Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra A Swingin' Safari

The two Kaempfert compositions A Swingin’ Safari and Afrikaan Beat soon became world hits and have since become evergreens. The success of Take Me Famous is down to Dean Martin’s vocal version of the number, and That Happy Feeling, Market Day and Happy Trumpeter were sensational, long-running hits on American radio.

At that time, the typical Kaempfert rhythm had been enhanced by a titillating sound coming from the flutes: Bert Kaempfert modelled this music on the sound produced by blowing penny whistles (brass flutes) in the same particular way as in South African Kwela music. The style of this had been influenced by American swing and was very popular among young black people in the townships.