Bert Kaempfert - Wonderland By Night (1960) 4K

Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra performing "Wonderland By Night", released originally in 1960. It reached #1 in the US Billboard Hot 100, #1 in New Zealand Charts, and #5 in the US Billboard Hot R&B Sides. "Wonderland By Night" is an instrumental song that served as the theme of a film about Germany. Bert Kaempfert was a German-born multi-instrumentalist who worked with popular artists such as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and the Beatles. He produced the Beatles' first session in 1961, in which the Beatles backed Tony Sheridan, and Kaempfert's influence continued to inspire them. Kaempfert started to achieve success with "Wonderland by Night," and his rise to the top began in 1959, when he was hired as a staff producer for Polydor Records in Germany. The song was particularly appealing to more mature listeners, and Decca Records, which made an agreement with Polydor to distribute Kaempfert's releases in America, worked to assemble an album around the song. As a result, many of the tracks that rounded out the album, including the Kaempfert original "Lullaby for Lovers" and his version of the standard "La Vie En Rose," were filler. Bert Kaempfert continued to chart albums through 1971. He died at the age of 56 in June 1980 in Switzerland.