Arnold Dorsey struggled to break into the music industry until he was advised to adopt a more interesting stage name. Dorsey took the name Engelbert Humperdinck from the German composer of Hansel and Gretel. Already in his early thirties, the change worked; Humperdinck enjoyed unlikely success with his easy listening music. In 1967 Humperdinck crooned though Eddie Miller’s 1949 composition ‘Release Me’. It was the number one single for six weeks in the UK and famously kept The Beatles’ double a-side ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’/’Penny Lane’ from the top of the charts.
‘Release Me’ was also successful in New Zealand, reaching number two, but it was the single’s b-side that made the bigger impact. Rotorua DJ Eddie O’Strange was listening through the week’s singles, and presciently decided that the song’s flip-side, ‘Ten Guitars’, would become popular in New Zealand. ‘Ten Guitars’ was a strum-along favourite for boozy parties, and became known as the national anthem of Patea.
One reason for the song’s appeal in New Zealand is the use of the Maori strum. The Maori guitar strum uses a percussive, dampened sound on the offbeat. It can be traced back to Hawaiian ukulele music, and it’s used on New Zealand songs like Crowded House’s ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ and The Howard Morrison Quartet’s ‘Hoki Mai’.
According to Geoff Cawthorn, who made a 1996 documentary of the success of ‘Ten Guitars’ in New Zealand, Humperdinck was oblivious to the song’s local success. When he first toured New Zealand in the 1970s, the crowd at his Christchurch show was flummoxed when he finished his first show without playing it. His band hastily learnt it (it’s not that hard, as it only has three chords) adding it as the encore for his Auckland show.
‘Ten Guitars’ isn’t Humperdinck’s only connection to New Zealand – perhaps more relevant to younger generations of NZ music fans is his uncanny resemblance to Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement.
Trainspotters out there – I know that, as opposed to the other b-sides in this series, ‘Ten Guitars’ was also featured on an album. But because Humperdinck wasn’t known as an album artist and because it had an interesting story behind it, I think ‘Ten Guitars’ is fair game.
Source: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nat-music/audio/2568482/the-secret-life-of-ten-guitars
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Firstly, that’s kind of a catchy song. Never heard it before. Not even remotely a hit here. Secondly, I don’t even think I knew he was British. How sad is that? Is he still active one wonders? As to that editing, boy what purpose did that serve. I practically started getting motion sickness. I see stuff like that on TV commercials these days. They’ll interview someone about, say, some medication they’re taking and they will do front views, then side views, then a shot from the other side. I guess it’s all to maintain visual interest but then I can never remember exactly what it is they’re supposed to be selling.
It’s only famous in New Zealand – and only really with the older generations. He’s mainly famous for Release Me I think.
How would E.H. even know which way to look? 🙂 Great song, dizzying video clip.
It’s just bad camerawork, right? Would like to hear the song with a less easy listening arrangement.
I’ve only heard of him through two things:
1. His single beat out Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane to number 1
2. He was mentioned in a Monty Python sketch, can’t remember which one though.
It is an intrinsically hilarious name.
I’ve never heard this one. It’s a good song. I always thought of him as a Tom Jones type of singer.
His name is one that it’s hard to spell but impossible to forget.
He is pretty much like Tom Jones.
That is a great trivia question: what kept strawberry/penny from #1? Arnold Dorsey!
It’s not a fair fight because he had ten guitars and The Beatles only had two.
I had never heard this before but it’s a catchy little sod. Written by Gordon Mills, who was the manager of both Humperdinck and Tom Jones and also wrote the Johnny Kidd and the Pirates hit I’ll Never Get Over You and Jones’s It’s Not Unusual. I can’t say my life is complete now that I know this, but I suppose if you were 12 and your sister or Mum bought Release Me you could at least listen to this as an antidote.
I didn’t really look at who wrote it – I’m used to covering artists who write their own material. Seems like he’s a little undervalued as a songwriter – and it’s unusual to have a manager write material as well, I think?
Unusual, certainly, and of course B-sides do attract royalties, so if you can generate an extra few quid that way, why not? But it’s not like a strong B-side makes for a strong single. We usually only find out what it’s like when we get the thing home and have played the A-side ten times.
All in the past tense now though, really.