James Last - Kaiser Of Krautrock!

The Cosmic Jokers story is worth retelling. Famed German bandleader James Last, wanting to exploit the new underground scene, went into the studio with the core of his touring band and cut the anonymous pseudonymous eponymous first album. "We improvised," he says. "The musicians were qualified professionals and could play anything. We all dressed in the latest mod-style clothing and there was incense. No drugs, of course! We were high on the music!" The album's success took everyone by surprise. "It outsold Swinging Hit Party Favorites, the official James Last album!"

Keeping his identity a secret, Last quickly released a second album, Galactic Supermarket, consisting of outtakes from the sessions. "We could not believe our ears when it entered the pop music charts!" Last says. "There was the big mystery about who the musicians were, and rumors of a tour, and so forth and so on."

The secret was revealed when Last, backed by the "band", appeared on the German T.V. show Teen Disc-Party to publicise the third album, Planeten Sit-In. "I took off my wig and made the peace sign! It was funny!" Alas, the hippies who'd bought the albums didn't get the joke, and the third album stiffed.

Ironically, these three albums, recorded by show-band musicians in their late thirties, stand as prime examples of Krautrock, as adventurous and exciting and as cosmic as "the real thing".