James Last: Non Stop Dancing
Profile of the hugely successful bandleader James Last. Contributors include Paul Morley, Ron Last, Richard Clayderman and Richard Darbyshire.
James Last is one of the most successful bandleaders and arrangers in the history of popular music. In a career lasting more than 50 years, he has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide.
This documentary goes behind the James Last phenomenon to ask why his music is loved by the public but often loathed by the critics. The music is often described as easy listening or happy music, but what is the James Last sound? Is it just a string of revamped Beatles hits, non-stop Abba medleys, updated classics and polka parties, or is his achievement in popular music being under-estimated and dismissed unfairly by the musical elite?
Influenced by jazz, swing, the Beatles and rock and roll in 1960's Hamburg, Last would soon become one of the most famous bandleaders of all time. This programme explores the music, the musicians and the life of the man who invented the non-stop party and re-invented the classics.
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More episodes
Music Played
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James Last Orchestra
Windmills of My Mind
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James Last Orchestra
Mambo Jambo
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James Last Orchestra
Czardas Von Monty
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James Last Orchestra
American Patrol
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The Beatles
Sie Liebt Dich
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James Last Orchestra
Humba Humba a Good Melody
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James Last Orchestra
I Want to Hold Your Hand
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James Last Orchestra
Spanish Eyes
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James Last Orchestra
Hip Hop Polka
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James Last Orchestra
Proud Mary
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James Last Orchestra
Games That Lovers Play
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James Last Orchestra
From a Distance
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James Last Orchestra
This Girl's in Love With You
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James Last Orchestra
Delicado
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James Last Orchestra
My Heart Will Go On
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James Last Orchestra
Macarena
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James Last Orchestra
Chicken Wheel/Turkey in a Straw/Orange Blossom
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James Last Orchestra
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
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James Last Orchestra
Lonely Shepherd
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James Last Orchestra
Fool
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James Last Orchestra
Mamma Mia
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James Last Orchestra
Nature Boy
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James Last Orchestra
Singing in the Rain
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Executive Producer | Gethin Scourfield |
Director | Paul Islwyn Thomas |
Producer | Paul Islwyn Thomas |
Broadcasts
- Tue 27 Nov 2007 20:00
- Wed 28 Nov 2007 00:55
- Wed 28 Nov 2007 02:55
- Mon 17 Aug 2009 19:30
- Mon 20 Sep 2010 03:10
- Tue 24 May 2011 23:00