Horst Wende

Horst Wende (born November 5, 1919 in Zeitz ; † January 23, 1996 in Hamburg ) was a German orchestra conductor , composer , arranger and accordionist . He has also performed under the pseudonyms Roberto Delgado , The Accordion Melodist and Mister Pepper .

biography

Wende played in his grandfather's dance band at the age of six. He played the piano , accordion, xylophone and marimba . After graduating from high school, he studied at the State Conservatory of Music in Leipzig . Wende was closely associated with the dance musicians Heinz Gerlach , Heinz Munsonius and Helmut Zacharias until he was drafted as a soldier in World War II . Towards the end of the war, he met the guitarist Ladi Geisler in a British prison camp in Denmark , with whom he put together a band.

After the war, Wende settled in Hamburg , where he founded a quartet with Geisler ( guitar ), Hans Bekker ( drums ) and Franz Rasch ( double bass ) in which he played the accordion. In the entertainment district of St. Pauli , they quickly found an enthusiastic audience with current American hits. Wende worked with Edmundo Ros and the still unknown Freddy Quinn , among others .

Shellac record Heimweh by Freddy Quinn and the Horst Wende dance soloists, 1956

In 1950 Wende, who mastered practically all popular styles, was discovered by the Polydor record company . There he recorded numerous singles of his own, mostly with a small cast . In addition, Horst Wende and his dance soloists accompanied well-known performers such as Lale Andersen , Melitta Berg , Bully Buhlan , Margot Eskens , Renée Franke , Gerhard Gregor , Monika Grimm , Friedel Hensch and the Cyprys , Udo Jürgens , Lonny Kellner , René Kollo , Detlev Lais , Danny Mann and Peter Steffen recording their records. In 1956 he took up the title Heimweh (There where the flowers bloom) with Freddy Quinn . The German version of the US hit Memories Are Made of This stayed at number one in the German charts for 14 weeks. In the 1960s, Wende worked with Knut Kiesewetter , among others .

1954 appeared for the first time a single from Wende under the pseudonym Roberto Del Gado , which was later changed to Roberto Delgado . Under this name, Wende played mainly instrumental tracks with South American rhythms and cover versions of current hits with studio orchestras. In addition, entire long-playing records by Delgado were dedicated to compositions from Scandinavia , Russia , Greece , Israel and other countries. In addition to his companion Ladi Geisler, well-known studio musicians from the orchestras of Bert Kaempfert , Alfred home and James Last participated in the productions. In the 1960s and 1970s, Roberto Delgado's music albums found great sales at home and abroad. His biggest single hits were Mexico (1962) and Letkiss (1964). At the same time, records continued to appear under his own name, which mainly contain polka and mood music.

Wende, who withdrew into private life in the early 1980s, died on November 23, 1996 in his home town of Hamburg. In the course of the Easy Listening Revival, recordings by Horst Wende alias Roberto Delgado have repeatedly appeared on CD since the late 1990s .

Discography (selection)

Label Polydor unless otherwise stated

Horst Wende

Singles

(A side / B side)

• With swing and rhythm (1st part) / With swing and rhythm (2nd part) (1953)
• Dancing fingers / Rosemarie-Polka (1954)
• A polka full of swing / Globetrotter polka (1954)
• Mercury Polka / Joke (1954)
• Amorada / Baiao Cacula (1954)
• Taxi Polka / Kirmes Polka (1954)
• Gladiator Dixie / Zigzag Dixie (1954)
• Bohemian Polka / Single File (1954)
• These are the nights of Rio / Robinson-Mambo (1954)
• Soloist Parade / Bamboo Boogie (1954)
• Tip-Top (1st part) / Tip-Top (2nd part) (1955)
• Mexico Mambo / Loca Rumba (1955)
• Hein Mück / Oops-Hopp (1955)
• Tip-Top 2 (1st part) / Tip-Top 2 (2nd part) (1955)
• The Banana Boat Song / Little Darling (1957)
• Lichtensteiner Polka / Rosemarie Polka (1958)
• This is what girls dream of / When Jeanne from Lausanne (1958)
• Maruschka / Engadin polka (1958)
• Toreo fino / Penny Polka (1959)
• They are tip-top! (1st part) / They're Tip-Top (2nd part) (1959)
• They're Tip-Top 2 (Part 1) / They're Tip-Top 2 (Part 2) (1959)
• They're Tip-Top 3 (Part 1) / They're Tip-Top 3 (Part 2) (1960)
• Schifferklavier-Mambo / Damenwahl-Boogie (1960)
• They're Tip-Top 4 (Part 1) / They're Tip-Top 4 (Part 2) (1963)
• Drina March / Guapa (1963)
• Schlagerrennen (1st part) / Schlagerrennen (2nd part) (1964)
• Rosamunde / Vienna remains Vienna (1964)
• Hit-Harmonica (1st part) / Hit-Harmonica (2nd part) (1967)
• Hit-Harmonica 2 (1st part) / Hit-Harmonica 2 (2nd part) (1968)
• Hit-Harmonica 3 (1st part) / Hit-Harmonica 3 (2nd part) (1969)
• The new dance / accordion (1971)

EPs

• A polka full of swing / Globetrotter Polka / Bohemian Polka / In single file (1955)
• Mambo and Baiao (1956)
• Tip Top (1956)
• Everything Dances Calypso (1957)
• In a strict dance rhythm - blues - boogie (1961)
• In the strict dance rhythm - Rumba - Bolero (1961)
• In a strict dance rhythm - Foxtrot (1961)
• In a strict dance rhythm - Tango (1961)
• In a strict dance rhythm - Slow Waltz (1961)
• In a strict dance rhythm - waltz (1961)
• In a strict dance rhythm - Cha-Cha (1961)
• In a strict dance rhythm - Samba (1961)
• In a strict dance rhythm - Bossa Nova (1962)

LPs

• Hopsassa - It's Polka! (1955)
• Oriental Caravan (1957, Decca)
• Love Letters (1959)
• Africana (1960)
• Blue Night at the Harbor (1960)
• At Pfeiffers is Ball (1962)
• Accordion à la carte (1966)
• Happy Harmonica (1967)
• When the boatman's piano sounds on board (1968)
• Accordeon à la carte Vol. 2 (1969)
• We love the accordion (1972)
• We like the accordion episode 2 (1974)
• Accordion Schlagerparade (1976)
• Accordion Schlagerparade 2 (1976)
• The great current Hammond Schlager Parade (1977)

Roberto Delgado

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Singles

Letkiss   DE 3 02/15/1965 (20 weeks)

EPs

• This is Letkiss (1964; 78 594)

LPs

• Romance Em Veneca (1957)
• Dance to Delgado (1960)
• Along Mexican Highways (1962)
• Delgado Hits Pan-Americana (1962)
• Dance in the tavern (1962)
• Latin Americana (1963)
• Night Club Dancing (1964)
• Olé Roberto Delgado (1964)
• Blue Hawaii (1965)
• Camino De Mexico (1965)
• Caramba (1965)
• Letkiss (1965)
• Night Club Dancing Vol. 2 (1965)
• South of the Border (1965)
• Blue Hawaii 2 (1966)
• Delgado Dancing (1966)
• Italian Romance (1966)
• Show Dancing (1966)
• Dance through the musical wonderland (1966)
• Mejicano Festival (1967)
• Caramba 2 (1967)
• Holiday in Israel (1967)
• Dancing Rebecca (1968)
• Holiday in Scandinavia (1968)
• Latino Dancing (1968)
• Marimba à la carte (1968)
• Spanish Eyes (1968)
• Dance in the White Horse Inn (1968)
• Acapulco Holiday (1969)
• Hits à la carte (1969)
• Latin à la carte (1969)
• Latin Rendezvous with Roberto Delgado (1969)
• Calypso à la carte (1970)
• Caramba 3 (1970)
• Hawaiian Nights (1970)
• Latin Flutes (1970)
• Samba Caramba South America Olé (1970)
• This is Reggae (1970)
• Vibraphone à la carte (1970)
• African Dancing (1971)
• South America Let's Dance (1971)
• Latin Special '72 (1972)
• Fiesta for Dancing (1973)
• Happy South America (1973)
• The Bouzouki Sounds ... (1974)
• Dance Time with Roberto Delgado (1974)
• Fiesta for Dancing Vol. 2 (1975)
• South America My Love (1975)
• 20 South America Dancing Hits (1975)
• The Bouzouki Sounds ... Vol. 2 (1976)
• Latin Rhythms (1976)
• Buenos Dias Olé (1977)
• Caramba 2000 (1977)
• Concerto D'Aranjuez (1977)
• Fiesta for Dancing Vol. 3 (1977)
• Fiesta for Dancing Vol. 4 (1977)
• The balalaika sounds ... (1978)
• Hits a la Fiesta (1978)
• Music Box Dancer (1978)
• Da Capo Roberto (1979)
• Roberto Delgado Meets Kalinka (1979)
• Jamaica Disco (1979)
• Fiesta Colombiana (1980)
• Dance under the Tropical Sun (1980)
• Blue Tropical (1981)
• Drops (1967)

CDs

• El Humahuaqueno (Polydor compilation P30P-20010 - Japan)
• 20 South America Dancing Hits (Polydor compilation 841 110-2 - 1977 - Canada)
• A toast to cosiness - 100 cheery makers non-stop (Karussell 841 633-2 - 1984 - Germany) Name Horst Wende (arrangement) only on the inlay card!
• Happy South America CD Gala (Polydor 2CD compilation 843 693-2 - 1990 - The Netherlands)
• The Happy Holiday Collection (Polydor 2CD 519 926-2 - 1993 - CD1: Greece Compilation (1974/1976) / CD2: Caramba 2000 (1977) - The Netherlands)
• Lounge Legends (Polydor compilation 549 877-2 - 2001 - Germany)
• Autour du monde (XXI compilation CD 2 1672 - 2009 - Canada)
• Fiesta (For Dancing) (1973) / Fiesta For Dancing (2) (1975) (2on1 - Vocalion CDLK 4444 - 2011 - United Kingdom)
• Blue Hawaii (1964) / Blue Hawaii volume 2 (1969) (2on1 - Vocalion CDLK 4490 - 2013 - United Kingdom)
• Jamaica Disco (1979) / Dance under the tropical sun (1980) / Dancing Queen (1977) aka Fiesta For Dancing Vol.3 (3on2 - Vocalion 2CDLK 4522 - 2014 - England)

Singles

• Ve se gostas / Cariocina (1954), as Roberto del Gado
• Trudie / Rosita (1958)
• Lisbon / Moonlight Ride (1959)
• Pepito / Mexico (1961)
• Jambalaya / The Lion Sleeps Tonight (1962)
• Goodbye, Marleen / Percolator (1962)
• Little Girl of Mexico / La Ragazza (1962)
• Letkiss / Letkajenkka (1964)
• Fireflies / Happy Jenka (1965)
• Schwedenmädel / Esko-Jenka (1965)
• Mexican Letkiss / Sin-Kiss (1965)
• Happy End / Rummel-Stroll (1966)
• Vranjanka / Myrthia (1966)
• Music to Watch Girls By / Las Alazanas (1967)
• Camp / Bond Street Doodle (1968)
• El Condor Pasa / Tabasco (1970)
• Paloma Blanca / Lindia (1975)
• Dolannes Melody / Morning Sky (1975)

Lexical entry

• Jürgen Wölfer : Jazz in Germany. The encyclopedia. All musicians and record companies from 1920 until today. Hannibal, Höfen 2008, ISBN 978-3-85445-274-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Charts DE