Uploaded April 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Music Fast Facts : The top selling singles of all time are Elton John's "Candle in the Wind at 33 million, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", 30 million, and Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock", 25 million copies sold. ▼▼▼
BERT KAEMPFERT
In the early sixties, Kaempfert had become so successful as a recording artist that he was forced to give up his duties as a producer -- his records were selling by the hundreds of thousands, the album of Wonderland by Night even topping the American charts for five weeks in 1961. By 1965, he'd joined the ranks of film music composers with the soundtrack to a movie entitled A Man Could Get Killed -- the title song from the movie became "Strangers in the Night," which Frank Sinatra propelled to the top of the American and British charts . He followed this up a year later with another hit for Sinatra, "The World We Knew (Over and Over)." For Kaempfert, whose admiration of American music began with the big-band pop sound whence Sinatra had begun his career, those hits must have represented a deep personal triumph, transcending whatever money they earned -- indeed, he was selling records during the early '60s in the kind of quantities that rivaled Tommy Dorsey or Harry James' successes 20 years before, and he'd proved himself a prodigiously talented composer as well, an attribute that few of the big-band leaders possessed.
Although Kaempfert's chart placements faded by the end of the decade, there could be no disputing his impact on the popular culture of the 1960s, which was so widespread into so many different areas that few individuals appreciated its scope; teenagers, had they known of his role, could be grateful to him for giving the Beatles that all-important first break, while their parents may well have danced to "Wonderland by Night" and its follow-ups, their older siblings might well have orchestrated their romantic endeavors to "Strangers in the Night," and television viewers and casual radio listeners might well have heard and hummed the Kaempfert tunes "That Happy Feeling" (an early piece of world music pop, adapted from a piece by Ghana-born drummer Guy Warren), "Afrikaan Beat," or "A Swingin' Safari" (which, in a recording by Billy Vaughn, became the theme for the long-running game show The Match Game). His success as a composer was reflected in the five awards that he received from BMI in 1968 for "Lady," "Spanish Eyes," "Strangers in the Night," "The World We Knew," and "Sweet Maria."
Kaempfert's chart placements vanished in the 1970s as the music marketplace (especially on radio) finally squeezed out the adult and older dance music listenership he'd cultivated. His records continued to sell, however, and his bookings remained healthy for another decade, and Kaempfert piled up awards in Germany.
Kaempfert's music has meanwhile acquired a new fan base in tandem with the late-'90s boom of interest in 1950s pop instrumental music, and "Afrikaan Beat" is arguably as popular as incidental music in 2014 as it was in 1965, as well as closely associated with that past in American popular culture, itself a great achievement for the great bandleader from Hamburg.
DID YOU KNOW ?
The composer of "Canto de Ossanha" - and world famous guitar player * Baden Powell, was playing as a professional in bands already at the age of 15.
MHO
If Bert Kaempfert (re-) arranges a famous composition, it usually becomes "an entirely different song", standing apart as "simply a Bert Kaempfert track". One can almost hear the fun and joy Bert had when arranging this piece and the orchestra is "on the same track" as well. Bert makes use of newly available instruments and sounds (this was recorded at the end of the 1970s) ... there to discover for the more attentive listeners :)
Taken from another "gem album" (Tropical Sunrise) here is Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra with "Canto de Ossanha". Enjoy !
Music Fast Facts : The top selling singles of all time are Elton John's "Candle in the Wind at 33 million, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", 30 million, and Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock", 25 million copies sold. ▼▼▼
BERT KAEMPFERT
In the early sixties, Kaempfert had become so successful as a recording artist that he was forced to give up his duties as a producer -- his records were selling by the hundreds of thousands, the album of Wonderland by Night even topping the American charts for five weeks in 1961. By 1965, he'd joined the ranks of film music composers with the soundtrack to a movie entitled A Man Could Get Killed -- the title song from the movie became "Strangers in the Night," which Frank Sinatra propelled to the top of the American and British charts . He followed this up a year later with another hit for Sinatra, "The World We Knew (Over and Over)." For Kaempfert, whose admiration of American music began with the big-band pop sound whence Sinatra had begun his career, those hits must have represented a deep personal triumph, transcending whatever money they earned -- indeed, he was selling records during the early '60s in the kind of quantities that rivaled Tommy Dorsey or Harry James' successes 20 years before, and he'd proved himself a prodigiously talented composer as well, an attribute that few of the big-band leaders possessed.
Although Kaempfert's chart placements faded by the end of the decade, there could be no disputing his impact on the popular culture of the 1960s, which was so widespread into so many different areas that few individuals appreciated its scope; teenagers, had they known of his role, could be grateful to him for giving the Beatles that all-important first break, while their parents may well have danced to "Wonderland by Night" and its follow-ups, their older siblings might well have orchestrated their romantic endeavors to "Strangers in the Night," and television viewers and casual radio listeners might well have heard and hummed the Kaempfert tunes "That Happy Feeling" (an early piece of world music pop, adapted from a piece by Ghana-born drummer Guy Warren), "Afrikaan Beat," or "A Swingin' Safari" (which, in a recording by Billy Vaughn, became the theme for the long-running game show The Match Game). His success as a composer was reflected in the five awards that he received from BMI in 1968 for "Lady," "Spanish Eyes," "Strangers in the Night," "The World We Knew," and "Sweet Maria."
Kaempfert's chart placements vanished in the 1970s as the music marketplace (especially on radio) finally squeezed out the adult and older dance music listenership he'd cultivated. His records continued to sell, however, and his bookings remained healthy for another decade, and Kaempfert piled up awards in Germany.
Kaempfert's music has meanwhile acquired a new fan base in tandem with the late-'90s boom of interest in 1950s pop instrumental music, and "Afrikaan Beat" is arguably as popular as incidental music in 2014 as it was in 1965, as well as closely associated with that past in American popular culture, itself a great achievement for the great bandleader from Hamburg.
DID YOU KNOW ?
The composer of "Canto de Ossanha" - and world famous guitar player * Baden Powell, was playing as a professional in bands already at the age of 15.
MHO
If Bert Kaempfert (re-) arranges a famous composition, it usually becomes "an entirely different song", standing apart as "simply a Bert Kaempfert track". One can almost hear the fun and joy Bert had when arranging this piece and the orchestra is "on the same track" as well. Bert makes use of newly available instruments and sounds (this was recorded at the end of the 1970s) ... there to discover for the more attentive listeners :)
Taken from another "gem album" (Tropical Sunrise) here is Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra with "Canto de Ossanha". Enjoy !
