Kraftwerk-Autobahn

We are ending this month with our focus on German (or German sounding) music with one of the cornerstones of electronic music from the Godfathers of the genre, Kraftwerk.  Paid a pretty penny for this record.  $8 but I knew it would make for a good post, especially around this time of year.  Had some fun with this year’s Oktoberfest selection.  

Kraftwerk (formed in Dusseldorf in 1970) put 3 albums before this one, but it this 1974 release that put them on the map.  The edited version of the title track became an international hit .

Well I can’t put the title track on as it runs 20 mins.  So I am submitting “Kometenmelodie 2” which was the second single from the record.  Pretty good little tune.

Satisfactory record.  Enjoy the rest of Oktoberfest and see you next month. (which for all pragmatical purpose to the reader is two days).

VA- Super 20 Superhits

In a time where I am quite busy, here is an easy post to write.  A pop hits compilation from Germany.  This looks like it came out in the 80’s so it is from West Germany proper.  For any kids out there, yes there was an East and West Germany.  $6?  Wow, pricey.  I got this here in Houston, most likely at the Half Price in Sugar Land which used to sell a lot of international records but not as much now. Trying to get back ahead of myself on this blog so facts and spelling may be off.

Released on Ariola Records, this contains 20 pop stars from what appears to be various parts of Europe.  I imagine this is from some time in the early 80’s European pop, in general, is a strange thing.  In some ways it mirrors what is going on in the US.  Sometimes it is ahead of us.  Sometimes, it is behind.   I am not sure what this is as my thoughts have shifted back and forth while writing this post.  I don’t think it was ahead but I am not so sure it was exactly behind either.  I guess the best thing to say was it was there.

But again, 20 artists from various countries.  This album features such artists as Mary Roos, Frank Zander, Katjia Ebstein, Stefan Waggershausen, Udo Jurgens, Wolfgang Petry, Rex Gildo, and from France (and the reason I probably bought this album), frequent blog subject Mirelle Mathieu. Pretty decent stuff given the state of European pop at the time.  For the most part, it is kind of stuck between the disco of the 70’s and new wave of the 80’s.

For a sample, I went with something that leans more on the new wave side, from  Germany, here is Anthony Monn with “Johnny and Mary”.  Monn, born in Munich in 1944, had a string of hits in the 70’s and 80’s, including this one which was previously a hit for the UK’s Robert Palmer.  Monn’s greatest international success, probably was his work with French disco star Amanda Lear.

Lately, everything has been mostly satisfactory but at $6?  No way. Too pricey. Meh.

Bert Kaempfert- The Best of Bert Kaempfert

This double record set was $5.  I bought this some time ago , maybe even two Labor Days ago so I might have got 20% off .  So here I am, writing posts for September  at the same time as I am recording songs for  October, all the while it is in reality August and I am awaiting Harvey which by the time you have read this, will have already passed.  Perhaps I should add these current events to more timely posts.  Well, this is in retrospect, I guess.  The benefits to me of being ahead of posts as opposed to writing these day to day outweigh keeping these timely.

So with Oktoberfest currently going on and after a few days of more conventional German music, here is a regular fixture to this blog, Bert Kaempfert with a greatest hits compilation.  Not much to say about this.  Two albums of some of his more popular compositions as well as arrangements.  Not only it is impressive just how many great songs Kaempfert had a hand in composing.  The cover songs  on this show just how gifted an arranger he was.

For samples, I went with” The World We Knew (Over and Over)”.  Why not Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” as I always seem to post this one?  Well, I already posted it last month.

Satisfactory

Heino- Wir Lieben die Sturme

This was $2.  Look at that face with the glasses.  How could one resist?  I think this was the record the drove me to commit to half a month of German content for Oktoberfest. Which is the last thing on my mind right now as at the time of this writing, we are nervously awaiting Tropical Storm/Hurricane Harvey, who right now looks like he will ruin my weekend.   But hey, that was then.  This is now.  (Ed Note- Sorry to be flippant about an event that ended up to be really hard on a lot of people in town, but I leave this unchanged to reflect the true mood I had going in to the storm).

Heino, born in Dusseldorf in 1938, is a singer of popular German music or schlager as it is known.  You may have seen this word on my blog before.  If not, you will see it again this month fo’ so’. Anyway, exophthalmos gave Heino his trademark glasses.  His baritone voice gave him his success which translated into over 50 million records sold.  He is still active and lives in what has to be one the coolest town names in Germany, Bad Munstereifel.

In 2013, he made news by releasing an cover album of rock, rap, house, and other modern music.  This lead to disgust from some of the bands he covered.  I imagine this is the equivalent of Pat Boone singing heavy metal (which he has done).  Anyway, a slew of bands criticized the move but I am not sure if is because of the music or if it because the singer quoted a line from a Hitler Youth rally out of context around the same time (that part of the world still really cares about that sort of thing).  The sources I read on the matter are a bit inconclusive.

Either way, the album was a hit, and Heino still continues to be the king of schlager. But please note that the band in the first video is not Rammstein. And whatever thoughts the band might have had about him at the time, it was not enough to stop Heino from joining them on stage.

Really good article from Spiegal regarding this album and German’s secret love of schlager.

Anyway, here is this, which Google translates into “We Love The Storm?”, is a compilation album, I believe, which may have originally been released in 1969. With 13 songs, it is a compilation of Heino’s first two albums.  Pretty decent stuff. I mean, it is the schlager that I have been talking about.

For a sample, I went with “Wilde Gesellen” which translated to Wild Friends and sounds something like out a western. I also went with “Schwer Mit Den Schatzen Des Orients Beladen” which Google translates into Heavy Loading With delights of the Orient. Well, I am sure the translation is off but you get the gist of it.

Good little album.  Satisfactory.

The Rosy Singers- ST

dscn5282-800x796Today is the start of Oktoberfest.  In keeping with the German theme, here is another record from Germany.  I got this recently, not with Oktoberfest in mind.  Half Price Books in Montrose had quite the amount of international records that day and I bought quite a few.  Anyway, this was $3.00.  I am sure the woman on the front of the record helped solidify the sale. This could be Rosy, I am not sure.It looks close.a-1572495-1428337973-1579-jpeg

The Rosy Singers were a German vocal group, founded in 1964 by Rosy Rohr (Google Translate calls her Rosy Tube).  They made several albums, numerous TV appearances, and a few entries into the Euro Vision Song Contest which after a year of doing this blog, I still do not officially understand. On this album, Rosy, a soprano, is joined by Angelika, (second soprano), Zsa Zsa (alto), Fredo (light baritone), and Rolf (bass-baritone).

This record is part of the Philips International series, released in 1965.  It features the singers backed up by various what I assume are German orchestras.  The band leaders include Horst Hartman, Willy Hoffman, and Steffen Thomas.

The songs are mostly English standards including “What Now My Love”, “All Of You”, “Edelweis”, and “Greensleeves”.  The singing is ok. It is mostly done in German. The songs are also ok. dscn5283-800x796

For a sample, I went with their version of “Ave Maria” which I feel is really good.  It is backed by a slightly reverbed guitar and is unlike any version I have heard. I also really liked “I Believe” as well.rosi

As far as this record goes, it is Saturday.  Satisfactory.  Why not?