Talk:Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)

Staples Commercials

Should there be a mention of his recent holiday commercials for Staples in the US? Inversed 03:19, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Engelbert Humperdinck (the name)

The word after implies he took the name in honor of the original Humperdinck. In actuality, it was more of a publicity stunt. The wording should be changed. Kingturtle 21:48 May 2, 2003 (UTC)

You are correct, Engelbert did not take the name in honor of Engelbert the composer. Tropiwikian 05:26, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

He did not take the name in honor of Engelbert Humperdinck, but he certainly named himself after the composer. As the article correctly states, Gordon Mills ... convinced Gerry that an audience would never forget the name Engelbert Humperdinck, the name of the German composer who wrote "Hansel and Gretel". --FordPrefect42 16:39, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

Pink Palace

The Pink Palace has been razed by a developer, per the Mickey Hargitay page. So this needs to be researched and the article edited as appropriate. -Kfranco, 29 Dec 2005

Engelbert has one of the best voices ever. I have enjoyed listening many hours. His music creates a mood like no other! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.229.248.251 (talk • contribs) .

Career

I am very certain that Engelbert traced his career (with the name he currently uses) back to the 50s, before the said name change in 1965, though it might be true that Gordon Mills was a major part of his career. Marcus 20:08, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Engelbert was known as Gerry Dorsey early in his career. In 1965 it was Gordon Mills idea to change it to Engelbert Humperdinck. This info comes from his official website and numerous other places on the internet. I haven't seen any other info to the contrary. Tropiwikian 01:43, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

OK, but you can't trust everything (if not, anything) that Engelbert's publicity says. As a matter of fact, engelbert.com may actually be a website that is run by the publicity, not Engelbert himself. Marcus 19:21, 2 Jul 2006 (UTC)

I have greatly researched this article, and have not posted information from one source only as I have already stated. I too only want the truth posted in this article. I think we are both on the same page, do you agree? Tropiwikian 05:14, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

Large sections of this seem to be taken from Engelbert's press releases, as found on his website and credited Written by MARLEAH LESLIE & ASSOCIATES. PUBLIC RELATIONS, 8370 Wiishire Blvd., Suite 210 Beverly Hills, CA90211 Tel(323)966 4669 FAX(323)966 4675 - copyright and, worse, accuracy problems? --Alanconnor 14:03, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Lyrics ?

Hello,

I was trying to find some lyrics for songs of Humperdinck. While I could find some, most of the lyrics are not available. Some sites say "The artist has requested not to disclose the lyrics." What is with this ? I am pretty sure that back when I had the audio casette, it had the lyrics with it. Is it a copyright issue ? I am in particular looking for lyrics of "A Man and a Woman", however that is not the aim of this post - I just wanted to know why the secrecy involved with his lyrics.

--RohanDhruva 19:15, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

It's a copyright issue. Those sites are not legally allowed to republish the lyrics without the copyright-holders' permission, so they take them down upon request. (Lyrics sheets with albums are published by the copyright-holder, so it's not an issue) - 76.105.67.208 06:18, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Eddie Izzard

Okay, I guess it should be obvious that he's not dead long before reaching that part of the article, but still... er, he's not dead, is he? ("He has a cold, yeah, that's it")  :) - 76.105.67.208 06:18, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

His mother's nationality

What are the sources for identifying his mother as British? According to [1] "his mother was a housewife from India". Engelbert Humperdinck himself claims in some interviews, that his mother has been German (cf. [2]). Okay, his mother's name is Olive, which doesn't sound German nor Indian ... What's the truth? --FordPrefect42 11:04, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

His mother was Indian and his father was British. Why has this article suddenly changed? (JosephLondon 16:13, 24 September 2007 (UTC))

Sources? Given the complicated nature of this matter, one single link does not prove very much. --FordPrefect42 17:06, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Maybe "Olive" was an Anglicized name. 70.101.160.105 21:35, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

It seems this article is being edited by people who are very ignorant of the history Anglo-Indian community. Anglo-Indians were culturally British and all had European names. Originally they would have been descended from at least one European Father and one Indian mother. I will change this bit of the article one again, please don't fiddle with it. (JosephLondon 20:34, 4 October 2007 (UTC))

I have clarified Engelbert's nationality, for factual purposes, based on my research. Any comments or concerns, drop me a line. 70.101.160.105 01:00, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

FordPrefect42, your reasons for him not having Anglo-Indian heritage seems to stem from your opinion that Olive doesn't sound Indian enough. Based on my own knowledge of the Anglo-Indian community it is highly likely that his mother might have also had German heritage. As I mentioned above, Anglo-Indians are descended from at least one European father and one Indian mother. It seems that you are adamant that he is not at least even the slightest bit Anglo-Indian. You can even tell by looking at him. It seems that the only way you would believe it is if Engelbert himself made a public statement explicitly stating "I am Anglo-Indian!". Come on get real! (JosephLondon 07:25, 6 October 2007 (UTC))

You are wrong. The reason for my doubts is Engelbert himself stating on several occasions that his mother is German (cf. again [3] plus an interview in a German TV show aired in November 2005). As long as there is one source against the other, one cannot help but call his mother's nationality "disputed". We don't need speculation about likelihood, we need reliable facts! --FordPrefect42 08:25, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Now this is what can be found on the web about this matter:

• [4] Engelbert calling himself "half-German" in an interview
• [5] "Seine Mutter war Deutsche" (his mother was German)
• [6] "a musically gifted mother, Olive"
• [7] "his mother was a housewife from India"
• [8] "his mother was an Indian housewife"
• [9] "a mother who was a talented violinist and singer [...] Engelbert’s mother had an operatic voice" (does that sound Indian?)
• [10] "his mother taught violin and had an operatic voice"
• [11] "Indian mother"
• [12] "Engelbert was scheduled to visit Anglo-Indian relatives from his mother's side in Madras." (not precisely a mention that his mother was herself anglo-indian)

All very contradicting. The only thing that we can tell for sure at this moment, is, that his mother's name is in fact Olive. --FordPrefect42 09:05, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

FordPrefect42, I will consider taking on board what you have put forward. But really, your comment on link 9 is a little naive. I am saying that she is Anglo-Indian not Indian. The Anglo-Indian community were separate from the natives. They were Christians, spoke English, were very culturally European and drank tea at 4pm. His mother being a talented violinist and operatic singer, does not make her not Anglo-Indian, just because you think it doesn't sound Indian. Along with with common knowledge and from the information that we have found on the internet I think it is better for us to make a reference that his mother's heritage was Germanic-Anglo-Indian, than to omit it completely. (JosephLondon 11:06, 6 October 2007 (UTC))

My question may sound naive, but it was nonetheless meant honestly: I have no idea whether it is plausible, that Anglo-Indians at that time would have dealt professionally with western classical music. At least, I see a possible contradiction between the assertions of her being a "housewife" and a "violin teacher" (but I may be wrong in this respect). I am not saying that he cannot possibly be of Anglo-Indian descent. All I am saying is that, the sources being so contradictory, it is impossible to make a reliable statement based on only one source. BTW: all the sources saying that his mother is German seem to be based on statements that Engelbert gave in Germany, so it might be a "promotion gag" for the German market after all. --FordPrefect42 15:39, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Folks, we have rules that cover this... to categorize people you need to cite sources, not make your own speculations. When dealing with living people the sources have to be of the highest character, and preferably a self-identification with the category. If we are unsure, or if the sources are contradictary, it is best practice to omit any reference to the category. Besides, does it really matter if his mother was Anglo-Indian, British, German, or anything else? It is a piece of trivia that has no impact on Humperdink's life or notability. Blueboar 14:28, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Actually, in this case it might be more than a piece of trivia; Engelbert, like Cliff, is a something of an institution in the Anglo-Indian community. As possible references: The Hindu, Chicago Sun-times, GK Hall Encyclopaedia of World Cultures. About the other concerns: not only would Anglo-Indians of the time be exposed to classical music, so would a wide swathe of middle-class Indians. It is also completely possible for an Indian woman of a certain class to take violin lessons and yet describe themselves as primarily a housewife. Oh, and as for operatic influences, see the early life of Freddie Mercury. Relata refero 12:23, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

As a relative of the Dorseys, I can testify that my great grandmother was not of Indian lineage but in fact German. She was however, like Engelbert and many generations of our family going back to the 1800s, born in Colonial India as a Briton under the Empire and of European decent. The term Anglo suggests racial decent as in 'Anglo-Asian'... which is incorrect and has likely been removed for this reason. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.16.98.213 (talk) 00:42, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

He certainly looks very German and not the least Indian. With a name like Humperdinck, he must be almost pure Deutsch! A regular Dietrich! As a relative of many Germans, I can testify to their frequent possession of dark brown eyes and tan complexions. As his buddy Tom Jones said, "It's not unusual."Lestrade (talk) 18:50, 27 September 2009 (UTC)Lestrade

Lestrade, looking at Humperdinck / Dorsey, it's easy to see that he is of mixed ethnic ancestry. Look at the facial features, [13], wide cheekbones and complexion etc, Oh, and here is with Jimi - kicking back. For what ever reasons that are not known to us, his ancestry is not advertised. Karl Twist (talk) 12:06, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

That's NOT his name though, it's an adopted name which has no bearing on his ancestry. And yes I must agree that if he is of mixed origin we of mixed origin would be interested to hear it at least. On a side note, shouldn't the information about his 'illegitimate' daughter and paternity case be moved? Feels buried by the loving fan who wrote that portion. Under marriage it states his 4 children with his wife but no proper mention of poor Jennifer. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.174.86.87 (talk) 18:28, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Poor Engelbert! You have told us for many years now that your mother and your grandfather were German, you could speak German in the German tv, you confessed your love to Germany, you adopted a German name - and your country simply assumes that you are lying about your beloved mother! What is wikipedia's intention - truth or nationalism?! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.173.166.100 (talk) 17:19, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

Making This Article Better

The think the tone and style of this article needs to be better. The language of this article reads more like a magazine than an encyclopedia. So I think than rather worrying about the small detail for the moment, we should work on emproving the overall quality of this entry. Also attatching sources to less wellknown claims will give this article some substance. I am pretty sure we can make this a page we can all be proud of. I welcome all your suggestions. (JosephLondon 10:12, 5 October 2007 (UTC))

Fair use rationale for Image:Engelbert Humperdinck - At His Very Best - Front.jpg

Image:Engelbert Humperdinck - At His Very Best - Front.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 04:46, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:ENGELBERT2.jpg

Image:ENGELBERT2.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 05:55, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Release me chart longevity

I was able to find a site that verifies that Release Me was in the Top 50 for 55 weeks. I followed the chart further to see if I could verify the statement of 56 weeks but could not. The URL is http://www.chartstats.com/chart.php?week=19680217 , which takes you to the chart listed for the 55th week the song was listed. Hinerikeri —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hinerikeri (talk • contribs) 17:35, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Added ref as provided above, it does say 56 weeks now, perhaps it was corrected on ChartStats? Facts707 (talk) 14:14, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Addition of unsourced material...

and possibly incorrect too. For instance, from my knowledge, Engelbert never recorded for Parlophone, but, in fact for Decca, as it seems quite evident that that's the case. If one has a reliable source that refutes this claim, please follow the Wikipedia guidelines and cite sources. Marcus2 (talk) 00:50, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Do you notice a certain musical reviewer keeps putting his name on many song reviews?

"Adopting" a name

The only thing German about him is his legal trouble with the German law. Dorsey did not even inform the relatives of the late composer E. Humperdinck that he planned to use the trademark name. This resulted in a legal struggle which he lost. Since then, he appears as "Engelbert" only on his products sold in Germany and must not use the "adopted" name. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/de/wiki/Engelbert_%28S%C3%A4nger%29 This fact deserves being included in the article.

His name

Our article says: "Mills suggested a name change to the more arresting Engelbert Humperdinck, borrowed from the composer of such operas as Hansel and Gretel."

That's great. But why???? --Dweller (talk) 11:30, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

To stick out and be unusual. Sometimes a mouthful is a good thing, because people have to look twice to absorb it and that ensures it is forgotten less easily. When he adopted the name, the works by the original E. H. were still under copyright. I vaguely remember that the heirs/descendents initiated a court case and from then on E. H. could be marketed in Germany only as 'Engelbert'. 144.136.178.182 (talk) 04:52, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Need for an extensive discography

This is such an important artist, he needs to have a separate full discography page done in line with other prominent artists... like we have for Tom Jones (singer), a very similar artist from that golden era http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Jones_discography What we have now is very inadequate on Englebert werldwayd (talk) 19:05, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

• Agree. I just updated albums with songs within each album. Some songs needs proper internal links --WlaKom (talk) 16:22, 4 July 2011 (UTC)
  • I'd be in support of removing the "Songs" section entirely, and just have the information covered in the Discography. --Elonka 13:34, 10 July 2011 (UTC)
    • Also "Hit singles" section should be move to the Discography and merged with "Songs".--91.142.198.191 (talk) 14:09, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

I have split of the dicography to a seperate article. It made the article far too long. Every album was collapsed, what made searching difficult. Night of the Big Wind (talk) 14:34, 10 July 2011 (UTC)

Primary Topic

Currently, the article Engelbert Humperdinck is about the composer. I argue that, per WP:PRIMARYTOPIC, that should be a disambiguation page, linking both to this article and to Engelbert Humperdinck (composer). Therefore I have requested a page move at Talk:Engelbert Humperdinck#Requested move. Bazonka (talk) 08:33, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

2nd Last in Eurovision!

Can't Believe it — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.192.91.106 (talk) 19:39, 24 February 2013 (UTC)

"Release me" NOT 1999

While reading the article on Engelbert Humperdinck, I noticed an error. "Release me" was not originally recorded in 1999, it was 1969. Just thought I'd mention that. Thanks for all the hard work you all do at Wikipedia.

Ball Ground, Ga. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.131.196.169 (talk) 03:37, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

Disambiguation

Anyone remember the great Engelbert Humperdinck disambiguation discussion of 2011? Time has passed, but the issue still remains, so I've reopened the debate. See Talk:Engelbert Humperdinck#Requested move (revisited). Join in if you like. Bazonka (talk) 19:52, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

Redundancy

The Biography section should be deleted as most of the information is repeated in the Early Life, etc. sections, and in greater detail. 68.146.52.234 (talk) 19:18, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

== Rating == Great amount of info, but it all needs references. The article also has serious stylistic issues, and neither of your pictures have fair use rationales. Still, with citations this could easily be at least a B-article. Thehaikumaster 02:20, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Last edited at 02:20, 13 March 2007 (UTC). Substituted at 14:30, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Consolodated his discography?

"In the 1980s, Humperdinck consolidated his discography" What does this mean?

Peezy1001 (talk) 19:02, 5 July 2016 (UTC)

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Hotel in Mexico

It says he bought a hotel, but does not say he sold it - AND also does not say he still owns it. It would be good to have it make sense. TooManyFingers (talk) 14:52, 24 August 2024 (UTC)