THE James Last Appreciation Society is disbanding after 41 years, following the deaths of its founder and Last himself.

The 300 UK members of the society have gathered in Bournemouth each September since 1976, and for the last decade at the Marsham Court Hotel in Russell-Cotes Road.

Member Terry George said: “James Last sadly passed away in June 2015 at the age of 86. Then, in August 2016, Peter Boosey, the founder of the appreciation society, passed away too.

“Norma Boosey took over the chairmanship of the group following the death of her husband Peter. But she too died suddenly this July, just weeks after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. This was devastating for us all and has left us thinking this is the end of the road for the society.

“With the help of Rosie Wallace, Nicki Allan and the Marsham Court team, we have managed to pull together our meeting this year, but with no new music from James and the loss of Peter and Norma, we have made the difficult decision to disband the society and its fan magazine from December 31, 2017.”

Last was born Hans Last in Bremen, Germany, in 1929 and went on to become the ‘king of the non-stop party’ thanks to his upbeat arrangements of tunes by everyone from The Beatles to Lady Gaga.

Known as Hansi to his fans, he reworked favourites from every genre and sold between 50-100 million albums, 65 of which charted in the UK - tying with Sir Cliff Richard and second only to Elvis Presley.

His fans regularly packed out London’s Albert Hall to hear him play with his orchestra and travelled as far as Moscow for his concerts where they would wave umbrellas and hearts during his renditions of favourite tunes Singin’ in the Rain and Happy Heart.

However, Last’s music was not popular with everyone, with some accusing him of making ‘elevator music’ and ‘watering down’ classic songs.

In its heyday in the 70s and 80s, the society had 6,500 members worldwide. Currently there are around 700.

Around 80 society members gathered for this year’s three-day celebration at the Marsham Court to enjoy Last’s music and to share their memories of his concerts around the world.

Among them was Eileen Phillips from Christchurch. She has been a member of the society since the mid-80s and has seen her idol perform over 30 times at venues across Europe.

She said: “The society has been my family for many years now, and I’ve cried a lot since I heard it was disbanding, but things move on and I have to accept that.

“A few of us will stay in touch of course and it’s still a hope of mine to go and see Hansi’s grave in Germany. But this is the end of an era.”