VA-16 Hollandse Hits

Hey.  Still doing records I bought last trip to Amsterdam which was last December.  This one was a dollar, I mean, a Euro.  I like these hits compilations as they expose me to a lot of different songs in one convenient package.

So I went to an Ajax FC game whilst I was there.  I have done this before, I think back in 2005.  It was a Champions League game against Sparta Prague, I believe.  Nigel de Jong was the young up and comer for Ajax.  Anyway, back to the present or at least barely distant past, I went to what was my first Dutch Eredivsie (league) game , Ajax vs Excelsior (Rotterdam).  Pretty good game. Ajax was first place in the table at the time.  Great seats.  Right in the corner. I was a bit worried about the weather but the stadium had a roof so that was not an issue.  Ajax won 3-1 but due to not wanting to fight the crowd home, I left in the 80th minute.

Anyway, here is this, a collection of Dutch pop/schlager hits from 1980.  Or at least the record came out in 1980.  It is from Telstar Records who put a record like this every year since sometime in the 60’s maybe.  Featuring such performers as The New Four Will Tura, Bobby Prins, and De Wuko’s, I was not disappointed with this purchase.

For a sample, I went with “Brief Uit De Hondehemel”  which Google translates as “Letter From The Dog’s Sky”.  Not sure how accurate that is.  Anyway, it was done by one Jan Boezerden, a Dutch singer from Steenbergen, born in 1933.  He had consistent hits thru the 60’s to the early 90’s. 

I also went with “Cowboy Jimmy” for obvious reasons, by truck driver turned singer Henk Wijngaard.

Pretty good album.  Satisfactory.

 

Rocco Granata- Z’n Gouden Hits

All this week, we will be showcasing records I bought during my last vacation to Amsterdam, which now seems like a decade ago.  We are starting with this one that I bought for a dollar.  I got all my records in one swoop at a stall at the Waterlooplein Swap Meet

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So I went to Amsterdam, last year, one year ahead of schedule as I normally go every to years.  I also normally go during Thanksgiving but this year I went during December, mainly to see the Festival of Lights.  Weather was pretty bad  It snowed three days, and rained two, basically leaving a lot of slush on the ground.  The long underwear my aunt gave me last year for Christmas made all the difference in the world.  Also, I did not realize it at the time, but it was wonderful to get away from the US news cycle for a week.  I strongly recommend to anyone here to go abroad for this reason alone. But all in all, it was a good vacation.  Did a lot of the things I normally do; go to the zoo, hang out at Vondelpark and Oosterpark, the bars, and what not.

It is very odd but I seem to take the same pictures every trip so if you go back to the posts from December 2016, the pictures are basically the same. It has been about 12 years since I first went and I did a bit of reflecting on the subject.

There are a handful of people who have been working at the same bars during this period.  Most everyone who was working last year were still at the same bars as well.  The guy of Dam Square however, how shakes his change box to music from a wind up box was not there this year.  He had been there every year prior.  I did a few new things this trip which I will document in this week’s posts.  I stayed back at the Grand Kranspoly Hotel, as I did last year.  Overall, good time.

So there is this record that I bought by one Rocco Granata. Born in Figline Vegliaturo, in Southern Italy in 1938, Granata’s family immigrated to Belgium when he was ten. Choosing a career in music over coal mining, he played accordion and toured Belgium with his band.

Rocco’s Webpage

His 1959 B side single, “Marina” became a smash hit in Belgium, Germany, and other parts of the world , including the US.  Granata was able to parlay the single’s success into a pretty good career and world wide success.  A movie , titled Marina, was made in 2013 detailing his early life, showing the many struggles he and his family went thru before he was famous, ending with his appearance at Carnegie Hall (although it is noted they made his father a lot more strict in the movie for dramatic effect or so I am told).

This is a greatest hits album from Negram Records, released in the Netherlands in 1971.  The same copy with a different cover was released that same year in Belgium.  Real typical Italian type crooning or schlager if you will.  This seems to be a mix of various languages on here and that would be reflective of his international appeal.  With the exception of a few tracks (most notably “Marina”, not as much accordion on here as I would have thought at least in a dominant sense, but  then again, subtlety is a lost art. Overall pretty good album.

For a sample, I went with “Te quiero”.  which is Spanish for I Love You.

Pretty decent album and I got into the whole growing up with adversity backstory so satisfactory.

Lolita-Schlager Erinnerungen mit Lolita

This was $2 and purchased for use during Oktoberfest, which is on going this week. Over the last two years of doing Oktoberfest posts on this blog, I have really covered most every detail about the festival which started in 1810 in Munich to celebrate the marriage of the future King Ludwig to the Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.  Apparently she was also on the short list of possible brides for Napoleon.  Anyway, I would suggest you check out some the past posts to learn more fun facts about this festival.

Link to a search of Oktoberfest posts on this blog 

Well, I guess I should just straight up point out that this next artist is nor German and is in fact Austrian.  Do not want to get accused of trying to pass this off German or for lumping Austria and Germany together.  But as I did not do my research before selecting this album, we are moving full steam ahead with this record by Edith Enzinger, better known by her stage name, Lolita.  Born in ST Polten in 1931, Lolita had her only Gold Record in 1959, “Seeman” or “Sailor” in English.  Not only did it sell well in German speaking parts of Europe, it sold well in Japan went to #5 in US making at the time one of the few successful records in the US not recorded in English. She remained popular in Austria and Germany. She would pass of cancer at age 79 in 2010.

Since this came out in 1973 on Polydor International, I am guessing that this is a greatest hits compilation.  Well, it is pretty good.  All the songs are in the schlager style that I have been espousing for the last week.  Lolita had a pretty good voice.  A few of these songs really hit it out of the park.  The rest are still pretty good.

For a sample, I decided to pick “La Luna’ and “Was Ein Mann Alles Kann” or what can a man do.  I am not sure if this means what can a man do about a certain situation or what can a man do for me, mainly because I saw Raw last weekend.

Good little record.  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.

Caterina Valente- Greatest Hits

DSCN3700This was 80 cents. I liked most of the songs on the album so I figured I would give it a try.valentCaterina Valente is a Italian singer/entertainer who was born in Paris, France in 1931.  Born into a family of entertainers, she became a popular singer of Schlager tunes (look it up for yourself).  She would become an International star with records, television appearances. and even movie spots.  She would also star in a short lived variety show on CBS with Carol Burnett and Bob Newhart.  She is still alive as of this writing.dean-caterina-valente-kingofcoolCaterina’s Translated Webpage

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This album is a greatest hits collection from her work with Werner Muller and his Orchestra.  Right off, this album has a lot of entertainment value.  The songs are well arranged and orchestrated. It has that pizazz that was missing from yesterday’s album.  The vocals are fabulous as well. She sings in a great range as well as in a couple different languages on these.  This makes for a very good collection.  My highlights include “Malaguena”, “La Paloma”, “The Peanut Vendor”, “La Golondrina”, and the two songs that I selected as samples.DSCN3701

Those samples are “The Breeze and I” and ‘More”.2514476402

Satisfactory record.

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