RetroTrash

KLAUS WUNDERLICH
				<







NOTES ON THE ABOVE
Klaus 'Mr Hammond' Wunderlich can be considered the godfather of the classic Hammond pops sound, as a selection of these albums testify. Constantly recycling the same old sound with a slightly new twist each time, it is surprising how much Klaus could churn out. Setting an early goal for himself at a tender age to become the best musician in the world with the most unmistakable sound, he attained this goal fairly early on and retained it for the next 40 years. He was the first to use the electronic organ, later Hammond, in his native German-speaking world, for which he would always be identified. Klaus Wunderlich was born 1931 in Chemnitz, and at the age of 7 received his first piano. Within a few years he became proficient enough to warrant attention from the local theatre who employed him at 16 as a pianist. The novelty soon wore off and he switched to arranging and composing for dance-bands, eventually leaving with a group of fellow musicians for West Germany in 1951. In 1955 the first Hammond organs appeared on the market. The leader of the band hired one and Klaus had to quickly adapt to it before finally settling in Mannheim and working at the Simplicissimus cabaret club where he soon attracted a devoted following due largely to the way he played. This gave him good grounding and lots of practice and he was soon able to replicate well known tunes so perfectly with his own unique interpretation that it was quite obvious a record could make him even more popular. His first record caused a sensation. He instinctively knew how able to combine the musical side with the technical side of organ playing in an ingenious way. From these humble beginnings, Klaus built up a catalogue of more than 20 million LPs and CDs, plus 13 gold discs. Klaus became known as 'Mr. Hammond' due to his ability to take on the newest hits, adapting each one to his own unique swinging 'Wunderlich Sound' and even built a studio in his basement to concentrate on that sound, creating his legendary 'New Pop Organ Sound' by blending the sound of three different organs in a curious way and by using the multi-playback process giving him full control over the sound, right down to the percussion. Not being content with just using the Hammond organ, Klaus experimented with Moog synthesisers and the Wersi, the latter in his hands sounding like a full symphony orchestra. In April 1978, Klaus played to a sold-out Royal Albert Hall in front of 6,000 people. Not content with resting on his laurels, Klaus continued to experiment in later life, but rigidly stuck to the manual sound of the organ rather than computer generated sounds when the technology became available in the eighties, simply because he didn't believe computers have 'heart and soul' when it comes to making music, a stance he stood by even until his untimely demise at the age of 66 in October 1997, an event that went largely unnoticed by the media. Having said how good he was as a musician, which is indubitable, he was also clever at marketing his own records by making sure each cover that did not feature a portrait of himself had the prettiest girls on the front and were the best available. The photography also had to be professional. Judging by the small selection above, this is possibly true as the girls indeed do look stunning, but they are there to simply market what could otherwise be considered a bland and uninteresting recording. Again, it is a case of sexing the record up to make it more appealing. Who cannot refrain from giving these covers more than just a passing glance when you've got a gorgeous bird on the cover like that of Hammond Pops volume 10, or the provocative cover of Phase 4 World of Klaus Wunderlich with the girl's nipples being quite clearly visible through her wet top. Nevertheless, they are still trash as can be attested by the fact that they keep turning up in junk and charity shops and sell for a fraction of their original retail value. Nobody, I don't think, is interested in Klaus' music anymore, but his covers will live on in their appeal because they have that long-lasting attraction. Lastly, Around The World With, may seem boring and against my principle of including the artiste himself, and would have been omitted if it weren't for the splendidly tacky pic on the inner gatefold sleeve, which see here. To view larger images use the Database
BACK	GALLERIES	HOME	DATABASE	NEXT