I enjoyed your very funny and vivid post. When I was finished
reading.....for some strange reason,Lawrence Welk popped into my head. ;-)
(of German extraction too) And yes,Andre Rieu is fairly well known over
here. A friend of mine has one of his videos. Also, he's on PBS here
sometimes. (I think the ladies really go for him..the way he wears his hair
coiffed around his rather nice looking face....the popmaster of Vienna)
Bree
>James Last - or as he was called here James Overlast (Dutch for noise
>pollution) - was/is a German band leader who has been running a very
>successful show for over 35 years here. In the 70s he was a downright
>phenomenon in Germany, Holland, Belgium and, I believe, the Scandinavian
>countries. Yes, he specialized in medleys and at the time it seemed that he
>produced an album a week and was on television every night playing for
>gigantic crowds, on every German and Dutch channel - much like Andre Rieu
>is
>now (is he known in the US). He sold fantastic amounts of record. On flee
>markets in Holland, it is fair to say that every second LP you find is a
>James
>Last one. I can't believe someone ent through all of them to find you a
>Joni
>
>James Last would medley anything. As long as he got the audience (average
>IQ
>of room temperature numbers) clapping and Non-Stop Dancing. Combinations
>were
>fabulous: Should he still do it, I would not be surprised that he would
>take a
>gangsta rap tune, a Mariah Carey song, a Dolly Parton tune, Hotel
>California,
>Metallica and Yankee Doodle Dandy and call it American Medley. The scene
>would
>look as follows: Long rows of Germans sitting at tables, looking serious
>and
>clapping stiffly but enthousiastically as if their arms were connected to
>elastic bands (nothing as funny as serious Germans clapping - my friends
>and I
>used to gather to watch these shows and roll over the floor laughing
>exclaiming "Zooper, zooper.") James Last conducting his band with his back
>to
>the musicians and his ever-smiling face to the camera looking like a lower
>middle management bank employee ("mortgages up to 40,000" department).
>Velkom
>zu ze hotel Kelly Fornia. The crowd would go mad. Women of questionable
>dressing taste would drag their poor men into the isles to dance. Confetti
>would pour from above (never understood this combination of giant German
>pints
>of beer and confetti - I guess that's why they have lids on them). Three
>hours
>of clapping. And everyone would look serious! Hilarious. Prime time German
>television in the 70s - and still, believe it or not. The shows would last
>at
>least 3 hours and that is a lot of Medleys.
>
>James Last was every music lover's nightmare in Europe in the 70s. Muzak at
>its worst. And everywhere, even in the streets. Never expected to see HIM
>featured on the JMDL. But to be fair to the musicians ... I once saw a
>behind
>the scenes documentary in which the band was practicing - and here was a
>big
>band from hell playing Duke Ellington and great big band tunes like young
>gods. "Of course we can never play these on stage. Ve have a different
>audience." Yip.
>
>If any Joni member ever visits me here in Holland, I will treat him/her to
>a
>Saturday night of German television. It will be the zooper highlight of
>your
>trip, I'll promise you. James Overlast :-))) ... you made my morning, Bob!
>
>Oh yes, anyone in Europe who wants the latest volume of Bob's covers (or
>earlier releases), please write to me for more details.
>
>Feeling zooper at the Dutch coast,
>
>John
>
>P.S. Sorry Karen, Helga, Claudia and others of German origin or inclination
>on
>the list. But it is a Dutch national pastime to make fun of Germany and
>Germans. And to quote John Cleese: Don't mention the football !!
>
>PPS The Stars on 45 phenomenon was a Dutch project. I apologize to the
>world
>in ret
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