You'll be happy to know that there are 12 new releases coming along in April. I guess they will be in card format and have the original LP covers.

One of them is Combo Capers, which is nice. Another is Love Letters, and another is Living It Up. I think that even A Swingin' Safari is amongst them. Something for avid collectors to look forward to...

I have seen this already. But it would be nice if BK Music could find some never before released material from the vaults.

Eventually the Bob Parker releases on the Heliodor label could be an idea.

Kind regards.

Regarding Bob Parker, I don't think it's going to happen. Much or all of it was probably in mono, and the taste we got from "Bert Kaempfert Special" doesn't suggest that the sound was particularly pleasant to listen to. Yes, it's a collector's item, but how many would they sell?

People talk about "the vaults", but are the BK tapes still with the powers that existed then (Polydor, or Universal as it is now) - or does Doris Kaempfert have all the tapes stored somewhere? If she has, it would be much easier to convince her and her sister to realise our dream than to find someone who is in the least bit interested at Universal... I've been down this road before in another musical context.

There are several considerations here. One is whether anything else "new" (previously unreleased) actually exists. Another is the profitability of such a release. After all, the new CD issues will be selling for less than ten euros in Germany, so there is a general profitability consideration.

I think, quite frankly, all that we could reasonably expect is a 2-CD issue with all the "bonus" tracks - those that were not released in Bert' lifetime. There might be one or two new recordings (amongst the extra tracks that were not used for LPs), but there can't be much that we still haven't heard. These could be complemented by old recordings that have not been widely released on CD (such as "My Life for Your Love").

I know that Marion Kaempfert occasionally reads the entries in the forum, so perhaps she will convince her sister to hear our prayer... If you are reading this, Marion, best regards!

Alistair

In June of this year we will think of the 30th year of the Death of Bert Kaempfert. Therefore I´m very thankful for the re-issues of some of his unforgettable recordings. But I´m sure there will be much more treasures in the archives of Bert Kaempfert Music or TV. For example where are the recordings of the tv-shows starring Freddy Quinn with Bert Kaempfert and his orchestra? Where are the recordings of Fips under his alias Marc Bones? Where are the recordings he has done with other interpreters e.g. Cindy Ellis or Rudi Schuricke? Let´s hope: perhaps Bert Kaempfert Music will give a lot of more presents to us in this year! I´m very curious to hear about it... Kind regards Gerhard

While it is appreciated that we see some re-issues, then what puzzles me is that for one reason or another "The Wonderland Of Bert Kaempfert" Polydor 237563 has never been released on CD apart from the "amputated" Taragon release. Likewise "Ein Neuer Klang erobert die Welt" and "Let's Go Bowling" could be re-issued on a 2 for 1 CD. From the "Wonderland of Bert Kaempfert" one song has escaped to be issued on a CD and that is "My Life For Your Love" and I wonder why ? I would also like to see new releases/remastered versions of "Hold Me", "My Way Of Life", "Traces of Love" "6 plus 6" and "The Most Beautiful Girl" and with the original cover art. They were released long time ago on CD as part of the Collection series.
Here is a summary of the 12 CDs that will be released in April 2010:

A Swingin’ Safari – Re-release
- released 3 times already : 1 time in 1985 (I assume) with the original cover art and in 1992 as part of the Collection series both having catalogue number 825 494-2.
- part of the Good Life Music series Vol 10/16 on a 2 for 1 CD 589 817 -2 released in 2002

Blue Midnight – Re-release
- released in 1985 under the title “Red Roses For A Blue Lady” – track listing in different order from Blue Midnight
- released in 1996 as part of the GLM series Vol. 01 – 533 907-2

Combo Capers – Re-release
- released in 1996 as part of the Collection series – 531 643-2

Dancing In Wonderland
- released in 1992 as part of the Collection series – 513 245-2

Dreaming In Wonderland

- released in 1985 under the title “Wonderland By Night” 827 502-2 “Wonderland By Night” is replacing “Love Letters” from the original album.

Living It Up – Re-release
- released in 1994 523 535 2 as part of the Collection series
- released in 2003 9809940 as part of the 3 CD box set “Wunderland bei Nacht”

Love Letters - Re-release
- released in 1997 537 469-2 as part of the GLM series Vol 07

Portugal - Fado, Wine & Sunshine
- released in 1996 531 644-2 as part of the Collection series under the title “April In Portugal


That Latin Feeling – Re-release
- released in 1997 537 468 – 2 as part of the GLM series vol. 06
- released in 2002 589 818 – 2 as part of the GLM series vol. 05/06 on a 2 for 1 CD together with “Tropical Sunrise”

The Magic Music of Far Away Places

- Re-released on CD by Taragon in the US in 1997, the only exception from the LP version was an alternative version of “Monte Carlo”
- Now the question is : will the 2010 re-release be the LP version from Decca DL 74616 or will it be the Polydor LP 237 656, which was only released in England and Australia (in Australia the title was“Faraway Places”) ?


With A Sound In My Heart
- Released in 2003 9809942 as part of the 3 CD box set “Wunderland bei Nacht”

Wonderland By Night
- Released in 2003 9809941 as part of the 3 CD box set “Wunderland bei Nacht”

I agree with Gerhard about the shows with Freddy/Sylvia Vrethammer that these should be released on DVD/CD. Gerhard please note that Bear Family has released a Cindy Ellis CD some years ago including her work with BK.

Kind regards. Nils Folke Persson.

Thanks for your indiciation referring Cindy Ellis, dear Nils Folke. I didn´t know that. Thanks to Bear Family, who had released also the wonderful record Ivo Robic singt Bert Kaempfert. Kind regards Gerhard

Thanks, Nils-Folke, for the valuable list above, with explanations of exactly what has been released and what has not.

If BK music is really switched on, they will take note of what you wrote about albums that need to be re-released. I agree with everything you have written. "The Wonderland of Bert Kaempfert" and "Let's Go Bowling" should definitely be re-released, and "Hold Me", "My Way Of Life", "Traces of Love" "6 plus 6" and "The Most Beautiful Girl" too.

This is great news.

I also have some requests for re-issue:

• "That Happy Feeling"

• "African Beat"

• Wonderland by Night"

These albums were at one time released in the states as CD's by Taragon but have been out of print for years and their value on the open market and eBay have skyrocketed.

And now to my last request, can these, and the entire catalog of BK music for that matter, finally be made available on iTunes?

I have made a case for this in other posts, with responders concerned over sonic quality. Many headline artists that have not made their music available on iTunes due to concerns of sonic quality, have now made them available due to the performance of the AAC codec. Also, when Decca/MCA released BK's albums here in the states, they were also available on cassette and even 8-Track formats. AAC (and even standard mp3) is far superior to these formats hands down, so AAC would be a step up from the formats these albums were originally released on.

Having BK's music on iTunes would allow a fan to purchase albums from the entire catalog at a reasonable price.

Just my 2 cents.

Glen

Hello Glen,

"Wonderland By Night" is part of the "new" cds coming out next month. The only difference from the US version is a different order in the track listing from the original German LP.

"That Happy Feeling" is actually the German "A Swingin' Safari", the only difference being that "Afrikaan Beat" was omitted and replaced by "Sunday In Madrid" from the "Let's Go Bowling" LP. "Sunday In Madrid" was a follow-up for Billy Vaughn after his success with "A Swingin' Safari".

"Afrikaan Beat and other favorites". For me this is a sampler/compilation LP for the US market. This LPs contains tracks from:
"Dancing In Wonderland" - 1 track
"Dreaming In Wonderland" - 6 tracks
"Living It Up" - 2 tracks
"A Swingin' Safari" - 1 track plus 2 tracks"
"Trumpet In The Night" and
"Bert's Tune". At the time of the release of the album both songs were only released in the US and in Japan, however, in Japan under different titles.

"Trumpet In The Night" was never released in Europe on CD so let us call this for a "bonus track" whereas "Bert's Tune" was released by Polydor on the 2 CD set "A Musical Biography". Bobby Hackett has also recorded this song on this tribute LP to Bert Kaempfert.

Decca in the US continued their "amputation" of the German LPs with their next release "Lights Out, Sweet Dreams" which contained 10 tracks from the "Dreaming In Wonderland" LP.

It was actually only from 1968 with the "Love That Bert Kaempfert" that US/German releases were identical up to and including the album "The Most Beautiful Girl" although "Yesterday and Today" in Europe became "Fabulous fifties and new delights" in the US.

Kind regards. Nils Folke Persson.

Now we have the 1st of May - where can i see or buy the twelve spoken re-releases of CDs which sould come to the market during gone April ? Why gets this great site so badly and seldom updated ? Why is it not possible to make an own section here with all the album-front-covers of the Polydor- and Decca-records together with the track-listing ( see the Ray-Conniff- and Percy-Faith-websites ! ) ? - Kindest regards from Vienna, Karl-Walter

amazon is the answer,i found all the new re-releases there.sorry for my bad english.michel

Geändert von michel am 01.05.2010 um 22:21

It's great to see that many of Bert Kaempfert's albums (some of which have been out of print for a decade) will finally be available again. I'm particularly glad that the original Polydor artwork has been restored. I don't think, however, that I'll buy the CDs again - after I've bought most of this material twice (Polydor and Taragon) during the last few years. Like other members, I would appreciate a continuation of the original artwork section at the homepage. The original covers are very much part of the enjoyment for me (most of them are masterpieces in their own right) and shouldn't have been replaced in the first place. I've counted nearly five different artworks for "Wonderland By Night", so it would indeed be interesting to see those released here.

Many thanks for the info on the alternate "Monte Carlo". We shall see, if the new CD will have it (I honestly doubt it, though). Another interesting question is whether the new "April In Portugal" CD will be a copy of the extant mono Polydor/stereo Taragon CD or a new re-master from the Polydor stereo mix.

I would also welcome a re-issue of all Kaempfert solo tracks that have yet to see the daylight on CD. I assume if "Ssh!... It's Bert Kaempfert", "Let's Go Bowling" and the 1950s singles would be re-issued, the book would be pretty much be closed...

Best regards,

Stefan

For the artwork then it is not the original artwork for:
Blue Midnight
Dreaming In Wonderland
With A Sound In My Heart.

When Wonderland By Night came out originally I have seen 2 covers from that time and I believe that the one with the skyscrapers is the original one although the one with the man and woman at a beach could be the first one. At least this cover was used on the Japanese LP.

"Ssh!... It's Bert Kaempfert" is from the budget label Contour with 10 tracks only. The original is a Polydor LP titled "Bert Kaempfert Special" released in 1967 with 12 tracks. Some tracks are Bob Parker material and some tracks should be credited to "Die Modern Mixers und ihre twangy guitarre", which of course is Ladi Geisler.

Kind regards. Nils Folke Persson.

You are right, Alistair : the mono sound of Bob Parker record was not as good as stereo Rahlstedt recordings. But we can see in classical music what engineers can do with mono recordings of the 50's : sometimes they sound better than stereo. Also some records released in mono were in fact recorded on 2 or more tracks. I have the recording of "Don Giovanni" recorded as far as 1955 on many tracks. I dont know if it is the case here. Engineers ca make miracles now. So, all we can do is wait and hope...

From Amazon - New re-releases:
1. One Lonely Night (Re-Release) von Bert Kaempfert (Audio CD - 2010)
2. Hold Me (Re-Release) von Bert Kaempfert (Audio CD - 2010)
3. My Way of Life (Re-Release)
4. Love That Bert Kaempfert (Re-Release) von Bert Kaempfert (Audio CD - 2010)
5. The World We Knew (Re-Release) von Bert Kaempfert (Audio CD - 2010)
6. Traces of Love (Re-Release) von Bert Kaempfert (Audio CD - 2010)

Release date: 15. 10.2010

Yet again we Kaempfert fans are being "short changed" as no new material are being released. I am convinced that there are some more tracks hidden in the vaults.

What is interesting to know is if this time Polydor can get the track listing/title names correct on the "Traces Of Love" album i.e. the "Love Me Happy"/"Are We Becoming Strangers".

Kind regards. NFP