Los Shakers In Germany (Part Three)

 Following the airing of ‘der Klang von Los Shakers’ on ARD1 during the 13th of March 1966, Odeon issued another single this time of ‘Stop The Game’ backed with ‘Tell Them.’ Due to the A-side’s sonic similarity to their previous hit single ‘Won’t You Please,’ this song too was a success peaking at number 16 on the GfK singles chart. By April, the group’s next engagement in the country had been announced in the press, this time with The Who, The Alan Price Set (fronted by ex-Animals member Alan Price) and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick And Tich, all artists who were hoping to break into the German and subsequent European markets. The tour was scheduled so as to give enough time for The Who, the Alan Price Set and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick And Tich to return to England for the heralded Whit Monday Pop Gala Festival held on the 30th of May 1966.  

Later that month, a reissue of the group’s debut album was released on the Hörzu label instead of their regular Odeon label. Hörzu was a hugely successful German entertainment magazine created in 1946. In 1963, the brand created their own self-titled record label which as well as producing its own unique music, also reissued previously made releases under contract of major record labels across the country. These records would then be sold in traditional record stores or advertised through mail order in the Hörzu magazine itself. Hörzu had a particularly strong relationship with Odeon Records, releasing numerous Beatles albums that are today sought-after for their unique artwork and impressive sound quality such as the true stereo release of ‘Magical Mystery Tour.’ Their relationship was so great that The Beatles’ fifth album ‘Help!’ wasn’t even originally released on Odeon, but in fact released by Hörzu as a timed exclusive with the first Odeon releases (which contained a slightly different cover) not entering markets until 1966. The release of Los Shakers’ debut was renamed to ‘Kampt um den Beat,’ in reference to the tour the group appeared in during January that year. Much like the original album, this release used the stereo versions commissioned by Capitol Records in America with ‘It’s My Party’ and ‘Keep Searching’ appearing in fake stereo. In 1972, the album was reissued again on the Hörzu label with the alternate title with those two tracks appearing in true stereo for the first time, after the original multi-track tapes had been discovered and were remixed by George Martin in AIR Studios under orders of EMI. It is these stereo mixes that continue to be used on releases as vintage stereo mixes of both tracks were not produced.


The group’s tour began on the 11th of May 1966, the groups initially took the day off to recover from the flight but began shows the following day (12th of May) doing a show every day except for weekends where two shows took place (one in the afternoon and one in the evening). Response to The Alan Price Set compared to the other three acts was neutral, with the greatest response coming from The Who either shocking or thrilling the audience, playing music and smashing equipment with havoc depending on the venue. Several small fights broke out during The Who’s set across the tour however all were quickly extinguished from interference of police and security guards likely to prevent a fate that bestowed Los Shakers on their previous visit into the country. Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick And Tich were probably the most successful band on the tour, having scored a number four hit with their song ‘Hold Tight’ released that March in Germany. The band would continue to be immensely successful in the country up until Dave Dee’s departure from the group in 1969. Los Shakers’ performance was strong, honed by continuous touring over the last sixteen months with crowds particularly reacting to songs like ‘Break It All’ and ‘It’s Not Bad,’ the later of which got a much larger reaction in Germany due to its increased cult status among garage and beat bands of the country. The tour lasted until the 23rd of May (with several weekdays taken off as days off or promotional stints) where the groups travelled back to England where Los Shakers remained for one day before travelling back to Argentina filming a rather exhausted ‘Escala Musical’ television appearance a mere hour later.


After the hugely successful tour, the Hörzu reissue of the debut album skyrocketed in Germany hitting a peak of number three on the GfK album charts that June. A release of ‘Always You’ and ‘Oh My Friend’ was produced that same month, with the sides flipped making ‘Oh My Friend’ the A-side. The single did respectably well, peaking at number 22 on the GfK single charts. Although promotional material issued by their record label and occasional filmed inserts appearing on German television continued throughout the continuing months, the film “Escala Musical” which advertised the latest single was not released in Germany during the 1960s, only appearing on televisions in the late 1980s through a German dub of the American globalisation ‘Musical Scale.’ This German dub has since appeared on bootlegs of varying quality but has not seen an official release.

The German Horzu cover of Los Shakers' debut retitled "Kampt um den Beat" released in April 1966.


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