"Seemann" is a song written in German by Werner Scharfenberger and lyricist Fini Busch. A 1959 German-language recording by Lolita became an international hit in 1960-61; the song was covered in a number of languages, most notably by Petula Clark who had her first #1 UK hit with the English-language rendering "Sailor". Clark was afforded international success with both "Sailor" and the French-language rendering "Marin". A rival version by Anne Shelton was a Top Ten UK hit. Other singers for whom "Sailor" brought success as rendered in various languages include: Scandinavian singers Thory Bernhards and Towa Carson "Sjöman" and Jan Høiland "Sjömann". A schlager-style number, "Sailor" with its original German lyric, addresses a seafaring love object with an acceptance of his wanderlust: the English-language version inverts this sentiment turning the song into a plea for the sailor to return; the song is sometimes sung by male vocalists from the point of view of the sailor with the lyrics adjusted accordingly.

Prior to "Seemann", Viennese singer Lolita had based her career on schlager numbers with Latin or Polynesian themes. Making her recording debut in 1957, Lolita had had four Top 20 hits on the German charts notably with "Der Weiße Mond Von Maratonga"; this was her career best charting as in 1958-59 Lolita's seventh through eleventh single releases all peaked outside the Top 20. "Seemann..." was recorded by Lolita in a 15 December 1959 session at the Austrophon-Schallplatten-Studio located in the Konzerthaus, overseen by Gerhard Mendelson The song's composers Werner Scharfenberger—who was the regular conductor on Lolita's recordings—and Fini Busch had written "Der weiße Mond von Maratonga" and other songs recorded by Lolita: however it was another track from the 15 December session, intended to be Lolita's next A-side release: a cover of the Italian single "Quando la luna" by Corrado Lojacono entitled "La Luna", "Seemann..." having been expediently written to serve as a B-side. Lyricist Fini Busch recalled that she and Scharfenberger "were commissioned to write a song completely'on the fly'" to serve as B-side for the completed track "La Luna".

Write anything you want to back it'." However it was "Seemann..." which entered Germany's Top 20 in March 1960: peaking at number two that June. It remained in the Top 20 for ten months and was the fourth biggest hit in Germany for the year 1960. After Decca Records, who had first refusal on US release for Polydor recordings, passed on "Seemann..." the track was optioned by Kapp Records, a US independent label headed by Decca president Jack Kapp's brother David Kapp. "Banjo-Boy" a German number one hit sung in German by Jan and Kjeld had afforded Kapp Records a regional US hit with a number fifty-eight peak on the Billboard Hot 100 in Billboard magazine, the label evidently saw potential for similar success with "Seemann..." by Lolita. To increase the appeal of "Seemann..." for the US market, a section spoken in English by Maureen René was overdubbed on to the track at Polydor Studio Hamburg. For writing the new English recitation the name of Alan Holt—a pseudonym for label head David Kapp—was listed with Werner Scharfenberger and Fini Busch in the songwriting credits for the modified version of "Seemann..., re-titled "Sailor" and issued in the US in September 1961.

After breaking in San Francisco and Chicago "Sailor" made its Billboard Hot 100 debut at number seventy-six on the chart dated 24 October 1960 to rise to a Hot 100 peak of number five in December 1960 becoming the first German-language song to rise to the US Top Ten, a feat repeated only in 1984 by the number two hit "99 Luftballons" by Nena and in 1986 by the number one hit "Rock_Me_Amadeus" by Falco_. In the wake of Lolita's success, her album Unvergessene Melodien was issued in America by Kapp under the title Sailor and Lolita's Greatest Hits, a second single, "Cowboy Jimmy Joe," was released, though it failed to enter the Hot 100; the strong US response to "Sailor..." has been attributed to the then-current immense US media interest in Germany due to the political situation in Berlin and Elvis Presley's serving in the US Army's Third Armored Division along the East-West German border. At the same time "Sailor" rode the U. S. charts, the German melodies "Wonderland by Night" and "Calcutta" were becoming number one hits in instrumental versions by Bert Kaempfert and Lawrence Welk with "Wonderland..." reaching the Top 20 in an English-language vocal version by Anita Bryant.

In 1961, Joe Dowell had a number one hit with his cover of Presley's take on the German folk song "Muss I Denn" titled "Wooden Heart", sung in German. A spate of other German-language 45s by other artists such as Willy Millowitsch, Heidi Bruehl, Marlene Stolz, were issued in the United States, although none of these were successful."Sailor..." afforded Lolita a hit in Australia and the Netherlands. In New Zealand it reached number eight despite the number one ranking achieved there by the Petula Clark's English-language rendering "Sailor". "Seemann..." wa

Denton is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, five miles east of Manchester city centre. Part of Lancashire, it had a population of 36,591 at the 2011 Census. Denton derives its name from Dane-town, an etymology supported by other place names in the area such as Danehead-bank and Daneditch-bourne; the word'Dane' is itself derived from Anglo-Saxon denu, daenland, meaning a valley. So Denton means valley town. A Byzantine coin was discovered in Danesheadbank, dating from the sixth or seventh century, as part of the Denton coin hoard; the early medieval linear earthwork Nico Ditch passes through Denton. A 300 m stretch is still about 4 m wide and 1.5 m deep. In the early 13th century it lay within the Manor of Withington, a feudal estate which encompassed the townships of Withington, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Moss Side, Rusholme and Haughton, ruled by the Hathersage, Longford and Tatton families. Felt hatting was recorded in Denton as early as 1702 and Denton gained supremacy in the hatting industry towards the end of the 19th century.

The increasing importance of Denton and Haughton as centres of felt hat production is demonstrated by the increase of manufacturers in the area: in 1800 there were 4 hatting firms in Denton and Haughton, but by 1825 there were 25 manufacturers, making it the third largest hat making centre in the north west. By 1840, 24,000 felt; the prosperity of the hatting industry is reflected in the growth of the town from 2,501 in 1801 to 6,759 in 1841. During the 1840s, the felt hat industry went into depression; the depression was due to changes in fashion away from felt towards silk hats. The revitalisation of the felt hat industry came in the 1850s, once again on a whim of fashion but the increased use of machinery led to reduced production costs; the resurgence was demonstrated by the doubling of the number of hat manufacturers in the town between 1861 and 1872. At its peak in the Edwardian period, Denton's felt hat industry was the largest felt hat manufacturing centre in Britain. There were 36 firms directly involved in the felt hat making industry.

In 1907 the majority of the 16,428,000 felt hats made in England were made in Stockport. In 1921, the working population of Denton was 9,653 with about 41% of those people in occupations related to the hatting industry; the last hat factory in Denton closed in 1980. Although the felt hat industry in Denton and Haughton was prosperous and an integral part of the town, working conditions in the factories were not risk free. One of the problems workers faced was mercury poisoning. Inadequate ventilation in some parts of the hat making process led to other sorts of dangers; the explosion was of vapour from methylated spirits used in the dying process. Throughout the 19th century and well into the 20th century, a wide range of hats was manufactured to suit all tastes and purses; the names used by the competing manufacturers to describe their products was bewildering and some of these were. In the 1930s the'Attaboy' trilby hat was introduced by the Denton Hat Company; this brand became famous and it was in production for many years.

Ladies' hats were not forgotten either and at least one works specialised in making these and the hat master's wife designed them at home. Hats were made for export; the well-known slogan "If you want to get ahead, get a hat" arose in Denton and, needless to say, anyone attending for a job interview not wearing a hat was shown the door. Until the early 20th century, anyone entering a Denton shop without a hat would receive much cursing; the term, "mad as a hatter" arose in Denton because the mercury used in the felting process led to mercury poisoning. In 2003, the prominent Wilson's Hat Factory on Wilton Street, together with the adjacent mill-workers' houses, other factories, Wilton Street Chapel and Mainstream Studios was demolished to make way for a new retail shopping park'Crown Point North'. Denton is situated on the Lancashire coalfield and once had a number of collieries in operation; these included the Ellis Colliery, Top Pit, Hard Mine Pit and, further south and near to the river Tame, Hulmes Pit.

Much of the coal that they produced was consumed by local industry, there being an abundance of steam powered mills in the area. Denton Colliery was the largest of these mines and absorbed the other local pits using their shafts for ventilation or, in the case of Hulmes Pit, as a pumping station to drain water from the main workings. Denton Colliery was connected to the London & North Western Railway's line from Guide Bridge to Stockport by a standard gauge tramway; the tramway was worked by steam power, rather than horses, as evidenced by a photograph held in the Tameside Local History Library archives. In 1926, miners at Denton Colliery joined the national strike against reduced wages and longer working hours; this dispute led to the general strike. When the general strike was called off, coal miners stayed out f