Walter Samuel
Abridged analytical notes on the film music of Klaus Harmony.
Hamburg, 1997
As though reluctant to leave the old decade behind, Friedrich Wohlfäht fought with his distributors to include in Schaften Lieben a scene which involved an eastern mystic high priest, imparting the wisdom of an ancient tome, presumably intended to be the Karma Sutra. Since his Kinky Roosevelt days, Klaus Harmony had been receptive to eastern philosophies and when Wohlfäht requested an extended piece to underscore the scene he responded in earnest. While in the throws of composing the piece, Harmony began searching for a chant which he could incorporate, asking everyone he knew for suggestions. During a business trip to Birmingham in the UK, he dined at the Golden Star Tandoori where a waiter shared with him an ancient chant which, he informed the composer, would bring great luck. A napkin which Harmony brought home with him bore the scribbled refrain, "Um Ba Wakka Mungo Bungo/Um Ba Wakka Um Ba Ja." Klaus paid for the waiter to fly to the Netherlands and perform the on the recording. On the date of the scheduled session, however, the waiter failed to arrive and the chant was never recorded. The motif to which the words were to be sung remains in Finger-oh!, nonetheless.