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from "The Story of James Last" by Hideo Asai

        Composer, arranger and conductor James Last was born on April 17, 1929 in Bremen, a port city in northwestern West Germany, also known for the Grimm's fairy tale "The Bremen Musicians."

        His real name is Hans Last.

        At the age of 14, he went to the Bremen Music School, where he mastered the bass guitar. After graduation, he joined the dance orchestra of the Bremen Broadcasting Station, where he began his career as a bass player. By the way, right after the war, in Germany, as in Japan, there were garrison canteens and officers' clubs, where most bands and singers sang and played to the great amusement of the Occupation soldiers. Caterina Valente and Werner Müller had such experiences, and Last was one of them, too, and became a popular performer at the army officers' clubs.

        In 1955, Last became a member of the dance orchestra of the North German Broadcasting Company in Hamburg, and his talent as a composer and arranger began to show itself.

        At the time, Last was listening to the records of the Percy Faith Orchestra, which became popular for "Songs of Moulin Rouge," and the Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra, which had a big hit with "Blue Violin," until he turned completely white.

        Since then, Last has worked as an arranger for about 10 years, providing arrangements for popular German poppers such as Caterina Valente, nicknamed "The Singing Interpreter," Helmut Zacharias, who was called the most passionate violinist in Germany, and Freddie. He was active as an arranger for about 10 years.

        In 1964, Last formed his own orchestra, initially recording under his real name, Hans Last, but later changing it to James Last. He later changed his name to James Last, probably because the name James had a more international character and was more appropriate for his orchestra. Werner Mueller initially used the alias Ricardo Santos for no particular reason, but it was probably because Santos was more familiar abroad than Müller.

        Horst Bende, the leader of the same German orchestra that became famous for Latin music, later changed his name to Ropert Delgado. It seems that German band leaders like to change their names.

        In Japan, Hans Last's album was introduced in July 1966 and became a hot topic. In October of the same year, the album "Ameliach a Gogo" was released as the James Last Orchestra, and it became widely known among popular mood fans. Last's popularity in Europe, especially in Germany, grew even higher, and in 1968, "Non-Stop Dancing" became a bestseller and the orchestra became popular worldwide. Needless to say, "Non-Stop Dancing" has since become Last's trademark. The distinctive feature of the "Non-Stop Dancing" recordings is that each side of the LP contains a medley of more than a dozen popular hit songs that can be danced to nonstop for 20 minutes. Discotheque is especially popular in Germany, and Non-Stop Dancing is a perfect fit for the last part of the album.

        In recent years, the Last Orchestra has been performing with great success in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Sopiet, and other parts of the world, and is now one of the three major orchestras in Europe, Recently, Last's first recording in the U.S., "New Trial" (WELL KEPT SECRET), is currently ranked in the Top LF chart by Billboard magazine.

        The LP, along with the Percy Faith Band's new album "Olive Necklace/Soulful Disco Sound," can be called the most contemporary easy sound, with Last rejuvenated and full of now-feeling and dynamic playing. By the way, James Last's work as a composer cannot be overlooked.

        He has written many hit songs, including Andy Williams' hit "Happy Heart" and "Sadness is Beyond the Sky," and Elvis Bresley's hit "Fool.

        Last is also interested in Japanese Kabuki and Noh plays.

        Last visited Japan last October with his wife, but this will be the first time for him to come to Japan with an orchestra. We are very much looking forward to seeing him.