| Claudia Brücken | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Claudia Brücken |
| Born | December 7, 1963 |
| Origin | Berching, Germany |
| Genres | synthpop |
| Instruments | vocals |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Labels | ZTT, Island, There(There) |
| Associated acts | Propaganda Act Onetwo |
| Notable instruments | |
| voice | |
Claudia Brücken (born 7 December 1963, Berching, Bavaria) is a German singer who fronted the synthpop groups Propaganda and Act. Since 1996 she has been working with OMD member Paul Humphreys, first without a name, since 2004 as Onetwo. Together they also founded the independent record label There(There).
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In 1982, Brücken joined the German band Propaganda and relocated to London when they signed with ZTT Records. Propaganda had two UK top 30 hit singles with "Dr Mabuse" (1984) and "Duel" (1985). On 14 February 1985, Brücken married British music journalist Paul Morley, who was one of the founders of the ZTT label. In July 1985, the first Propaganda album A Secret Wish was released. While promoting their first album and writing songs for a new album, internal tensions rose within the group. This was mainly attributed to the relationship between Brücken and Morley, and the profitless contract the band had signed with ZTT. In 1986 Propaganda left ZTT, and Brücken left Propaganda to stay with ZTT.
| “ | I wasn't this kind of control freak which I sometimes was portrayed as. It was because we didn't have a very good deal at the time with ZTT, and everybody got very defensive about his or her bit, which was what drove us apart, really. It seemed for the band there were Paul and I and then the rest of them. They accused me of things; I'm really not one for making strategies and plotting behind people's back.[1] | ” |
She joined Thomas Leer to form Act, who in 1988 released their only album Laughter, Tears and Rage. In 1991 she released a solo album Love: And a Million Other Things for Island Records. In the United Kingdom two singles were released from this album "Absolut(e)" in 1990, and "Kiss Like Ether" in 1991. Throughout the rest of the 90s, Brücken concentrated mainly on motherhood (she has a daughter, Maddy, with Paul Morley) and made some guest performances on albums of other artists. She met Paul Humphreys (of OMD) in 1996 when she was working on songs for a possible second solo album. They started just as co-writers, but now live and work together in London.[2]
In 1998, Brücken joined the reunion of Propaganda and they began working on new material. Several tracks were completed as demos, including a snippet of a video. A preview of this video was released via the band's official website in early 2000, however, the reunion fell apart and no album materialized, although nine songs were leaked to the internet. Two of these were later released as Onetwo songs: "Cloud Nine", co-written by Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, and "Anonymous". Another attempt at a band reunion failed in 2010, meaning A Secret Wish will remain the only Propaganda record to feature the members Dörper, Freytag, Brücken and Mertens.
At the end of 2000, Brücken and Humphreys made a short tour of the United States as "Paul Humphreys of OMD: OMD Revisited". The tour started in Salt Lake City, and they performed songs from OMD and Propaganda, but also some new songs they had written. As Onetwo, in June 2004 the pair became the first established artists to release new material exclusively on eBay with a 5-track EP format called Item. Onetwo made their live debut in September 2004 at the Carling Academy at Islington.
A collaboration between Brücken and pianist Andrew Poppy resulted in the album Another Language in 2005. On this album they performed songs of other artists with just vocals and piano.
Onetwo finally released their debut album Instead on 26 February 2007, and performed some gigs in April 2007. They also supported Erasure and The Human League in the second half of 2007.
Her vocals can be heard in the hit 2011 video game L.A. Noire, as the singing voice of lounge singer, German immigrant and the main character's love interest Elsa Lichtmann.
In 2011, Brücken will release "Combined", which will contain eight previously-released tracks and four brand new ones, including her duet with Andy Bell of Erasure and two tracks from Onetwo.[3]
| Release date | Label | Artist | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | ZTT | Propaganda | A Secret Wish | album |
| 1985 | ZTT | Propaganda | Wishful Thinking | remix album |
| August 27, 1985 | ZTT | Glenn Gregory and Claudia Brücken | "When Your Heart Runs Out Of Time" | single |
| June 27, 1988 | ZTT | Act | Laughter, Tears and Rage | album |
| February 1991 | Island Records | Claudia Brücken | Love: And a Million Other Things | album |
| 1991 | London Records | Jimmy Somerville | The Singles Collection | vocals on the single "Run From Love" |
| 1994 | One Little Indian | Spirit Feel | Spirit Feel | vocals on the track "Halleluhwah" |
| 1996 | Interpol | The Brain featuring Claudia Brücken | "I'll Find A Way" | single |
| 1997 | Landspeed Records | Oceanhead featuring Claudia Brücken | "Eyemotion" | single |
| February 19, 2002 | Hard:Drive | Apoptygma Berzerk | Harmonizer | vocals on the track "Unicorn" |
| April 7, 2003 | Gang Go Music | Blank & Jones | Relax | vocals on the track "Unknown Treasure" |
| June 28, 2004 | There(There) | Onetwo | Item | five-track EP |
| March 28, 2005 | There(There) | Andrew Poppy and Claudia Brücken | Another Language | album |
| October 3, 2005 | Sanctuary Records | Andy Bell | Electric Blue | vocals on the tracks "Love Oneself" and "Delicious" |
| February 26, 2007 | There(There) | Onetwo | Instead | album |
| February 7, 2011 | Salvo/Soulfood Music | Claudia Brücken | Combined: The Best Of Claudia Brücken | compilation album |