Sandra (singer)
Sandra is a famous German singer Sandra Cretu (vocals). Michael Cretu is writer and producer. Started in 1984 and other members of her team include: Hubert Kemmler (singer and song writer), Markus Löhr, Klaus Hirschburger, Armand Volker, Frank Peterson, Andy Jonas (singer), Jens Gad (song writer, co-producer). She has sold over 12 million albums to date. Sandra and Michael Cretu are also well known for their work under the name Enigma.
History
The Long Play (1985)
Her first album, The Long Play (1985), reached the top 10 in her home country Germany, while the single "Maria Magdalena" topped the charts in 21 countries worldwide, and reached the top 10 in 5 more countries. The song was, however, aimed at the continental European market, so it never received an upgraded promotional video. In mainland Europe personal appearances remained the most important method of record promotion until the early 90s. While "Maria Magdalena" was going number 1 all over Europe, in Germany nothing happened at first. As German tourists were coming home from their holiday destinations all over Europe, they started to ask for this beautiful song that they heard. It wasn't long before "Maria Magdalena" stormed up the charts in her home country as well, remaining in the German top 20 for 16 weeks. The follow-up single was called "In the Heat of the Night". Everything was pulled out for her first proper music video, showing a lustrous Sandra in a steaming sauna with sexy bare-chested men. Although the song rushed to number 1 again in Switzerland and Israel, it remained at number 2 in Germany for a couple of weeks, but just couldn't get past "Nikita" from Elton John. The song also earned Sandra the second place at the Tokyo Music Festival later in 1986. "Little Girl" was taken as the third single with the music video filmed on location in Venice. This remains one of her most interesting and beautiful videos. Shortly after the release of The Long Play, Sandra moved to London for 6 months in February 1986. Helena Shelen, a singing therapist that have worked with artists like George Michael and Paul Young took her under her wing. She also joined the London Berlitz school for languages, where she improved her English abilities and took drumming lessons to get a better feeling for rhythm and timing. Over weekends she went back to Munich, where she continued working on her new album.
Mirrors (1986)
Her second studio album Mirrors (October 1986), reflected the continuous musical development that Michael Cretu is known for. On this album he decided to make much more use of the writing and singing talents of Hubert Kemmler from the popular German group Hubert Kah. "(Don't Cry) The Breakup of the World" was the introduction track to the album, written in reaction to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. "Innocent Love" was the first of 4 Successful singles from the album entering the German top 20 at number 11. On the music video to "Hi! Hi! Hi!" Sandra showed of a sleek wet look hairstyle. While in London relaxing by the swimming pool, somebody told her that she looks gorgeous with her sleek wet hair and there the look for the video was born. Her husband lend his vocals on the electro pop "Midnight Man", and also appeared in the fun-filled music video. Sandra's music never grew boring, and she continued her success with a string of hits.
Ten on One (1987)
Two years after her debut album she put out a Greatest Hits compilation "Ten on One" 1987, testimony to her quick rise to fame. Accompanied with it was the video collection of the album giving fans a glimpse inside her private life and day to day routine. Her version of "Everlasting Love" a favourite song since her childhood, stormed to number 5 on the European chart. The music video showed Sandra and a male model depicting scenes of various great lovers threw the ages. Adam and Eve, Bonnie and Clyde, Cleopatra and Marc Anthony... even a colorful 80's punk couple. The British team, Stock Aitken Waterman tried to cash in on the success of "Everlasting Love" by remixing a special version of the song in 1988 for the British market. The song failed to make any big impression on the UK charts, but in spite of that ruled the airwaves from Sweden threw to South Africa. The second single from the album "Stop for a Minute" was written especially for the German TV crime series Tatort; she sang the song during a scene in a club in one of the episodes. The music video was a bit controversial as it included a rape scene featured in the episode.
At this stage Sandra was already known as the "European queen of pop" and rivaled Madonna in terms of her popularity and top 10 hits. Sandra's personal life was equally successful; on January 7, 1988, she married Michael Cretu and relocated from Munich to the Spanish island Ibiza.
Into a Secret Land (1988)
During this time she recorded the album Into a Secret Land (1988) and moved away slightly from electro-pop to a more mysterious and seductive sound. This proved to be a huge success as the album delivered four hit singles. The first single "Heaven Can Wait" was Sandra at the top of her game. The music video showed her dancing and singing on a mediterranean beach with a golden brown tan and highlights in her hair. Gone were the excess make-up and jewelry and in was the sultry new pop diva. The title track "Secret Land" entered the German Charts at number 7 and went to number 1 in Israel. From the infectious beats of "Heaven Can Wait" to the mysterious harmonies of "Secret Land", it was clear that Sandra had mastered it all. As animal rights and nature conservation has always been high on her priority list, she took part in the project Artists United for Nature in 1989. The song "Yes We Can" featured amongst others Brian May, Harold Faltermeyer and Chaka Khan to name a few. Sandra ended off the 80's as the most popular female performer in Europe with sold out concerts in Moscow.
Paintings in Yellow (1990)
Her hit album Paintings in Yellow (1990) gave her another top 10 hit with a surprising cover version of Wishful Thinking's "Hiroshima". Elements of this song foreshadowed the Enigma sound, which was particularly evident on the album track "The Journey". Frank Peterson long time band member took up the role of writing and producing some of the tracks with Michael. Frank was also the co-producer (alias "F. Gregorian") on the Enigma project. The influence was clearly audible. In 1991, the song "Sadeness" became a huge hit in many countries all over the world. At first nobody knew who was hiding behind the alias Enigma, but Sandra fans quickly identified her voice in it. It didn’t take long to find out that Enigma was actually Michael Cretu (alias Curly M.C.). Sandra performed the second single of the album "(Life May Be) A Big Insanity" at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo when she accepted the prize for Best Selling German Artist at the end of 1990.
Because of the overwhelming success of Enigma, and the more than two years break after Paintings in Yellow, there was an obvious gap in Sandra’s career, which was finally closed with the album Close to Seven.
Close to Seven (1992)
"Close to Seven" (1992); regarded by many as her best work to date, continued a development towards a more meditative, less dance oriented musical style and appearance. She obviously wanted to get rid of her teen idol image and perform for a more mature audience. It was the first album that was almost completely made by Michael Cretu alone. The male vocals were sung by Andy Jonas, a German singer who chose the artist name Andy "Angel" Hart for himself. Although the first single "Don't Be Aggressive" entered the European top 20, the subsequent singles failed to achieve the same success. The music video of "Don't Be Aggressive" was directed by Howard Greenhalgh and is described by Sandra herself as a pure piece of art. Sandra wrote the words to "When the Rain Doesn’t Come", a touching song about child prostitution. The second single release "I Need Love", was the first single after "Japan ist weit" that flopped and didn’t enter the charts. The 80's were over and the 90's brought Techno and Trance Music. The Sandra sound did not really fit in anymore. However, Sandra and Michael were recognized as the most successful married couple and were awarded with the Golden Europe award in 1992.
18 Greatest Hits (1992)
The compilation 18 Greatest Hits from 1992 marked the end of her successful solo career - till now. She recorded a new version of "Johnny Wanna Live", previously off the Paintings in Yellow album. The song, was co-written by Frank Peterson, and later redone by his wife Sarah Brightman, was an anthem against cruelty to animals.
..."Through his eyes I look inside his heart- He can feel like me and you- Can't defend himself 'cause he can't talk- And this is why I talk to you... Johnny isn't just a name- He stands for every creature's pain - oh no- Johnny wanna live "...
The music video was once again directed by Howard Greenhalgh and showed shocking scenes of cruelty to animals. Sandra told that she ran out crying while they edited the scenes for the video. In 1993 she released a new techno version of "Maria Magdalena" with a futuristic music video, which did not really catch on.
Fading Shades (1995)
In 1995, whilst pregnant with twins, she recorded and released Fading Shades. The album saw a new writer/producer Jens Gad working alongside Michael. The album featured a powerful cover version of "Nights in White Satin" by The Moody Blues. The Song shot to nr1 in Israel. The music video showed only close ups of Sandra's face as she was highly pregnant at the time. She even had to sit during the recording sessions of the album. Again Andy "Angel" Hart did all the male vocals on Fading Shades. The second single release "Won’t Run Away" was the first one without a video clip made for it. It didn't enter the charts, probably because Sandra was not in the condition to do any promotion for it. One of the other stand out tracks was "First Lullaby", a song Michael wrote for his yet unborn children. She then decided to put her career on ice for some time to give birth to her children and raising them. On July 6th 1995, Sandra gave birth to her twin sons Nikita and Sebastian in a Munich hospital through caesarean section.
My Favourites (1999)
In 1999 a double disc album was released. As the trend began with artists like Modern Talking to remix old material, My Favourites was released featuring remixes of her hits by long time band companion Peter Ries, as well as some of her personal favourite ballads. It quickly made its way into the Top 20 of the German album charts. "Secret Land '99" was taken as the single and showed Sandra sporting a short hairstyle in the music video. In 2000, Sandra did background vocals on Andru Donald's single release "Precious Little Diamond".
The Wheel of Time (2002)
Sandra's first studio album in seven years came with The Wheel of Time in 2002; reaching nr8 on the German album charts. The first single "Forever" had moderate success and showed a new mature, more natural looking Sandra, still with short hair. Although some criticised the fact that The Wheel of Time contained no less than four cover versions of 80's songs, including the second single release "Such a Shame" by Talk Talk, the album was received very well by her fans. Michael asked Sandra to listen to a song he would like her to sing. She then complained "I can't cover a Depeche Mode song". But she did it in one take and made "Freelove" her own. However there was a big lack of promotion and it almost seemed like radio stations deliberately avoided playing Sandra in their programs. Hence the success of The Wheel of Time faded away quickly. In 2003, the long awaited Sandra DVD The Complete History was released. Sandra's public appearances were few and far in between when word got out in 2005 that the Swiss superstar DJ Bobo was planning a duet with her. She met DJ Bobo during the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo in 2002, when her husband accepted the prize for best selling German artist. That meeting let to the single "The Secrets of Love" in 2006. The catchy dance anthem reached the nr5 spot in Switzerland and nr13 in Germany. The music video was shot in Disneyland Park in Paris with Sandra and DJ Bobo being the only artists ever allowed to film inside the Cinderella castle. During this time Sandra took up performing live again and signs of her retro `80's look, with the famous long hair, could be seen again. Sandra had something up her sleeve...
Reflections - The Reproduced Hits (2006)
It was at a meeting that Virgin Music France supposed that all of Sandra's biggest hits get a total new face lift. They suggested that her vocal recordings get sent to different teams of producers/remixers so that they could produce totally new music. Sandra hesitated at first because she had already put out a remix collection in 1999 and did not want to promote all of her former hits once again. She had already finished her 9th studio album and was very excited to move forward in a new musical direction. 5 Talented teams from Germany: Christian Geller, Schallbau, Felix J. Gauder, Matthias Menck, Ivo Moring and Mirko on Schlieffen delivered a surprising result. Sandra's 1987 dance hit "Everlasting Love", even got new vocals and was redone as a powerful ballad. The song clearly shows how her voice has matured in warmth and sensuality. Although the album reached the top 10 of many online stores worldwide, no single was released and as far as publicity goes not much was done to promote this album. In the last years there were critical statements about how Sandra’s management and Virgin Records were handling her career and also the career of Michael Cretu. But no matter what happens next, nobody can take away the legacy of a unique and great artist. Sandra was and still is Germany's internationally most successful female pop star.
Latest news
The much anticipated new studio album, The Art of Love, will be released in January 2007.
The album was completely produced by Jens Gad and will see Sandra doing much of the song writing herself. The new album will also see her moving into a new musical direction, leaving behind her "pop princess" image. For the first time Michael Cretu's touch will be completely absent from one of her albums as Sandra brings us "her baby", recorded over a one year period - The Art Of Love. Other contributions will come from Sinéad O'Connor and Rick Nowels to name a few.
The first single "The Way I Am" will be released on 12 January 2007.
Note: The Eurochart singles top and Eurochart albums top are compiled by Music & Media trade magazine (subsidiary of Billboard magazine) and are based on the sales charts of 16 European countries. (countries list).
Discography
Albums
(all albums were released on Virgin Schallplatten GmbH.)
- 1985 Longplay - #12 Germany
- 1986 Mirrors - #16 Germany
- 1988 Into a Secret Land - #14 Germany, #14 France
- 1990 Paintings in Yellow - #4 Germany, #13 France
- 1992 Close to Seven - #7 Germany, #18 France
- 1995 Fading Shades - #42 Germany
- 2002 The Wheel of Time - #35 Eurochart, #8 Germany
Singles
(all singles were released on Virgin Schallplatten GmbH.)
- 1984 Japan Ist Weit
- 1985 Maria Magdalena - #1 Germany, #3 Italy, #5 France, #87 UK (Worldwide sales: 5 Million)
- 1985 In the Heat of the Night - #2 Germany, #4 Italy, #5 France, #1 Switzerland, #1 Israel, #2 Sweden
- 1985 Little Girl - #14 Germany, #3 Italy, #2 Israel, #18 Switzerland
- 1986 Hi! Hi! Hi! - #7 Germany, #8 Italy, #13 France, #5 Israel, #20 Switzerland
- 1986 Innocent Love - #11 Germany, #7 Italy, #10 France, #4 Israel, #18 Sweden, #14 Switzerland
- 1986 Loreen - #23 Germany, #8 Israel, #4 Sweden, #29 Switzerland
- 1987 Midnight Man - #24 Germany, #33 Italy, #12 Israel, #13 Sweden
- 1987 Everlasting Love - #5 Eurochart, #88 UK, #5 Germany, #11 Italy, #12 France, #5 Israel, #8 Netherlands, #13 Sweden
- 1988 Everlasting Love (PWL Hammond mix) - #45 UK, #22 Dance US
- 1988 Stop For A Minute - #38 Eurochart, #9 Germany, #5 Israel, #19 Sweden, #14 Switzerland
- 1988 Heaven Can Wait - #11 Eurochart, #12 Germany, #6 France, #97 UK, #2 Israel, #16 Switzerland
- 1988 Secret Land - #24 Eurochart, #7 Germany, #32 Italy, #26 France, #9 Switzerland, #1 Israel, #16 Sweden
- 1989 We'll Be Together ('89 Remix) - #9 Germany, #13 France, #3 Israel, #22 Switzerland
- 1989 Around My Heart - #11 Germany, #28 France, #6 Israel, #19 Switzerland
- 1990 Hiroshima - #4 Germany, #16 France, #4 Switzerland, #4 Israel, #21 Sweden
- 1990 A Big Insanity - #31 Germany, #41 France, #18 Israel
- 1990 One more Night - #31 Germany
- 1992 Don't be aggressive - #17 Germany, #39 France, #11 Israel, #24 Switzerland
- 1992 I Need Love
- 1992 Johnny Wanna live - #37 Germany, #9 Israel
- 1993 Maria Magdalena '93- #8 Finland
- 1995 Nights in white Satin - #86 Germany, #1 Israel
- 1995 Won't run away
- 1999 Secret Land '99 - #69 Germany, #61 Czech Republic, #19 Israel
- 2001 Forever - #47 Germany
- 2002 Such a Shame - #76 Germany, #19 Hungary, #21 Czech Republic
- 2002 I Close My Eyes - #93 Germany
- 2006 Secrets of love (with DJ Bobo) - #13 Germany, #39 Austria, #5 Switzerland
Compilations
- 1987 Ten on One - #19 Germany
- 1988 Everlasting Love (Virgin Records, USA)
- 1992 18 Greatest Hits - #10 Germany, #7 France
- 1999 My Favourites (2xCD) - #69 Eurochart, #16 Germany, #16 France
Video
Audio sample
See also
References
External links
- SandraNet.Com - fan site.
- CretuWorld.De - fan site
- http://www6.plala.or.jp/arabesque/sandra.htm
- Sandra Lyrics at Rare Lyrics