Los Shakers In Germany (Part Six)

 In early October of 1967, the single of ‘Lovely Lola’ was released in Germany backed with ‘Marabú,’ a song recorded back in February during a recording session in Venezuela which four tracks were released on the ‘Los Shakers No. 2’ EP in the country before being used on a radio broadcast in Uruguay likely in May 1967. Despite their recent promotional tour the single failed to gain traction in the country and became the group’s first single since their debut single to completely miss the singles chart.



Pictured: The picture sleeve of 'Lovely Lola' backed with 'Marabu' showing the group in their recently established 'Toto's Bar' attire.


As the group continued to spend much of 1968 in the studio recording what would become the ‘La Conferencia Secreta Del Toto’s Bar’ album, they decreased their touring schedule especially to international regions. A television special in February 1968 entitled ‘Von Uruguay nach Deutschland: Los Shakers’ aired in the country combining elements of the group’s previous German television special ‘der Klang von Los Shakers’ as well as recently filmed inserts and promo videos used in other countries. The special received average ratings and subsequently never re-aired. 


It would take nearly five months before the group’s next release in the country, a teaser single for the ‘Toto’s Bar’ album. Perhaps it was all the commotion which had unfolded between the group and their American record label Capitol Records that convinced Odeon of having such a large gap in the band’s German activities. This single mirrored the British single, consisting of ‘The Pine And The Rose’ backed with ‘My Aunt Clementine.’ Although the single fared better in England, it much like their previous single failed to chart in Germany likely due to the band’s inactivity.


For the rest of the group’s contract with Odeon Records, the band’s German releases would follow their releases in Argentina excluding the use of mono and stereo mixes between the regions. Much as in Argentina, the group shifted more towards an emphasis on albums rather than singles with very few being released in Germany outside of promotional usage. 

(As the group began printing their song titles in Spanish internationally beginning with ‘La Bossa Nova De Hugo Y Osvaldo’ they will be listed when singles are named)


LOS SHAKERS’ GERMAN DISCOGRAPHY (1968-1971)

La Conferencia Secreta Del Toto’s Bar (2xLP) (August 1968)

Sueno Realidad/Hechizo (January 1969)

La Bossa Nova De Hugo Y Osvaldo (LP) (February 1969)

Creí En Ti/Ver La Luz (June 1970)

Devolución Del Shakers (July 1970)

De Nuevo En El Estudio (1971)


In October of 1971 one month after Caio Vila’s departure from the group, the three remaining members moved to the United States Of America setting up permanent residence. This also coincided with the conclusion of their contract extension with Odeon Pops in Argentina. Once the contract had expired, the group signed onto a worldwide distribution deal with Columbia Records, the label who had released the band’s records since ‘La Conferencia Secreta Del Toto’s Bar’ in 1968. This resulted in a change of labels for the group in every international region who chose to release their records. By the time ‘Dedos’ was released in 1972 with the extended lineup, their music was released under CBS Records in Germany.

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