Cherry Red's El imprint has recently turned its attention to a trio of disparate composer-conductors.  Happy Sounds Forever reissues the 1963 album from James Last, the king of "happy music," and adds selections from the catalogue of Bert Kaempfert ("Strangers in the Night") to round out the disc.  On the other end of the spectrum, the label also has The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann, a collection dedicated to film score maestro and Alfred Hitchcock's most notable musical collaborator.

James Last, born Hans Last in 1929 Germany, began his career as a jazz bassist but found his true calling as a bandleader.  Leading his orchestra, Last sold an estimated 200 million albums in his career.  He charted 65 titles in the United Kingdom, over 200 gold and platinum discs in Germany, and scored an international hit single with "Happy Heart" (best known in its renditions by Andy Williams and Petula Clark).  Last's formula remained consistent, as he would arrange popular melodies in the style of a dance band.  "Easy listening" or no, the Last treatment was beloved around the world, and particularly so in Europe.  The 1963 album Happy Sounds Forever was subtitled A Potpourri of Popular Music from the Past 50 Years, and indeed, features Last's jaunty, biergarten-ready medley arrangements (featuring orchestra and chorus, singing in German) of classic songs including "You Are My Lucky Star," "Mack the Knife" and "Never on Sunday."  Last once said, "I want to bring people relaxation after a hard day's work," and indeed, his peppy, easy-on-the-ears recordings succeeded at that aim for decades until his death in 2015 at age 86.

Happy Sounds Forever has been paired with selections from the catalogue of Bert Kaempfert (1923-1980), another German composer and bandleader with whom Last shared a friendly rivalry.  Unlike Last, Kaempfert found his breakthrough in the United States.  He charted his first hit, "Wonderland by Night," in 1959 on the U.S.' Decca label.  Its success turned Kaempfert into an international success.  Soon, top artists were recording his songs, including Al Martino ("Spanish Eyes"), Nat King Cole ("L-O-V-E") and Wayne Newton ("Danke Schoen").  In 1966, Frank Sinatra would earn Kaempfert his most enduring smash with "Strangers in the Night."   Prior to that, Kaempfert was the first to commercially record The Beatles on their recordings with Tony Sheridan.  By the dawn of the 1970s, the composer-conductor had been saluted with full-length album tributes by artists including Johnny Mathis, Al Hirt, The Anita Kerr Singers and Bobby Hackett.

The El release saluting his instrumental works includes three tracks from Kaempfert's 1961 Decca album Lights Out, Sweet Dreams, as well as seven tracks from his 1962 Polydor soundtrack to 90 Minuten Nach Mitternacht (Terror After Midnight) and nine from the same year's A Swingin' Safari album.  The title track of the latter gained fame as the theme song to the first incarnation of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman's classic game show The Match Game.

Though best known for his groundbreaking work with Alfred Hitchcock on such motion pictures as Psycho and Vertigo, the late Bernard Herrmann's remarkable C.V. as a film composer also included such diverse classics as Jane Eyre, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Hangover Square, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Anna and the King of Siam, Tender is the Night and Taxi Driver.  El's new release The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann features selections from six of the great composer's film fantasies.  The films hail from 1947-1959:

• The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947);
• The Portrait of Jennie (1948);
• Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953);
• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958);
• The Day The Earth Stood Still (1959); and
• Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959).

Though there are only a few cues from each film (original soundtracks of which have been available on CD for each except The Portrait of Jennie), the tracks give a taste of the breadth of Herrmann's talents, suited to bringing to life situations and scenarios of every color and mood.  Though Herrmann died in 1975 at the age of 64, his music continues to have a great influence over the way we hear music in cinema.

Both James Last and Bert Kaempfert's Happy Sounds Forever and The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann have been released pursuant to current U.K. public domain laws.  Both titles boast full booklets with liner notes and illustrations.  They're available now from Cherry Red/El Records!

James Last and Bert Kaempfert, Happy Sounds Forever (El ACMEM313CD, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

1. Das gibt's nur einmal
2. Wini-Wini
3. In einer kleinen Konditorei
4. Was eine Frau im Fruhling traumt
5. Schoener Gigolo, armer Gigolo
6. Kalkutta liegt am Ganges
7. Puppchen, du bis mein Augenstern
8. Weisse Rosen aus Athen
9. Gemma
10. Magnolia Blossoms
11. Highland Dream
12. Introduction (Love Theme to Terror After Midnight)
13. Julie at the Mercy of a Kidnapper
14. Let's Bowling
15. Love Theme
16. Mexican Road Twist
17. Forgotten Melody
18. Finale
19. A Swingin' Safari
20. That Happy Feeling
21. Market Day
22. Similau
23. Zambesi
24. Happy Trumpeter
25. Tootie Flutie
26. Black Beauty
27. Skokisian

Tracks 1-8 from James Last, Happy Sounds Forever, 1963
Tracks 9-11 from Bert Kaempfert, Lights Out, Sweet Dreams, 1961
Tracks 12-18 from Bert Kaempfert, Terror After Midnight, 1962
Tracks 19-27 from Bert Kaempfert, A Swingin' Safari, 1962

Bernard Herrmann, The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann (El ACMEM312CD, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

1. Overture/Bagdad
2. Night Magic/Tiny Princess/Street Music
3. The Roc/The Nest
4. The Skeleton/The Duel with The Skeleton/The Sword

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1959)

5. Prelude/Outer Space/Radar 6 Solar Diamonds
6. Nocturne/The Flashlight/The Robot/Space Control
7. The Elevator/The Magnetic Pull/The Study/The Conference/The Jeweler
8. 12:30
9. Finale

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

10. Prelude
11. Local Train
12. The Ghost
13. About Ships
14. London
15. Spring Sea
16. The Home
17. The Passing Years
18. Late Sea
19. Forever

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

20. Prelude
21. Sign/Sleep/False Arrows/Grotto
22. Salt Slides/The Pool/Dead Groom/The Gun
23. The Lost City/Atlantis

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953)

24. Prelude
25. Undersea
26. Homecoming
27. The Quiet Sea
28. Flirtation
29. Descending
30. The Lagoon

The Portrait of Jennie (1948)

31. Jennie's Song