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.

TDVD / MENUE:

Strangers In The Night – The Bert Kaempfert Story

1923 – 1945  Musical Beginnings

1945 – 1959  The Polydor Years

1959 – 1963  Wonderland By Night

1963 – 1965  The Kaempfert Sound

1965 – 1968  Strangers In The Night

1968 – 1974  Crises and Comeback

1974 – 1980  Farewell

CD / Tracks:

Bert Kaempfert – A Man And His Music

STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT (Live)

A SWINGIN’ SAFARI

SPANISH EYES (MOON OVER NAPLES) (Live)

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. (Live)

ON MY LONELY WAY

CINDERELLA AFTER MIDNIGHT

HIGHLAND DREAMS

DANKE SCHOEN

MORGEN

HÄNSCHEN KLEIN (Bert Kaempfert Swing Band)

WIEDERSEHN (JUST ON TIME)