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 Since the time of the early 1920s, Germany had eagerly opened its borders to the same influences it had kept at bay during previous years, and Michael Danzi’s musical gifts enabled him to thrive during this new, German quest for modernity. In describing his own experiences, immersed in a remarkable period of cultural and scientific liberation, Danzi explained “As a young American in Berlin, I was attracted to people in the milieu of music, arts, science, philosophy, and medicine. I enjoyed the facilities of several clubs and was an honorary member of the Artisten Loge. I attended all manner of discussions in the well known Romanisches Café on Tauentzienstrasse.”
“People have forgotten that, after WW-I, the greatest concentration of intellectuals and cultural innovators was not in Paris, and certainly not in London or New York, but in Berlin. The reason was really quite simple. The revolution in Russia saw getting on for half-a-million immigrants from there, and others from Poland, Hungary, and the eastern countries. These famous violinists, pianists, cellist, composers, scientists, philosophers, theatrical artists, and men of medicine, came to Berlin to start a new life. A few Italians, French, and English-Americans also came to Berlin, whose atmosphere in the 1920s was conducive to good living, to research, and investigation in all fields of knowledge.”
When recalling his formation of the band The Virginians, and his continued work throughout the 1920s music and film scene of Berlin, Danzi stated “I remember that in April, 1929, a friend of mine named Giuseppe Becce called to do some film work for the Lola Kreutzberg Film Company. We did ‘Das alte Lied,’ which featured Lil Dagover. Becce’s music was played by the orchestra under his own baton. Some time later in April, Duisberg and I went to see Tichauer regarding a replacement for the Lud Gluskin Band at the Ambassadeur. Tichauer had a lot of faith in me, from the Alex Hyde days, and then with Eddie Woods at the Barberina; and the way I had substituted in various bands for tea dances when the regular fellows’ recording contracts kept them in the studio way past five o’clock. I told him that I was getting together all the very best American musicians in Berlin, and he said ‘okay, let’s see the orchestra,’ just like that. We auditioned and were hired to start on April 27, 1929. As I was under contract at Homocord for playing and promotion, I got Teddy Kline to be our nominal leader, and he fronted the band. As Teddy’s home was in Virginia, we decided to call the group The Virginians.”
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In the accompanying label from Telefunken’s 1934 recording of the popular, novelty song “Lollipops,” Michael Danzi’s credit for banjo solo is prominently displayed, and his recollection of the studio sessions during that period brings to light the drastic changes occurring in 1930’s Germany. Referring to circumstances within the creative community, with the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, Danzi stated “The exodus of musicians because of their ethnic origin had given a few headaches to the recording company directors, and in May, 1934, Telefunken had a session to test the new conductors.”
“They had a thirty-five piece orchestra. Hans Bund was on the podium, but ever since the incident when Harry Revel had been preferred to him, back in July 1927, we had had a barrier between us. As well as the orchestral fellows, there was a handful of dance band men, including some of Bund’s cronies such as Harold Kirchstein (four-string guitar), Luczkowski the drummer, Bräu the saxophone player, and Ludwig Kletsch (accordion). Georg Haentzschel was on piano and I was on Hawaiian guitar and six-string guitar. Bund had a cunning scheme to impress the Telefunken people and show his skills. He put wrong notes in the scores of certain musicians, and marked his master score with red dots on the corresponding place.”
As just a small example of drain of creative leaders taking place in 1930s Berlin, Danzi’s accounts make clear the hugely important role of the Jewish community to pre-Nazi Germany’s standing in the world of contemporary arts and entertainment, as well as that of other, ethnically diverse groups, and he goes on to explain the “Lollipops” session itself, by stating “Grenzebach of Telefunken called me in for some work in late May, which suited me as I planned to go to New York a little later, to see what was going on there. In fact, my guitar was being repaired by the Este Banjo and Guitar Company in Hamburg, so I had to borrow Meg Tevelian’s guitar only one day before the session. It was long enough for me to get the feel for the instrument. I had written out the arrangements before, and with my borrowed guitar and the music sheets I went to the Telefunken studio to find Hans Bund there. He was supposed to be the conductor. I wouldn’t stand for that, of course. I did ‘Lollipops,’ and ‘Go Go’ on banjo, and ‘Dolly Dimples’ on guitar, with ‘Momi’ on Hawaiian guitar.”
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During that same period, in 1934, he explained “In July I worked at the open air Europahaus dance floor in Berlin. The band was Italian. Some of the crowd didn’t like this and gave us dagger-like looks, for Hitler was now talking about going into Austria after Mussolini had expressed his opinion, but Mussolini put thousands of troops at the Brenner pass and so the putsch was put into cold storage. Italians were not the favorite people in Germany, so I was pleased to leave John Abriani’s band at the end of the month.”
Seen in the accompanying photo from his time with the 1935 orchestra of the Scala Theatre in Berlin, Danzi had spent the past ten years of his life performing throughout Germany, while at the same time continuing his remarkable recording career; a career that would eventually include more than seventeen thousand titles during his entire, sixteen years in Europe (1924 to 1939). When recalling his performances with the Scala orchestra, he explained “When I joined the lads at the Scala Theatre I met Otto Stenzel, the conductor. We decided that I would have a solo spot in the overture, and that I would sit on a high chair, facing the audience, with a spotlight on me. I played my Hawaiian guitar with the accompaniment from the orchestra and after the applause I sat next to the drummer and played guitar for the rest of the show.”
“This was the first time a guitar had been used at the Scala Theatre, but I knew from the smiles of the conductor and the approving glances from the musicians that it was totally accepted. Bimbo, the drummer, and the bass player were pleased to have the rhythmic support of my guitar, which surely boosted and improved the rhythm section. Everyone was warm and friendly at the Scala, and as Duisberg had said, right from the time I started, on October 1, there were famous American acts. The month’s work was a pleasure. I got a formal contract that month but my regular work schedule did not start until the spring of 1935.”
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