Propaganda (band)

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propaganda
Susanne Freytag and Claudia Brücken play songs from Propaganda as duels at the Nocturnal Culture Night 2018
Susanne Freytag and Claudia Brücken play songs from Propaganda as duels at the Nocturnal Culture Night 2018
General information
Genre (s) Synth-pop , new wave , electronic music
founding 1982, 1998, 2004
resolution 1990, 2002
Current occupation
Michael Mertens
Ralf Dkörper
Susanne Freytag
former members
Andreas Thein †
Claudia Bridges
Derek Forbes
Brian McGee
Betsi Miller
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
A secret wish
  DE 24 07/29/1985 (20 weeks)
  CH 14th 08/04/1985 (12 weeks)
  UK 16 07/13/1985 (13 weeks)
Wishful thinking
  UK 82 11/23/1985 (2 weeks)
1234
  UK 46 06/09/1990 (2 weeks)
Singles
Dr. Mabuse
  DE 7th 04/30/1984 (21 weeks)
  CH 14th 06/10/1984 (9 weeks)
  UK 27 03/17/1984 (12 weeks)
Duel
  DE 30th 07/22/1985 (10 weeks)
  UK 21st 05/04/1985 (13 weeks)
p: Machinery
  DE 26th 09/23/1985 (17 weeks)
  CH 29 29.09.1985 (2 weeks)
  UK 50 08/10/1985 (11 weeks)
Heaven Give Me Words
  DE 40 06/11/1990 (16 weeks)
  UK 36 April 21, 1990 (6 weeks)
Only One Word
  UK 71 08/25/1990 (7 weeks)

Propaganda is a German synth-pop band that was founded in Düsseldorf in 1982 and was particularly successful internationally in the mid-1980s.

history

1982 to 1985

Propaganda was founded in 1982 by Ralf Däne after he left the band Die Krupps . Together with Andreas Thein and Susanne Freytag , Propaganda recorded two tracks as a trio, including an interpretation of the piece Discipline by the avant-garde group Throbbing Gristle . At this time, an EP was planned to be released on the English record label Operation Twilight, which had previously licensed solo material from D Körper (releases on the German indie labels Rondo and Pure Freude) for England. However, this plan was rejected by D Körper when it was signaled to him that Paul Morley and Trevor Horn from ZTT Records were interested in the Propaganda project.

Michael Mertens and Claudia Brücken joined them in 1983. The English label ZTT Records signed the group and produced the song Dr. Mabuse. The band relocated to Great Britain. Producer Trevor Horn and journalist Paul Morley , who had previously worked with Art of Noise and Frankie Goes To Hollywood , made use of the new technical possibilities, in particular of sampling , computer-based recording and arrangement. The playback of the song was initially created entirely on the computer as an experiment. Dr. Mabuse was a notable commercial success and shortly after it was released it was considered an excellently produced pop number, of which several elaborately and differentially produced maxi singles were released. Under the influence of Morley, ZTT tried to give the band an artistic avant-garde claim via the video clips, the artwork and the media campaigns, which stood out from the usual marketing scheme of pop music.

According to Dr. Mabuse left Thein the band. The singles Duel and P-Machinery , which were very successful in Europe , came out in 1985 with the album A Secret Wish , whose sales exceeded the million mark over time. The artwork of the single P-Machinery designed by Morley had a quote from JG Ballard , in which he described the activity of the Red Army Faction as comprehensible. The German record company Ariola then refused to publish the cover in this form, so a different quote from Ballard was used for the German market. The album was characterized by an elaborately produced, danceable synth beat with a strong emphasis on melody, carried by the chilled vocals of the singers Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag. It followed u. a. a world tour during which the group was complemented by former members of the Simple Minds, bassist Derek Forbes and drummer Brian McGee . At the end of 1985 the remix album Wishful Thinking was released .

Break with ZTT 1986 and break up of the band

Differences between the band members and the record company ZTT led to a lawsuit in 1986 and then to the exit of Brücken, which at the time was married to ZTT manager Paul Morley. Claudia Brücken stayed with ZTT - initially together with Thomas Leer as a project act and in 1990 as a solo artist with the album Love: and a Million Other Things .

After a long legal battle, the band managed to get out of the contract, and Propaganda switched to Virgin Records . In 1990 the new line-up released the album 1234 , which deviated from the ZTT style of the first productions. The attempt to build on the old successes was only moderately successful. Band founder Ralf D Körper left the band during the studio recordings in 1234 , but left his signature on the titles Vicious Circle , Wound in My Heart and Only One Word . Although the album's success lagged far behind that of Secret Wish , Propaganda made it the only No. 1 hit the band has ever had. Wound in my Heart became a hit in South America and chart topper No. 1 in Argentina in 1990. With Andreas Thein, D Körper recorded the European acid dance hit Dr. Acid & Mr. House on. After that, Dkörper reformed his old band Die Krupps. Propaganda was continued by Michael Mertens after 1234 , whereby none of the original line-up remained and the band became inactive shortly afterwards.

Reunification in 1998 and 2004

In 1998 the band was reformed by Mertens, Brücken and Freytag and a contract was signed with EastWest Records, part of the Warner Music Group . However, there was no success. Only the single No Return was released, a planned album did not materialize. In 2002, Brücken declared reunification to have failed.

For the first time again in the original line-up with Brücken, Därer, Freytag, Mertens, Propaganda appeared in November 2004 at the Wembley Arena in London in honor of the producer Trevor Horn. In addition to propaganda, artists such as Seal , Grace Jones , ABC and the Pet Shop Boys also played . At the beginning of 2006, Propaganda - without bridges and drums - released a four-piece vinyl record on the Düsseldorf label Amontillado . Claudia Brücken is now the singer of the duo Onetwo , which was founded in 2007 a. a. was on tour in the opening act for Erasure . The other part of the group is taken over by Paul Humphreys from Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark , with whom Brücken also has a private relationship.

Ralf D Körper is still active on concert stages around the world with the industrial band Die Krupps - z. B. in summer 2011 at the Kinetik Festival in Montreal. In October 2007, propaganda appeared again on the German TV show Die ultimative Chartshow with the cast of 1985. The rumor of a reunion of the band was confirmed there in an interview. In 2010 Propaganda achieved an unusual chart success in Great Britain when the debut album A Secret Wish was reissued in an expanded form and was able to place itself again in the regular British charts.

Andreas Thein died of cancer in 2013.

Discography

Albums

  • A Secret Wish (1985)
  • Wishful Thinking (1985)
  • 1234 (1990)
  • Outside World (2002)
  • Noise and Girls Come Out to Play / A Compact Introduction to Propaganda (2012)

Singles

  • Dr. Mabuse (1984)
  • Duel (1985)
  • p: Machinery (1985)
  • p: Machinery (Reactivated) (1985)
  • Heaven Give Me Words (1990)
  • Only One Word (1990)
  • How Much Love (1990)
  • Wound in My Heart (1991)
  • p: Machinery (anniversary reissue) (1995)
  • Valley of the Machine Gods (2006)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Chart sources: DE CH UK
  2. ↑ The press occasionally speaks of the first liquidation in 1988.
  3. ↑ MySpace.com .
  4. ↑ [1]