Wetten dass..? • Sunday, December 20, 1987

About

The last TV appearance of the year for the promotion of “All The Best” and “Once Upon A Long Ago” was on the german show “Wetten, Dass..?”. From Wikipedia:

Wetten, dass..? (German for “Wanna bet, that..?”) was a German-language entertainment television show. It was the most successful Saturday television show in Europe. Its format was the basis for the British show You Bet! and the American show Wanna Bet?

The shows were broadcast live six to eight times a year from different cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. There were also seven open-air summer shows, broadcast from Amphitheatre Xanten, Plaça de Toros de Palma de Mallorca, Disneyland Paris, Waldbühne Berlin, and Aspendos Roman Theatre. Each of the shows, which were shown without commercial interruption, were usually scheduled to last for about two hours, but it was not uncommon for a show to run as much as 45 minutes longer.

From Club Sandwich N°47/48, Spring 1988:

I am writing to you to tell you what happened at the show “Wetten Dass” on Sunday.

I arrived at the town hall at 6 pm. A lot of people were there, some from the Netherlands and Switzerland. Somebody gave me a pass, so I was able to stay backstage and to walk around inside the hall. At that time, nobody was allowed to stay at Paul’s rooms. I imagine that many people wanted to see him, in particular, the Press. They all were shouting and staying around his door. I felt for him that people are sometimes really annoying. He was not able to go outside, there were too many people. A girl, F. Hurry, picked me up and went with me to Paul. She said, “I will introduce you”. Paul came to me, the girl took a picture. I was talking to him for a really long time. He said, “I’m just a man like anybody”. Yes, he is a man like everybody, because business and private life are two different things, which have to be kept apart. You will know it and I know it, but I guess the Press don’t know it. Well, but I have to admit: he’s such a sweet man, there’s no comparison. It’s easy to like him.

Paul went on stage and what happened now, I did not expect: old and young people climbed up their seats and shouted, “Paul, we love you” and things like that. Paul was a little bit surprised, he did not expect such a welcome. When he finished singing, people were longing for an extra song but Paul didn’t do one. There was nearly hysteria and ropes were needed to keep the crowd apart.

There’s no exaggeration in my lines. You must know that “Wetten Dass” is a conservative show where people are only clapping hands and nothing more. Something like that never happened before, people never climbed up seatsl When Paul wanted to go by car to the airport and the car started to move, people were beating against the windscreens and blocked the car by catching it. I’ve never seen something like that before. I think this event was not annoying to Paul, only strenuous. When I saw him on Top of the Pops, there was not such an enthusiasm like here in Germany. That was my report, I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for all,

PASCALE BRECKER, IDSTEIN, WEST GERMANY

Last updated on October 20, 2023

Friedrich-Ebert-Halle

This was the 1st and only concert played at Friedrich-Ebert-Halle.

Setlist for the concert

1.

Once Upon A Long Ago

Written by Paul McCartney

Mimed performance

Paul McCartney :

Guitar, Vocals

Linda McCartney :

Keyboards

Chris Whitten :

Drums

Keith Airey :

Bass

Andrew Chater :

Violin

Stan Sulzman :

Saxophone