Bert Kaempfert vs. Billy Vaughn

Studio orchestra leader Billy Vaughn may have been even more popular in Germany in the 1950s and '60s than he was in the U.S., which helps explain why the most comprehensive compilation of his work originates there. This two-CD, 50-track album of original Dot Records recordings contains 20 of Vaughn's 28 Billboard Hot 100 chart entries, including the major U.S. hits "Melody of Love," "The Shifting Whispering Sands," "Sail Along Silvery Moon" and "Raunchy." Then there are songs that topped the German charts, like "Wheels" and "La Paloma." The set has a definite German tilt, with such titles as "Zwei Gitarren Am Meer and "Unter Dem Doppeladler" on the song list (both of which made the German Top 20), but it also gives a broad sense of Vaughn's arranging and performing skills on pop standards of the era.