James Last
German composer and big band leader (1929–2015) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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James Last (German pronunciation: [tʃeɪms last],[1] [dʃeɪms lɑːst];[2] born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015),[3] also known as Hansi, was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist (Last won the award for "best bassist" in Germany in each of the years 1950–1952[3]), his trademark "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the United Kingdom, with 65 of his albums reaching the charts in the UK alone.[4] His composition "Happy Heart" became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and Petula Clark.
James Last | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Hans Last |
Also known as | Hansi |
Born | (1929-04-17)17 April 1929 Bremen, Germany |
Died | 9 June 2015(2015-06-09) (aged 86) Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. |
Genres | Big band |
Occupation(s) | Composer |
Instrument(s) | Double bass |
Years active | 1946–2015 |
Labels | |
Website | www |
Last is reported to have sold an estimated 200 million records worldwide in his lifetime[5][6] (figures vary widely, for example British Hit Singles & Albums (2006) reports 100 million at that time[7]), of which 80 million were sold by 1973[8] - and won numerous awards including 200 gold and 14 platinum discs in Germany, the International MIDEM Prize at MIDEM in 1969,[9] and West Germany's highest civilian award, the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) in 1978.[10] His album This Is James Last remained a UK best-seller for 48 weeks, and his song "Games That Lovers Play" has been covered over a hundred times.[9] Last undertook his final tour months before his death at age 86, upon discovering in September 2014 that an illness (the exact illness was never disclosed[11]) had worsened. His final UK performance was his 90th at London's Royal Albert Hall,[4] more than any other performer except Eric Clapton.[3]
Last's trademark sound employed big band arrangements of well-known tunes with a jaunty dance beat, often heavy on bass and brass.[12] Despite at times being derided by critics and purists as the "king of elevator music"[3] or "acoustic porridge",[6] his style and music were popular in numerous countries and cultures, including Japan, South Korea, the former Soviet Union, the US and UK, and his native Germany,[13] where it became "the archetypal soundtrack of any German cellar bar party",[8] and made him the "most commercially successful bandleader" of the second half of the 20th century.[3] Last's composition Jägerlatein is known in Ireland as the theme tune to The Sunday Game, a live sporting show which follows GAA hurling and Gaelic football All Ireland Championships since 1979.