Living in Portugal

I'm a music nerd from a small town in South Africa. Currently living in Portugal.

His indistinguishable sound – sophisticated, swinging and catchy – made German band leader Bert Kaempfert a bestseller in the 50s and 60s. His American Decca albums sold millions of copies and brought him four gold records in America alone. In 2023 Bert Kaempfert would have celebrated his 100th birthday, for this special occasion a 24-CD box set collects his American Decca albums recorded between 1958 – 1970, an era filled with many super-hits from Kaempfert’s pen, such as “Wonderland By Night”, “A Swingin’ Safari”, “Spanish Eyes”, „Danke Schoen“, “Sweet Maria”, “Strangers In The Night”, „L.O.V.E.“, and “The World We Knew”. The BERT KAEMPFERT DECCA COLLECTION features 24 albums in an attractively designed box. The individual albums are housed in paper sleeves with the iconic original Decca covers, which exude the flair of those years with their colorful lifestyle motifs. In addition to the complete original albums, the BERT KAEMPFERT DECCA COLLECTION contains more than 35 bonus tracks as well as the worldwide CD premiere of the album “Pete Fountain Plays Bert Kaempfert”, which the famous clarinetist recorded with the Kaempfert Orchestra in 1967. A detailed booklet tells the extraordinary story of the German musician who conquered the world and wrote music history.

Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert, (16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980), better known as Bert Kaempfert, was a German orchestra leader, music producer, and songwriter. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-known songs, including "Strangers in the Night" and "Moon Over Naples". Kaempfert was born in Hamburg, Germany, where he received his lifelong nickname, Fips, and studied at the local school of music. A multi-instrumentalist, he was hired by Hans Busch to play with his orchestra before serving as a bandsman in the German Navy during World War II. He later formed his own big band, toured with them, then worked as an arranger and producer, making hit records with Freddy Quinn and Ivo Robić. In 1961, he hired The Beatles to back Tony Sheridan for an album called My Bonnie. The album and its singles, released by Polydor Records, were the Beatles' first commercially released recordings.