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Strangers In The Night – The Bert Kaempfert Story
Long before the Liverpool sound even existed, it was Bert Kaempfert who, with My Bonnie, made the Beatles into recording stars – as early as 1960 preparing the ground for Paul McCartney, John Lennon & Co’s phenomenal international career: they partook of his knowledge, his skills and that creativity which he so undogmatically imparted.
The list of the solo artists who scored success after international success with Kaempfert’s distinctive compositions reads like a Who’s Who of light music: Frank Sinatra, Al Martino and Dean Martin. Ella Fitzgerald and Shirley Bassey. Sarah Vaughan and Peggy Lee. Nat “King” Cole, Herb Alpert and Johnny Mathis. Brenda Lee, Caterina Valente, Andy Williams and Nancy Wilson – to name but a few.
Quite simply, they all felt at ease with the melodies this Hamburg composer and arranger created, melodies as light and unforced as their construction was inspired. Whether intentionally or not, he clearly knew how to reproduce in his music the nature of the person he was: pleasant, unassuming and restrained – yet at the same time infectious, expressive and brimming with joie de vivre. In short, melodies that do you good.
The biography of the man whose ideas occupy a firm place in the annals of music history began more than eighty years ago in a working-class district of Hamburg.
In Marc Boettcher’s documentary we hear from Bert Kaempfert’s friends and companions, Freddy Quinn, Hildegard Knef and James Last, among others, as well as from members of the Kaempfert family.
DVD / MENUE:
- 1923 – 1945 Musikalische Anfänge / Musical Beginnings
- 1945 – 1959 Die Polydor-Jahre / The Polydor Years
- 1959 – 1963 Wonderland By Night
- 1963 – 1965 Der Kaempfert Sound / The Kaempfert Sound
- 1965 – 1968 Strangers In The Night
- 1968 – 1974 Krisenzeiten und Comeback / Crises and Comeback
- 1974 – 1980 Der Abschied / Farewell
Album Songs:
- Strangers In The Night
- A Swingin’ Safari
- Spanish Eyes (Moon Over Naples)
- My Way Of Life
- Malaysian Melody
- Cerveza
- Jumpin’ At The Woodside
- Frisco Disco
- In The Everglades
- Trumpet Fiesta
- Sugar Bush
- Remember When
- L.O.V.E.
- On My Lonely Way
- Cinderella After Midnight
- Highland Dreams
- Danke Schoen
- Morgen
- Hänschen Klein
- Wiedersehn (Just On Time)