Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco ) is a European form of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the middle 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco compositions feature lyrics sung in English, although the singers often share a different mother tongue .
43-416: Eurodisco derivatives generally include Europop and Eurodance , with the most prominent sub-genres being space disco of the late 1970s and Italo disco of the early 1980s. The genre declined in popularity after 1986 in preference to electronic rock and hi-NRG , with a small revival of Italo disco in the late 1990s. Eurodisco is largely an offshoot of contemporary American music trends going far back to
86-507: A 1970s European pop song ( Europop ). The success was huge and European producers instantly produced pop hits, and a whole new commercial music industry in Europe was met in the demand for social dancing music. The discofox dancing style was a result of this. The American music journalist Robert Christgau used the term "Eurodisco" in his late 1970s articles for The Village Voice newspaper. The term "disco" in Europe existed long before
129-586: A backlash there in 1979, subsequent Euro-flavored successes crossing the boundaries of rock, pop and dance, such as " Call Me " by Blondie and " Gloria " by Laura Branigan , ushered in a new era of American-fronted dance music. Branigan (produced by German producer Jack White ) moved deeper into the Eurodisco style for further hits, alongside Giorgio Moroder -produced U.S. acts Berlin and Irene Cara . By 1984, musicians from many countries had begun to produce Eurodisco songs. In Germany, notable practitioners of
172-446: A figurative term representing Eurodisco. Europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop ) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and moderate degrees of appreciation in the 2000s. It's characterized by catchy beats, slick songs and frothy lyrics. Swedish group ABBA
215-507: A fraud. Bohlen's first book was the basis of an animated comedy film called Dieter: Der Film . The soundtrack of this film contains a new Modern Talking song " Shooting Star " which had been created using fragments of vocal recordings from previous Modern Talking titles from the "Year of the Dragon" album. Music critics were unenthusiastic about Modern Talking and gave the band's music and performance lacklustre reviews. Although recognizing
258-597: A number of hit singles, reaching the top five in many countries. Their most popular singles are " You're My Heart, You're My Soul ", " You Can Win If You Want ", " Cheri, Cheri Lady ", " Brother Louie ", " Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. for Love) " and " Geronimo's Cadillac ". Modern Talking worked together from 1983 to 1987, when the band disbanded. They made a successful comeback, recording and releasing music from 1998 to 2003. The duo released singles (many of which involved American rapper Eric Singleton ) which again entered
301-563: A relationship that was quarrelsome, if not tumultuous, and this only worsened the animosity. Bohlen cited Anders' then wife Nora as the main reason for breaking up: she'd forbidden her husband from being interviewed by female reporters and repeatedly demanded major changes to shows, videos and recordings, a fact that Anders would admit to in his biography. After a last phone call, heavily laden with profanity and insults, they broke off all contact for over ten years. During their early era, Modern Talking knew success in Europe, Asia, South America,
344-573: Is often credited for popularizing the genre. Modern Europop overlaps with Eurodance , however the latter is more Club and Hi-NRG leaning. During the 1970s and early 1980s, such groups were primarily popular in continental countries , with the exception of ABBA (1972–1983). The Swedish four-person band achieved great success in the UK, where they scored twenty top 10 singles and nine chart-topping albums, and in North America and Australia. In
387-810: Is the show Discoring on Italy's RAI channel (first aired in February 1977). The term "Euro-disco" was first used during the mid-1970s to describe the non-UK based disco productions and artists such as D.D. Sound , West Germany groups Arabesque , Boney M. , Dschinghis Khan and Silver Convention , the Munich-based production trio Giorgio Moroder , Donna Summer and Pete Bellotte , the Italian singer Gino Soccio , French artists Amanda Lear , Dalida , Cerrone , Hot Blood, Banzai (single "Viva America") and Ottawan , Dutch groups Luv' and Eurovision song contest winners Teach-In . In Spain, disco took off after
430-583: The 1998 reunion, Bohlen produced Eurodance as well as American-style MOR ballads. Dieter Bohlen also composed for other artists while still in Modern Talking, such as for Chris Norman and Smokie , whose song " Midnight Lady " (1986) remains Bohlen's most popular composition. He also composed a large number of tracks for C. C. Catch , using an accelerated, less-romantic sound. Some English Bohlen songs such as " You're My Heart, You're My Soul " were also recorded with German lyrics by Mary Roos , using
473-550: The 2000s, one of the most popular representatives of Europop music was Swedish pop group Alcazar . In central Europe, Italo disco (also known as 1980s Euro disco ) and Euro house were the predominant attempts by young musicians to have a hit record in and beyond the borders of their own country. Modern Talking Modern Talking was a German pop duo consisting of arranger, songwriter and producer Dieter Bohlen and singer Thomas Anders . They have been referred to as Germany's most successful pop duo, and have had
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#1732776455085516-410: The Dragon , America , Victory and Universe . In 2003, after chalking up over 400 gold and platinum awards worldwide, Bohlen and Anders disbanded again, just before releasing another best-of compilation. This second break-up was reportedly sparked by Bohlen's negative portrayal of Anders in his autobiography, published 4 October 2003. The period of division between them was one in which Bohlen
559-483: The Eurodisco and U.S. disco music scene. It was used in Europe during the 1960s as a short alternative to " discotheque ". The first dance music venues called discotheques emerged in Occupied France in the 1940s. In the UK, "discotheques" and "discos" were called "clubs" like any other nightclub. In Italy and Spain, the term "discoteca" or "discotheque" means mainstream clubs. In Greece, "discotheque" describes
602-627: The Middle East and Iran. In Britain, they only entered the chart with 4 songs, with "Brother Louie" being their highest at number 4. In 1985, RCA signed Modern Talking for a US deal and released their first album there, but they remained virtually unknown there, and certainly didn't make the US charts. They released two albums each year from 1985 to 1987, while also promoting their singles on television across Europe, eventually selling 65 million records in three years. Notably, Modern Talking were one of
645-497: The Modern Talking albums, and eventually went to court over the matter. They received an out of court settlement and Bohlen published a sleeve note for his next release ( Obsession , by Blue System), acknowledging the trio's contribution. Further influences include German-language schlager music , disco-pop (the Bee Gees ) and romantic English-language songs of Italian and French origin, like Gazebo 's " I Like Chopin ". After
688-473: The Modern Talking songs in his repertoire and produced songs in a similar vein for his solo records ("Independent Girl"). In 2006, he produced an album Songs Forever of swing and jazz versions of popular songs (including Modern Talking's first hit). Bohlen has written two autobiographical books about Modern Talking's history from his perspective. The first book sold a million copies in Germany. The sequel
731-513: The US, Eurodisco was referred as New Wave . In Mainland China, the Eurodisco was popularized through the spread of the Eurodisco mix album Hollywood East Star Trax (shortened as Hedong in Chinese) and Master Mix ( Mengshi in Chinese), compiled by DJ Alex - who at the time was a DJ in the dance club “Hollywood East” in Hong Kong. As the album circulated, "Hedong" and "Mengshi" soon became
774-592: The catchiness and professional production of the songs, the lack of originality was criticized by British representatives of these genres of music, such as the Pet Shop Boys or Erasure . In particular, criticism was levelled at the "sameness" among many of their songs, something Bohlen himself conceded to Der Spiegel in 1989: "I won't in any way deny that Modern Talking hits all have a very, very similar sound. The tracks we've lifted from our LPs as singles have always been those that sound closest to what we did
817-557: The death of Francisco Franco in 1975, with Baccara . Swedish group ABBA gained the big hit " Dancing Queen ". 1970s Eurodisco soon had spinoffs and variations. The most notable spinoff is space disco , a crossover of Eurodisco and US hi-NRG disco. Another popular variation, with no specific name, appeared in the late 1970s: a "Latin"-like sound added to the genre, which can be heard in Italy's Raffaella Carrà , La Bionda (D. D. Sound), Easy Going and France's Gibson Brothers . One of
860-426: The duo definitively broke up in 2003 stood at 120 million singles and albums combined, making them the biggest-selling German music act in history. In 2006, Bohlen included a secret message in his song "Bizarre Bizarre", which, when played backwards, is revealed as: "There will never be an end to Modern Talking." To which was added: "I meant to say that the music of Modern Talking will live forever." Anders has kept
903-819: The duo split in mid-1987, Bohlen formed his own project called Blue System and enjoyed several high chart positions, with tracks like "Sorry Little Sarah", "My Bed Is Too Big", "Under My Skin", "Love Suite", "Laila" and "Déjà vu". Meanwhile, Anders went solo, touring under the name Modern Talking on several continents until the beginning of 1989, when he started to record some of his new pop-like material in Los Angeles and London, as well as Germany. Anders recorded five solo albums in English ( Different , Whispers , Down on Sunset , When Will I See You Again and Souled ) and one in Spanish - Barcos de Cristal . He
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#1732776455085946-564: The earlier term of " Eurodance " to describe this 1990s evolution of Eurodisco. Technically speaking, the last form of Eurodisco is French house , a music style that appeared in France during the mid-1990s and slowly became widespread in Europe. French house is more of a "back to the roots" music style with 1970s Eurodisco influences far before the Italo disco explosion (more specifically space disco , hi-NRG disco, Canadian disco and P-funk ). By
989-557: The early representatives of the 1980s genre was the British group Imagination and with their series of hits throughout 1981 and 1982. In the United States, Donna Summer was the only 1980s Eurodisco singer, and the term hi-NRG was used there instead. 1980s Eurodisco variations soon appeared later in France, Germany, Spain and Greece. The French and German Eurodisco productions were the most popular. German pop duo Modern Talking
1032-645: The early times of disco, pop and rock. During the 1960s, Europop hits spread around France, Italy and Germany, because of the French Scopitone (jukebox) and the Italian Cinebox/Coilorama Video-jukebox machines. Another root is the Eurovision Song Contest , especially in the 1970s. The song " Waterloo " by Swedish pop group ABBA , which won the 1974 Eurovision song contest, is a typical example of
1075-653: The first Western bloc bands sale of whose records was allowed in the Soviet Union . After four decades of Cold War censorship and import restrictions, Chairman Mikhail Gorbachev 's glasnost reforms in the USSR in 1986 opened up the Soviet sphere to western bands, including Modern Talking at the height of their popularity. As a result, they nurtured a large, enduring fanbase in Eastern Europe. Immediately after
1118-683: The hit single " Precious Little Diamond " (by Fox the Fox ) as his inspiration for using falsetto choruses. The studio vocal line-up of Rolf Köhler , Michael Scholz , Detlef Wiedeke and (on early albums) Birger Corleis, in addition to Bohlen and Anders, produced the high choruses characteristic of Modern Talking. Köhler, Scholz and Wiedeke later went on to work with Bohlen in Blue System , before joining with songwriter Thomas Widrat to form Systems in Blue . Köhler, Scholz and Wiedeke were never credited on
1161-473: The last hits called "Eurodisco" in Europe. By the early 1990s, Eurodisco was influenced by the emergence of genres such as house , acid house and the electro (pop/dance/synth) music styles, and replaced (or evolved) by other music styles. Eurohouse and Italo-NRG are the most notable and connected directly with the Italo disco music scene. In the United States, especially for the Eurohouse style, they used
1204-525: The late 1980s and early 1990s Europop became very popular. Roxette and Ace of Base led Europop in American mainstream audiences. In the 1990s, pop groups like the Spice Girls , Aqua , Steps , Right Said Fred , Backstreet Boys and singer DJ BoBo were strongly influenced by Europop. Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Italian dance group Eiffel 65 were highly active in this genre. In
1247-571: The late 1980s, Eurodisco hits were produced in Spain and Greece and much later in Poland and Russia. Meanwhile, a sped-up version of Eurodisco with dance-pop elements became successful in the US, under the term " hi-NRG ". Even today, for many Americans, "hi-NRG" means Paul Lekakis and the London Boys . Those hits (and a few others, like Londonbeat 's " I've Been Thinking About You " from 1990) were
1290-477: The mid to late 2000s, Eurodisco saw renewed interest. Artists such as Irene Cara , Berlin and the late Laura Branigan saw a surge in popularity, especially in places where it was not commercially successful after 1984, such as North America and South America. The influence of Eurodisco had infiltrated dance and pop in the U.S. by 1983, as European producers and songwriters inspired a new generation of American performers. While disco had been declared "dead" due to
1333-435: The original Italo singers, also including new songs. Recording artists like Joey Mauro, Karl Otto, Diva have been releasing new albums. Joey Mauro was able to recreate the sound of 1980s Italo disco with his synthesizers and keyboard collections, and a special place within the scene is occupied by Peter Aresti, formerly known as Peter Arcade, who officially started his career in the '90s. Among Vietnamese-diaspora community in
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1376-658: The previous hits remixed with up-to-date techniques, took the number-one spot in 15 countries, occupying Germany's for five consecutive weeks. It would sell three million copies in Europe alone. The duo won Best Selling German Band at the World Music Awards that year. The follow-up album, Alone , also went straight to number one in Germany, and was very successful elsewhere: over one million sales in Europe alone. Bohlen and Anders followed their 1980s practice of choosing to release two singles from an album. A series of singles and four further albums followed: Year of
1419-498: The retro-clubs. An example of the term "disco" with no relation to a specific music style (and dance music in general), is the Disco series that aired in Germany on the ZDF network from 1971 to 1982. This show proved that the term "disco" was widespread enough at the time, and that the second national TV network of Germany used it for a general music TV show in 1971. Another later example
1462-441: The same playback tracks. When Modern Talking disbanded in 1987, a number of tracks written for the last album were re-arranged and then transferred onto Bohlen's first solo album by Blue System. Modern Talking's sixth album was released about the same time as the first single from Blue System, "Sorry Little Sarah", where Bohlen competed on the charts against Modern Talking's "In 100 Years" hit song. Global sales of Modern Talking when
1505-679: The single " Cheri, Cheri Lady " which also quickly climbed to number one in West Germany, Finland, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, Austria and Norway, and made it into the top ten in Denmark, Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands. As the sole track released from Let's Talk About Love , it procured that second album's platinum status in West Germany (for sales over 500,000). Success continued with two further number-one singles, " Brother Louie " and " Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. for Love) ", from
1548-425: The single perched at the top of the charts for six consecutive weeks. The single would go on to sell eight million copies worldwide. It was followed by another chart-topping hit, " You Can Win If You Want ", which was released in the middle of 1985 off the debut album The 1st Album . The album was certified platinum in Germany for selling over 500,000 units. Soon after their second hit, Modern Talking released
1591-399: The sound included Modern Talking , Arabesque , Sandra , Alphaville , C.C. Catch and Austrian Falco , although he was also heavily influenced by rap and rock music. A Eurodisco revival was also contributed by northern European record labels such as Iventi D'azzurro (The Netherlands) and Flashback Records (Finland), with rearranged releases of the old hits and unreleased demos resung by
1634-477: The third album, Ready for Romance . The duo also charted high with their sixth single, " Geronimo's Cadillac ", from the fourth album, In the Middle of Nowhere , and " Jet Airliner " from their fifth album, Romantic Warriors . Due to the lacklustre reception accorded the sixth album , Bohlen announced the project's termination in a German interview given while Anders was away in Los Angeles. The two had had
1677-556: The top ten in Germany and elsewhere, one of which was a re-recorded version of "You're My Heart, You're My Soul", to whose title "'98" was added. By the duo's final break-up in 2003, their combined global sales (singles and albums) had reached 120 million. First formed in West Berlin in early 1983, they unexpectedly became popular at the beginning of 1985 with " You're My Heart, You're My Soul ", with which they occupied top ten positions in 35 countries, including their homeland, where
1720-444: Was an icon of Eurodisco between 1985–1987 and became the most successful Eurodisco project ever. Bad Boys Blue was another very successful project. That style became very popular in Eastern Europe and remained popular until the early 1990s. In Poland, disco polo , a local music genre relying heavily on Eurodisco was developed at the verge of the '80s and '90s. Some Canadian disco productions by groups like Lime became hits. During
1763-443: Was heavily criticised for his unfairness towards the people he worked with. As a result of that, Bohlen withdrew from the public for a year until 2006, when he said he regretted putting out the second book. Anders had not been the only one pressing charges against Bohlen and demanding that sections of the book be modified. Frank Farian was also angered by Bohlen's literary output and released a book in which he tried to expose Bohlen as
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1806-465: Was involved with Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS), the German edition of the UK's TV talent show Pop Idol . 2003's compilation, entitled The Final Album , contained all of the duo's singles. Thomas Anders relaunched his solo career immediately after the end of Modern Talking, while Bohlen was devoting most of his time to new talent, especially those discovered on DSDS. In 1984, Bohlen cited
1849-687: Was more successful elsewhere than at home, even if he did achieve several hits in Germany. Overcoming past differences, Bohlen and Anders embarked on more amenable relations when Anders moved back to Koblenz , Germany, in 1994. At the beginning of 1998, the duo got back together, performing in the March on the German TV show Wetten, dass..? . They released a remixed version of their 1984 single "You're My Heart, You're My Soul", featuring Eric Singleton on rap vocals. Their first comeback album Back for Good , which included four new tracks, as well as all of
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