Horst Wende
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Horst Wende (5 November 1919 – 23 January 1996) was a German bandleader, arranger and composer. He made
easy-listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit ...
records under his own name as well as under the name Roberto Delgado. He was part of the wave of German-based easy-listening artists who were popular in the 1960s and 1970s, along with
Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born ; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-kno ...
and
James Last James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015) was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist, his trademark "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and ...
.


Biography

Born in
Zeitz Zeitz (; , ) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. History First a Slavic pagan settlem ...
,
Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
, he showed musical proficiency at an early age. He played in his grandfather's band in a restaurant when he was six, and by his teens he was accomplished at playing
piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
,
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
,
xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African ...
and
marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...
. He studied music at the
Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest music ...
. He served in the
German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, but was captured by the British. During his captivity in a Danish prisoner-of-war camp, he met a guitarist named Ladi Geisler, with whom he soon formed a small combo. After the war, he led various combos (which usually included Geisler) in the Salambo Night Club from René Durand & The Tarantella Night Club near the famous
Reeperbahn The Reeperbahn () is a street and entertainment district in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife (the other being Sternschanze) and also the city's major red-light district. In German, it is also n ...
. Horst also played with British Service musicians and big bands such as
Edmundo Ros Edmundo Ros OBE, FRAM (7 December 1910 – 21 October 2011), born Edmund William Ross, was a Trinidadian-Venezuelan musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain. He directed a highly popular Latin American orche ...
. Settling in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, he became part of the burgeoning music scene in the port city. Signed to the
Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a 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 ...
label in the 1950s, as a composer, producer and musician he made
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
and dance band music under his own name. He also started with Middle & South America music recordings under the alias of Roberto Delgado, and with piano albums as Mister Pepper. The Delgado albums became popular in Europe, and then found an audience in the UK, Japan and North America and Australia as
Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a 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 ...
opened up several international subsidiaries. It is interesting to note that Wende recorded his albums using the same group of studio musicians who recorded for Kaempfert and Last; in fact, guitarist Ladi Geisler also provided the distinct knack-bass guitar to the Kaempfert sound. The Delgado recordings were initially Latin-oriented, but they eventually covered a number of different musical genres including African, Italian, Jewish, Oriental, Russian, Greek and Jamaican music as well as Broadway musicals and current pop hits. It could be argued that Wende/Delgado helped to pioneer world music. He managed to break into the German singles market with his version of "Mexico" in 1962. He also arranged music for other German artists such as German folk/pop singer
Knut Kiesewetter Knut Kiesewetter (13 September 1941 – 28 December 2016) was a German jazz musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. Kiesewetter was born in Szczecin, Stettin (Szczecin). He began his career in the age of 14, playing trombone and singing. He ...
. Horst made several albums with great international singers including
Conny Froboess Cornelia Froboess (; born 28 October 1943) is a German actress and a teen idol of the 1950s and early 1960s. During that time, Froboess appeared in many West Germany, West German and Austrian musical films, especially after the rock and roll wav ...
,
Wencke Myhre Wenche Synnøve Myhre (born 15 February 1947), known in German as Wencke Myhre, is a Norwegian singer who has had a great number of hit songs since the 1960s in the Norwegian, Danish, German and Swedish markets and languages. She represented Germ ...
,
Katja Ebstein Katja Ebstein (born Karin Witkiewicz; 9 March 1945) is a German singer. She was born in Girlachsdorf (now Gniewków, Poland). She achieved success with songs such as "Theater (song), Theater" and "Es war einmal ein Jäger". She was married to , w ...
,
Daliah Lavi Daliah Lavi (born Daliah Lewinbuk or Levenbuch, ; 12 October 1942 – 3 May 2017) was an Israeli actress, singer, and model. Early life Daliah Lewinbuk (or Levenbuch) was born in Haifa, British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel). Her mother Ru ...
and
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, Quinn ...
. Like most of his pop orchestral contemporaries, Wende's popularity had faded by the 1980s, and he gradually retired from playing music professionally. In recent years, his music has become popular again, and some of his recordings have been reissued on CD. His work is still much loved and remembered by the many who heard his work. His song "Skokiaan", from the 1958 album ''Africana'', is used at the end of
Richard Linklater Richard Linklater (; born July 30, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. In 2015, Linklater was included on the annual ''Time'' 100 li ...
's film ''Slacker'' (1990).


Selected discography

HW - ''released under the name Horst Wende'' RD - ''released under the name Roberto Delgado'' MP - ''released under the name Mister Pepper'' LG - ''released under the name Ladi Geisler with the Horst Wende Orchestra'' *The following complete Horst Wende Orchestra / Mister Pepper / Roberto Delgado Orchestra list is from Marty Goorts. *The released years are always pressed in the original records like the list below. *1955 ''International Polka Favourites'' HW *1957 ''Romance Em Veneca'' RD *1957 ''Oriëntal Caravan'' HW *1958 ''Africana'' HW *1959 ''Love Letters'' RD *1960 ''Dance To Delgado'' RD *1960 ''Blaue Nacht Am Hafen'' HW *1961 ''In Strikt Danstempo'' HW *1962 ''Bei Pfeiffers Ist Ball'' HW *1962 ''Portrait Of Horst Wende'' *1962 ''Portrait Of Roberto Delgado'' *1962 ''Along Mexican Highways'' Vol. 1 RD *1963 ''Delgado Hits Pan Americana'' *1963 ''Latin Americana'' RD *1964 ''Olé Roberto Delgado'' RD *1964 ''Night Club Dancing'' Vol. 1 RD *1964 ''This Is Roberto Delgado'' RD *1965 ''Letkiss'' RD *1965 ''Sirtaki Letkiss'' RD *1965 ''Blue Hawaii'' Vol. 1 RD *1965 ''Caramba'' Vol. 1 RD *1965 ''Along Mexican Highways'' Vol. 2 RD *1965 ''Die Original Schwarzwaldfamilie Seitz'' HW *1965 ''South Of The Border'' RD *1965 ''Camino De Mexico'' RD *1965 ''Night Club Dancing'' Vol. 2 RD *1966 ''Tanz Durch's Musical Wunderland'' RD *1966 ''Show Dancing'' RD *1966 ''Italian Romance'' RD *1966 ''Delgado Dancing'' RD *1966 ''Accordion A La Carte'' Vol. 1 HW *1966 ''Tanz In Der Taverne'' RD *1967 ''Holiday In Israël'' RD (This album - Polydor 184 094 - is incorrectly billed as a Roberto Delgado album) *1967 ''Drops'' MP *1967 ''Caramba'' Vol. 2 RD *1967 ''Happy Harmonica'' HW *1968 ''Holiday In Scandinavia'' RD *1968 ''Acapulco Holiday'' RD *1968 ''Guitar A La Carte'' Vol. 1 LG *1968 ''Wenn Das Schifferklavier An Bord Ertönt'' HW *1968 ''Tanz Im Weissen Rössl'' RD *1968 ''Marimba A La Carte'' RD *1968 ''Dancing Rebecca'' RD *1968 ''Latino Dancing'' RD *1968 ''Blue Hawaii'' Vol. 2 RD *1968 ''Spanish Eyes'' RD *1968 ''Hifi Stereo'' RD *1969 ''Accordion In Gold'' HW *1969 ''Latin Rendez-Vous With'' RD *1969 ''Guitar A La Carte'' Vol. 2 LG *1969 ''Accordion A La Carte'' Vol. 2 HW *1969 ''Hits A La Carte'' RD *1969 ''Latin A La Carte'' RD *1969 ''This Is Roberto Delgado'' *1970 ''Hawaiian Nights'' RD *1970 ''Calypso A La Carte'' RD *1970 ''This Is Reggae'' RD *1970 ''Caramba'' Vol. 3 RD *1970 ''The Very Best Of Roberto Delgado'' *1970 ''Vibraphone A La Carte'' RD *1970 ''African Dancing'' RD *1970 ''Samba Caramba South America Olé'' RD *1970 ''Latin Flutes'' RD *1970 ''Accordéon'' HW *1971 ''South America Let's Dance'' RD *1972 ''Happy Accordion'' HW *1972 ''Latin Special'' '72 RD *1972 ''Wir Stehen Auf Akkordeon'' Vol. 1 HW *1973 ''Fiësta For Dancing'' Vol. 1 RD *1973 ''Happy South America Stargala'' RD *1974 ''Die Bouzouki Klingt'' Vol. 1 RD *1974 ''Wir Stehen Auf Akkordeon'' Vol. 2 HW *1974 ''Dance Time With Roberto Delgado'' *1974 ''Roberto Delgado'' *1975 ''Fiësta For Dancing'' Vol. 2 RD *1975 ''20 South America Dancing Hits'' RD *1975 ''South America My Love'' RD *1976 ''Akkordeon Schlager-Parade'' HW *1976 ''Akkordeon Schlager-Parade Zug Um Zug'' HW *1976 ''Die Bouzouki Klingt'' Vol. 2 RD *1976 ''Latin Rhythms'' RD *1977 ''Die Grossen Orchester Der Welt'' RD *1977 ''Die Grosse Aktuelle Hammond Schlager-Parade'' HW *1977 ''Fiësta For Dancing'' Vol. 3 RD *1977 ''Die Grosse Aktuelle Akkordeon Hitparade'' HW *1977 ''Fiësta Caramba 2000'' RD *1977 ''The Best Of The Best Of Roberto Delgado'' *1977 ''Fiësta For Dancing'' Vol. 4 RD *1977 ''Roberto Delgado In Gold'' *1977 ''Buenos Dias Olé'' RD *1977 ''Concerto D' Aranjuez'' RD *1978 ''Die Balalaika klingt'' RD *1978 ''Music Box Dancer'' RD *1979 ''Jamaica Disco'' RD *1979 ''Roberto Delgado Meets Kalinka'' *1980 ''Vacation In The Sun'' RD *1980 ''Fiësta Colombiana & Los Paraguayos'' RD *1980 ''Da Capo Roberto'' *1980 ''Tropical Sun Dance'' RD *1981 ''Blue Tropical'' RD *1996 ''El Humahuaqueno'' RD CD *1998 ''Happy South America'' RD 2CD *1999 ''Happy Holiday Collection'' RD 2CD *2000 ''Lounge Legends'' RD CD *2000 ''20 South America Dancing Hits'' RD CD *2000 ''Camino De Mexico'' RD CD *2009 ''Autour Du Monde'' RD CD *2011 ''Fiesta & Fiesta For Dancing'' RD 2CD *2013 ''Blue Hawaii'' RD 2CD *2014 ''Bouzouki Magic & Bouzouki King'' RD 2CD *2014 ''Jamaica Disco & Tropical Sun Dance & Dancing Queen'' RD 2CD {{DEFAULTSORT:Wende, Horst German bandleaders Easy listening musicians 1996 deaths 1919 births 20th-century German musicians 20th-century German male musicians German Army personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom es:Horst Wende#top