James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015), also known as Hansi, was a German composer and

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

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), his trademark "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, with 65 of his albums reaching the charts in the UK alone. His composition "

Happy Heart "Happy Heart" is a song written by James Last and Jackie Rae. Versions of the song by Petula Clark and Andy Williams charted simultaneously in 1969 and had their best showings on '' Billboard'' magazine's Easy Listening chart, where Clark pea ...

" became an international success in interpretations by Andy Williams and

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

. Last is reported to have sold an estimated 200 million albums worldwide in his lifetime (figures vary widely, for example ''

British Hit Singles & Albums ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of ...

'' (2006) reports 100 million at that time), of which 80 million were sold by 1973 - and won numerous awards including 200 gold and 14 platinum discs in Germany, the International MIDEM Prize at

MIDEM Midem is the acronym for Marché International du Disque et de l'Édition Musicale, which is organised annually in and around the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France. The trade show, organized by Reed MIDEM, a subsidiary of Re ...

in 1969, and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

's highest civilian award, the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Order of Merit of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

) in 1978. His album ''

This Is James Last This may refer to: * ''This'', the singular proximal demonstrative pronoun Places * This, or ''Thinis'', an ancient city in Upper Egypt * This, Ardennes, a commune in France People with the surname * Hervé This, French culinary chemist Arts ...

'' remained a UK best-seller for 48 weeks, and his song " Games That Lovers Play" has been covered over a hundred times. 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) had worsened. His final UK performance was his 90th at London's Royal Albert Hall, more than any other performer except Eric Clapton. Last's trademark sound employed big band arrangements of well-known tunes with a jaunty dance beat, often heavy on bass and brass. Despite at times being derided by critics and

purist Purism is an arts movement that took place between 1918 and 1925. Purism may also refer to: *Purism (Spanish architecture) (1530–1560), a phase of Renaissance architecture in Spain *Purism (company) Purism, SPC is an American computer techn ...

s as the "king of

elevator music Elevator music (also known as Muzak, piped music, or lift music) is a type of background music played in rooms where many people come together (that is, with no intention whatsoever to listen to music), and during telephone calls when placed on ...

" or "acoustic porridge", his style and music were popular in numerous countries and cultures, including Japan, South Korea, the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, the US and UK, and his native Germany, where it became "the archetypal soundtrack of any German cellar bar party", and made him the "most commercially successful bandleader" of the second half of the 20th century. Last's composition Jägerlatein is also widely celebrated in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

as "The Sound of Summer" due to use as the theme tune to ''

The Sunday Game ''The Sunday Game'' is RTÉ's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ2 every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ2's longest-running shows, having been on air since 1 ...

'', a live sporting show which follows GAA hurling and Gaelic football All Ireland Championships since 1979.

Early life

Last was born to Louis and Martha Last in Bremen,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He was the younger brother of Robert Last and Werner Last (aka Kai Warner). His father was an official at the postal and public works department of the city of Bremen and Last grew up in the suburb of Sebaldsbrück. He began studying the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

at age 10, although he could play simple tunes such as the folk song " Hänschen klein" when he was 9. His first music teacher felt he lacked any musical talent. Last started playing more actively with his second tutor and switched to the

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

as a teenager. His home city of Bremen was bombed heavily during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and he ran messages to air defence command posts during the raids. He entered the

Bückeburg Bückeburg (Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Population: 21,0 ...

Military Music School of the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

at the age of 14 and learned to play bass, piano and

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

. After the end of the war, he joined Hans Günther Oesterreich's

Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (RB), Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerhaven). With its headquarters sited in Bremen, Radio Brem ...

Dance Orchestra. In 1948 he became the leader of the Last-Becker Ensemble, which performed for seven years. He was voted as the best bassist in the country in a German

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

poll for 1950, 1951 and 1952. When the Last-Becker Ensemble disbanded, he became the in-house arranger for

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

, as well as a number of European radio stations. During the next decade he helped arrange hits for artists such as Helmut Zacharias,

Freddy Quinn Freddy Quinn (born Franz Eugen Helmut Manfred Nidl; 27 September 1931) is an Austrian singer and actor whose popularity in the German-speaking world soared in the late 1950s and 1960s. As Hans Albers had done two generations before him, Quin ...

, Lolita, Alfred Hause and

Caterina Valente Caterina Valente (born 14 January 1931) is a French multilingual singer, guitarist, and dancer of Italian ethnicity. Valente is a polyglot; she speaks six languages, and sings in eleven. While she is best known as a performer in Europe, Valent ...

Work

Last first released albums in the U.S. under the titles ''The American Patrol'' on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

around 1964. He also released a series of nine albums in a series called ''Classics Up To Date'' which served up arrangements of classical melodies with strings, rhythm and wordless chorus from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s. Last's 1965 album, '' Non Stop Dancing,'' was a recording of brief renditions of popular songs, all tied together by an insistent dance beat and crowd noises. It was a hit and helped make him a major European star. Over the next four decades, Last released over 190 records, including several more volumes of ''Non Stop Dancing''. On these records, he varied his formula by adding different songs from different countries and genres, as well as guest performers like

Richard Clayderman Richard Clayderman (; born Philippe Pagès , 28 December 1953 in Paris) is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville, Olivier Toussaint and Marc Minier, instrumental renditions of popular ...

and

Astrud Gilberto Astrud Gilberto (; born Astrud Evangelina Weinert, March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer. She gained international attention in the 1960s following her recording of the song "The Girl from Ipanema". Biography Astrud Gilbe ...

. He also had his own successful television series throughout the 1970s with guests including

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group ...

and Lynsey de Paul which was screened across Europe. Last's trademark sound employed big band arrangements of well-known tunes with a jaunty dance beat, often heavy on bass and brass. Though his concerts and albums were consistently successful, especially in the UK, where he had 52 hit albums between 1967 and 1986, which made him second only to

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

in charting records, he had relatively few hit singles. In the UK, his only chart singles were "The Seduction", a cover version of the theme from '' American Gigolo'' (1980) composed by Giorgio Moroder, and "Biscaya" from the album ''Biscaya''. His single "Mornings at Seven" became a familiar tune in Britain after the BBC used it as the theme music for an ice skating program. It was released on 7" vinyl in 1968 and has been included on ''By Request'' and ''Eighty Not Out''. In the US, where "The Seduction" became a Top 40 hit, peaking at No. 28 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 22 on the

Adult Contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

in May 1980. Last was somewhat more successful on the singles charts. In 2003, his song " Einsamer Hirte" (The Lonely Shepherd) which features the pan flute of

Gheorghe Zamfir Gheorghe Zamfir (; born April 6, 1941) is a Romanian nai (pan flute) musician. Zamfir is known for playing an expanded version of normally 20-pipe nai, with 22, 25, 28 or even 30 pipes, to increase its range, and obtaining as many as eight ov ...

appeared on the soundtrack of the Quentin Tarantino movie ''

Kill Bill Volume 1 ''Kill Bill: Volume 1'' is a 2003 American martial arts film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Uma Thurman as the Bride, who swears revenge on a team of assassins (Lucy Liu, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and Vivica A. Fox) an ...

''. He won numerous popular and professional awards, including '' Billboard'' magazine's Star of the Year trophy in 1976, and was honoured for lifetime achievement with the German

ECHO In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

prize in 1994. His song "Music from Across the Way" (recorded by Andy Williams in 1972) is a melody with a classical feeling and was a worldwide hit; it was the only other Last single apart from "The Seduction" to reach the U.S. Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 84 (and No. 18 on the Adult Contemporary chart) in late 1971. (His only other U.S. chart single was a double-sided entry featuring remakes of the Village Stompers' " Washington Square" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "

Proud Mary "Proud Mary" is a song written by John Fogerty and first recorded by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was released by Fantasy Records as a single from the band's second studio album, '' Bayou Country'', which was issued by the same ...

", which reached No. 22 on the Adult Contemporary chart in early 1971). Last was awarded the

Carl Alan Award Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...

by Princess Margaret for being the leader of the most popular dance band of 1981. In Canada, he had three hits on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Singles charts (" El Cóndor Pasa" at No. 46, "Music from Across the Way" at No. 28, "The Seduction" at No. 32) and four on the Adult Contemporary/MOR charts ("Music from..." at No. 2, "Heart of Gold" at No. 17, "The Seduction" at No. 36, "Reach for a Star" at No. 20). Songs composed by Last which achieved success in the US include "

" and "Music from Across the Way", both recorded by Andy Williams, "Games That Lovers Play", recorded by Eddie Fisher, and "

Fool Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to: *A jester, also called a ''fool'', a type of historical entertainer known for their witty jokes *An insult referring to someone of low intelligence or easy gullibility Arts, entertainment and media Fictio ...

", recorded by

. By the time of his farewell tour in the spring of 2015, Last was reported to have sold well over 100 million albums. His signature piece was " Orange Blossom Special". He played this at almost every concert. He encouraged the band to have fun with it and sometimes the band members would go into the audience and make a conga line with duck head umbrellas. It was always a popular piece at his concerts. In February 2015, after almost 50 years on tour, James Last announced that he was finally bidding adieu to the stage. The last concert of his Non Stop Music James Last in Concert 2015 farewell tour took place in

Lanxess Arena Lanxess Arena (originally Kölnarena, German for ''Cologne Arena'') is an indoor arena, in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known as the 18,500-capacity home of the Kölner Haie. The arena opened in 1998 and can accommodate 20,000 p ...

in Cologne on 26 April 2015.

Personal life

Last married his first wife, Waltraud, in 1955; they had two children, Ronald and Caterina. After 42 years of marriage, Waltraud died in 1997. Two years later, Last married Christine Grundner from

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. Last and Christine divided their time between homes in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. He gave much credit to Christine and son Ronald for help with his music.

Financial difficulties

Despite being the "most commercially successful bandleader" of the second half of the 20th century, Last's extravagant spending and "incompetent" financial advice led him at one stage to the "brink of ruin." James Last did not make as big a fortune as his immense record sales would suggest. He fell victim to a number of investment fraudsters, starting with his tax advisor. He bought oil rigs, wineries and cotton fields in the US as depreciation assets. When he wanted to visit his wineries in 1985, it turned out that none of the projects existed. As a result, the tax breaks ceased and there were large additional claims. Last was barely prevented from selling his publishing rights. He took out a loan from the Hamburger Sparkasse and was not financially debt-free again until shortly before his 70th birthday.

Illness, final tour and death

In September 2014 Last learned that a "life threatening" illness had worsened (the exact details were never disclosed), and in early 2015 he announced his retirement from touring would take place following a final "goodbye tour", which commenced in Germany and ended in London. Last died less than three months later, on 9 June 2015 in Florida at the age of 86. Writing in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', Spencer Leigh suggested that Last's Non-Stop Dancing albums "paved the way for disco and dance mixes". Asked if he minded being labelled the "King of Corn", Last reportedly replied "No, because it is true."

Awards

List of awards: * MIDEM-Trophy, Cannes for 1 million ''non Stop Dancing'' records. * Deutscher Schallplattenpreis from ''Fono Forum'' for the new arrangement of Bertholt Brecht's ''Dreigroschenoper''. * ''Europa'' - Europawelle Saar. * ''Goldenes Grammophon'', Munich. * ''Silber Möwe'', Hamburg. * ''Gold Leaf Award'' (Canada) for ''Super Non Stop Dancing''. * ''Gold Leaf Award'' (Canada) for ''James Dos His Thing''. * ''Gold Award'', Record World ''Top German Orchestra''. * ''Country Musik Award'', (ASCAO) for ''When The Snow Is On The Rose''. * ''ASCAP Award'' for Elvis Presley recording of ''Fool''. * ''Goldene Westfalenhalle''. * ''Goldener Notenschlüssel'' from the German Music Publisher Sikorski. * ''Ehrenlöwe'' from Radio Luxembourg. * ''Star Of The Year'' Trophy from Music Week and Billboard, London. * ''Robert Stolz-Preis'' from the Robert-Stolz-Stiftung. * ''Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande'' from the German President Walter Scheel. * ''Die Goldene Kamera'' - Hörzu. * Award from Cashbox for ''The Seduction'' for the best instrumental production of the year. * Special-Prize for 52 Chart-Albums, Great Britain. * ''Goldene Stimmgabel'' from ZDF 1991. * ''Goldene Eins'' 1994. * ''Echo 1994 Life Award'' 1995. * ''Goldene Europa'' 1998.

Discography

Productions of James Last: (As Hans Last, Orlando and James Last)

Studio albums

Live albums

* ''Freddy Live'' (1968) (live concert with

) * ''Live in Copenhagen'' (1970) (bootleg based on radio broadcast, not official release) * ''James Last Live'' (1974) (2 LP-album) * ''Live in Hannover'' (1976) (bootleg based on radio broadcast, not official release) * ''Live in London'' (1978) (2 LP-album) * ''Live in London'' (1979) (bootleg based on radio broadcast, not official release) * ''Live in Tokyo'' (1979) (bootleg based on radio broadcast, not official release) * ''The Berlin-Concert ’87'' (1987) * ''Live at the Royal Albert Hall'' (1990) (bootleg based on radio broadcast, not official release) * ''The Best of Live on Tour'' (1998) * ''Concerts'' (1999) * ''Gentleman of Music'' (2000) * ''A World of Music'' (2002) * ''Live in Europe'' (2006) * ''Live at the Royal Albert Hall'' (released as 1 DVD-edition and 2 CD-edition) (2008) * ''Music is My World'' (2011) (first three tracks only; the rest is a compilation of old studio recordings)

Soundtracks

* ''

Morning's at Seven ''Morning's at Seven'' is a play by Paul Osborn. Its plot focuses on four aging sisters living in a small Midwestern town in 1928, and it deals with ramifications within the family when two of them begin to question their lives and decide to mak ...

'' (1968) * ''

When Sweet Moonlight Is Sleeping in the Hills ''When Sweet Moonlight Is Sleeping in the Hills'' (German: ''Wenn süß das Mondlicht auf den Hügeln schläft'') is a 1969 West German drama film directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner and starring Werner Hinz, Luitgard Im and Diana Körner.Staub p.1 ...

'' (1969) * '' The Captain'' (1971) * ''

Schwarzwaldfahrt aus Liebeskummer ''Schwarzwaldfahrt aus Liebeskummer'' () is a 1974 German comedy film directed by Werner Jacobs and starring Roy Black, Barbara Nielsen and Heidi Hansen. Cast * Roy Black ... Hannes Cremer * Barbara Nielsen ... Renate Berndorf * Heidi H ...

'' (1974) * ''Grenzenloses Himmelblau'' (1985) * '' Traumschiff-Melodien'' (1986) * ' (1988) * ''

Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps ''Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps'' (german: Warum Männer nicht zuhören und Frauen schlecht einparken, literally "Why Men Don't Listen and Women Park Badly") is a 2007 German comedy film directed by Leander Haußmann Leander H ...

'' (2007)

Singles (selection)

* ''Tricks in Rhythm'' (1959) (EP, single) * "Midnight in December" (1966) (single) * The Lonely Shepherd with

(1977) (single) (used in a number of films)

Compilation albums (selection)

* ''Fanfare'' (1967) * ''Does His Thing (Happy Music)'' (1970) * ''El Condor Pasa'' (1971) * ''In Concert 2'' (1971) * ''Super Non-Stop Dancing'' (1972) * ''Stereo Spectacular'' (1973) * ''Il Y A Toujours Du Soleil (Golden Hearts)'' (James Last &

) (1990) * ''Country Cousins'' (1992) * ''Best of Kapt'n James'' (1998) * ''Classics Up to Date 8'' (1998) * ''Sólo Éxitos'' (Polydor 543 686-2 Venezuela 2001) * ''In Los Angeles'' (Well Kept Secret 1975) (2008) * ''Eighty Not Out'' (released as a 3-CD edition) (2010) * ''Gold Top 100'' (Brunswick 5CD 533 240-1 DE 2011) * ''The Complete Collection'' (Universal 8CD 533 347-4 IT 2011) * ''Glanzlichter'' (Koch Universal 277 198-4 DE 2011) * ''Classic Christmas'' (Spectrum Music SPEC 2083 UK 2011) * ''Christmas With Romance'' (Universal 533 619-2 IT 2011) * ''Voodoo-Party / Well Kept Secret'' (Vocalion 2on1 CDSML 8477 UK 2011) * ''My Personal Favourites'' (Polydor 2CD 470 979-9 DE 2014) * ''Happy Summer Night / Rock Me Gently'' (Vocalion 2on1 CDLK 4539 UK 2014) * ''World Hits / Hair'' (Vocalion 2CD CDSML 8507 UK 2014) * ''Beachparty'' (Polydor 4CD 472 433-2 DE 2015) * ''Dancing à gogo'' (Polydor 4CD 472 544-1 DE 2015) * ''Silver Collection'' (RISA / Force10Music / Universal BUDCD 1400 (435 399–0) ZA 2015) * ''Ich find' Schlager toll'' (Polydor 536 934 4 DE 2016)

Chart positions

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* *
"Relentlessly happy - James Last at 85"
Deutsche welle, 2014-04-16 {{DEFAULTSORT:Last, James 1929 births 2015 deaths 20th-century German musicians Easy listening musicians German bandleaders German composers German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) German expatriates in the United States German jazz bandleaders German jazz composers German jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists German songwriters Jazz arrangers Male jazz composers Musicians from Bremen Polydor Records artists Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Warner Records artists James Last Orchestra members Last-Becker Ensemble members Burials at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery