Top 10 Engelbert Humperdinck Songs

Photo: Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com

Our Top 10 Engelbert Humperdinck Songs list takes a look at one of the most loved adult contemporary singers of all time. Englebert Humperdinck is not his given name. Englebert was originally born Arnold Dorsey on May 2, 1936, in Madras, India. He is often compared to Tom Jones who is four years younger than Englebert Humperdink. Englebert was considered the baby of the family to a mix of nine brothers and sisters born before him. The first half of Dorsey’s childhood was in India as his father worked as an engineer there. The second half was in Leicester, England, when his family moved back to their original UK roots. Shortly after moving to Leicester, Dorsey dropped out of high school as the introverted dreamer was more interested in singing than spending time in the classroom.

Rough Start

Finances were difficult for Dorsey to handle despite his best attempts to make a real go of his music career. It wasn’t until 1960 he’d take the advice of his career manager to adopt the stage name of Engelbert Humperdinck. The name came from the same name of the Geman Copser who composed the opera Hansel and Gretel in the eighteen hundreds. Without argument, Dorsey accepted as the singer later admits his circumstances saw no reason to protest as he had a wife and four kids to support at the time.

Cinderella Story

As soon as Humperdinck made his big breakthrough in 1966, any fear he previously had to make a successful career out of show business promptly subsided. Upon the successful hit release of “Release Me,” Humperdinck realized seven more consecutive hit singles that would chart at the top with the UK Singles Chart, as well as earn himself a name worldwide. In 2003, Engelbert Humperdinck released an album for the country music genre titled ” Always Hear the Harmony: The Gospel Sessions” and this earns him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album of the Year.

There are so many great Engelbert Humperdinck songs like “Quando Quando Quando,” “Spanish Eyes,” “I’m A Better Man (For Having Loved You)” “Beautiful Baby,” “Shadow Of Your Smile,” “What a Wonderful World,” that do not appear on this list because we only picked the. Nonetheless, as any Englebert fan knows picking the best Engelbert Humperdinck songs of all time is no easy task. These are all timeless classics that all deserve to be on an Englebert Humbeping greatest hits list.

Top 10 Engelbert Humperdinck Songs

#10 – Sweetheart

We open up our Top 10 Engelbert Humperdinck songs list with the beautiful mid-tempo song entitled “Sweetheart.” Englebert always picked songs with such beautiful melodies and heartfelt lyrics. This wonderful song was released as a single in 1970 from the album also entitled Sweetheart.

Engelbert Humperdinck’s grand voice is surrounded by a traditional big-sounding country arrangement with sweet strings wrapping around his golden vocals chords. The song was a big hit on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts peaking at number two. The song also made its way onto the US Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number forty-seven. The song was composed by The Bee Gees’ Barry and Maurice Gibb. The Bee Gees had originally released the song on their marvelous Cucumber Castle album.

#9 – When There’s No You

Recorded and released in 1970 was the single “When There’s No You.” It was featured on Engelbert Humperdinck’s album “Sweetheart”.” On the music charts, the song reached number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary charts in April 1971, which was known as the US Billboard Easy Listening charts at the time. It also earned chart ranks in Canada, reaching as high as fifteen and in with the UK Singles Chart at forty-seventh place. This song was the second of four top-ranking singles for that chart. It also appears on the US Billboard Hot 100 at forty-five. This song was originally written by Les Reed and Jackie Reed and the melody was an adaptation of the Italian opera Pagliacci.

#8 – The Last Waltz

One of the most successful singles ever released by Engelbert Humperdinck was “The Last Waltz,” which was released in 1967 and peaked at number one for five weeks on the UK Singles Chart. Written by Barry Mason and Les Reed, it also charted at number one with Australia’s Kent Report, IRMA, the Dutch Top Forty, and RISA. On the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, it peaked in sixth place, and on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number twenty five.

This powerful ballad was also the most commercially successful with over 1.7 million copies sold, mostly in the UK and Australia. The theme of this timeless love song served as a double meaning, where the last waltz was the first dance of a couple that would mark the beginning of their romance and later served as the last waltz when their relationship came to an end.

#7 – There Goes My Everything

In the number seven spot on our top 10 Engelbert Humperdinck songs list is the classic love song “There Goes My Everything.” The song was originally written in 1965 by Dallas Frazier, who first saw it recorded and released by Jack Greene in 1966. His version was the most successful as it earned him awards with the Country Music Association for Male Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year, and Song of the Year. It also contributed towards his win for Album of the Year. Engelbert Humperdinck’s version also performed well on the charts when it was released in 1967, placing as high as second in the UK and Ireland. It also charted in twentieth place on the US Billboard Hot 100.

#6 – The Bicycle of Belsize (Les Bicyclettes de Belsize)

“Les Bicyclettes de Belsize, when translated into English is “The Bicycle of Belsize,” and this was the theme song for the 1968 British musical movie of the same name. The song was recorded in English and was performed by Engelbert Humperdinck while the French version was performed by Mireille Mathieu. In addition to the single appearing in the film in 1968, it was also featured on Humperdinck’s 1969 album “Engelbert.”

#5 – Winter World of Love

At the halfway point is another tender love song by the great Engelbert Humperdinck. Another grand chorus sets the stage for this romantic offering by a man that melted many female hearts. On Canada’s RPM Adult Contemporary chart, Engelbert Humperdinck’s 1969 performance of “Winter World of Love” peaked at the number one spot. In Ireland and on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary charts it reached number three. The UK Singles Chart ranked it seventh and on the US Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at sixteen. This international hit charted globally within the top forty of their charts with the exception of Australia, where it peaked at seventy-eight. This song can be found on his 1969 album “Engelbert.”

#4 – A Man Without Love

In Italian, “A Man Without Love” is 8. A Man Without Love (1968) ‘A Man Without Love’ was the second single released from the 1968 album of the same name. The song was originally written in Italian and called ‘quando m’innamoro.’ The writers of this song were Daniele Pace, Mario Panzeri, and Roberto Livraghi. Barry Mason wrote the English lyrics for the song. Humperdinck’s version peaked at number two on the UK charts. 7, which was how the song was originally written in 1968. It was written by Daniele Pace, Mario Panzeri, and Roberto Livraghi and originally sung at the 1968 Sanremo Music Festival by Italian pop artist Anna Identici and the American pop group known as The Sandpipers. The English version, which was written by Barry Mason, saw its most popular performance come from Engelbert Humperdinck as he earned worldwide chart success as it reached the top of the charts among the nations of Belgium, Ireland, and Switzerland. With the exception of the US Billboard Hot 100 where the song placed at nineteenth, A Man Without Love cracked the top ten throughout most of the highly respected music charts throughout the world. On the UK Singles Chart, it peaked as high as second place.

#3 – Am I That Easy to Forget

Engelbert Humperdinck’s 1968 coverage of the song “Am I That Easy to Forget” was originally released by country singer Carl Belew in 1959. Many artists have since recorded and released their own version of the single, but it was Humperdinck’s version that earned the best overall chart success as it peaked at number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and IRMA. On the US Billboard Hot 100, it charted at eighteen. In the UK, the song peaked in third place on the chart while in Australia in tenth place.

#2 – Release Me (and Let Me Love Again)

The first of the singles coming from Engelbert Humperdinck is “Release Me” which was released in 1967. The song finished in the overall numb er thirsty one spot in 1967. The number one song in 1967 turned out to be Lulu’s “To Sir With Love.” This song ” Release Me,” has been covered by many artists since it was first written by Eddie Miller in 1949. With over a million copies sold, mostly within the UK, it is among Humperdinck’s most commercially successful.

This would be the first song Humperdinck would release with this stage name, which he performed as a replacement singer for the unwell Dickie Valentine on a variety-themed television program known as Sunday Night at the London Palladium. As of March 2, 1967, Humperdinck’s performance of “Release Me,” reached the top of the UK Singles Chart where it held its place there for six weeks. This same version of “Release Me,” was also noted for remaining on the charts for a total of fifty-six consecutive weeks.

#1 – After the Lovin’

In 1976, the single “After the Lovin'” charted on the US Billboard Hot 100 in eighth place, but faired even better with the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and with the New Zealand Listener right at number one. It also charted well in Canada’s RPM in seventh place and with Australia’s Kent Report in thirteenth place. It also appeared on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at forty. The composition behind the song was prepared by Ritchie Adams while the lyrics were done by Alan Bernstein. During the 1977 Grammy Awards, this song earned Engelbert Humperdinck a nomination in the category of Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In the end, in our opinion “After The Lovin” is Engelbert Humperdinck’s number one song.