with his tunes, and many songs from that time I only knew as his versions. Great music, although some people disagree... This is Herb´s second best album overall. "But why don´t you introduce us to his best album? Why the second best?" I hear people say. It´s pretty easy: You can buy his BEST album at internet-dealers all over the world, but it´s hard to find his second best. There are many tunes on this record that I know from those happy childhood-days, but not as many as on his best album. Plus it´s a record dedicated to numerology. You didn´t know that? So, I give you a summary:

2.) It´s his second album ever
2.) It´s his second-best album
2.) It´s the album of him I like second-best
2.) This album is on the second shelf in my record-collection
2.) My father bought this album on the 2nd of August
2.) This album features two sides, side A and side B
2.) And how many grooves are there on this record? Yep, two. I counted them.

There are many, many more links to the number "2" on this album, take your time and try to find them. It all boils down to 2. What would be more likely than to name this album "Volume 2"? Now you understand...

Please enjoy Herb Alpert at his (second-)best!