Sandra Cretu

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Sandra Cretu
Background information
Birth name Sandra Ann Lauer
Born May 18, 1962 (age 44)
Origin Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany
Genre(s) Pop
Occupation(s) Singer, Songwriter
Years active 1970s-present
Label(s) Virgin
Website SANDRA fan Connection website
Sandra and Michael Cretu on German TV.
Sandra and Michael Cretu on German TV.

Sandra Cretu (born as Sandra Ann Lauer May 18, 1962, Saarbrücken, Germany) is a popular German singer/songwriter, currently living in Ibiza (Spain). After enjoying some success as lead singer of the disco trio Arabesque Sandra began performing under her solo name in 1984. She can also be heard on her husband Michael Cretu's project Enigma, as the mysterious female voice.

Other members of her team include Hubert Kemmler (singer and song writer), Markus Löhr, Klaus Hirschburger, Armand Volker, Frank Peterson, Andy Jonas (singer) and Jens Gad (song writer, co-producer).

Contents

[edit] Early History

Sandra Ann Lauer was born on May 18th, 1962 in the German town of Saarbrücken, close to the French border. Sandra’s father, Robert Lauer, is French and her mother, Karin Lauer, is German. Sandra also had an older brother, Gaston (who died in 1995), who was paraplegic. Her father owned a wine shop in Saarbrücken and her mother worked in a shoe shop. Very early it was clear that Sandra was interested in music and dancing.

She started to learn classical ballet dancing at the age of five and continued doing so for 10 years. At the age of 10, she got her own guitar. A school teacher, who lived in the same street, used to give her lessons. In 1975 at the age of 13, Sandra was visiting a competition in Saarbrücken, called "Young Star Festival", where new talents for the music industry were scouted. She was not actually taking part in the competition, but only in the audience. When all the nominated young hopefuls had finished their parts and the jury was discussing the results, she told her mother that she had to go to the bathroom, stood up, walked onto the stage, talked to the DJ to put on the German cover version of a song from Olivia Newton-John, grabbed the microphone and started singing. Aided by newfound recognition, she released the single "Andy Mein Freund", a song about a pet dog. The single performed poorly on the charts and she went back to school after the summer holidays. Sandra withdrew from the music scene for a few years.

[edit] Joining Arabesque

Arabesque was a disco group consisting of Michaela Rose and Jasmine Vetter, who'd already had a few line up changes before Sandra was signed up and their road to success was set. The trio recorded their second album with Sandra on lead vocals at "Europasound Studios" in Offenbach, near Frankfurt. It was owned by famous producer Frank Farian, the creator of Boney M, and later Milli Vanilli. One of the young, innovative and ambitious musicians there was a keyboarder called Michael Cretu. Sandra and Michael found that they shared the same birthday, albeit five years apart, and became good friends.

With Arabesque a new period in Sandra’s life had begun. For the first time, she was away from her family, appearing on stage and TV in foreign countries, giving interviews, singing at concerts and performing promotion dates. Arabesque became quite successful, and by Sandra's 16th birthday she was a star.

Arabesque were particularly popular in Japan, and their outrageous, sometimes daring costumes, dance routines and cheerful music can be compared to ABBA and Boney M. They enjoyed success in several other countries and scored the top 10 hit "Marigot Bay" 1981 in Germany. After nine studio albums, differences in musical interests and the end of disco's popularity signalled the group's final breakup.

[edit] Influence of Michael Cretu

Sandra was still only 19 years old. Not wishing to end her career at such a young age, Michael Cretu became an important figure in her career.

He joined Arabesque on a tour through Japan as keyboarder. According to Sandra it was then that their friendship became a romance. Sandra and Michael moved to Munich, where Michael soon brought his own studio, called "Data-Alpha", after a song from his solo album "Legionäre". Their first single together 1984 was a cover of the Alphaville song "Japan ist weit" (Big in Japan), an appropriate way to describe Sandra's fame up to that point. Unfortunately the song failed to reach the charts.

However, with her team, now known simply as Sandra, she persisted and finally found success.

Arabesque.
Arabesque.


[edit] Albums

[edit] The Long Play (1985)

Sandra and Michael Cretu in video "Don't Cry (Recording Session)" in 1987
Sandra and Michael Cretu in video "Don't Cry (Recording Session)" in 1987

Her first album, The Long Play (1985), reached the top 10 in her home country of Germany, while the single "Maria Magdalena" topped the charts in 21 countries worldwide, and reached the top 10 in five more countries. The song was aimed at the continental European market, so it never received a promotional video (in mainland Europe personal appearances remained the most important method of record promotion until the early 90s).

While "Maria Magdalena" was going number one all over Europe, it took some time to do so in Germany, but finally topped the charts in her home country as well, remaining in the German top 20 for 16 weeks.

The follow-up single was called "In the Heat of the Night". In her first proper music video, a lustrous Sandra was featured in a steaming sauna filled with bare-chested men. Although the song rushed to number one again, in Switzerland and Israel, it remained at number two in Germany for a couple of weeks, not able to get past "Nikita" by Elton John. Nevertheless, the song earned Sandra the second place at the Tokyo Music Festival later in 1986.

"Little Girl" was the third single with the music video filmed on location in Venice.

Shortly after the release of The Long Play, Sandra moved to London for six months. Helena Shelen, a singing therapist who'd worked with artists like George Michael and Paul Young took her under her wing. She also joined the London Berlitz School for Languages, where she improved her English abilities and took drumming lessons to get a better feeling for rhythm and timing. Over weekends she went back to Munich, where she continued working on a new album.

[edit] Mirrors (1986)

Sandra's second studio album Mirrors (October 1986) reflected the continuous musical development of Michael Cretu. On this album he decided to make much more use of the writing and singing talents of Hubert Kemmler from the popular German group Hubert Kah. "(Don't Cry) The Breakup of the World" was the first track on the album, written in reaction to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. "Innocent Love" was the first of four successful singles from the album, entering the German top 20 at number 11.

Sandra continued her success with a string of hits.

[edit] Ten on One (1987)

Two years after her debut album she put out a Greatest Hits compilation "Ten on One" 1987, testimony to her quick rise to fame. Accompanied with it was the video collection of the album giving fans a glimpse inside her private life and day-to-day routine. Her version of "Everlasting Love", a favourite song since her childhood, went to number five on the European chart. The music video showed Sandra and a male model depicting scenes of various great lovers through the ages, with Adam and Eve, Bonnie and Clyde, Cleopatra and Marc Anthony, and a colorful 80s punk couple.

The British team, Stock Aitken Waterman tried to cash in on the success of "Everlasting Love" by remixing a special version of the song in 1988 for the British market. The song failed to make any impression on the UK charts, but did well in Sweden and South Africa. The second single from the album "Stop for a Minute" was written especially for the German TV crime series Tatort; she sang the song during a scene in a club in one of the episodes. The music video was controversial as it included a rape scene featured in the episode.

At this stage Sandra was already known as the "European queen of pop" and rivaled Madonna in terms of her popularity and top 10 hits.

On January 7, 1988, Sandra married Michael Cretu and relocated from Munich to the Spanish island of Ibiza.

[edit] Into a Secret Land (1988)

In 1988 Sandra recorded the album Into a Secret Land (1988), moving away somewhat from electro-pop to a more mysterious and seductive sound. This proved to be a huge success and the album delivered four hit singles.

The first single was "Heaven Can Wait", accompanied by a video featuring Sandra dancing and singing on a Mediterranean beach. The title track "Secret Land" entered the German charts at number seven and went to number one in Israel.

With animal rights and nature conservation high on her personal agenda, she took part in the project Artists United for Nature in 1989. The song "Yes We Can" featured, amongst others, Brian May, Harold Faltermeyer and Chaka Khan.

Sandra ended the 1980s as one of the most popular female performers in Europe, and had sold-out concerts in Moscow.

[edit] Paintings in Yellow (1990)

Sandra's album Paintings in Yellow (1990) gave her another top 10 hit with a surprising cover version of Wishful Thinking's "Hiroshima". Elements of this song foreshadowed the Enigma sound, which was particularly evident on the album track "The Journey". Frank Peterson, long-time band member, took up the role of writing and producing some of the tracks with Michael. Frank was also the co-producer (alias "F. Gregorian") on the Enigma project. The influence was clearly audible. In 1991, the song "Sadeness" became a huge hit in many countries all over the world. At first nobody knew who was hiding behind the alias Enigma, but Sandra fans quickly identified her voice. It didn’t take long to find out that Enigma was actually Michael Cretu (alias Curly M.C.). Sandra performed the second single of the album "(Life May Be) A Big Insanity" at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo when she accepted the prize for Best Selling German Artist at the end of 1990.

Because of the overwhelming success of Enigma, and the more than two years break after Paintings in Yellow, there was a gap in Sandra’s career, which was finally closed with the album Close to Seven.

[edit] Close to Seven (1992)

"Close to Seven" (1992), regarded by many as her best work to date, continued a development towards a more meditative, less dance-oriented musical style. Sandra wanted to get rid of her teen idol image and perform for a more mature audience. It was also her first album almost completely produced by Michael Cretu. The male vocals were sung by Andy Jonas, a German singer who chose the artist name Andy "Angel" Hart. Although the first single "Don't Be Aggressive" entered the European top 20, the subsequent singles failed to achieve the same success. The music video for "Don't Be Aggressive" was directed by Howard Greenhalgh.

Sandra wrote the words to "When the Rain Doesn’t Come", a touching song about child prostitution. The second single "I Need Love" was the first single after "Japan ist weit" for Sandra to flop. Nevertheless, Sandra and Michael were recognized as the most successful married couple and were awarded with the Golden Europe Award in 1992.

[edit] 18 Greatest Hits (1992)

The compilation 18 Greatest Hits from 1992 marked the end of Sandra's successful solo career up to that point. She recorded a new version of "Johnny Wanna Live", previously off the Paintings in Yellow album. The song, co-written by Frank Peterson and later redone by his wife Sarah Brightman, was an anthem against cruelty to animals.

The music video was once again directed by Howard Greenhalgh and showed shocking scenes of cruelty to animals. In 1993 she released a new techno version of "Maria Magdalena" with a futuristic music video, but it was not a success.

[edit] Fading Shades (1995)

In 1995, whilst pregnant with twins, Sandra recorded and released Fading Shades. The album saw a new writer/producer Jens Gad working alongside Michael. The album featured a powerful cover version of "Nights in White Satin" by The Moody Blues. The song went to number one in Israel. The music video showed only close ups of Sandra's face as she was heavily pregnant at the time. She even had to sit during the recording sessions of the album. Again Andy "Angel" Hart did all the male vocals on Fading Shades. The second single release "Won’t Run Away" was Sandra's first in a long time without a video clip. It didn't enter the charts.

One of the other standout tracks on Fading Shades was "First Lullaby", a song Michael wrote for his as-yet unborn children.

Sandra decided to put her career on ice for some time for her children. On July 6 1995, she gave birth to twin sons Nikita and Sebastian in a Munich hospital through caesarean section.

[edit] My Favourites (1999)

In 1999 a double disc album was released. As the trend began with artists like Modern Talking to remix old material, My Favourites was released featuring remixes of her hits by long-time band companion Peter Ries, featuring also some of Sandra's personal favourite ballads. It quickly made its way into the top 20 of the German album charts. "Secret Land '99" was taken as the single and showed Sandra sporting a short hairstyle in the music video. In 2000, Sandra did background vocals on Andru Donald's single release "Precious Little Diamond".

[edit] The Wheel of Time (2002)

Sandra's first studio album in seven years came with The Wheel of Time in 2002, reaching number eight on the German album charts. The first single "Forever" had moderate success and showed a new mature, more natural-looking Sandra, still sporting short hair. Although some criticised the fact that The Wheel of Time contained no less than four cover versions of 80s songs, including the second single release "Such a Shame" by Talk Talk, the album was received well by her fans. Michael Cretu convinced Sandra to cover a Depeche Mode song, which she did in one take - "Freelove". Unfortunately The Wheel of Time faded away quickly.

In 2003, the long awaited Sandra DVD The Complete History was released.

Sandra's public appearances were few and far between when word got out in 2005 that the Swiss superstar DJ Bobo was planning a duet with her. She met DJ Bobo during the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo in 2002, when her husband accepted the prize for best-selling German artist. That meeting led to the single "The Secrets of Love" in 2006. The dance anthem reached number five in Switzerland and 13 in Germany. The music video was shot in Disneyland Park in Paris with Sandra and DJ Bobo being the only artists ever allowed to film inside the Cinderella castle. During this time Sandra took up performing live again and signs of her retro 80s look, with the signature long hair, were seen again.

[edit] Reflections - The Reproduced Hits (2006)

It was at a meeting that Virgin Music France suggested Sandra's biggest hits get a new face lift. They suggested that her vocal recordings be sent to different teams of producers/remixers so that they could produce entirely new music. Sandra hesitated at first because she had already put out a remix collection in 1999 and did not want to promote all of her former hits once again. She had already finished her ninth studio album and wished to move forward in a new musical direction. Nevertheless, five teams from Germany - Christian Geller, Schallbau, Felix J. Gauder, Matthias Menck, Ivo Moring and Mirko on Schlieffen - delivered a successful result. Sandra's 1987 dance hit "Everlasting Love" even got new vocals and was redone as a powerful ballad. Although the album reached the top 10 of many online stores worldwide, no single was released and as far as publicity goes not much was done to promote this album.

In the past few years there were critical statements about how Sandra’s management and Virgin Records were handling her career and also the career of Michael Cretu.

Sandra remains one of Germany's most successful female pop stars.

[edit] Latest news

An anticipated new studio album, The Art of Love, will be released in January 2007.

The album is completely produced by Jens Gad and will see Sandra doing much of the song writing. The new album will also see her moving in a new musical direction, leaving behind her "pop princess" image.

For the first time Michael Cretu's touch will be completely absent from one of her albums, recorded over a one year period. Other contributions will come from Sinéad O'Connor and Rick Nowels.

The first single "The Way I Am" will be released on 12 January 2007.

Note: The Eurochart singles top and Eurochart albums top are compiled by Music & Media trade magazine (subsidiary of Billboard magazine) and are based on the sales charts of 16 European countries. (countries list).

[edit] Discography

See also : Enigma, Arabesque.

[edit] Albums

(all albums were released on Virgin Schallplatten GmbH.)

  • 1985 Longplay - #12 Germany
  • 1986 Mirrors - #16 Germany
  • 1988 Into a Secret Land - #14 Germany, #14 France
  • 1990 Paintings in Yellow - #4 Germany, #13 France
  • 1992 Close to Seven - #7 Germany, #18 France
  • 1995 Fading Shades - #42 Germany
  • 2002 The Wheel of Time - #35 Eurochart, #8 Germany
  • 2007 The Art of Love

[edit] Singles

(all singles were released on Virgin Schallplatten GmbH.)

  • 1984 Japan Ist Weit
  • 1985 Maria Magdalena - #1 Germany, #3 Italy, #5 France, #87 UK (Worldwide sales: 5 Million)
  • 1985 In the Heat of the Night - #2 Germany, #4 Italy, #5 France, #1 Switzerland, #1 Israel, #2 Sweden
  • 1985 Little Girl - #1 Germany, #3 Italy, #2 Israel, #18 Switzerland
  • 1986 Hi! Hi! Hi! - #7 Germany, #8 Italy, #13 France, #5 Israel, #20 Switzerland
  • 1986 Innocent Love - #1 Germany, #7 Italy, #10 France, #4 Israel, #18 Sweden, #14 Switzerland
  • 1986 Loreen - #23 Germany, #8 Israel, #4 Sweden, #29 Switzerland
  • 1987 Midnight Man - #24 Germany, #33 Italy, #12 Israel, #13 Sweden
  • 1987 Everlasting Love - #5 Eurochart, #88 UK, #5 Germany, #11 Italy, #12 France, #5 Israel, #8 Netherlands, #13 Sweden
  • 1988 Everlasting Love (PWL Hammond mix) - #45 UK, #22 Dance US
  • 1988 Stop For A Minute - #38 Eurochart, #9 Germany, #5 Israel, #19 Sweden, #14 Switzerland
  • 1988 Heaven Can Wait - #11 Eurochart, #12 Germany, #6 France, #97 UK, #2 Israel, #16 Switzerland
  • 1988 Secret Land - #24 Eurochart, #7 Germany, #32 Italy, #26 France, #9 Switzerland, #1 Israel, #16 Sweden
  • 1989 We'll Be Together ('89 Remix) - #9 Germany, #13 France, #3 Israel, #22 Switzerland
  • 1989 Around My Heart - #11 Germany, #28 France, #6 Israel, #19 Switzerland
  • 1990 Hiroshima - #4 Germany, #16 France, #4 Switzerland, #4 Israel, #21 Sweden
  • 1990 A Big Insanity - #31 Germany, #41 France, #18 Israel
  • 1990 One More Night - #31 Germany
  • 1992 Don't Be Aggressive - #17 Germany, #39 France, #11 Israel, #24 Switzerland
  • 1992 I Need Love
  • 1992 Johnny Wanna Live - #37 Germany, #9 Israel
  • 1993 Maria Magdalena '93- #8 Finland
  • 1995 Nights In White Satin - #86 Germany, #1 Israel
  • 1995 Won't Run Away
  • 1999 Secret Land '99 - #69 Germany, #61 Czech Republic, #19 Israel
  • 2001 Forever - #47 Germany
  • 2002 Such A Shame - #76 Germany, #19 Hungary, #21 Czech Republic
  • 2002 I Close My Eyes - #93 Germany
  • 2006 Secrets Of Love (with DJ BoBo) - #13 Germany, #39 Austria, #5 Switzerland
  • 2007 The Way I Am #50 Germany

[edit] Compilations

  • 1987 Ten on One - #19 Germany
  • 1988 Everlasting Love (Virgin Records, USA)
  • 1992 18 Greatest Hits - #10 Germany, #7 France
  • 1999 My Favourites (2xCD) - #69 Eurochart, #16 Germany, #16 France

[edit] Video

  • 1987 Ten On One (VHS)
  • 1992 18 Greatest Hits (VHS)
  • 2003 The Complete History (DVD)

[edit] Audio sample


[edit] Audio sample


[edit] See also

[edit] References


    [edit] External links

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