The song The Happy Wanderer ("Der fröhliche Wanderer" or "Mein Vater war ein Wandersmann") is often mistaken for a German folk song, but it is actually an original song by Friedrich-Wilhelm Möller, written shortly after WW2. His sister Edith Möller conducted a small amateur children's choir in Schaumburg County, Northern Germany, named Schaumburger Märchensänger.

In 1953, BBC Radio aired the choir's winning performance at Llangollen International Eisteddfod, a festival in North Wales. The broadcast turned the cheerful encore into an instant hit. On January 22, 1954, the song took the #2 spot of the UK single charts, where it remained for 23 weeks in a row, then spent 3 more weeks on #8. With BBC Radio's strong international influence, "The Happy Wanderer" suddenly turned up everywhere, e.g. as the winning song of the 1955 calypso road march season of the Trinidad Carnival (prompting protest that from now on, only calypsoes should be chosen over foreign music). See also: 1952 in music, other events of 1953, 1954 in music, 1950s in music and the list of years in music // Events Arthur Bliss replaces Arnold Bax as Master of the Queens Musick. ... The International Eisteddfod is a music festival which takes place every year during the second week of July in Llangollen, North Wales. ... A one-hit wonder is a Top 40 phenomenon, the combination of artist and song that scores big in the music industry with one smash hit, but is unable to repeat the achievement with another hit. ...

The amateur choir, many of whose original members were war orphans, turned into an unlikely international phenomenon in the following years. The group performed on countless international tours under the name Obernkirchen Children's Choir, with performances on tv shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show (November 29, 1964, and December 11, 1966). The choir was also featured in a 1955 German musical movie named after the song. Ed Sullivan The Ed Sullivan Show was an American television variety show that ran from June 20, 1948, to June 6, 1971, and was hosted by Ed Sullivan. ...

The song's original German lyrics have been translated to several languages and has since become a choir classic, the English lyrics were written by Antonia Ridge. Milton DeLugg wrote a famous arrangement and is sometimes falsely credited as the composer of the song. Milton DeLugg (born in 1918) is an American composer and arranger. ...

When the Montreal Expos played in Olympic Stadium, the Happy Wanderer was played to celebrate offensive explosions, with the fans joining in on the chorus. The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1969 to 2004. ... Stade Olympique (English: Olympic Stadium) is a multipurpose stadium located in Montreal. ...

External links

• Chart Of All Time - 1954 UK Chart History of 1954
• IMDB Movie: "Der fröhliche Wanderer"
• Llangollen History of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod
• Trinidad and Tobago National Library Carnival Story - The Negative List
• Maerchensaenger.de Obernkirchen Children's Choir - German Homepage