Instant Hit: Private Blue- She's Love

Private Blue was a short-lived German act that released only one single during their brief existence, titled "She's Love." This 12" single featured two versions of the titular song along with "Help Me Tonight." Genre-wise, it falls into the category of Synth Pop with a strong influence of Italo Disco, a style that was popular in Germany at the time. The single was released on the 80's label Westside Music, which also featured music by artists like Moskwa TV and Celebrate the Nun. While it may be considered an obscurity today, there's hope that it will find its place on music compilations that appreciate similar genres.

 

Next Wave: Second Planet

From Germany comes our next band to watch out for. It's the Second Planet by Danilo Roost who has been quite around with his minimal electro-pop project in the recent years releasing three albums on his label. New album by Second Planet is entitled Work Processing and it was officially released earlier this year on SkullLine. Several songs on the album were already featured on the previous releases and altogether it makes 17 track total on the new album.

http://www.myspace.com/second-planet 

Psyche- Insomnia Theatre Box Set

This month VOD Records will release 'Insomnia Theatre' - the original Canadian Edition of Psyche's 1985 debut. Now as a beautifully redesigned and remastered 3 LP Boxset including the recordings from "Tales From The Darkside" & early vintage tracks from '83 - '86. Added to the package are a 7" single with extended mixes of "Misery" & "Goodbye Horses". Plus a bonus DVD including the complete "Beyond Sensation" videos and a few more extra surprises!

http://www.psyche-hq.de/

Der Plan Reissues

The first two albums by the German pioneers of the 'Neue Deutsche Welle', der Plan will be reissued in March on Medical Records. This will be the first vinyl release for "Geri Reig" and "Normalette Surprise" since the original release dates in 1980/81. Both albums feature catchy songs and undefinable sound collages geared towards minimal synthetic pop and they are available as a limited edition of 550 hand-numbered copies. Check out Medical Records site for additional information.

'Kraftwerk: Music Non Stop'

'Kraftwerk: Music Non Stop' is the new book about one of the most influential bands in the history of electronic music. This book is a collection of original essays looks at Kraftwerk - their legacy and influence - from a variety of angles. It was written and edited by Sean Albiez and David Pattie and published by Continuum Books. 'Kraftwerk: Music Non Stop' is also available via amazon.com

http://www.continuumbooks.com

Alphaville- Catching Rays on Giant- New Album

Marian Gold is back with his synth-pop outfit Alphaville will release a new album this autumn. The album is called 'Catching Rays On Giant' and will be out on November 22, 2010. The single "I Die For You Today" will be released on October 8, 2010 and is already spinning on the German radio stations. Both the album and the single will be available at all regular German music stores, online stores and download platforms. Pre-ordering has just started at amazon.de and it will also be available at amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. Beside the CD, there will also be a limited Deluxe Release which contains a DVD. More info to be announced!

www.alphaville.de

Propaganda's 'A Secret Wish' Reissued

The highly influential debut album from German synthpop outfit Propaganda 1985’s 'A Secret Wish' has been reissued again, this time appearing in a 25th anniversary 2CD edition featuring six previously unreleased tracks plus the rare 20-minute cassette mix of “Duel.” The deluxe edition of 'A Secret Wish' features the original nine-track album plus six cassette- and vinyl-only mixes on one disc, and a second disc with 11 more tracks, including previously unreleased mixes of “Dr. Mabuse” and “Sorry for Laughing” by label chiefs Trevor Horn and Paul Morley, respectively.

Read more about it plus the track listing:
http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2010/07/06/propaganda-a-secret-wish-reissue-tracklist-ztt-records/

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Propaganda

Propaganda was a German New Wave group from Düsseldorf which was formed in 1982. During 1984 and 1985 they released three singles and one album. Beside Kraftwerk, Aplhaville and Nena they are one of the few German New Wave groups that have gained commercial success outside Germany.

Propaganda was formed in Düsseldorf in the early 80’s by a former Krupps member Ralf Dörper. He decided to go on with new musical ventures and left his group. Ralf’s new project also involved new musical partners, Andreas Thein, a part- time DJ and their mutual friend Suzanne Freytag who was recruited as a vocalist. Propaganda was born and as a trio they began recording music. Their first musical venture was the cover of a song “Disziplin” which was originally performed by Throbbing Gristle which also gave them a TV airing. “Disciplin”, tough was never released as a single because Gristle refused to allow it.
Following the whole “Disziplin” project the band took new members, musician and composer Michael Mertnes and 19 year old vocalist Claudia Brücken. The band moved to UK and it was signed to ZTT records label. The new Propaganda line up was marketed as a twisted hellish version of Abba leaving Mertens in the background as the invisible fifth member. "Dr.Mabuse" was released in 1984 and short time after Thein left the group not satisfied with the record company which delayed the release of the Propaganda material.

1985 saw the release of Propaganda’s most successful single “Duel” which reached no 21 in the UK charts as well as the release of their debut album “A Secret Wish”. After their second appearance on ‘The Tube’ things went quiet for Propaganda, Claudia Brücken left the group in 1986 and the remaining members of the group took ZTT to court to release them from their contract.

In 1988 a new Propaganda line up gathered and began recording new material. Alongside Michael Mertens were the new line-up vocalist Betsi Miller, bassist Derek Forbes and drummer Brian McGee. The result was a new contract with Virgin and a new album release. The album ‘1234’was released in 1990 as well as the single “Heaven Give Me Words” which actually sounded more like Wilson Phillips than the old Propaganda material. It did not get much airplay either.

 

The original line-up of Propaganda met once more in 1998 with a new deal to record a new album which was never released until some songs from the album leaked via file sharing networks. In 2005 Mertens and Freytag resurrected the name Propaganda again while Claudia Brücken teamed up with Paul Humphreys of OMD for the Onetwo musical project.

D.A.F.- Das Beste Von DAF

Mute Records is about to release a best of for DAF (Deutsch Amerikanischen Freundschaft), simply titled "Das Beste Von DAF – 20 Lieder der Deutsch Amerikanischen Freundschaft". The release coincides with the band's "Der 30-jährige Krieg - als wär's das letzte Mal" Tour. The tour dates will feature the classic line up of Robert Görl and Gabi Delgado-Lopez. This new Best Of compilation album will be released on The Grey Area of Mute and out on 30th March 2009.

More info:
http://www.side-line.com

Notwist- The Devil, You + Me

"The Devil, You + Me" is the sixth studio album by German pop-electronic outfit The Notwist. It was released on 2 May 2008 in Europe and 17 June 2008 in the United States. The album contains eleven 11 tracks and features collaborations with the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra. The first single will be "Where in This World" and a promo video has been released to the media.

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (D.A.F.)

DAF is an influential electropunk / Neue Deutsche Welle band from Düsseldorf, formed in 1978 as a five piece band and one of the most influential 80's bands from Germany who found success outside their home country. The band started as a five piece in the late seventies and featuring drummer/synth player Robert Görl and vocalist Gabi Delgado-Lopez who also continued to release as DAF after the original line up disbanded.

Gabi and Robert met for the first in Düsseldorf, Gabi sang in local punk bands and Robert was finishing his formal musical training. Along with Wolfgang Spellmans, Ludwig Hass and Michael Kemner, they released their first album in Germany called Product der DAF on Warning Records. It was a riot of synth and tape powered heavy metal. The name stands for Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft or German-American Friendship - which at the time the band formed was a shot at DSF, the East German German-Soviet Friendship organization. They later moved to London where they made their England debut at the Marque club with The Fall. Shortly after they signed to Mute records.

An early Sounds review summed up their early music: "If DAF has an onstage duel with Throbbing Gristle, there would be no-one left alive on stage to announce the winner."

After releasing their first Mute single, "Kebabträume", Conny Plank asked to produce them and by this time, they had been reduced to a duo. After releasing their first Mute album, Die Kleinen und die Bösen, and second single, "Tanz Mit Dir" they embarked on a tour that encompassed Austria and Germany, with some London dated mixed in the middle.

A change of record label, to Virgin, saw the release of their second album, Alles Ist Gut, and a single, "Der Mussolini"/"Der Räuber Under Der Prinz", which charted in England. In interviews, they claimed to not target anything or anyone specific while creating lyrics to be taken as a parody of words and phrases floating around in the public media. "Sato Sato" and "Der Mussolini" are both examples of songs written around Delgado-Lopez's fascination with the sound of a particular word.. In 1985, the band released their commercially most successful single "Brothers" and the band disbanded soon after.

The pair have also released solo work over the years, Robert Gorl released one album on Mute, Night Full of Tension, and two singles, "Mit Dir" and "Darling Don't Leave Me" with Annie Lennox.

"DAF was the kind of band that had a very severe, minimalistic concept in music. We were a two piece that only sung in German. We restricted ourselves by using electronics, acoustic drums and vocals. It was concentrated power, the more minimal the better. Eventually, after three albums, we realized that we had reached our limits. The question was, 'Are we going to continue and maybe repeat the whole thing again, or should we stop and do something completely new?' DAF was a band that never wanted to look back. I'm still good friends with Robert, but when you work with someone for five years you get into a routine of exchanging ideas. Suddenly you discover that you're saying the same things you said two albums previously. For me it's a very normal thing. I wish a lot of bands would break up after two or three albums." Gabi Delgado 1983

Gabi Delgado-López died in 22 March, 2020, due to heart attack. Sources may vary about his death place, while some say he died in a hospital in Portugal, while Deutschlandfunk say he died in his birth place of Córdoba. He was 61.