Engelbert Humperdinck (singer) - 1960s & 1970s

1960s & 1970s

By the start of the 1970s, Humperdinck had settled into a busy schedule of recordings, and a number of signature songs emerged from this period, such as, "We Made It Happen", "Sweetheart", "Another Time, Another Place", and "Too Beautiful To Last".

As his kind of balladry became less popular, and after he adopted some Broadway influences, Humperdinck concentrated on selling albums and on live performances, developing lavish stage presentations that made him a natural for Las Vegas and similar venues.

In 1976 Humperdinck recorded "After the Lovin'", a ballad produced by Joel Diamond and released by CBS subsidiary Epic. The song, a top ten hit in the US, marked another peak in his career; nominated for a Grammy Award, it went Gold, and won the "most played juke box record of the year" award. The album of the same name reached the top twenty on the US charts, and was a Double Platinum hit for the singer. Diamond went on to produce a series of albums recorded by Humperdinck for Epic, including This Moment In Time from 1979 (the title song topped the US adult contemporary charts) and two Christmas albums (Diamond and Humperdinck remain good friends to this day).

It was a conscious effort to update his music and his image. "I don't like to give people what they have already seen," Humperdinck was quoted as saying in a 1992 tourbook. "I take the job description of 'entertainer' very seriously! I try to bring a sparkle that people don't expect and I get the biggest kick from hearing someone say, 'I had no idea you could do that!'" He also defended his fan mania, which helped him continue to sell records when radio play largely ended for him. "They are very loyal to me and very militant as far as my reputation is concerned," Humperdinck had told Sherwood. "I call them the spark plugs of my success."

But he later revealed that he had little if any say in the selection of songs for his albums. As his career moved on, however, Humperdinck began gaining more creative freedom, and his albums accordingly brought several kinds of songs into his reach beyond syrupy ballads. But he kept romance at the core of his music regardless, and his fans have long tagged him, "the King of Romance".