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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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, with 65 of his albums reaching the charts in the UK alone. His composition " Happy Heart" became an international success in interpretations by
Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...
and Petula Clark. 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 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 ...
's highest civilian award, the
Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellec ...
(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'' 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 The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
, more than any other performer except
Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...
. 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 purists as the "king of elevator music" or "acoustic
porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...
", 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 transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, 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: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
as "The Sound of Summer" due to use as the theme tune to '' The Sunday Game'', a live sporting show which follows GAA
hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
and
Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...
All Ireland Championships since 1979.


Early life

Last was born to Louis and Martha Last in
Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...
,
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 betwee ...
. He was the younger brother of Robert Last and Werner Last (aka
Kai Warner Kai Warner was the stage name of Werner Last (27 October 1926 – 9 July 1982), a Germany, German bandleader and musician, and the brother of James Last and Robert Last (drummer), Robert Last. Biography Born in Bremen, Warner took piano lesson ...
). 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 keyboa ...
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 #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, and he ran messages to air defence command posts during the raids. He entered the Bückeburg 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 Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...
, 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 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 Helmut Zacharias (27 January 192028 February 2002) was a German violinist and composer who created over 400 works and sold 14 million records. He also appeared in a number of films, usually playing musicians. Early life Helmut Zacharias was bo ...
, Freddy Quinn,
Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Hum ...
, Alfred Hause and Caterina Valente.


Work

Last first released albums in the U.S. under the titles ''The American Patrol'' on Warner Bros. Records 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 Gilber ...
. 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 grou ...
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 " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
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 ''American Gigolo'' is a 1980 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader, and starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton. It tells the story about a high-priced escort in Los Angeles (Gere) who becomes romantically ...
'' (1980) composed by
Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the " Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had ...
, 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 stat ...
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 appeared on the soundtrack of the Quentin Tarantino movie '' Kill Bill Volume 1''. He won numerous popular and professional awards, including ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...
'' 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 Creedence Clearwater Revival, also referred to as Creedence and CCR, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band initially consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty; his brother, ...
's " Proud Mary", which reached No. 22 on the Adult Contemporary chart in early 1971). Last was awarded the Carl Alan Award by
Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth  ...
for being the leader of the most popular dance band of 1981. In Canada, he had three hits on the '' RPM'' Top Singles charts ("
El Cóndor Pasa EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American ...
" 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 " Happy Heart" and "Music from Across the Way", both recorded by
Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...
, "Games That Lovers Play", recorded by
Eddie Fisher Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, ''The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress Eli ...
, and " Fool", recorded by
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
. 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 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 l ...
. 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 ...
and
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
. 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 Freddy Quinn) * ''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 The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
'' (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'' (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 ...
'' (1969) * ''
The Captain ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' (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 Ha ...
'' (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 ...
'' (2007)


Singles (selection)

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


See also

* James Last Orchestra


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