Sounds like a melody
| Sounds like a melody | |
|---|---|
| Alphaville | |
| publication | May 14, 1984 |
| length | 4:29 |
| Genre (s) | Synth pop |
| Author (s) | Bernhard Lloyd , Marian Gold , Frank Mertens |
| Producer (s) | Orlando |
| album | Forever Young |
Sounds Like a Melody is a pop song by the band Alphaville . It was written by Marian Gold , Bernhard Lloyd and Frank Mertens. It was released on May 14 or 17, 1984 in the "Special Long Version" as the follow-up to the number one hit Big in Japan . The song was produced by Andreas Budde, while Wolfgang Loos was responsible for additional production and programming. The band later adopted the song title as the name for their own music label.
Musical description
The text is about a love story in which a young man in the cinema imagines that he and his girlfriend would become part of the action on the screen.
The musical structure of the piece is shaped by an arpeggiated synthesizer motif that begins and ends the song. The strings added at the end of the song, which also give the motif a symphonic character, were arranged by Wolfgang Loos and recorded by an ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin under his direction.
The song was called " sparkling radio hit " ( Anders Wiik , German: "glittering radio hit"). Amazon.com calls the song a " guilty synth pleasure " ( David Daley , German: "secret synthesizer pleasure") in a play on words . Parallels to the work of Jean Michel Jarre were also drawn.
more publishments
The Spanish version of the song was pressed on red vinyl. Sounds Like a Melody was also included on Alphaville's debut album Forever Young , released in September 1984 . Later it appeared in different versions on the following releases of the band:
- First Harvest (Warner, 1992)
- Stark Naked and Absolutely Live (Sounds Like A Melody, 2000) (Live version)
- Forever Pop (Warner, 2001) (Staggman Remix)
- Little America (DVD) (Harper & Co., 2001) (live version)
However , the song was missing from the remix album The Singles Collection , released in 1988 .
Charts
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Sounds Like a Melody became number one in Sweden and reached top ten positions in other European charts. Sounds Like a Melody made it to number 3 in both the German and Austrian singles charts and number 4 in the Swiss charts. In Austria the song was even more successful than the global hit Big In Japan .
With number 16 in the German annual charts in 1984, the song was not as successful as its predecessor Big in Japan , which was the best-selling single in Germany that year. In the Swiss annual charts in 1984, the song was ranked 15th and in Austria 19th.
In 1993 Alphaville was awarded a gold record in Germany for the single Sounds Like a Melody .
Cover versions
- 1994: Randy Bush
- 2000: Chapter Blue, Delilah and Clara Braun Connection feat. Strukoff
- 2003: Lichtenfels
- 2010: A Life Divided
In 1993, a sample of the original was also used in Cappella's song U Got 2 Let The Music .
Web links
- Lyrics and German translation on alphaville.nu
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Sounds Like a Melody on cosmicmeadows.com (English)
- ↑ Sounds Like a Melody on betaville.de
- ↑ Alphaville - Sounds Like A Melody (Special Long Version). Discogs, accessed January 31, 2016 .
- ↑ Alphaville - Sounds Like a Melody (Song) on germancharts.com
- ↑ Biography on alphaville.nu
- ↑ Loos' pseudonym Orlando is mentioned on some releases of the song; see. Wolfgang Loos on discogs.com (English)
- ↑ Stark Naked And Absolutely Live ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on sonic-seducer.de
- ↑ Zukunftsmusik made in Münster Report in a BRAVO edition from 1984, English translation
- ↑ Alphaville: Forever Young on thefrontloader.com (English).
- ↑ Alphaville - Forever Young on discogs.com (English).
- ↑ Various Artists: We Heard the Call on releasemagazine.net (English)
- ↑ Forever Young on amazon.com (English).
- ↑ Alphaville Band Reviews ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at unlockaustin.com (English).
- ↑ Alphaville - Forever Young on discogs.com (English)
- ^ First Harvest 1984-92: Alphaville on amazon.de
- ↑ Alphaville / Stark Naked And Absolutely Live on musicline.de
- ↑ Alphaville - Forever Pop on laut.de
- ↑ Live DVD "Little America" ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on alphaville-fanbase.de
- ↑ Alphaville - The Singles Collection on discogs.com (English).
- ↑ Sounds Like a Melody in the German single charts. ( Memento of the original from July 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. musicline.de
- ↑ Sounds Like a Melody in the Austrian hit parade. austriancharts.at
- ↑ Sounds Like a Melody in the Swiss Hit Parade. hitparade.ch
- ↑ Alphaville - Sounds Like a Melody (Song) on swedishcharts.com (English)
- ↑ Alphaville ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on eightiesfever.blogspot.com (English)
- ↑ Facts / Charts alphaville.homepage.eu
- ↑ Annual charts from 1984. 80er-charts.de
- ↑ Swiss hit parade of the year 1984 on hitparade.ch
- ↑ Annual hit parade 1984 on austriancharts.at
- ↑ Gold / platinum database at ifpi.de
- ↑ Randy Bush - Sounds Like A Melody on discogs.com (English)
- ↑ The Alphaville Tribute Album on faithfulandtrue.de (English)
- ↑ 04/06/03 Lichtenfels covers SLAM on alphaville.nu
- ↑ Cover of A Life Divided with song excerpt to listen to. ( Memento of the original from March 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. youmusic24.com
- ↑ U Got 2 Let the Music on whosampled.com (English)
