Modern Talking

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Modern Talking
Modern Talking
Country Germany
Years active 1984–1987 1998–2003
Genres Euro Disco, Eurodance, Dance-pop
Labels BMG
Members Thomas Anders
Dieter Bohlen

Modern Talking was a German pop music duo consisting of composer/producer/background singer Dieter Bohlen and singer Thomas Anders. It was the single most successful pop group in Germany (by sales).[citation needed]

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] 1980s

First formed at the end of 1984 (Anders was 21), they unexpectedly became immensely popular with their standalone disco hit "You're My Heart, You're My Soul", which was then followed by "You Can Win If You Want" and "Cheri, Cheri Lady". They released two albums a year between 1985 and 1987 while also promoting their singles on television all over Europe.

Modern Talking were successful in Europe, Asia, South America and some African countries. In the United Kingdom they entered the top ten only once with the song "Brother Louie" (in 1986, #4 UK). They did not feel very good about promoting their singles there due to being marketed in England as a gay group like Erasure and Culture Club. In their videos and tv performances after this hit, Bohlen and Anders were usually shown standing far apart. Since 1985 Anders had been also wearing a necklace which spelled out his girlfriend's name. They were almost unknown in North America by mainstream standards, never appearing in the charts there, and due to lack of backing from a record company and lack of time did not go there to promote their music. Composer Dieter Bohlen employed mood-evoking lyrics and intellectually-designed, synthesizer-based music which was out of vogue in the U.S. before Modern Talking even formed. Those that know of Modern Talking in North America are either avid fans of Eurodance and/or Dance-pop or one of the few DJ's that play their songs in clubs here and there. [citation needed]

[edit] 1990s/2000s

After splitting up in 1987, the duo reunited in 1998, at first only testing the waters with new versions of hit singles and again reaching the top of the charts unexpectedly. A series of singles and albums followed. Bohlen and Anders split again in 2003 due to irreconcilable disagreements (they had never been friends in the first place). Thomas Anders started another solo career immediately, while Bohlen had by now begun devoting most of his time to new talents, especially those he discovered on the German edition of the TV show Pop Idol/American Idol.

[edit] Production and sales figures

The songs before the first split were produced in a style that can be vaguely described as Euro Disco. In 1998 Bohlen quoted the hit single "Precious Little Diamond" by Fox the Fox as his inspiration for using falsetto choruses. Further influences include German-language Schlager music, disco pop (Bee Gees) and romantic English-language songs of Italian and French origin, like Gazebo's "I Like Chopin". Some of the lyrics were reminiscent of Hot Chocolate. After the 1998 reunion Bohlen produced Eurodance, as well as American-style MOR ballads.

The songs where originally recorded using up to five background singers; in live situations the songs were performed using playback. Anders did begin to perform the songs live when he toured the world shortly after the break-up. In the late 90's Bohlen and Anders went on their first official tours under the band name.

Global sales of Modern Talking records were 120 million units, according to BMG in June 2003, and they have become the biggest-selling German music act in history, so far outselling even Frank Farian's projects Boney M and Milli Vanilli, Michael Cretu's Enigma, Sandra, the Scorpions (band), Snap! and Rammstein.

Dieter Bohlen also worked with other artists even while Modern Talking existed, among them Chris Norman of Smokie fame whose song "Midnight Lady" (1986) remains Bohlen's most popular composition. He also wrote a large number of disco tracks for C.C.Catch ("House of Mystic Lights") using an accelerated, less romantic sound. Some English Bohlen songs like "You're My Heart, You're My Soul" were also recorded with German lyrics by Mary Roos using the same playback tracks. When Modern Talking split up in 1987, a number of tracks written for the last album were instead moved onto Dieter Bohlen's first solo album which appeared almost at the same time, among them his first solo single "Sorry Little Sarah". Bohlen's solo project was called Blue System, although it was basically him, Modern Talking co-producer Luis Rodriguez, and the familiar background singers. At the time, a lot of listeners couldn't get used to the voice "changing" while the music stayed similar. The success of Blue System in Germany declined after the third album and Bohlen later admitted that he lost touch with developments in the music scene.

[edit] Solo careers

In 2005 Bohlen included a secret message in his song "Bizarre Bizarre" which was played backwards: "There will never be an end to Modern Talking". However, Bohlen said he was referring to the existing music, and Anders also reaffirmed that the group will never be back. Anders has kept the Modern Talking songs in his repertoire and produced songs in a similar vein for his solo records ("Independent Girl"). In 2005 he produced an album of Swing and Jazz versions of popular songs (including Modern Talking's first hit). Bohlen has written two autobiographical books, one of which, which also detailed Modern Talking's history from his perspective, sold a million copies in Germany. The sequel was heavily criticised for his unfairness towards the people he worked with. As a result of that, he withdrew from the public for a year until 2006, when he said he regretted putting out the second book. Anders had not been the only one pressing charges against Bohlen and demanding that sections of the book be modified. Frank Farian was angered by Bohlen's literary output and released a book in which he tried to expose Bohlen as a fraud, but this didn't get down well with the public, either. Bohlen's first book was the basis of an animated comedy film called "Dieter - Der Film". The soundtrack of this film contained one previously unreleased Modern Talking song ("Shooting Star") which had obviously been written for the "Universe" album. Anders recently had his first and Bohlen his fourth child.

Bohlen and Anders split again. Bohlen went on to the German version of Pop Idol and Anders became a musician on its own after being the "second violine" in the shadow of the flamboyant Bohlen.

[edit] Trivia

  • Modern Talking is the only band to Score five consecutive number one singles in Germany along with Boney M.
  • Their biggest hit You're My Heart - You're My Soul reached number 1 in 35 countries.
  • Their hit Cheri Cheri Lady reached Number 1 in 11 countries including: Lebanon, Israel, Germany, Austria, Greece.
  • Their hit Brother Louie stayed on the UK chart for 8 weeks and reached chart position No. 4 there.
  • In 1988 Modern Talking record sales reached 85 million copies.
  • In 1998 the comeback 7th album Back for good sold 700,000 copies in the first week in Germany.
  • In 1998 at the first concert outside of Germany after their comeback in Budapest they played to 214,000 people and were shown on MTV Europe.
  • They sold in excess of 100,000 copies of 'Back for Good' in a smaller market like South Africa, which translates to double platinum in that country.
  • In 1999 the third version of "Brother Louie" reached the top 5 on the UK Dance chart.
  • The post-reunion singles like Sexy Sexy Lover regularly reached the top 20 on the MTV Europe chart.
  • In 2001 they were awarded the Top of the Pops Award as best German band, in Manchester.
  • The singles Win the Race and Ready for the Victory were written at the request of the German tv station RTL for their broadcasts of Formula One racing contests.
  • Many songs, including You're My Heart, You're My Soul and Cheri, Cheri Lady, have been covered by Cantopop artists during the 1980s.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • 1985 The 1st Album (Ariola) [#1 Germany, #6 South Africa, #8 Netherlands]
  • 1985 Let's Talk About Love (Hansa Records) [#2 Germany, #17 Netherlands]
  • 1986 Ready for Romance (Hansa Records) [#1 Germany, #19 France, #76 UK]
  • 1986 In the Middle of Nowhere (Hansa Records) [#1 Germany]
  • 1987 Romantic Warriors (Hansa Records) [#3 Germany]
  • 1987 In the Garden of Venus (Hansa Records) [#35 Germany, #1 Turkey]
  • 1998 Back for Good (Ariola) (BMG) [#1 Germany, #1 South Africa, #3 Netherlands, #9 Italy, #1 Europe, #2 World sales]
  • 1999 Alone (BMG International) [#1 Germany, #1 Argentina, #5 Sweden, #9 South Korea, #11 France, #13 Spain, #17 South Africa, #6 Europe, #8 World sales]
  • 2000 Year of the Dragon (BMG International) [#3 Germany, #4 Switzerland, #5 Austria, #10 Europe]
  • 2001 America (BMG International) [#2 Germany, #10 Switzerland, #7 Austria, #9 Europe]
  • 2002 Victory (BMG) [#1 Germany, #14 Switzerland, #7 Austria, #20 Argentina, #9 Europe]
  • 2003 Universe (BMG) [#2 Germany, #25 Switzerland, #10 Austria, #11 Europe]
  • 2003 The Final Album (compilation, BMG) [#3 Germany, #1 South Africa, #14 Europe]

[edit] Singles

  • 1984 You're My Heart, You're My Soul [#1 Germany, #56 UK, #2 South Africa, #1 Lebanon, #15 Japan] [8 mil. sales]
  • 1985 You Can Win if You Want [#1 Germany, #1 Lebanon, #70 UK, #10 South Africa]
  • 1985 Cheri, Cheri Lady [#1 Germany, #1 Lebanon, #1 Israel, #7 Italy, #1 Hong Kong, #1 Greece]
  • 1986 Brother Louie [#1 Germany, #4 UK, #1 Lebanon, #34 Canada]
  • 1986 Atlantis is Calling (SOS for Love) [#1 Germany, #1 Spain, #3 Lebanon, #4 Italy, #55 UK]
  • 1986 Geronimo's Cadillac [#3 Germany, #1 Spain, #23 Italy]
  • 1986 Give Me Peace On Earth [#29 Germany, #7 Belgium]
  • 1986 Lonely Tears in Chinatown [#9 only for Spain]
  • 1987 Jet Airliner [#7 Germany, #16 South Africa, #3 Spain]
  • 1987 In 100 Years [#30 Germany, #18 South Africa]
  • 1998 You're My Heart, You're My Soul '98 [#2 Germany, #5 Lebanon, #8 Ireland]
  • 1998 Brother Louie '98 [#16 Germany, #1 Argentina, #8 Lebanon, #2 France]
  • 1998 Cheri Cheri Lady '98 [#1 Argentina\Air Play chart, #20 Hong Kong\Air Play Chart]
  • 1999 You Are Not Alone [#7 Germany, #5 Spain, #13 France, #10 Japan /Airplay top 100, #15 Sweden, #36 Brazil]
  • 1999 Sexy Sexy Lover [#16 Germany, #20 Argentina, #25 Sweden]
  • 2000 China in Her Eyes [#8 Germany, #6 Spain, #26 Sweden]
  • 2000 Don't Take Away My Heart [#41 Germany, #8 Hungary]
  • 2001 Win the Race [#5 Germany, #1 Romania, #16 Argentina, #36 Sweden]
  • 2001 Last Exit to Brooklyn [#37 Germany, #7 Russia]
  • 2002 Ready for the Victory [#7 Germany, #9 Russia, #11 Spain, #13 South Korea]
  • 2002 Juliet [#25 Germany, #4 Paraguay, #10 Russia]
  • 2003 TV Makes the Superstar [#2 Germany, #4 Russia, #11 Europe single chart]

[edit] Compilations

  • 1986 The Singles Collection
  • 1987 The Modern Talking Story (Scandinavian Edition)
  • 1988 Best Of Modern Talking
  • 1988 You're My Heart, You're My Soul
  • 1988 Romantic Dreams
  • 1988 Greatest Hits Mix
  • 1989 Hey You
  • 1989 The Greatest Hits Of Modern Talking
  • 1991 The Collection
  • 1991 You Can Win If You Want
  • 1994 You Can Win If You Want (re-release)
  • 2000 You're My Heart, You're My Soul
  • 2001 Selected Singles '85-'98
  • 2001 The Very Best Of Modern Talking
  • 2002 Best Of Modern Talking (re-release) [#14 France]
  • 2002 The Golden Years (3xCD)
  • 2002 We Still Have Dreams – The Greatest Love Ballads Of Modern Talking
  • 2003 Romantic Dreams (re-release)
  • 2003 Let's Talking! … Best of Modern Talking
  • 2002 The Final Album (2 CDs South African Edition)
  • 2003 Greatest Hits 1984-2002 (Korean Edition)
  • 2006 Nur Das Beste (1998-2003 Collection)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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