If your parents or grandparents didn’t have a James Last vinyl album of groovy dance party tunes in the 1970s you don’t know what you’ve missed.
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For 50 years, James Last’s legions of loyal fans adored his joyful big band versions of pop and classical standards. To musical purists, however, he was the epitome of naff.
James Last, who has died at the age of 86, was the king of the non-stop party, who had crowds dancing in the aisles for decades with his relentlessly upbeat arrangements of tunes by everyone from The Beatles to Beethoven.
He reworked favourites from every genre, using orchestral instruments alongside electric guitars and drums, boiling down the arrangement and melody of each song before moving swiftly on to the next.
It was a winning formula. Estimates put his album sales at between 50-100 million.
Sixty-five of his albums charted in the UK – tied with Sir Cliff Richard and second only to Elvis Presley – and he became a star around the world.
He played 90 concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall, released two albums per month at his peak, and was credited with keeping Polydor Records afloat.
And he achieved it all with little endorsement from music critics, radio stations – or anyone outside his devoted fanbase.
BBC