NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Dance to Humperdinck's ten guitars

NZ Herald
14 Jun, 2013 08:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Engelbert Humperdinck.

Engelbert Humperdinck.

A new album and a six-country tour would tucker out most people but, at 77, Engelbert Humperdinck knows how to pace himself, reports Scott Kara

When TimeOut calls Engelbert Humperdinck he's at the door of what I imagine would be his opulent Los Angeles mansion farewelling a friend. The singer juggles the two conversations, keeping me on the line and happy ("Please, just one second. Would you mind waiting?"), while also saying a hasty yet polite goodbye to his friend. He then quickly turns his full attention back to TimeOut: "Let me take this in the other room. Right, I'm fine now. Sorry about that. I'm ready to talk."

And talk he does, about everything from returning to New Zealand for a Vector Arena concert on June 29 and his famous voice ("Power-wise it's as good as it was when I first started.") to being friends with Elvis and, of course, his song, Ten Guitars.

Because of that song, 77-year-old Humperdinck - real name Arnold Dorsey, he borrowed his stage name from a 19th century German opera composer - has a special connection with New Zealand. Ten Guitars was the B-side to his 1967 breakthrough hit, Release Me (And Let Me Love Again), which Humperdinck rather cutely spells out to TimeOut just in case we do not know. Release Me went to No 1 around the world, keeping the Beatles' double A-side single of Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever from reaching the top spot in Britain, but it was Ten Guitars that became a party hit here.

It was co-written with Gordon Mills, Humperdinck's first manager, in London in 1965 and back then he remembers he thought it was "a very happy-go-lucky song".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Anybody can join in and sing along to it at parties and barbecues. And whenever I come to New Zealand I have to sing it at least twice," he says with a laugh. "But what amazes me, I played an open-air concert once, and all the little kids were singing it with me, and they were dancing to my song, Ten Guitars, and I think to myself, 'How do they know this song that's over 40 years old?'."

This year he dented our national pride by re-recording it with Australian supergroup the Break, made up of musicians from the Violent Femmes, Midnight Oil and Hunters and Collectors. When TimeOut light-heartedly brings up the fact he should really have recorded it with a bunch of Kiwis instead of Australians he offers heartfelt apologies before diverting conversation to the recent death of his sister and how his wife has been sick. "Things have been a little bit difficult over here," he says. "I've had a tragedy in my family. I lost one of my sisters and her funeral is tomorrow and it's a very sad thing for me because I'm here in LA, my wife hasn't been too well, so I'm just trying to spend time with her, and I can't leave her."

Which makes it very hard to press him on the controversial - for Kiwis at least - re-recording of Ten Guitars. Thankfully, his wife is "coming along fine, it's taking time but she will probably be alright". And it helps that she has one of the best voices in the music business singing to her every day - because he does sing to her most days.

"She listens in on my rehearsals, and she's my best critic," he laughs.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He still relishes the opportunity to collaborate and sing with a wide range of people, which is why he was bitterly disappointed a few years ago when his ex-manager, unbeknown to Humperdinck, turned down an opportunity to work with Damon Albarn on Gorillaz' Plastic Beach album.

"What a terrible tragedy that was. I was being handled by the wrong people at that time I think, and the manager I had at the time didn't probably know the Gorillaz and how massive they were. It just went by the wayside, and I didn't even know about it. But if I had've known I would have jumped on it like a ton of bricks."

That incident is part of the reason his son, Scott Dorsey, is his manager these days; together the pair have been bringing together his new Duets album, which features artists such as Elton John (with whom he does a virtual duet on his tour), soul great Smokey Robinson, and country legends Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers.

"I wrote letters to all my friends and I had a tremendous response, and the first to respond, of course, was Elton John and he was just amazing in the studio. I've never actually worked with such a professional like that. But being in the studio with all these people is incredible because they are all legends in their own right.

Discover more

New Zealand

Dance, dance, to my Aussie guitars

08 Mar 04:30 PM
New Zealand

A music-playing bottle? That must be some kind of record

14 Jun 05:30 PM
Entertainment

Booker T. Jones: Pulling out all the stops

05 Jul 09:00 PM

"I've been in the business now for 46 years and I've met and sung with some of the greatest people in the world, like Ray Charles, and Elvis was a dear friend of mine."

Not many people can say they were friends with the King, and Humperdinck remembers that time fondly.

"Elvis never took his image too seriously. He always made fun of himself on stage. He had a lot of humility, and he was a very affectionate person. When he met you he didn't shake your hand, he put his arms around you and gave you a hug.

"And to me, a man of that stature meeting someone like me, a young man from Leicester, England, who was not even in the same boat with him as far as hit records go, he made me feel so welcome. It was just wonderful to be a part of that era, a part of that time, and friends with someone who had taken over the world with music."

Yes, but with more 150 million records sold, Humperdinck's a bit of a music legend himself.

To which he says graciously, "I'm just a very lucky person."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Who: Engelbert Humperdinck
Where and when: Vector Arena, June 29

- TimeOut

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Entertainment

'Hate him': Paul Simon's daughter chastises Richard Gere, hopes her dead pets will haunt him

10 Jul 02:09 AM
Entertainment

Stay or leave? The most surprising Mafs couple switch-ups of 2025

10 Jul 02:00 AM
Entertainment

Horner's future with Halliwell unclear after Red Bull dismissal

10 Jul 12:37 AM

Get your kids involved in your reno

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

'Hate him': Paul Simon's daughter chastises Richard Gere, hopes her dead pets will haunt him

'Hate him': Paul Simon's daughter chastises Richard Gere, hopes her dead pets will haunt him

10 Jul 02:09 AM

Lulu Simon says Richard Gere will demolish her childhood home after promising not to.

Stay or leave? The most surprising Mafs couple switch-ups of 2025

Stay or leave? The most surprising Mafs couple switch-ups of 2025

10 Jul 02:00 AM
Horner's future with Halliwell unclear after Red Bull dismissal

Horner's future with Halliwell unclear after Red Bull dismissal

10 Jul 12:37 AM
Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry reunite for family photos amid split

Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry reunite for family photos amid split

09 Jul 10:03 PM
Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper
sponsored

Sponsored: Why heat pumps make winter cheaper

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP