Los Shakers In Germany (Part Two)
1965 had been a massive year for Los Shakers both in their home continent and in many nations across the globe, however the lack of success in one of Europe’s biggest markets in Germany had been disappointing managing only one record entering the charts (the single release of ‘Break It All’ and ‘More’ which peaked at the lowly position of number 38). One of the goals of 1966 was to make more concentrated efforts breaking into the German markets, beginning with a brief European tour in January.
The band touched down in Germany on the 17th of January 1966 this time with much more press than their brief stint back in August 1965. The group appeared on a tour alongside The Lords, a German beat band who had been gaining huge momentum in the country who, much like Los Shakers, was marketed by EMI as their countries’ equivalent of The Beatles. The German branch of the tour was dubbed ‘Kampt um den Beat’ which translated into English is ‘Battle Of The Beat,’ and lasted for two weeks before the band returned back to Argentina.
The crowds were very receptive of the group’s live performances and the reviews and word of mouth of this tour prompted a reissue of the ‘Break It All’ single that month which peaked at number 15 on the GfK singles chart as well as the release of their following single ‘Do Not Disturb’ and ‘Let Me Go’ which peaked at number 39. Both singles used a new picture of the group originally used on the ‘Break It All’/’More’ single in Argentina; this sleeve design would be used until late 1968. Los Shakers would also appear on German television for the first time during this period occuring on legendary music television show ‘Beat-Club.’Los Shakers appeared on ‘Beat-Club’ for the first time on the 22nd of January 1966. At this point of the program’s life, it relied on live performances, held on a long stage behind a brick wall. The group performed two songs on the program: ‘It’s Not Bad’ and ‘Keep Searching.’ Other artists on the program included Chris Andrews, The Remo Four and The Lords who also filmed additional songs that were cut before the final broadcast. It is unknown if Los Shakers performed any additional material. Luckily, in comparison to many other countries, German television stations had more of a desire of preserving their legacy programming and thus all of Los Shakers’ television appearances that aired in the country (and indeed the majority of other artists) still survive to this day.
An interview of the group backstage on the 25th of January 1966 was filmed but was not discovered until a snippet was used in a German documentary entitled ‘When The British Invaded Germany: The Beat Boom Of The 1960s,’ the full footage totalling just shy of five minutes remains unreleased.
On the 1st of February 1966, a mere one day after group left the country Odeon Records released an EP of selections from the group’s debut album entitled ‘Shakers Mania,’ including the songs; ’It’s My Party,’ ‘Forgive Me,’ ‘Give Me’ and ‘The Longest Night.’ This release would prove to be the group’s only EP released in the country as the format was being phased out due to lowering popularity in comparison to the single and album formats. Strangely, although German singles were released in mono, EPs were most often released in stereo (this EP no exception). This EP once again uses the fake stereo mix prepared for the ‘Los Shakers’ album previously released. Due to the fading sales of the format, the EP did not chart. That month also saw the release of the ‘Won’t You Please’ single backed with ‘It’s Not Bad’ which soared to number nine later that year unexpectedly after its B-side became a popular cover song among German beat bands.
Perhaps the most interesting thing to arise during this period was a television special created especially for German audiences airing on the 13th of March 1966 simply entitled ‘der Klang von Los Shakers’ or ‘The Sound Of Los Shakers.’ This special itself was an admittedly rushed compilation of various filmed inserts Los Shakers had recorded in the studio of ‘Escala Musical’ for international broadcast with additional acts to increase the running time with a currently unidentified host between segments. Of most significance is the inclusion of footage of Swedish folk group the Hootenanny Singers featuring future ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus marking the first time the group’s music had appeared in the country. Although rumoured to be lost, the special exists albeit in very low quality. Some of the footage in the special does however exist in better quality elsewhere and unedited.
Ultimately, the efforts performed by the group and their management projected Los Shakers’ German success, becoming a key factor and inspiration for the blooming beat and garage rock scene which defined German popular music of the mid 1960s. When they returned to the country in May 1966, they were on top of the world.
Picture sleeve of 'Shakers Mania' EP released on the 1st of February 1966. Note original releases of the EP did not include the catalogue number on the front, a later reissue from late 1966 with the background colour in blue included the catalogue number.
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