Created the modern talking group. Modern Talking Biography

Thomas Anders is a German pop artist, lead singer of the Modern Talking group, composer, performer of the songs “You’re My Heart, You’re My Soul”, “Cheri, Cheri Lady”, “Brother Louie”. Thomas was born on March 1, 1963 in the small German town of Münstermayfeld, near Koblenz, in the family of burgomaster Peter Weidung, a financier by training. The boy received the name Berndhart Weidung at birth. The mother of the future singer, Helga Weidung, was engaged in business - she ran a cafe and a store along the highway to Koblenets. In addition to Bernd, the family also had an eldest son, Achim, and a younger daughter, Tanya-Katrin.

At the age of 7, Bernd began his studies at the general education and music schools of Münstermayfeld. Over the course of several years, the boy mastered playing the piano and guitar and repeatedly became a laureate of music competitions and festivals. From an early age, Bernd sang in the church choir. In high school, Weidung transferred to the Koblenz Gymnasium.

Music

In 1979, Bernd became a laureate of the Radio Luxembourg competition, and a year later he made his debut with the single “Judy” and immediately, on the recommendation of the producers of the recording studio, took a sonorous pseudonym. Bernd chose the name for the scene together with his brother, using the telephone directory. The surname Anders was first on the list, and the brothers considered the name Thomas to be international.

In a year young artist invited Michael Shants to appear on the air of the music show. In 1983, a meeting took place with the musician. It took the singers a year to unite in a joint project called “Modern Talking”.

"Modern Talking"

The first single of the new disco group “You’re My Heart, You’re My Soul”, which was included in the debut album “The First Album”, became the discovery of the year. The song held the leading position in the European popular music rankings for six months, and the disc itself was sold daily in the amount of 40 thousand copies.

Musicians became prize-winners and laureates of international music awards, and every appearance at the concert by the band’s frontman Thomas Anders caused a storm of delight among the fans. The lead singer of Modern Talking, with his attractive appearance and slender figure (Thomas’s height is 172 cm, weight – 84 kg), became a real sex symbol of that time.

The musicians signed their first contract for three years. During this time, Thomas and Dieter released six records, among which the first four received the most popularity: “The First Album”, “Let’s Talk About Love”, “Ready for Romance”, “In the Middle of Nowhere”.

In 1987, after the expiration of the contract, the group broke up, and each of the leaders of the musical group began solo career. But neither Thomas nor Dieter managed to repeat the success of Modern Talking, so in 1998 the musicians resumed their creative union. The group's musical style changed to techno and Eurodance: the first album after the break, “Back For Good,” contained mainly dance tracks and remixes of previous hits.

In 1999, the duo received an award for music festival in Monte Carlo in the category "Best Selling German Band in the World". Soon 4 more discs appeared: “Alone”, “Year of the Dragon”, “America”, “Victory and Universe”. To diversify the sound, rap artist Eric Singleton was invited to the group. Fans did not like the new trio, so the videos in which the rapper participated were re-shot. In 2003, the group ended its existence.

Solo career

Work in the disco group Modern Talking played a positive role in the development of the creative biography of Thomas Anders, and the singer was able to independently achieve the same success only in the 2000s. After the first breakup of the band, the musician and his wife left for America. Over the course of 10 years, Thomas released six solo albums: “Different”, “Whispers”, “Down On Sunset”, “When Will I See You Again”, “Barcos de cristal” and “Souled”.

In the early 90s, Anders recorded the songs “Waiting So Long”, “I Believe”, “The Sweet Hello”, “The Sad Goodbye”, “Can’t Give You Anything”. In 1993, Thomas Anders gained acting experience by starring in the films “Stockholm Marathon” and “The Phantom Pain.” Working in the USA, the singer tries himself in various musical directions: Latin, soul, lyrics, ballad style, jazz.

In the second half of the 90s, Thomas mastered the dance direction, working on joint projects Phantomas and Chain Reaction. In 1997, Anders recorded a live jazz concert, the full video of which was distributed only to members of the singer's fan club.

After the second breakup of the Modern Talking group in 2003, Anders restarted his solo career. Together with the production center that worked with, the artist creates the album “This Time”. The singer gives a concert major cities USA (Atlantic City, New Jersey, New York and Chicago), gives a joint concert with by Scorpions on Red Square in Moscow.

For the second disc, “Songs Forever,” the artist reworks a number of compositions from the mid-80s, performing them in a swing manner, accompanied by a symphony orchestra. In the same year, a disc from the “The DVD Collection” series was released, which included all the videos shot over a 20-year period musical career Thomas Anders.

In 2009, the duet between Thomas Anders and 80s star singer Sandra “The Night Is Still Young” was released as a single. A year later, the premiere of the album “Strong” took place, which was created specifically for the singer’s Russian fans.

A number of pop compositions “Why do you cry?”, “Stay with me”, “My Angel”, “Sorry, Baby” provide the disc with double platinum status and second place in the Russian ranking of pop performers. In support of the album, Thomas Anders is conducting a large tour of Russian cities, Strong Tour. In 2012, the singer published the collection “Christmas for You”, consisting of 4 new compositions and a number of cover versions of Christmas-themed hits.

Personal life

Thomas Anders is married for the second time. The singer's first wife was the aristocrat Eleanor (Nora) Balling. The wedding of the young people took place in 1984, the wedding a year later. Nora had a strong influence on her husband; she often interfered in the creative process of the Modern Talking group.

Having received training as a cosmetologist and makeup artist, Balling participated in creating the image of her husband. In 1987, the couple moved to the Californian coast; in 1994, the relationship between the spouses was completely upset, and in 1998 they divorced.

In 1996, Thomas met Claudia Hess, who became his translator. The girl’s easy-going character attracted the artist, and soon the young people began dating, and in 2000 they got married. Two years after the wedding, Thomas and Claudia had a son, Alexander Mick Weidung. Now Thomas is satisfied with his personal life and career and calls himself a happy person, which is confirmed by his joint family photos regularly appearing in the media.

Thomas Anders now

In 2016, Thomas Anders pleased fans with the release of the disc “History”, which, in addition to hits of past years, included two new songs “Lunatic” and “Take the Chance”, recorded in the style of Modern Talking. The Russian premiere of the album took place in Moscow in the Great Hall of Crocus City Hall. The online broadcast of the performance of the idol of the 80s took place on Retro-FM radio.

In 2017, the artist released another album “Pures Leben”, all the songs of which were performed on German. In the same year, a video clip for the hit “Der Beste Tag Meines Lebens” was released.

Discography

• "Different" - 1989
• "Whispers" - 1991
• "Down On Sunset" - 1992
• "When Will I See You Again" - 1993
• "Barcos de cristal" - 1994
• "Souled" - 1995
• "This Time" - 2004
• "Songs Forever" - 2006
• "Strong" - 2010
• "Christmas for You" - 2012
• "History" - 2016
• "Pures Leben" - 2017

Modern Talking(With English-  “modern conversation”) - a German musical duo that existed from 2003 to 2003, performing dance music in the style of Eurodisco, Europop and Eurodance. The band consisted of Thomas Anders (lead vocals) and Dieter Bohlen (guitar, backing vocals, songwriting, production). It is one of the most successful groups in the history of popular music and the most successful of those created in Germany: the group's records have sold more than 120 million copies worldwide (as of 2003).

The duo's singles topped the charts from the mid-1980s ("You're my heart, you're my soul") until the early 2000s ("Win the Race"), and their collections topped the world charts ( Back for Good). The band's music is still on radio playlists and their albums continue to sell to this day. The duo made a great contribution to the development of European and (partly) Asian music.

Modern Talking's record of five No. 1 singles (in Germany) in a row and 4 multi-platinum albums in a row has not yet been broken.

History of the group [ | ]

Before the duo formed[ | ]

The musicians met in February 1983 within the walls of the Berlin record company “Hansa”: the aspiring composer and producer Dieter Bohlen was looking for a vocalist to perform the composition “Was macht das schon” - a cover version of the song by F.R. David "Pick Up The Phone", for which he wrote the German lyrics. Aspiring singer Thomas Anders responded to Dieter Bohlen's proposal and soon flew to Hamburg to start collaboration.

Beginning of Modern Talking [ | ]

The beginning of one of the most famous musical groups begins on October 29, 1984, when Thomas Anders and Dieter Bohlen released the first single “Modern Talking” "("You are my heart, you are my soul"). When Thomas and Dieter recorded this song, everyone present in the studio applauded - they loved this melody so much. Initially, the single did not receive proper appreciation from listeners, and only after performing on the Formel Eins program (January 21, 1985) did the duo become truly popular: the single became a super hit, taking first place first in the German charts and then in the European charts. 60 thousand records were sold daily in Germany alone.

In the wake of the group's popularity, the sportswear company Adidas signed a contract with Dieter Bohlen to display their clothes in videos and at concerts.

The next album of musicians called “” with songs “” was no less popular. Geronimo's Cadillac"("Cadillac Geronimo") and " "("Give me peace on Earth"). Song from this album " "("Lonely Tears in Chinatown") was released as a single in Spain, taking 9th place there. While recording singles in the studio, Dieter Bohlen never sang high parts in the group. Instead, they were performed by Michael Scholz, Detlef Wiedecke and Rolf Köhler (-,-).

The group's first breakup in 1987[ | ]

Possessing an ambitious and energetic character, Nora Balling aspired to more significant role, trying to subordinate the creative life of the group to himself. According to the memoirs of Dieter Bohlen, “Nora could simply forbid Anders to go on stage, took him on trips in the midst of recordings, disrupted filming and tours.”

Against the backdrop of these contradictions, a final break occurred at a concert in Munich in 1986. The musicians decided not to upset the fans ahead of time and only a year later, having recorded two more albums and waiting for the end of the contract, they announced the breakup of the group by mutual consent.

Thomas Anders himself says this about the collapse:

It is curious that, having created the Blue System group even before the release of the last album (“In The Garden Of Venus”), Dieter actually competed with his main group at that time.

After the breakup [ | ]

The reunion of the legend of the 80s began with a non-binding phone call from Bohlen, in which he friendly invited Anders to Hamburg. The conversation continued in one of the Hamburg fast food restaurants over a portion of selected fried potatoes with goulash. Thomas at first strongly doubted the relevance of the revival of the duet, but Dieter still managed to convince him.

Thus, completely unexpectedly for their fans, Modern Talking, having once again joined forces, triumphantly returned to the pop stage in March 1998, performing on the popular German TV show “Wetten, dass..? "with a medley composed of their immortal No. 1 hits and releasing the album "Back For Good", which consisted of dance remixes of old songs with the addition of four new compositions: "I Will Follow You", "Don't Play With My Heart", " We Take The Chance", "Anything is Possible". The album ended with No. 1 Hit Medley, collected from the duo’s popular songs.

End of career[ | ]

Thomas Anders on the demise of Modern Talking:

The official reason for this difficult decision, according to Dieter, was that Thomas, without his knowledge, undertook a solo tour in the United States in the summer of 2003. Back in 1987, Anders already did a similar thing, organizing a tour without Dieter Bohlen in Eastern Europe under the guise of “The Thomas Anders Show” (even though the advertising posters said “Modern Talking”). In 2003, posters and banners in the United States again read: “Concert of C.C. Catch and the Modern Talking group at the Taj Mahal,” although Dieter Bohlen did not participate in that concert.

Fans of the duo consider the unofficial reason for the end of Modern Talking's career to be the drop in sales of the group's records and Dieter Bohlen's desire to devote more time to promoting the most popular TV show in Germany, "Germany is Looking for a Superstar" and its participants, whose records sold much better than Modern Talking itself.

During the existence of the group, more than 120 million audio media were sold worldwide. Modern Talking is still popular in Eastern Europe, Russia, Argentina, Chile, Poland, Hungary, Finland, Vietnam and other countries.

The fate of the group members[ | ]

The style of most songs since the duo's reunion is Europop. Modern Talking released four compositions in Latin style - No Face No Name No Number (2000), Maria (2001), I Need You Now (2001), Mystery (2003). Blackbird (2003) is jazz, Angie's Heart (New Version) (1998) is club pop, We Are Children Of The World (2002) is pop rock, Juliet (2002) is advanced disco, Blinded By Your Love (1987) ), You And Me (1987) and Who Will Save The World (1987) - pop rock, Witchqueen of Eldorado (2001) and If I... (2002) - ethnic pop, When The Sky Rained Fire (2002) and Who Will Love You Like I Do (2002) - eurodance. The track The Night Is Yours - The Night Is Mine (1985) can be attributed to.

Style features 1984-1987[ | ]

Modern Talking had several distinctive features, which set them apart from other performers of the same style:

Theme of the songs [ | ]

Many songs of the Modern Talking group speak about unrequited love and a broken heart. In several tracks, Dieter Bohlen paid attention to the theme of victory (“You Can Win If You Want”, “We Take The Chance”, “Win ​​the Race”, “Ready For The Victory”, “10 Seconds To Countdown”, “TV Makes The Superstar”) ", "Life is too short" and partly in "Don't give up"). Also in the lyrics of Modern Talking there is a place for the theme of the future (“In 100 Years”, “Who Will Save The World” and partly in “Who Will Be There”). The song "It's Christmas" is filled with the spirit of Christmas. On the album “America” there is a track that talks about the queen of witches (“Witchqueen Of Eldorado”). The song "We Are The Children of the World" is about friendship and solidarity.

Authorship of the texts[ | ]

Almost all the lyrics of the group's songs were written by Dieter Bohlen, and the authorship belongs to him alone, with the exceptions of the following tracks: “Love Is Like A Rainbow”, “For Always And Ever” (1999), “Love Is Forever” (2000), “I Need You Now" (2001), "Love To Love You" (2002) - written by Thomas Anders; “It Hurts So Good” (1999) and “I’ll Never Give You Up” (1999) - co-written by Dieter Bohlen and Thomas Anders; "Do You Wanna" (1985) - written by Dieter Bohlen, lyrics by Mary Applegate.

People who worked on the project[ | ]

Relationships with other famous performers[ | ]

Interesting Facts[ | ]

• Hit " You"re My Heart, You"re My Soul"in 1985 reached number one on the charts in several countries (among them Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland). It has been covered by many performers.
• Hit " Cheri, Cheri Lady"reached number one in several countries, including Germany, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Belgium.
• Hit " Brother Louie" also reached number one in several countries. It charted in the UK for 8 weeks and peaked at number four.
• Hit " Atlantis Is Calling", released in 1986, became the group's fifth consecutive and final No. 1 hit in Germany. Some subsequent singles reached number one in other countries.
• Modern Talking's record of five No. 1 singles (in Germany) in a row and 4 multi-platinum albums in a row has not yet been broken.
• In the first period - from 1985 to 1987 - they released 2 albums per year, and from 1998 to 2003 - 1 album.
• In 1988, sales of Modern Talking reached 85 million copies.
• In 1998, in Germany, 700 thousand copies of the album were sold in the first week. Back For Good».
• In 1998, there were about 200 thousand people at the first concert in Budapest.
• In December 1998, the Modern Talking concert at the Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex was attended by 25 thousand spectators.
• In 1998, the album “ Back For Good"became the leader in global sales.
• In 1999, the album “ Back For Good" and based on the results annual sales The album took a respectable 16th place on Amazon.ca.
• In 1999, in Monte Carlo, Modern Talking received The World Music Award as "Best Selling German Band in the World".
• They sold 100 thousand copies" Back For Good" in South Africa.
• Single " Sexy Sexy Lover"was in the top twenty of the MTV Europe chart.
• In 2001 in Manchester (England) Modern Talking won the Top of the Pops Award for best German group.
• Singles Win the Race And Ready for the Victory were recorded to order for the German channel RTL for scrolling during broadcasts of Formula 1 races.
• In the United States, Modern Talking sold few copies of their recordings, while the duo's recording media (BMG) sold more than 120 million copies worldwide as of 2003.
• The 2010 compilation Modern Talking - 25 Years Of Disco-Pop - reached high places on the charts in Germany, Austria and Poland, thereby proving that the group was still popular after the breakup.
• Despite the fact that Modern Talking has never been on the American charts, they have been featured [ ] wrote in the American authoritative magazine Billboard, their songs were covered by such American performers as George McCrae (cover of Don’t Take Away My Heart), known for his work in the group KC and the Sunshine Band and (covers of YMH YMS AND YCWIYW).
• Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys likes the song " You"re My Heart, You"re My Soul» [ ] .
• In the Soviet cartoon “The Return of the Prodigal Parrot,” the parrot Kesha listens to the song of the group Modern Talking You"re My Heart, You"re My Soul in the player. He also mentions the name of the group, uttering the phrase: “According to your numerous requests, the Weiner brothers will perform the song “Moderna Talkinga”.”
• In January 1986, Dieter Bohlen performed in France on the program “C’est Encore Mieux l’apres-midi” with the fake Thomas Anders as the group Modern Talking. The lead singer's name is Uwe Borgwardt - he is a member of The Koola News.
• In the USSR, a video with the participation of the group was first shown on February 7, 1986 in the program “Rhythms of the Planet”. The next program to show Modern Talking in the USSR was Morning Mail on May 18, 1986, repeated a week later.
• In 2009, in the Comedy Club program “Legendary Legends”, generally entitled: Norden Vicking, Podzem Parking, Media Holding, Shlyushents Poking, Tea for Two, Much Tiolkink and Modern Talking. The group consists of: Thomas Anders, Dieter Bohlen and Claus Fon Gen Talle.

Discography [ | ]

Studio albums[ | ]

Collections [ | ]

Singles [ | ]

• 1984 “You"re My Heart, You"re My Soul" (No. 1 Germany, No. 1 Belgium, No. 1 Denmark, No. 1 Italy, No. 1 Spain, No. 1 Greece, No. 1 Turkey, No. 1 Israel, No. 1 Austria , No. 1 Switzerland, No. 1 Finland, No. 1 Portugal, No. 1 Lebanon, No. 2 South Africa, No. 3 France, No. 3 Sweden, No. 3 Norway, No. 15 Japan, No. 56 UK) (8 million sales).
• 1985 "You Can Win If You Want" (No. 1 Germany, No. 1 Austria, No. 1 Belgium, No. 1 Turkey, No. 1 Israel, No. 2 Switzerland, No. 2 Portugal, No. 3 Denmark, No. 5 Finland, No. 6 Sweden, No. 6 Netherlands, No. 8 France, No. 10 South Africa, No. 70 UK)
• 1985 "Cheri, Cheri Lady" (No. 1 Germany, No. 1 Hong Kong, No. 1 Greece, No. 1 Turkey, No. 1 Israel, No. 1 Austria, No. 4 Portugal, No. 7 Italy, No. 10 Netherlands, No. 15 South Africa, No. 44 Japan)
• 1985 "" (released as a single only in South Africa)
• 1986 "Brother Louie" (No. 1 Germany, No. 1 Sweden, No. 1 Spain, No. 1 Chile, No. 1 Greece, No. 1 Turkey, No. 1 Israel, No. 1 South Africa, No. 2 Ireland, No. 4 UK, No. 10 Portugal , No. 5 Italy, No. 15 Mexico, No. 16 Netherlands, No. 34 Canada)
• 1986 “Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. for Love)” (No. 1 Germany, No. 2 Austria, No. 3 Sweden, No. 3 Switzerland, No. 4 Belgium, No. 6 Holland, No. 8 Norway, No. 21 France, No. 13 Italy, No. 55 Great Britain)

In February 1983, Frenchman FR David presented his second single, "Pick up the phone." When Dieter Bohlen heard the first sounds of "Pick up the phone", he already knew that he would make a German version of this hit. But he couldn't find a performer. He decided to call the song “Was macht das shon?” . One day Dee received a letter from the record company Hansa, which said that... Read all

In February 1983, Frenchman FR David presented his second single, "Pick up the phone." When Dieter Bohlen heard the first sounds of "Pick up the phone", he already knew that he would make a German version of this hit. But he couldn't find a performer. He decided to call the song “Was macht das shon?” . One day Dee received a letter from the recording company Hansa, which said that this company had in mind one young performer whose songs were not used great success, - Thomas Anders. Upon arrival in Hamburg, Thomas was delighted with Dieter's version of "Pick up the phone".

Thomas (who doesn't know - real name Bernd Weidung) was born on March 1, 1963 in Münstermayfield, near Koblenz. At the age of 15, Thomas already had success, having appeared on Michael Schanze's television show - "Hatteh Sie heut" Zeit fur uns?", he got the opportunity to record his first single "Judi". In September he became friends with Thomas Ohner and two other soloists of the group, which together with him (Thomas Anders) traveled all over Germany with concerts. But the success ended as quickly as it began. And Thomas’s father decided that it was better for his son to finish school in 1982. , in the spring. Tommy then spent five semesters at the University, studying Germanic studies and music.

In 1981, Thomas recorded 3 more singles: "Du weinst um ihn" ("You cry because of him"), "Ich will nicht dein leben", ("I will not live this life without you") "Es war die nacht der ersten Llebe" ("It was the night of first love"), Dieter and Thomas immediately liked each other. They made a great team in the studio. They often visited Dieter's house in Hamburg. Dieter recorded with Thomas the song “Wovon traumst du denn” (“Who do you dream of?”) and it was with this song that Thomas “broke” into the charts (December 1, 1983). About 30,000 copies of this song were sold. In March 1984 “Endstation Sehnsucht” and “HeiBkalter Angel” were recorded (cover version of Real life - “Send me an ange1” (“Send me an angel”)).

After this great job, Dieter decided to take a “break” and relax (for the first time in 5 years) on the island of Mallorca. But even on vacation, new ideas arose in Dieter’s thoughts. One of these ideas became the European "shock" of 1985 - this is "You"re my heart, You"re my soul". This song remained under the spell of Germany for a whole half a year.

And another idea came into Thomas’s pretty head - to create a duet!

When Dieter was vacationing in Mallorca, Thomas, along with his girlfriend Nora, was vacationing in the Canaries, where they got engaged (August 6, 1984)

When they (Dieter and Thomas) both returned to Germany, they immediately began work on "You"re..." and on the future duet - "Modern Talking". In October "84. the single was already ready, but... in November "84, Thomas (in his Golf GTI car) was in a terrible accident. The car was literally flattened, but neither Thomas (thank God!) nor Nora were hurt. And it was from this misfortune began "happiness" "Modern Talking". On January 17, 1985, a video for "You"re my heart..." was shot and a few days later Dieter and Thomas already took part in music programs. It was a real "breakthrough" for "M.T". Finally, Dieter was at the desired top!...

In March "85 the second single "You can win..." was released. All Dieter's songs never lost their quality, neither then nor now. This applies to "Cheri...", "Brother Louie", "Atlantis is calling ". In the first album there is a song "There"s too much blue in missin" you" ("How much sadness in my soul when I miss you") - it is the only song performed by Dieter (in "Modem Talking"), Thomas on the backing vocals. "Modern Talking" became a worldwide success. But soon the public began to notice that something was happening, Dieter began to complain that Thomas was practically not working (Dee worked for 5 months on the 2nd album, and Thomas came only twice to record songs...). One of Dieter's most important assistants was and is Luis Rodriguez, who led all technical work and was also a sound engineer. But, for Dieter, Louis was not just a technical worker, but also a person who could always give advice on this or that song, this or that sound. Dieter always consulted Louis. "Brother Louie" is dedicated specifically to Rodriguez.

While Dieter was working with Modern Talking, he was also working with other groups. In 1985 He and Mary Rus recorded "Keine Trane tut mir leid" ("I'm sorry for my tears"). Together with S.S. Catch, Dieter achieved the same success as with "Modern Talking". Caroline Müller lived in the Bund but was born in the Netherlands. Dieter discovered her as a singer at the “Looking for Talents” competition in Hamburg. That same evening, Dieter offered her a contract and became her producer. He also came up with a pseudonym for her - “S.S. Catch”. In 1985 (summer), the single “I Can Lose My Heart” was released - her first hit. Together with dancers Dag, Dirk., and Pierre, CC Catch became the “queen” of disco. Dieter and Caroline worked together until 1989... 12 singles and 4 albums were released. Dieter also wrote "Midnight Lady" for Chris Norman. This song became the theme song for the television series "Tatort". "Midnight Lady" brought Norman back to the stage. With all these projects, Dieter wanted to prove that “Modern Talking” was not famous for the voice and personality of the handsome Thomas Anders, because in “Modern Talking” everyone saw only Thomas, and did not notice that Dieter did everything. No one believed in the deep lyricism of Dieter's songs, no one could even imagine that Dieter really put deep meaning and life problems into his works, and this was exactly the case.

Thus, “With a Little Love” is dedicated to Dieter’s son Mark (born July 9 “85, he was named after the singer Marc Bolan), the same goes for “Give me peace on Earth.” But, because much attention to Thomas and Hope, these songs were not noticed. From the Blue System repertoire, the song “Crossing the river” is also dedicated to his son Mark.

While Dieter and Louis were becoming a good "team", the relationship with Thomas gradually deteriorated. Their quarrels even occurred at concerts held throughout Europe. It soon became clear that Thomas could not stand stress. In the middle of '85, Thomas had a nervous breakdown. When Thomas felt better, he married Hope on July 27, '85, in Koblenz. Their wedding was a real show, with 3,000 fans screaming and crying in a packed church. Dieter was also invited, but he refused because he went to the hospital to see his father, who had a heart attack. But those who knew Dieter well understood that he was against all this hype around the wedding (Rolls-Royce near the church, a trip to Cannes, a tea party with Princess Stephanie). Thomas was able to extend the contract for another 2 years (until the end of 1987). What Thomas did in his personal life did not interest Dieter, he was only interested in their common work. One day, Thomas did not come to the television show “Formula One” (they were presenting a prize for the song “Brother Louie”). And Thomas was also not present at the “P.I.T” show, but the day before the show he warned Dieter that he was ill with jaundice.

On May 27, "85 their tour of Germany was supposed to begin, but this time Dieter was not there, who was injured while playing tennis, the doctor advised him to rest for 2 weeks.

Thomas decided to start the tour on his own and the organizers were not against it. Dieter had no choice but to admit that he had been forgotten and only Thomas and Nora existed. But, Dieter was still famous and still tried to save Modern Talking. He had to admit that all his efforts were not justified. Newspaper critics became even more critical and cynical. Moreover, they wrote stories about Thomas - each worse than the other Thomas was on edge and took decisive action against the journalists. But all of Thomas’s excuses in response to the journalists made him even more interesting and the newspapers were full of headlines about his actions against the media. Instead of maintaining a proud silence, Thomas, on the contrary. , started a real war with the press. By this, Thomas wanted to prove that he would not allow himself to be made a “fool”, and defended not only himself, but also Dieter. But the effect was the opposite, all his words were “distorted” in numerous articles. and Thomas spent less and less time together, even when they received awards, only one of them was always present. Last time they appeared together at the end of 1986. at Formula 1. This was the beginning of a huge tour, but between them all the time there were “little warriors”. One of these scenes took place at a concert in Munich, while the fans were screaming and waiting for them, a terrible quarrel began, but Dieter and Thomas still went on stage. Nora and her friend Jutta Temes were also on stage. Then no one knew that Dieter took two girls as “back-up singers”: Sylvia Zaniga and Biji Nandke, but the girls were kept by guards (on Nora’s orders). In fact, when Nora saw Dieter's girls in the wardrobe, she was furious... and ordered the girls not to be allowed on stage.

Dieter was fed up with “this” Nora!!! When Dieter understood everything, he saw that Nora and Jutta had defiantly left, followed by Thomas... So the concert ended and everyone already understood what was happening... Backstage, Nora “poured” all the dirt on Dieter, she screamed loudly that even the fans in the hall heard her. To this, Dieter only succinctly replied: “Of course, the girls I chose are not as beautiful as Nora, but they are part of “Modern Talking”, and she is “nobody” ... ". Nora irritated not only Dieter, but also all the media, even fans of “Modern Talking”, who, in turn, threw eggs and tomatoes at her at one of the concerts... Dieter realized that “Modern Talking” had already ceased to exist. Thomas didn’t want to work together anymore, and Nora didn’t want to change her behavior, Dieter had to make an important decision... He knew for sure that Nora wanted to make a trio out of “Modern Talking”, and he really didn’t want that. Music and the future were very important to Dieter. Everything he achieved was at stake. Everyone understood that M.T had already broken up, but there was also a contract... The group was supposed to exist for a while longer whole year... Dieter began to plan his future without Thomas. His studio had already prepared the songs that he wanted to present after "Modern Talking", Dee was looking for new musicians to work on a new project. At that time, "M.T" had 5 singles. 6 single - "Geronimo"s Cadillac", the song was not so bad, but the press did its job. Negative statements appeared about the duet, especially because of Nora. She was not a member of "M.T", but was desperately trying to take over management of the group. Nobody liked her, but she was everywhere and always with Thomas, deciding when to photograph Thomas and Dieter. When she was with Thomas, she decided who he would give an interview to...

With each new article, hatred towards Hope grew, and therefore towards Thomas and Dieter too. For Dieter, “M.T” no longer existed. Dieter was famous in America and England, and many wanted him to become their producer. "Modern Talking" disappeared in 1987... Two years later, on one show, Dieter said that it was Nora's fault. Nora tried to take part in the same show, but they only laughed at her. Because of this incident, M.T lost $200,000. 1987 - end of "Modern Talking". The last two albums were released: "Romantic Warriors" (June), "In The Garden Of Venus" (November).

Beginning in 1994, BMG bosses persistently suggested that DIETER BOHLEN make peace with THOMAS ANDERS and think carefully about the revival of the gold-bearing duo. But each time SICK refused. And then 1998 came. Things were going very badly for DIETER - the albums of his solo project BLUE SYSTEM were selling worse and worse every year. If just recently he managed to sell 400-500 thousand copies of his solo albums without much difficulty, then the latest BLUE SYSTEM albums “Body To Body” and “Here I Am” lasted on the charts for a total of two months, selling 150 thousand pieces each. Things were not much better for his sponsored teams. In particular, TOUCHE, whose debut album "Part One" lasted only eight weeks in the German charts, never rising above number 35. And this is during the golden era of boy bands! And therefore, in the current situation, BOLENA simply had no other choice but to try to enter the same river a second time.

The reunion of the legend of the 80s began with a non-binding phone call from DIETER: “Hello, Thomas! How are you? I want to invite you to Hamburg.” The conversation continued in one of the Hamburg fast food restaurants over a portion of selected fried potatoes with goulash. THOMAS at first broke down a little for the sake of decency: “Dieter, you’re crazy, who needs us today?” But, in the end, Bohlen’s arguments still prevailed, and in March 1998, the newly revived duo performed on the most popular German television show “Wetten Dass...?” with a medley composed of their immortal No. 1 hits.

Soon, a single with a modern remake of the group’s most famous hit “You”re My Heart, You”re My Soul “98” goes on sale, which took 2nd place in the German single charts and stayed there for a total of 21 weeks (of which 13 weeks in TOP 20). In the consolidated European charts, the composition reached ninth place, taking an honorable 28th place in 1998. The song became No. 1 in Turkey, Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary, Argentina, Spain, Croatia and Albania, No. 2 in Israel. , Austria and Lithuania, No. 3 in France and the Czech Republic; No. 4 in Switzerland and Greece, No. 6 in Sweden, No. 8 in Finland and Ireland, No. 10 in Belgium, No. 11 in Macedonia, No. 17 in Hong Kong.

The album "Back For Good" was expected to be an even greater triumph! On the first day, 180 thousand copies were sold in Germany alone. The album takes a well-deserved first place in the German album charts, where it will remain for 5 weeks. In total, "Back For Good" was in the DEUTSCHLAND ALBUM TOP 100 for 52 weeks! Other countries did not lag behind Germany - the album took 1st place in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Turkey, Argentina, South Africa, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Poland, Malaysia, Latvia and Estonia, 2 -th in France, Belgium and Denmark, 3rd in Holland, 4th in Taiwan, 6th in Spain, 7th in Portugal, 9th in Italy, 15th in Israel. In the EUROPEAN ALBUM CHARTS, "Back For Good", as well as in Germany, stayed on the first line for 5 weeks, taking 8th place at the end of the year. As for global sales, here too MODERN TALKING's seventh album turned out to be at its best - second place in the world charts and 4th place in 1998.

The second single "Brother Louie "98" also achieved excellent results, as did "You"re My Heart, You"re My Soul "98" recorded with the participation of American rapper ERIC SINGLETON - No. 16 in Germany (4 weeks in the TOP 20 and 11 weeks in TOP 100), No. 1 in Turkey, Argentina and Hungary, No. 2 in France and Spain, No. 5 in Lithuania, No. 7 in the Czech Republic, No. 9 in Sweden, No. 10 in Greece and Slovakia, No. 12 in Hong Kong, No. 17 in Austria, No. 21 in Switzerland, No. 51 in Holland and No. 12 in the European charts. This was not the first time DIETER and ERIC worked together - in 1997 they released two joint singles in the EURO-HIP-HOP style, as part of the COOL CUT and G-TRAXX projects.

As for the “Back For Good” album itself, from a nostalgic point of view it was of much greater value than from a musical one. Most of the remakes of old hits were made according to the standard BOLEN-RODRIGUEZ recipe and were intended for to a greater extent for fans of the new call, who knew MODERN TALKING only from the stories of their parents or worn-out vinyl records and tapes. Old fans were much more interested in new songs. And only four of them were written for “Back For Good”: “I Will Follow You” is a completely traditional Bolen ballad, “Don’t Play With My Heart” is a typical mid-tempo boy band hit a la BACKSTREET BOYS or “N SYNC and two tracks in the style of EUROPROGRESSIVE - "We Take The Chance" and "Anything Is Possible", which could easily find a place on the latest BLUE SYSTEM album "Here I Am", next to "I Miss You" and "Don"t Do That ". So, as it will not be difficult to notice, even in his new songs BOLEN was focused primarily on a youth audience.

The new composition "We Take The Chance", written specifically for the World Cup in France, came under fierce fire from critics. Let me remind you that all the fuss then flared up because of the first TWO bars, borrowed by BOLENA from the intro of the legendary 1986 hit “The Final Countdown” by the once popular Swedish group EUROPE. But the thing is that according to international copyright law, plagiarism is considered to be borrowing the first FOUR bars. So from the point of view of the law, SICK turned out to be completely clean. DITER himself in his interviews blamed everything on the customers of this football anthem, who “themselves asked for it to be like EUROPE.” Perhaps the composer really took them too literally, but, nevertheless, this scandal had the most positive impact on the sales of new MODERN TALKING releases.

The third single from the album "Back For Good" was "Space Mix", previously released as a promotional single called "We Take Chance". In addition to the scandalous composition, it included a new version of “You Can Win If You Want” and the “Space Mix” itself, which was a medley composed of the group’s most popular hits and recorded together with ERIC SINGLETON. The single went to No. 4 in Hungary, No. 14 in France, No. 15 in Greece, No. 19 in Argentina, No. 34 in Belgium. It is surprising that in the countries that are the main consumers of MODERN TALKING's music products - in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, "Space Mix" was not released at all.

Most MODERN TALKING fans were waiting for this album with great anticipation and excitement. Still, it’s one thing to ride on nostalgia for the 80s, and quite another to write a full-fledged album entirely consisting of completely new songs that can interest both old fans brought up on the music of the 80s and a new generation of fans. And, despite the fact that the musicians faced an extremely difficult task at that time, on the whole they successfully completed it.

MODERN TALKING's brand new single "You Are Not Alone", made in the style of updated remakes from the album "Back For Good", immediately soars to 7th place on the German singles charts, where it will remain for 15 weeks. The composition becomes No. 1 in Moldova, No. 4 in Slovenia, Hungary and Norway, No. 5 in Spain, Argentina and Austria, No. 6 in Latvia, No. 8 in Finland, No. 11 in Greece, No. 12 in Switzerland, No. 13 in France, No. 15 in Sweden, No. 24 in the Czech Republic, No. 36 in Brazil. In the pan-European charts, "You Are Not Alone" reaches number 19 and stays in the top 100 for 18 weeks.

The success of the eighth album "Alone" was quite comparable to the triumph of a year ago "Back For Good" - four weeks No. 1 and 27 weeks in the DEUTSCHLAND ALBUM TOP 100. It is curious that all the first four weeks of sales of "Alone" the seventh album of the duo "Back For Good" " was still in the first album hundred in Germany, balancing between the sixth and ninth ten! In Europe, "Alone" reaches 6th place, and in the global charts the album takes an honorable 8th place. As in the case of the single "You Are Not Alone", the eighth album of the German superduo easily conquers the TOP 5 and TOP 10 of the vast majority of European countries, plus the charts of Argentina, Taiwan and Malaysia, which are traditionally loyal to the work of MODERN TALKING (No. 1 in Estonia, Latvia , Turkey, Argentina, Hungary, No. 2 in Austria and the Czech Republic, No. 3 in Switzerland, No. 4 in Finland and Poland, No. 5 in Sweden, No. 6 Greece, No. 8 in Malaysia, No. 9 in South Korea, Taiwan and Norway, No. 11 in France, No. 13 in Spain, No. 15 in Slovakia, No. 17 in South Africa, No. 6 in Europe and No. 8 in the global charts).

The second single “Sexy Sexy Lover” also sold well, as did “You Are Not Alone”, made in the style of a modernized EURODISCO or, as it is also called, DISCO-NRG - No. 15 and 9 weeks in the TOP 100 in Germany, No. 9 in Finland and Hungary, No. 10 in Latvia, No. 19 in Spain, No. 20 in Argentina, No. 25 in Sweden, No. 27 in Austria, No. 35 in Switzerland and No. 63 in Europe.

No more singles were released from "Alone", although such compositions as "Rouge Et Noir" and especially "Can"t Get Enough" were quite capable of blowing up the TOP 10 of any European or Latin American country. What can I say - almost the entire eighth the album turned out to be extremely smooth and hit - in the best traditions of the duo's classic long-plays. dance compositions with "Alone" was performed in the spirit of a modernized EURODISCO. BOLENA's passion for the EUROPROGRESSIVE style, which began on the BLUE SYSTEM album "Here I Am" and then continued in the new compositions of MODERN TALKING with "Back For Good", received its further development V newest track"I Can"t Give You More". In addition, for the first time, MODERN TALKING's numbered album could boast of such a rich tracklist - in the eighties, such a number of songs would have been more than enough for two full-fledged numbered albums.

Another feature of "Alone" was the fairly active participation of THOMAS ANDERS in the creation of musical material for the album. Thus, with his direct participation, as many as four compositions were written - “Love Is Like A Rainbow” and “For Always And Ever” (music and lyrics), “It Hurts So Good” and “I”ll Never Give You Up” (text only ).

MODERN TALKING's eighth album ends with an extended 17-minute version of "Space Mix", released in 1998 as a separate maxi-single.

"Year Of The Dragon" (2000)

1998 and 1999 became some of the most successful years in the career of MODERN TALKING and DIETER BOHLEN in particular. Just like in the good old days, the group occupied the top lines of the charts in the vast majority of countries and received a lot of gold and platinum awards all over the world. MODERN TALKING is awarded the well-deserved THE WORLD MUSIC AWARD and ECHO (German equivalent of GRAMMY). To top it all off, the Pope himself, JOHN PAUL THE SECOND, invites THOMAS and DIETER to write music for his own CD (he composed the poems on religious and political themes himself). Moreover, among other candidates for participation in this project were such star names as WHITNEY HOUSTON, MICHAEL BOLTON, ARETHA FRANKLIN and RICKY MARTIN. Among the negative moments, one can only note the car accident that DIETER BOHLEN got into together with NADJA ABDEL FARRAG and the attack on DIETER by his beloved Rottweiler DICKY.

In February 2000, a new single, “China In Her Eyes,” was released, almost identical in style to last year’s “You Are Not Alone” and “Sexy Sexy Lover.” And judging by the volume of its European sales, it was easy to notice that in general Europe had already had enough of the revived MODERN TALKING. In Germany, the composition takes 8th place in the first single hundred, where it will remain for only nine weeks. As for other countries, the situation there was as follows - No. 1 in Moldova, No. 3 in Estonia, No. 6 in Spain, No. 7 in Hungary, No. 9 in Latvia, No. 20 in Switzerland, No. 22 in Austria, No. 24 in Greece, No. 26 in Sweden and No. 49 in Europe. Compared to previous works, not a lot.

Well, in March, the ninth album of the duo “Year Of The Dragon”, dedicated to the coming MILLENNIUM, finally goes on sale. In Germany, the album failed to rise above number 3 and remained on the charts for 18 weeks. Despite the relative decline in public interest in the group’s work, the album still manages to take worthy places in the charts of many European countries - No. 1 in Turkey and Estonia, No. 3 in Hungary and Poland, No. 4 in Switzerland, No. 5 in Austria, No. 7 in Czech Republic, No. 14 in Bulgaria, No. 22 in Finland and Greece, No. 26 in Norway, No. 28 in Sweden, No. 10 in Europe and No. 16 in the global charts.

In May 2000, the revived group faced its first serious commercial failure - the second single from the new album “Don”t Take Away My Heart” for the first time in the history of the project did not make it into the German TOP 40, hopelessly frozen at 41st place. I think what can we say about European sales are not even worth it - No. 8 in Hungary, No. 18 in Latvia and Moldova, No. 20 in Estonia. Although the video for this composition was simply gorgeous.

The album itself in many ways became a logical continuation of "Alone", except that stylistically it turned out to be much more diverse - in addition to the typical tracks for the new MODERN TALKING in the spirit of a modernized EURODISCO with elements of EUROENERGY, here you can also find compositions in the style of POP-LATINO ("No Face No Name No Number" and ITALO-DANCE ("Part Time Lover", enjoy samples a la ATB ("I"m Not Guilty", MOLOKO ("Walking In The Rain Of Paris" and even E-ROTIC ("Fly) To The Moon". As in the case of "Alone", "Year Of The Dragon" could easily be divided into two full-length albums without a noticeable loss in quality.

But, one way or another, even with all its rough edges and outright stylistic blunders, "Year Of The Dragon" can absolutely safely be considered best album MODERN TALKING after the reunion. Perhaps, since the days of "Romantic Warriors" musicians have not been able to create an album that touches the soul to such an extent and penetrates our consciousness literally from the very first chords.

"America" ​​(2001)

The year 2001 became one of the most significant and turning points not only in the history of MODERN TALKING, but also in the career of DIETER BOHLEN himself. First of all, BOLEN parts with his faithful “squire” LUIS RODRIGUEZ, for sixteen for long years who determined the sound of all his projects, polished and brought to mind each of Bolen’s works. The official reason for the termination of their collaboration, voiced in the press, was “problems with LOUIS’s recording device.” Soon, DIETER will face another equally serious loss - almost simultaneously with RODRIGUEZ, three other key figures leave him - ROLF KOHLER, MICHAEL SCHOLZ and DETLEF WIEDEKE, who also worked for him in the studio all these years, acting as his “studio voices”. It was their backing vocals that sounded in the choruses of almost all the compositions of BLUE SYSTEM, MODERN TALKING and C.C. CATCH. Subsequently, they will create their own musical project called SYSTEMS IN BLUE.

It would seem that after so many impressive blows of fate, one could safely give up on any other musical project, but not MODERN TALKING! Soon the musicians receive a very timely offer from the Formula 1 organizers to write an anthem for one of the next stages of these most popular races. And the musicians get to work with enthusiasm. Moreover, BOHLEN manages to very quickly find a more than worthy replacement for RODRIGUEZ in the person of the legendary producer AXEL BREATUNG, who made a name for himself thanks to his successful work with such superstars as DJ BOBO, SILENT CIRCLE, REDNEX, INDRA and X-PERIENCE. The result was not long in coming - the pompous disco march "Win The Race" instantly entered the German TOP 10 and within two weeks rose to 5th place, becoming the most successful single in the recent history of MODERN TALKING since "You"re My Heart, You"re My Soul "98" and "You Are Not Alone". This composition lasted 13 weeks in the TOP 100. Also, "Win The Race" becomes No. 1 in Romania, No. 4 in Hungary, No. 9 in Estonia, No. 13 in Poland, No. 14 in Austria, No. 15 in Moldova, No. 16 in Argentina, No. 20 in Latvia, No. 28 in the Czech Republic, No. 31 in Switzerland, No. 36 in Sweden, No. 34 in Europe and No. 35 in the global charts. The popularity of the new single was greatly facilitated by a chic remix made by another living German musical legend - the SCOOTER trio, whose unexpected creative alliance with EURODISCO veterans looked largely symbolic, demonstrating the continuity of generations in dance music.

Most of the tracks included in MODERN TALKING's tenth numbered album "America" ​​were created by a completely new studio team, which included AXEL BREITUNG, THORSTEN BROTZMANN, BULENT ARIS, ELEPHANT, JEO, LALO TITENKOV, AMADEO CROTTI. Some of these musicians, in particular BROTZMANN and TITENKOV, had previously been hired by BOLENA as session musicians and sound engineers for the recording of the MODERN TALKING and BLUE SYSTEM albums. But it was from this moment that they were given much more creative freedom, and their official studio status was elevated to co-producers and arrangers. As for LUIS RODRIGUEZ, he was directly involved in the creation of only one single track, and even then it was far from the most successful - “Rain In My Heart”. The renewal of the “castrati choir” was also surprisingly painless - from now on the main “studio voices” of DIETER BOHLEN are CHRISTOPH LEIS-BENDORFF and WILLIAM KING, who fit almost perfectly into the overall sound palette of the group. And it was so perfect that most fans didn’t even notice anything. It is curious that one of the auxiliary backing vocalists of “America” was the well-known NINO DE ANGELO.

The second single "Last Exit To Brooklyn", as expected, was not as successful as "Win The Race" - No. 2 in Estonia, No. 8 in Hungary, No. 11 in Moldova, No. 37 in Germany, No. 44 in Austria, No. 94 in Switzerland. After a short break, much to the displeasure of the band's old fans, ERIK SINGLETON again took part in the recording of the composition. By the way, not so long ago, good for everyone famous program“Maximum” tried to stir up a small scandal due to the alleged similarity of the choruses of “Last Exit To Brooklyn” by MODERN TALKING and “Work Your Magic” by DIMA KOLDUNA. Moreover, not just anyone was invited there as an expert, but THOMAS ANDERS himself. As a result, the parties agreed that it “vaguely resembles it,” but nothing more. In fact, if the creators of this program knew at least a little about the history of the EURODISCO style, they would probably know that the “original source” for both compositions is the same - “Little Russian” by the Italian project MR. ZIVAGO.

Despite the fact that in chart and commercial terms "America" ​​turned out to be somewhat more successful than "Year Of The Dragon" (No. 1 in Bulgaria, Turkey and Latvia, No. 2 in Germany and Estonia, No. 5 in Hungary, No. 7 in Austria, No. 8 in the Czech Republic and Slovenia, No. 10 in Switzerland, No. 19 in Poland, No. 25 in Greece, No. 37 in Sweden, No. 9 in European and global charts), from a musical point of view, it was noticeably inferior to him - fairly predictable melodies, more partly borrowed from the repertoire of BLUE SYSTEM and earlier MODERN TALKING albums, simple arrangements, very far from EURODISCO standards.

One of the best and most memorable tracks on the album was, not surprisingly, the composition “I Need You Now”, entirely written by THOMAS ANDERS. Maybe when he wants! And so, besides “New York City Girl”, woven from pieces of SILENT CIRCLE, DJ BOBO and EIFFEL 65, there is, perhaps, nothing more to catch on here. Apparently, it’s not BOLEN’s destiny to conquer America...

"Victory" (2002)

2002 marked the beginning of events that were later destined to play a fatal role in the fate of MODERN TALKING, leading to the second and this time final breakup of the duo. It all started with the fact that during the 2002 tour, THOMAS ANDERS began to openly “rat”. Let’s say that limousine drivers are entitled to 75-100 euros per day (the rental of the cars themselves was carried out at the expense of sponsors), but the cost estimate states a completely different figure, let’s say 750-1000 euros. It is not difficult to calculate how much the difference will be and whose pocket it will smoothly move into. Or another example - a free hotel room, again at the expense of sponsors (plus non-existent bodyguards), on paper already costs the group several thousand euros. And so in every city where the tour takes place. Of course, THOMAS would not have been able to pull off such a scam alone, without the support of the “Barzini and Tatalia families” - the lead singer of MODERN TALKING found himself in cahoots with the manager responsible for all expenses and general planning of concerts during the tour. And if it weren’t for the organizer of the tour itself, BURGARD ZALLMAN, who opened DIETER’s eyes in time to Thomas’s tricks, it is quite possible that this sweet couple (Thomas & Manager) would have filled their bins for a long time at Bohlenov’s expense.

However, in the life of MODERN TALKING in 2002 there were much more pleasant moments, namely their new songs. The duo's next single was another sports disco march, "Ready For The Victory", which took 7th place in the German single charts and almost repeated the success of last year's "Win The Race" - the composition stayed in the TOP 100 for 11 weeks. In the rest of the world, the results were also very good - No. 2 in Estonia, No. 3 in Hungary, No. 11 in Spain, No. 13 in South Korea, No. 20 in Austria and Moldova, No. 21 in Romania, No. 31 in Latvia, No. 62 in Switzerland and No. 33 in Europe.

The new eleventh album "Victory" was worked on mainly by the same studio team as on "America". Among the new names in the booklet, only KAY M. NICKOLD and WERNER BECKER appear. As in the case of the album "America", DITER BOHLEN completely withdrew from the arrangements, giving carte blanche to AXEL BREATUNG, THORSTEN BROTSMANN and LALO TITENKOV. And this time Bohlenov’s experiment was a complete success. In terms of its hit potential, the album is practically not inferior to “Alone” and “Year Of The Dragon”, and from the point of view of arrangement moves and stylistic finds, perhaps even surpasses them in some ways. It is especially worth highlighting here the rather bold track in the VOCAL-EUROTRANCE style “I”m Gonna Be Strong”, created not without the influence of the super hit “Heaven” by DJ SAMMY, the killer EURODANCE action movie “When The Sky Rained Fire”, in the crazy energy of which the BREATUNG's eurodance past and the simply gorgeous EURODISCO composition "Mrs. Robota", with its refined melody reminiscent of the group's early works. There is also another sports anthem, "10 Seconds To Countdown", which was originally even planned as the first single. And the intense studio work bore fruit - for the first time since 1999, MODERN TALKING's new numbered album ranks first line in the German national charts. In addition, "Victory" becomes No. 1 in Estonia and Latvia, No. 7 in Austria, No. 10 in Hungary, No. 14 in Switzerland and Poland, No. 18 in the Czech Republic, No. 20 in Argentina, No. 37. in Greece, No. 74 in Denmark and No. 9 in Europe.

In April 2002, the second single from the album “Victory” was released, and on the track that fans least expected to see as such - it was the DISCO-HOUSE style composition “Juliet”. The main feature of this single was that for the first time in the history of MODERN TALKING we witnessed the appearance of a non-album b-side - “Down On My Knees”, performed at the junction of EURODISCO/EUROENERGY styles, in the spirit of MODERN TALKING of the Breitung period. And I must say that this single sold much better than the second singles from the last two albums - No. 3 in Hungary, No. 4 in Paraguay, No. 21 in Latvia, No. 25 in Germany, No. 30 in Estonia, No. 42 in Austria, No. 83 in Switzerland and Europe.

"Universe" (2003)

All good things come to an end sooner or later. So the second coming of MODERN TALKING has come to its logical conclusion. For five long years, THOMAS ANDERS and DIETER BOHLEN delighted us with their new songs, releasing six amazing albums and many singles. Of course, not all of their latest creations can compare with such classic masterpieces groups like "Brother Louie" or "Cheri Cheri Lady", but, nevertheless, the fact remains that the group managed to acquire a whole army of new, very young fans, and, moreover, thanks to its latest albums. And from now on, many people will associate both the band’s work itself and the years of their life spent listening to this wonderful music with these songs.

The album "Universe" became the twelfth numbered album in the entire history of the project and the sixth since its reunion. From a melodic point of view, the disc looks simply impeccable, and almost any composition from it, with proper promotion, could become a 100% hit. But as for the arrangements, here the feeling of “déjà vu” does not leave us for almost the entire forty-four minutes, which is exactly how long this disc lasts. And if a GRAMMY Award were awarded in the “Plagiarism of the Year” category, then this record would hardly have any serious competitors.

One way or another, the album "Universe" set a kind of record for "borrowing" from the latest work of such "heroes of our days" as BRITNEY SPEARS ("TV Makes The Superstar", IN-GRID ("I"m No Rockefeller", JENNIFER LOPEZ ("Mystery", WESTLIFE ("Knocking On My Door", KYLIE MINOGUE ("Nothing But The Truth" and AQUAGEN ("Superstar"). Well, the public, in turn, instantly realized that they were trying to sell them a real "second-hand" hand", which, naturally, could not but affect the sales level of "Universe" - it reached platinum with great difficulty. In Germany, the album became second (12 weeks in the TOP 100), No. 1 in Latvia, No. 4 in Estonia , No. 10 in Austria, No. 19 in the Czech Republic, No. 20 in Poland, No. 24 in Hungary, No. 25 in Switzerland and No. 11 in Europe.

But even despite the fact that the album itself became the most disastrous of all recent history group, the first and only single from it, "TV Makes The Superstar", released in the wake of the popularity of the television show "Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar", was sold in the amount of 250 thousand copies, which automatically resulted in it being awarded "gold" status. The song about how “cool you got on RTL” reached the second line of the German national charts, by the way, for the first time since 1998, and became a kind of “swan song” of the most successful pop duo in world history. Along the way, the single ranks 4th in Hungary, 9th in Moldova, 15th in Austria, 20th in Latvia, 25th in Lithuania, 32nd in Estonia, 55th in Switzerland, 67th in Romania and 11th in Europe. You can’t say anything - it’s time to retire.

And so on June 7, 2003, during a concert in Rostock in front of 25,000 fans, DIETER BOHLEN announced the end of his

The “founding fathers” of European disco of the 80s, the German duo of Thomas Anders and Dieter Bohlen, Modern Talking are still the most successful pop performers from Germany to this day. Apart from them, the only people who were able to break out from the local to the world stage were in a completely different genre.

The duo achieved their greatest fame in the second half of the 80s, and the breakup in 1987 only increased their popularity; the group became a cult group and had a great influence on the development of pop music. After 11 years, in 1998, Modern Talking reunited, but broke up again five years later, in 2003.

Thomas and Dieter met in Hamburg in 1983, when the young composer Bohlen needed a vocalist for his song.

During the year they released five singles, all in German. I even managed to sell a good circulation - 30 thousand copies. However, Bohlen understood that without the English language they would never rise above the German stage. We started, as usually happens, with covers, and the first original song in English produced the effect of a bomb exploding.

A year later, in 1986, Modern Talking made its way into both the British and American charts, overcoming the usual distrust of musicians from Romanesque countries there.

At the peak of their fame, the musicians suddenly quarreled. The reason was a squabble in the troupe when Anders' wife, a backing vocalist, found a dead chicken in her dressing room and threw a tantrum. The concert was canceled, Anders supported his wife, and when the contract expired, he left the group. He later said in an interview that the main reason for the breakup was not “henpeckedness,” but ordinary fatigue from endless travel and fame.

Thomas Anders went to America and started producing solo albums, which had some success in Latin America, especially since he performed many songs from the Modern Talking repertoire. Dieter also took up his own project, which was much more successful, and wrote music for various performers.

The group returned to the stage with great fanfare in 1998. The album of remixes and several new songs sold well among the band's fans. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be even more commercially successful than the discs of the duo’s first peak of fame.

Until 2003, Modern Talking released five Eurodance albums, which were also quite successful. This year a new breakup followed - Dieter Bohlen unexpectedly announced it during a concert. The reason was the tour of Thomas Anders in the USA, which was not agreed upon with Bohlen, but, because. This was not the first time; the true reason remained a mystery to fans.

The farewell concert took place in Berlin in June 2003, at the same time the release of “The Final Album” took place with twenty best songs for the entire existence of the duo.

A little later, Dieter Bohlen’s autobiography was published, where Anders’ accusations of financial impropriety caused new wave squabbles, including lawsuits against each other.

Now both musicians are engaged in solo projects. By 2014, they were able to reconcile and even release another greatest hits collection together, Modern Talking.

What would a 90s disco be without? legendary group Modern Talking? They became the idols of the youth of that time. Most of the kids, teenagers, students, spent their last money on their records. Their songs were played at all discos and parties, and every second young man dreamed of meeting his idols.

About the performers

Thomas Andres is the stage name of musician Bernd Weidung. He was a creative child from early childhood. Sang in the choir, played the piano, attended music lessons in music school. Bernd actively participated in school competitions and festivals, sent applications to events on a city and international scale and won prizes almost everywhere. He had to take a pseudonym for the reason that given name was too difficult to remember and pronounce.

Dieter Bohlen is the second member of the duet, famous composer, lyricist. At the time of his acquaintance with Thomas, he was actively looking for a talented performer of his compositions, since he could not cope with complex two-voice arrangements alone. About a dozen songs in German were immediately recorded in Bohlen's studio. From the release of the first tapes, the group became popular in Germany. Their fans filled the halls to capacity, and the concerts took place in huge venues.

Creative path

But young people quickly realized that German records were the limit of their popularity, and they could only reach the international level with songs in English. And they are actively taking on this work.

The official name Modern Talking was born in the process of work, in 1984. The guys immediately started working on English texts and a year later they already released their first singles. After the release of the first song, the artists instantly became popular all over the world.

In the USSR, the group rapidly gained popularity. Their hits were heard in every city, at every discotheque. Dieter Bohlen was even recognized as a hero of the youth of the Union.

During the year of its existence, the duo won more than 10 professional awards and was recognized as the most popular in the world. Their compositions sold millions of copies, but there was still not enough for everyone who wanted to buy the coveted records. You can download Modern Talking songs for free and without registration on our website.

But the duo was not destined to last long. Already in 1987 it broke up. The young people could not decide which of them was better and more talented; each tried to win success to their side. A serious question arose regarding the copyright of the songs. Bohlen was sure that he was the only “master” of the hits.

It turns out there was another point of disagreement - Thomas's wife. Nora wanted to become the third soloist, and at the same time the director of the group and completely resolve all issues related to the work of Modern Talking.

For some time, the artists tried to perform solo, regularly arguing in the presence of journalists and other stars.

The duo tried to reunite in 1998, but lasted another 5 years and left the stage completely.

Listen to Modern Talking songs online right now.