Dance record of the year

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The dance record of the year was the name of a series of long-playing records , later CDs , by the German band leader and clarinetist Hugo Strasser , which were published annually from 1966 to 1996.

history

A new concept

This project was initiated by the specialist journal “ Tanz-Illustrierte ” in the early 1960s. They were looking for new, fresh “Strict-Tempo” records , unlike those of the British dance music “old master” Victor Silvester with his musical style, which was still based on the 1930s and 1940s.

However, Strasser was not the first to record a “dance record of the year” . In 1963 with the introduction of the ADTV - World Dance Program calls for musical support for the dance schools was loud, was entrusted first Bela Sanders and his orchestra, at that time on the Philips - music label , with the task. But soon he gave the baton to Strasser, who at the time had already released his LP “Turniertanz-Trüumpf” (1963).

The first official Strasser “dance record of the year” did not have a year in its title when it was published in 1965, unlike all subsequent ones , as the Electrola music label was initially concerned about whether the concept would even be successful.

Great success

After the overwhelming approval, especially in dance and dance tournament circles , one year later there was already "The dance record of the year 1966/67" , in a typical 1960s cover design consisting of dark and light red rectangles .

There was a new edition every year, and also to give in the first years Beat - rhythms were heard. Strasser tried to please the younger listeners (at least a little) in addition to the classical arrangements .

“The dance record of the year 76/77” was the last to have two years in the title; the next was only called "Dance Record of the Year 1978" .

Until 1977 Strasser also had the exclusive right to a “Dance Record of the Year” , after which there were other records authorized by ADTV, among others by Max Greger and Günter Noris .

The good bye

In 1996 the last album in this series was released with “Dancing 2000” . Strasser's kind of dance music no longer seemed so popular, although his live concerts were mostly sold out. The last track on “Dancing 2000” was probably Bert Kaempfert's slow fox “Dankeschön” - Strasser's farewell greeting to his fans after more than 30 years of dance music on record.

Contributors

One of the secrets of success surely lay in the “tournament dance-appropriate” arrangements of this record series. Strasser repeatedly found the musicians among the musicians of his orchestra: tenor saxophonist Werner Tauber (member of the orchestra from 1960 to 1993), who died in 2001, trombonist Hans Ehrlinger (1963 to mid-1970s), guitarist Dirk Schweppe (1974 to 1994) and the Trumpeter Etienne Cap (1977 to 1992).

Hans-Georg Schnitzer, the longtime editor of the “Tanz-Illustrierte”, was a driving force behind Strasser's records and wrote the cover texts from 1966 to 1981. Strasser's sound engineer Kurt G. Lorbach took care of the clear recordings in the studio for many years .