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 December 30, 2001: The
new Modern Talking single will be called "10 Seconds to
Countdown" and will be released on February 18, 2002. This was
announced by Thomas Anders during last night's Official Thomas Anders Fanclub
Party in Koblenz (Germany). "10 Seconds to Countdown" will be the
theme song of Formula 1 racing broadcasts on German TV station RTL, the same
way as "Win The Race" was a Formula 1 theme song in 2001. Modern
Talking will perform their new single for the first time during the TV
broadcast of the pre-selection of the German contestant(s) for the European
Song Contest (Grand Prix De Eurovision). The new Modern Talking album
"Victory" will be released on March 11, 2002. Thomas Anders also
announced that Modern Talking will perform a ballad on German TV next year
but did not elloborate if this indicates that the second single from
"Victory" will be a ballad. For the first time, both singles from "Victory"
will not be rap versions. The It-Girls, which are produced by Thomas Anders
will release their second single in the spring of 2002 and Thomas Anders will
produce newcomer Marcella in addition to the It-Girls. For the third year in
a row, a special Fanclub CD was made available to the members of the Official
Thomas Anders Fanclub. The CD contains the following songs: 1) If I can't
have you 2) Cry for you (Demoversion) 3) Love is like a Rainbow
(Demoversion) 4) I need you now (Demoversion) 5) SMS to my Heart (Liverecording
Berlin-Wuhlheide 02.09.2001) 6) Win The Race (Acapella Remix). This year's CD
will be the last CD of this kind and the Official Thomas Anders Fanclub will
be discontinued starting January 01, 2002. However, there will still be
annual fan parties with Thomas Anders in Koblenz.
Addendum January 18, 2002: In a letter sent
to all Fanclub members, Thomas Anders explained the reasons for deciding to
discontinue the Fanclub. "... However, unfortunately I have some bad
news for you: We will close the Fanclub by December 31st this year.
Eventually, things happened that should not have happened. Bootleg copies of
the Fanclub CD were produced and sold and now the Public Attorney is
investigating. I am sure you understand that I cannot nor do I wish to support
such criminal activities and we finally had to agree that this year's Fanclub
CD will be the last one. ... Basically all that will be left of the Fanclub
will be the newsletter. Considering the fact that due to the flexibility and
the time frame you can communicate news through the Internet, we were
criticized a lot that the newsletter was out of date by the time it arrived
with the fans. I absolutely agree that it does not make sense to chare money
for such a service. ..."
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 December
30, 2001: While Modern Talking become less and less successful in the
international charts with each passing year, 2001 turned out to be a
considerably more succesful year than 2000 in terms of the pop duo's German
chart success. Both "China In Her Eyes" and "Don't Take Away
My Heart" failed to reach the German year end Top 100 singles charts in
2000 while "The Year Of The Dragon" reached the year end number 55
in Germany's year end album charts. This year "Win The Race" ranks
number 64 in the German year end charts and "America" reaches a
respectable number 37. In addition "Last Exit To Brooklyn" ranks
number 367, Millane Fernandez who was formerly produced by Dieter Bohlen
reaches year end number 99 with "Boom Boom" and number 186 with
"I Miss You (Dam Dubi Dam)" and the It-Girls (produced by Thomas
Anders) reach number 377 for the year 2001.
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 December 12, 2001:
After writing two German Top 40 hits for teenager Millane Fernandez earlier
this year ("Boom Boom" peaked at number 21 in Germany and "I
Miss You (Dam Dubi Dam)" peaked at number 31), Dieter Bohlen will no
longer produce Millane. Dieter announced this in a statement posted in the German Modern
Talking Forum, indicating that Millane disappointed him ("if it
would be up to her character nobody should ever buy a record of this girl
again") without giving more specific reasons for his decision.
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 December 05, 2001:
According to Dieter Bohlen, the next Modern Talking album will be called "Victory".
Dieter Bohlen revealed this in a posting in the German Modern
Talking Forum. Dieter Bohlen is a registered user of this Internet
message board, so it is guaranteed that nobody else can assume Dieter's
identity in this forum and spread false rumours. Dieter Bohlen also clarified
that the title of the next Modern Talking single will not be "London
Calling" as rumours had claimed. If "Victory" is just a working
title or will indeed be the final title of the new Modern Talking album
remains to be seen.
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December 04, 2001:
Yesterday, Thomas Anders revealed to TV magazine "Blitz" on German
TV station Sat 1 that he and his wife Claudia are expecting a baby. The baby
will be born in spring next year. This is Thomas Anders' first child. His
Modern Talking partner Dieter Bohlen already has three children (Mark, Marvin
Benjamin, Marilyn) from his first marriage.
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 December 04, 2001:
Modern Talking are among the winners of the first ever "Top Of The Pops
Awards". Modern Talking received the award as "Top Artist Germany".
Award winners were determined via Internet voting. Other nominees for
"Top Artist Germany" were Westernhagen, Die Ärzte, Pur and Söhne
Mannheims. The awards show took place in Manchester (Great Britain) and was
recorded for TV broadcasting. German TV station RTL will broadcast the show
on December 08 at 4:45 p.m. MET. Today, RTL ("Exclusiv") already
broadcasted a short report from the backstage area at the awards show in
Manchester including a short interview with Modern Talking.
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December
01, 2001: A cover version of the Modern Talking song "Win The Race"
can be found on an album that enters this week's Austrian charts at number
seven and this week's German charts at number 47. "Die Schlümpfe"
(the German name for the Smurfs) are the heroes of a well-known animated TV
series. In recent years the Smurfs franchise has branched out into the pop
music world. Albums targeted at the kids market featuring cover versions of
well known pop songs sang "smurf-style" were released in many
countries. The 13'th album of the German "Die Schlümpfe" is
entitled "Die Fette 13" and contains a song called "Wir
gewinnen das Spiel" - a cover version of Modern Talking's "Win The
Race". This is not the first time a "Schlümpfe" album includes
a cover version of Modern Talking. Previous cover versions of Modern Talking
songs were "Kleiner Muskelschlumpf" ("China In Her Eyes")
on the album "Total abgespaced Vol.11", "Schlumpfensommerreise"
("Sexy Sexy Lover") and "Wir sind nie allein" ("You
Are Not Alone") on the album "Super Sommer Vol.9" as well as
"Wir sind klein, ihr seid groß" ("You're My Heart, You're My
Soul") and "Sie ist unsere Lady" ("Cheri Cheri
Lady") on the album "Fette Fete Vol.7".
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November 09, 2001:
This year, Modern Talking only gave a total of six concerts (five in Germany
and one in Russia). Modern Talking had already indicated that there will be a
longer tour again next year. Indeed, Thomas-Anders.com
now announced the first nine tour dates (all in Germany) for next year.
Modern Talking will perform in Magdeburg, Zwickau, Suhl, Schwerin, Berlin,
Neubrandenburg, Riesa, Ferropolis and Oberhausen between May 31 and June 16
in 2002. Additional concerts may be announced at a later time.
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November
06, 2001: In December, the German version of the "Top Of The Pops"
music TV show will be launching a new annual music awards show. The "Top
Of The Pops Awards 2001" will be presented on December 08, 2001 on
German TV station RTL. Among the nominees are Modern Talking and Millane
Fernandez. Modern Talking are nominated as "Top Artist Germany".
Other nominees for this award category are Westernhagen, Die Ärzte, Pur and
Söhne Mannheims. Dieter Bohlen discovery Millane Fernandez is nominated as "Top
Newcomer Germany". Other nominees for this award category are No Angels,
Sarah Connor, Glashaus and Seeed. Award winners are determined via Internet
voting on the RTL homepage.
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October 31, 2001:
Since 1998, outsold concerts and strong album sales (legal album sales and
sales of pirated copies) were signs of the incredible success Modern Talking
are enjoing in Russia. However, so far the duo's success could not be
measured in the most traditional sense - rankings in a national Russian music
chart. While Modern Talking songs traditionally rank high in the few existing
charts compiled by Russian radio stations based on the number of times songs
are played on their own station, so far there has not been a national music
chart. Now this has changed. For the first time, the November 03 issue of
European trade magazine "Music & Media" features national
Russian radio airplay charts based on the playlists of over 20 national,
regional and local radio stations. So far the charts are only based on radio
airplay, a sales component will be added when sufficient credible data
becomes available. The charts are not only published by "Music &
Media" but also broadcasted weekly on Russian TV network NTV branded as
"Pepsi Chart Countdown". The show aired for the first time on
October 19. Despite the fact that Modern Talking are currently no longer in
the charts in any other country and despite the fact that "Last Exit To
Brooklyn" was released months ago, Modern Talking's "Last Exit To
Brooklyn" is indeed listed in the first Russian chart published by Music
& Media. This week the songs climbs from 13 to 11.
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October 18, 2001: Once
again, Dieter Bohlen is in the middle of a media scandal. Dieter Bohlen's
ex-wife Verona Feldbusch broke into tears during an interview for German TV
show "Johannes B. Kerner" talking about Dieter Bohlen hitting her
five years ago shortly before they got divorced. The show was recorded on
Tuesday and broadcasted yesterday. Five years ago, Verona had sued Dieter Bohlen
claiming to have been attacked by Dieter but the court decided in Dieter's
favour and dismissed her claim. Five years later Verona now suddenly repeated
her allegations. Dieter Bohlen was quick to respond by giving an interview to
German newspaper Bild and appearing in two TV shows ("TV Total"
yesterday, "Johannes B. Kerner" today). Dieter indicated he was
very sorry for what had happened five years ago. According to him, Verona had
shouted at him and threw a set of keys right into his eyes when she left him.
Out of a reflex Dieter had pushed Verona away without "any intention of
ever hurting her". Dieter indicated further that he never hit Verona and
that this incident was an accident. He further pointed to the fact that five
years Verona has not mentioned this incident and now suddenly brings it back
up - breaking into tears in a TV show just days before a new TV show is set
to start that will be hosted by Verona. While Verona Feldbsuch was a model
and also had one hit as a singer (Chocolate's "Ritmo De La Noche"
charted in Germany and Spain) before she got married to Dieter, she built her
carreer as TV show hostess and actress by discussing her marriage with Dieter
Bohlen in many interviews. Dieter indicated that he feels that Verona's tears
where not real and only part of a clever marketing campaign for the new TV
show. Dieter Bohlen's former girl friend Nadja also responded to the
allegations in a newspaper interview. She considers the allegation a
"Public Relations hoax".
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September 28, 2001:
During the eighties, Modern Talking singles and maxisingles were released
only on vinyl records. Now for the first time, the original maxisingles are
available on Maxi-CD. As reported earlier, German membership-based music and
book club "Bertelsmann Club", offers in its October catalague
(delivered to club members this week) a 10 Maxi-CD box with all Modern
Talking singles released in Germany in the eighties: You're My Heart, You're
My Soul, You Can Win If You Want, Cheri Cheri Lady, Brother Louie, Atlantis
Is Calling, Geronimo's Cadillac, Give Me Peace On Earth, Jet Airliner, In 100
Years and as a bonus the Space Mix from 1998. German membership based
"RTL Club" will also carry the CD box but there will be no general
retail release. The Maxi-CD box is entitled "Selected Singles" and
is priced at DM 49,95. Modern Talking fans interested in buying this CD
should try to ask for help on messageboards of German
Modern Talking web sites, where many fans who are members of the
Bertelsmann Club have expressed willingness to order the CD set for fans who
are not members.
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September 25, 2001:
Traditionally, the Official Thomas Anders Fan Club Party was held in January
of each new year. According to Thomas-Anders.com,
this time this is going to be different. The next fan club party will be held
already on December 29 in the discoteque "Extra" in Koblenz
(Germany). In the past, fan club parties have featured songs performed by
Thomas Anders, a discussion with Thomas and a chance for each vistor of the
party to have his/her picture taken with Thomas.
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September
22, 2001: The movie "MÜHLE
DAME MORD" featuring Thomas Anders as hoodlum Dietmar Fritsche will
have its premiere showing on October 25 in the already outsold movie theather
Apollo Filmtheater in Koblenz (Germany). The independent movie production by Metropolis
Film (the hobby endeavor of two lawyers from Germany) is planned to be shown
in other movie theaters in the Koblenz area. A release of the movie on video
is planned, negotiations for a TV broadcasting are still ongoing.
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September 20, 2001:
Yesterday, Modern Talking played the last of their six concerts this year in
Rostock (Germany). Modern Talking played in front of 4,500 fans in the
"Stadthalle". Few more fans could have fit into the concert hall.
Modern Talking played all their hits and songs from "Year Of The
Dragon" and "America". A detailed report of the concert can be
found here.
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September 02, 2001:
Only nine Modern Talking concerts were planned for this year. Earlier this year,
this number reduced further when two of the already planned concerts
(Eisenhüttenstadt - July 21 and Chemitz - August 25) were canceled.
Yesterday, the concert in Hoyerswerda (Germany) was canceled just shortly
before the scheduled start of the concert. Many Modern Talking fans had
travelled to Hoyerswerda from out of town and did not hear about the
cancelation in time. Thomas-Anders.com
refers to problems with the local concert agency. According to the web site
the concert in Berlin tonight will take place as planned. In addition, one
more concert is scheduled for September 9 in Rostock (Germany).
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August 22, 2001: This
week Millane Fernandez enters the German singles charts at number 31 with her
second single produced by Dieter Bohlen "I Miss You (Dam Dubi
Dam)". This means "I Miss You" needs to climb up 10 more
positions in the German charts to equal the chart peak position of "Boom
Boom", Millane's first single (peaked at number 21 in Germany). Given
the fact that "Boom Boom" only entered the charts at number 72 and
took nine weeks to reach its peak positions, this appears entirely possible.
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August 07, 2001: In
October, German membership-based music and book club "Bertelsmann
Club", a subsidiary of BMG will start offering a 10 Maxi-CD box with all
Modern Talking singles released in Germany between 1985 and 1987: You're My
Heart, You're My Soul, You Can Win If You Want, Cheri Cheri Lady, Brother
Louie, Atlantis Is Calling, Geronimo's Cadillac, Give Me Peace On Earth, Jet
Airliner, In 100 Years and as a bonus the Space Mix from 1998. The Maxi-CDs
will contain the same tracks as the maxisingles released between 1985 and
1987. This is the first time that these maxisingles will be released on CD.
The CD-set will be priced at DM 49.95. However, the CD-set will only be
available to members of the Bertelsmann club. Club members are required to
purchase at least one book or CD every three months and discontinuing
membership in the club is known to be difficult. A general release of the CD
set is not planned.
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August 07, 2001: The
following is a new release from the Modern Talking Party Team: On September
15th, 8pm Germany’s first and biggest Modern Talking Party Festival is set to
take place in the centrally located city of Leipzig. At the Werk II in the
Hall A location, fans and admirers of Modern Talking can expect a party of
superlatives. Internationally acclaimed Munich DJ Robär will heat up
audiences with exciting Modern Talking mixes, while GoGoDancers will perform
involving dance acts. But that’s not all, folks! Two surprise guest stars
will do an explosive stage show and further heat up the mood, while fireworks
celebrate the enthusiasm of the crowd. Every fans has the opportunity to buy,
sell and trade rare Modern Talking, Blue System & Co memorabilia at
the unique fan article section. Cherie Cheri Lady, Brother Louis and Co is
the tag line for the incredible Saturday Night Party that no Modern Talking
fan should miss! Questions about the event can be directed to info@modern-talking-party.de.
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August 03, 2001:
Earlier this year, Dieter Bohlen indicated that he would not give any further
interviews for the remainder of this year. This was a reaction to the media
attention surrounding the break-up with his girl friend of many years Nadja
and false rumour about a Modern Talking split-up. After 100 days Dieter Bohlen
broke his silence. Tomorrow's edition of German boulevard magazine
"Bild" features a short interview with Dieter Bohlen during his
vacation with current girl friend Estefania in Mallorca (Spain). Dieter
indicates that he already spent 6 weeks vacationing in Mallorca and that he
feels "as good as never before". The interview does not include any
questions related to Modern Talking.
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July 24, 2001: Earlier
this year Dieter Bohlen produced the hit single "Boom Boom" for
newcomer Millane Fernandez (11 weeks in the German Top 40). Now, the second
single from Millane, again produced by Dieter Bohlen, is ready for release,
with an album being scheduled for later this year or early next year.
Millane's new single "I Miss You (Dam Dubi Dam)" will be released
on August 13 in Germany. The Maxi-CD will contain five mixes of the song.
Short sound samples of these mixes can be found here.
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July 24, 2001: Thomas
Anders is one of the contributors to the charity album "With A Little
Help From My Friends". The 2-CD set contains 33 classic Beatles songs,
newly interpreted by German artists such as Liquido, Fury In The
Slaughterhouse, Peter Maffay and Münchner Freiheit. Thomas Anders contributes
his version of "Michelle" from the album "Souled" to the
CD set. Profits from the sales of this album will go to the charity
foundation "Dolphin Aid", that helps children with learning and
development problems with a therapy involving swimming with dolphins.
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July 14, 2001: Only
nine Modern Talking concerts were planned for this year. Now this number has
decreased even further. The Modern Talking concerts scheduled for German
cities Eisenhüttenstadt (July 21) and Chemitz (August 25) were canceled.
Thomas Anders indicates that the concert organizers canceled the events, not
Modern Talking. He also confirms that Modern Talking will perform in Dresden,
Hoyerswerda, Berlin and Rostock, as scheduled. However, in a statement on Thomas-Anders.com he also indicates
that with the exception of these concerts there will be no further
promotional activities for Modern Talking this year, which most likely also
means that there will be no further single release from the album
"America".
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July
14, 2001: Fourteen weeks after the release of "America" in Latvia,
the album is still the fifth best selling album in the country. So far 8,200
copies were sold. This may not sound like much but for a country of the size
of Latvia with a relatively small legitimate music market this is a big
quantity, in fact the album was recently certified Platinum in Latvia, which
makes Latvia the second country after Germany where "America"
achieved platinum status. The previous albums sold 25,000 ("Back For
Good", 3xPlatinum), 17,000 ("Alone", 2xPlatinum) and 13,500
units ("Year of The Dragon", Platinum) in Latvia respectively.
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July 08, 2001: Last
night Modern Talking appeared live in Gera in Germany. Modern Talking's show
was part of the "Schwarzbiernacht" festival. Other artists featured
were Loona and Sarah Connor. Modern Talking were the headliners of the
festival and started their show after 11 p.m. Five-thousand visitors watched
Modern Talking's open air show while massive amounts of rain came from the
sky. The rain finally affected the technical equipment, which resulted in
Modern Talking not being able to play the last song that was planned for the
concert ("Win The Race"). Nevertheless, Modern Talking played for
90 minutes. Modern Talking played vocal versions of their hits during the
first two thirds of their show. Eric Singleton supported Modern Talking in
the last third of their show. Earlier this year, Dieter Bohlen had indicated
that he would no longer speak in public for several months as a reaction to
exaggerated media attention to his person and to avoid any further
rumors and media lies about Modern Talking (earlier this year German news
media had speculated about Modern Talking splitting up). During the Gera
concert, Dieter Bohlen stayed true to this indication and did not talk during
the entire concert, so that Thomas Anders was the only one talking to the
fans, which disappointed many fans. Modern Talking played the following songs
during the Gera concert: 1) America (intro only) 2) Last Exit To Brooklyn 3)
SMS To My Heart 4) Maria 5) In 100 Years 6) From Coast To Coast 7) We Take
The Chance 8) Geronimo's Cadillac 9) For A Lifetime 10) Cinderella Girl 11)
Cheri Cheri Lady 12) No Face No Name No Number 13) Brother Louie 14) Atlantis
Is Calling 15) Don't Take Away My Heart 16) You Can Win If You Want 17) Jet
Airliner 18) Sexy Sexy Lover 19) You're My Heart, You're My Soul 20) China In
Her Eyes 21) You Are Not Alone.
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June 29, 2001: In the
past Modern Talking were quite successfull in Finland. However, this year the
singles "Win The Race" and "Last Exit To Brooklyn" as
well as the album "America" failed to enter the Finish charts. Now
there are finally some good news. "Last Exit To Brooklyn" enters
the Finish dance charts this week at number 47. Meanwhile, the song climbs
from number 29 to number 22 in the Czech dance charts.
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June 29, 2001: A
recent article from AP Worldstream ("Fencing With the Pirates of
Music") deals with the music piracy problem in Russia. The article
indicates that there is some (although a slow) improvement in legal music
sales. To demonstrate this improvement the article refers to the sales succes
of Modern Talking: "The recent record for legal sales was set by Modern
Talking's ``Year of the Dragon'' with 100,000 copies sold ...".
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June
23, 2001: Last year BMG decided not to relase "No Face No Name No Number
from the 9'th Modern Talking album "Year Of The Dragon" as a retail
single, despite the fact that this song became a big airplay hit in many
countries. This year the song gets another chance - but not with Modern
Talking. German "Schlager" singer Oliver Lukas recorded a cover
version of the song called "So frech wie Du ist keine". The cover
version is very close to the original and even the high-pitched voices that
are Modern Talking's trade mark are included in Oliver's version of "No
Face No Name No Number". The Maxi CD contains the following songs: 1) So frech
wie Du ist keine 2) So frech wie Du ist keine (Maxi Version) 3) So frech wie
Du ist keine (Karaoke Version) 4) Ich sage Dir ganz ehrlich. The Maxi CD can for instance be ordered at e-tailer CyberCD.de.
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June 08, 2001: Yesterday,
Modern Talking appeared on German TV Show "Stunde der Stars" with
show host Michael Schanze. The show had been recorded earlier but broadcasted
only yesterday. Modern Talking performed "Last Exit To Brooklyn" in
the vocal version without Eric Singleton and also played a partial version of
"Win The Race". During the show Modern Talking received a platinum
award for sales of 300.000 copies of "America" in Germany.
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May 30, 2001:
Macedonian radio station Antenna5
does not seem to agree with BMG when it comes to selecting Modern Talking
singles releases. Neither "Win The Race" nor "Last Exit To
Brooklyn" were played very often. However, about one and a half month
ago "Maria" made it to number 3 in the chart of the most played
songs on the radio station (as reported earlier). Now the radio station is
continuing this trend by giving heavy airplay to the b-side of "Win The
Race". This week "Cinderella Girl" enters the charts of Antenna5 at number 10.
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May
25, 2001: Thomas Anders is starting to establish himself more and more as a
successful music producer. Last year Zlatko & Jürgen, the stars of the
reality TV show "Big Brother" already had a number 1 hit in Germany
with the Thomas Anders/Christian Geller production "Großer Bruder".
The producer team also provided one song for the debut album of the No Angels
("I Cry For You"). The album called "Elle´ments" reached
the number one of the German charts earlier this year. Now the success story
continues. The It Girls who were discovered by Thomas Anders and are
now produced by Thomas Anders and Christian Geller enter the German charts
this week at number 70 with their debut single "My Heart It Feels Like
... Dub Dub".
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May 23, 2001: In an
interview with German music TV station Viva, Dieter Bohlen confirmed that
Modern Talking will play all concerts already scheduled for this summer. He
indicated that he severed his connections to the outside world as far as
phone and Fax is concerned, because he is tired of constantly having to
defend himself against false accusation by the German news media. Dieter
stated that the Viva interview will be his last interview for this year and
that he hopes that this will help to reduce the media attention
surrounding him.
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May 20, 2001: After
media reports about canceled TV appearances of Modern Talking and even
speculations about a break-up of Modern Talking, this weekend must have come
as quite a surprise to many German TV watchers that saw Modern Talking
dominate German TV screens. On Friday Thomas Anders appeared on German TV
show "NDR 3 Talkshow" to talk about his career as well as the girl
band "It Girls" he is producing. During this show Thomas Anders put
an end to all rumours by indicating that Modern Talking will continue to work
together, clarifying that only one TV show was canceled by Dieter Bohlen for
personal reasons and promising that Modern Talking would appear the following
day on the "Lottoshow". On Saturday afternoon Modern Talking
appeared on "Top Of The Pops" with "Last Exit To
Brooklyn". While this show was recorded earlier, Modern Talking indeed
appeared live on the "Lottoshow" on Saturday evening with the vocal
version of "Last Exit To Brooklyn". During the show, Dieter Bohlen
was also part of a jury in a game segment of the show. On Sunday Modern
Talking's appearance on "The Dome" (that was recorded earlier) was
broadcasted on German TV station RTL 2. Modern Talking presented "Last
Exit To Brooklyn" in the rap version and "Win The Race".
Almost at the same time, German TV show "Blitz Spezial" (Sat 1)
featured a report about the It Girls and their producer Thomas Anders. The
report also featured the video for the first single of the It Girls "My
Heart It Feels Like ... Dub Dub". Thomas Anders and his wife Claudia
have a guest appearance in this video.
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May 18, 2001: After
two days of TV reports about Dieter Bohlen going into seclusion, canceled TV
appearances, potentially canceled concerts and speculations about a break-up
of Modern Talking, Thomas Anders put an end to all speculations today.
According to a statement by him posted on Thomas-Anders.com, Modern Talking is
not going to break-up, Modern Talking will appear in the German TV show
"Lottoshow" tomorrow with "Last Exit To Brooklyn" and the
Modern Talking concerts this summer will be taking place. Dieter Bohlen only
canceled one TV appearance with Modern Talking in Monaco for personal
reasons. Thomas Anders gave the same information this evening on German TV
show "NDR 3 Talkshow".
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May 17, 2001: After
yesterday's reports about Dieter Bohlen going into seclusion and canceling TV
appearances with Modern Talking, German TV stations are going wild in their
speculations about a possible break-up of Modern Talking. However, Thomas
Anders indicated in a short interview to TV magazine Blitz (Sat 1, Germany)
that although he did not hear from Dieter Bohlen in several days, he did talk
with representatives from BMG Berlin (Modern Talking's record company) who
indicated that Dieter's current situation has nothing to do with Thomas
Anders and Modern Talking and that Modern Talking will continue to work
together.
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May
17, 2001: Modern Talking's new single "Last Exit To Brooklyn"
enters the German charts at number 37 this week. While this may not be a very
high chart position, this marks the 16th Top 40 hit for Modern Talking in
Germany. The single also enters the charts in Austria at number 51 and in
Hungary at number 7. This means all nine Modern Talking singles released in
Hungary since the comeback in 1998 made it into the Top 10 of the charts.
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May 16, 2001: German
TV magazine "Exklusiv" (RTL, Germany) reported today that Dieter
Bohlen has gone into seclusion in his house in Tötensen near Hamburg
(Germany), appears to have severed every contact to the outside world and
even canceled TV appearances with Modern Talking. While the TV show
dramatized the situation and posed the provoking question if "Dieter is
finally calling it quits", Thomas Anders indicated in an interview
quoted on the homepage of German TV station RTL that Dieter had a stressful
time between "America" being earlier released then planned (the
album was originally scheduled for a release this summer), problems with the
production studio in Mallorca (the studio could not be used for the
production of "America", which is also the reason why long-term
co-producer Louis Rodriguez did very little work for "America") and
the constant media attention to Dieter Bohlen's private life (the break-up
with his girl friend of 12 years Nadja and his relationship to his new 21
year old girl friend Estefania are covered on a daily basis on German TV).
Thomas indicated that Dieter might be fine again in a few weeks and indicated
in another TV show later today that Modern Talking will appear for their
scheduled TV appearance in the "Lottoshow" on Saturday. So far
there is no information which TV appearances might be canceled and if the
planned Modern Talking concerts this summer will be affected at all.
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May 11, 2001:
"Year of The Dragon" never entered the charts in France and so far
"America" did not accomplish that either. Nevertheless, Modern
Talking are in the album charts this week in France. "Back For
Good" re-entered the French charts last week at number 149, more than
three years after the album was released. This week the album climbs to
number 131.
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May 04, 2001: The
music video and the TV appearances promoting Modern Talking's new single
"Last Exit To Brooklyn" may feature rap by Eric Singleton. However,
the Maxi-CD that will be officially released on Monday in Germany (but was
already available in some stores today) starts of with the album version of
the song (now entitled radio version). Three out of the five tracks on the
Maxi-CD feature rap by Eric Singleton. Here is the complete track list: 1)
Radio Edit 2) Rap Version 3) Extended Version 4)Vocal Remix 5)Rap Remix.
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May 03, 2001: The
release date for the new Modern Talking single 'Last Exit To Brooklyn is a
moving target. According to Thomas-Anders.com
the release date of the single in Germany has been changed again and will now
be on May 07.
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April
28, 2001: Today Modern Talking presented their new single "Last Exit To
Brooklyn" for the first time to the German TV audience in the show
"Verstehen Sie Spass?" on German TV station ARD. The version
presented by Modern Talking featured once again raps by Eric Singleton. The
new video had its premiere already yesterday on German music channel Viva.
The video also features Eric Singleton. Pictures from the video and a short
video clip can be found here.
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April 19, 2001: Last
year "No Face No Name No Number" became a big hit in many countries
without ever being released as a retail single. This year "Maria"
seems to accomplish the same feature. "Maria" enters the charts of
Macedonian radio station Antenna5
at number 3 this week and receives heavy airplay on the station. This is
especially remarkable, since Modern Talking last charted with "You're My
Heart, You're My Soul '98" in 1998.
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April
19, 2001: According to Thomas-Anders.com
the release of "Last Exit To Brooklyn" in Germany will be postponed
until May 14 due to the success of "Win The Race" in Germany. In
the German charts that will be released tomorrow, "Win The Race"
stays in the Top 20 for the seventh consecutive week, holding on to number
11. Meanwhile "America" climbs back to number 4 in the German album
charts. According to Thomas-Anders.com,
Thomas Anders is trying to convince BMG Berlin to release "Last Exit To
Brooklyn" also on DVD, which would enable Modern Talking fans with a DVD
player to watch the music video for "Last Exit To Brooklyn"
whenever they want.
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April 07, 2001:
"Win The Race" is still going strong in the German charts and is
just starting its chart run in other countries (for instance in Sweden new at
number 45 this week). Meanwhile the next Modern Talking single "Last
Exit To Brooklyn" is already in the starting position. The single will
be released on April 30 in Germany. Another Modern Talking related single
will be released on May 14. The first single of the It Girls "My Heart
It Feels Like ... Dub Dub" will be released that day in Germany. The
IT-Girls are produced by Thomas Anders and Christian Geller. However, another
Thomas Anders/Christian Geller production T-Seven "Hey Mr.
President" that was released just a few weeks ago in Germany will no
longer be produced by the record company. Due to inefficient marketing the
single was a flop in Germany.
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April 03, 2001: Modern
Talking's "Win The Race" falls one position from 13 to 14 in the
German singles sales charts this week. That marks the fifth Top 20 week for
"Win The Race", which makes it already the third longest stay of a
Modern Talking single in the Top 20 of the German charts since the comeback
in 1998. The only singles that were longer in the Top 20 are "You're My
Heart, You're My Soul '98" (13 weeks) and "You Are Not Alone"
(8 weeks). Meanwhile "America" holds on to the number 2 in the
German charts.
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March 28, 2001: Modern
Talking's tenth album "America" enters the German charts at number
2 this week. This marks the ninth Top 3 album for Modern Talking in Germany
and the seventh album to reach at least number 2 in the sales charts. Only
"In The Garden of Venus" failed to reach such a high chart
position, peaking at number 35. "America" also entered the
Bulgarian charts at number 7. Other chart positions for the album should
follow shortly.
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March 22, 2001:
Tomorrow's issue of German newspaper Bild features an interview with Dieter
Bohlen in which he indicates that he and his girl friend Nadja are separating
after 12 years. Dieter told Bild that Nadja will move out by the end of the
month but will remain "what she always has been my best friend".
Dieter indicated that he and Nadja had very different interests. In
particular Nadja dreams of a family and a baby, while Dieter "already
had all that" with his first wife Erika. Bild has published incorrect
stories from questionable sources in the past. However, given the fact that
Bilds quotes Dieter Bohlen, the article is most likely accurate.
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March
22, 2001: The latest issue of German magazine Max features an article in
which the magazine "reveals the scandalous news" that Dieter Bohlen
does not sing the high pitched parts in the Modern Talking songs but that
three studio musicians sing these parts. The article refers to a law suit of
the three studio musicians Michael Scholz, Detlef Wiedeke and Rolf Köhler
against BMG last year that was settled out of court in January this year. The
article quotes documents that claim that these three studio musicians
"sang several of the Modern Talking hits", with Dieter Bohlen
getting the credit and the money for it. The article is written for the most
part as if Dieter Bohlen claims to be the lead singer of Modern Talking. The
articles mentions only very briefly that Thomas Anders sings most parts of
the Modern Talking songs and not the studio musicians. BMG Berlin respondend
to the accusations by clarifying that the law suit was filed against BMG and
did not include Dieter Bohlen. The law suit dealed with the money the studio
musicians received for their work from BMG not with Dieter Bohlen not
singing. Andre Selleneit from BMG Berlin further indicated that Dieter
Bohlen, Thomas Anders and the three studio musicians (who were not involved
in the production of the album "America") all sing the parts with
the high pitched voices together and that all voices are mixed together to
get the typical Modern Talking sound. Fans knew this since 1984. Dieter
Bohlen and Thomas Anders have indicated this in several interviews.
Furthermore, the three studio musicians are listed as vocalists on the album
covers, in fact Dieter Bohlen thanked Michael Scholz, Detlef Wiedeke and Rolf
Köhler on the cover of the Blue System album "Obsession" for
"always helping him to make the chorus sound the way it should
sound". Furthermore, in live concerts Thomas Anders, Dieter Bohlen and
the whole band sing the parts with the high pitched voices, in addition to
the sound coming from tape (since it can not be entirely recreated live).
Thomas Anders, Dieter Bohlen and the band also "sing" the playback
in the TV shows together. This shows that Dieter Bohlen never claimed nor
acted as if he alone sings the high pitched parts of the songs. However, his
voice is one of the voices that is used to create the chorus, different from
what Max claims. While the Max article is based on information that is hardly
new nor sensational with the "news" being presented in a very
misleading manner and containing incorrect information, German newspapers and
TV shows reported about the Max article. The resulting media hype may be
without any substance but may very well threaten Modern Talking's carrer.
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March 20, 2001: Modern
Talking's "Win The Race" re-enters the Top 10 of the German singles
charts this week. In its third chart week the single jumps from 11 to number
5. This makes "Win The Race" the second most successfull Modern
Talking single since the comeback in 1998, topped only by "You're My
Heart, You're My Soul '98", which reached number 2. "Win The Race"
is the 8th Top 5 single by Modern Talking in Germany.
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March 18, 2001: The
new Modern Talking album "America" is likely to have a good start in
the German charts after a weekend of heavy Modern Talking promotion on German
TV. Not only did a commercial for the new album run frequently on German TV
stations, Modern Talking were featured in several TV shows. German TV station
Onyx, a station that broadcasts several hours of music a day, had a Modern
Talking weekend, showing the seven music videos Modern Talking have produced
since their comeback multiple times on Saturday and Sunday. Europe's most
successfull TV Show "Wetten Dass" had its 20 year anniversary on
Saturday. This was celebrated with 3 TV shows. In addition to the regular TV
show, an anniversary special was broadcasted in which footage from Modern
Talking's comeback appearance on the show in 1998 was shown. Modern Talking
also appeared live to play "Win The Race". A third "Wetten
Dass" show followed on early Sunday morning, in which the 1985
appearance of Modern Talking in the show, back then with "You Can Win If
You Want", was shown. After their live appearance on "Wetten
Dass" Modern Talking gave an interview for wetten-dass.com
that was posted on the website in real audio format. During the interview
Dieter Bohlen indicated that "America" already achieved gold status
in Germany based on pre-orders of the album. On Sunday German TV station Sat
1 showed a special about Modern Talking in their show Blitz. The special
covered the Modern Talking history since the comeback as well as brandnew
interview footage with Modern Talking. When asked about a tour to promote the
album "America", Dieter Bohlen indicated that an open air tour is
tentatively planed for Germany but that nothing is fixed yet. Thomas Anders
indicated that Modern Talking might potentially concentrate more on countries
other than Germany this year but that there definitely will be German
concerts. The TV special is also available in real audio format on the Sat 1 Homepage (click on top-thema).
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March
13, 2001: It has been almost two years, since a Dieter Bohlen production
other than Modern Talking reached the charts in Germany. Back in May 1999,
Touché peaked at number 63 in the German singles charts with "Kids In
America". This week there is finally a follow-up production, Millane
Fernandez enters the German charts at number 72 with her Dieter Bohlen
produced single "Boom Boom". The last time a female artist who was
produced by Dieter Bohlen hit the German charts was also in 1999, when C.C.
Catch peaked at number 72 in Germany with "I Can Lose My Heart Tonight
'99".
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March 08, 2001: After
already publishing a preliminary track list for the new Modern Talking album
"America", Thomas-Anders.com
now published the final track list for the album. The slightly revised track
list looks like this: 1. Win the race 2. Last Exit to Brooklyn 3. Maria 4.
SMS to my heart 5. Cinderella Girl 6. Why does it feel so good? 7. Rain in my
heart 8. Witchqueen of Eldorado 9. Run to you 10. America 11. For a lifetime
12. From coast to coast 13. There's something in the air 14. I need you now
15. New York City Girl 16. Send me a letter from heaven.
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March 06, 2001:
According to Thomas-Anders.com,
"Win The Race" entered the German charts at number seven this week.
This marks the 11th Top 10 hit for Modern Talking in Germany and also the
highest chart entry since their comeback in 1998. The previous highest chart
entries for Modern Talking were "China In Her Eyes" (#8) and
"You're My Heart, You're My Soul '98" (#11). Modern Talking also
enters the Hungarian charts this week at number 10. This means all eight
Modern Talking singles released in Hungary since the comeback in 1998 made it
into the Top 10 of the charts.
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March 06, 2001: The
new Modern Talking album "America" is not yet released but already
a new entry at number 49 in the German web charts (DWC),
an Internet voting chart. Last year "Year Of The Dragon" also
entered the charts well before the album was actually released.
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February 28, 2001:
Today Modern Talking entered the German trend charts at number 4. The trend
charts are complied by Media Control and published by ChartRadio.de. Today's trend charts
represent retail sales in Germany on Monday, the day "Win The Race"
was officially released. This evening, tomorrow's trend charts were
published, representing German singles sales on Tuesday this week. In these
charts Modern Talking hold on to number 4. If Modern Talking continue to sell
singles at the current rate, they are likely to have a Top 10 or even a Top 5
chart entry in Germany next week.
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February 28, 2001:
Modern Talking will present "Win The Race" on German TV this Friday
as part of the German pre-selection for the Grand Prix De Eurovision
(European Song Contest). Dieter Bohlen offered German TV station NDR (part of
the ARD network) on short notice to perform during the show. Dieter Bohlen
indicated he wants to set a sign for other German music producers to support
the Grand Prix more. Dieter Bohlen himself had written three songs for Grand
Prix participants in the past (Nino De Angelo "Flieger", Thomas
Forstner "Nur ein Lied" Tony Wegas "Zusammen geh'n"),
while other successfull German music producers do little to support the
contest. During Friday's TV show Dieter Bohlen produced girl singer Millane
will also present her first single "Boom Boom". Millane is the
winner of a contest by German newspaper Bild and Dieter Bohlen in which a
successor for German teenage star "Blümchen" was selected. Blümchen
had several hits ("Hertz an Hertz", "Bumerang", etc.) in
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Sweden with her teenage pop but is
now switching to a more mature image and name ("Blümchen" means
"little blossom").
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February 25, 2001:
Although the official release date for the new Modern Talking single is
tomorrow, the Maxi-CD was already available in some German stores on
Saturday. The Maxi-CD has the following track list: 1. Win the Race ( Radio
Edit ) 2. Win the Race ( Instrumental ) 3. Win the Race ( Scooter Remix ) 4.
Cinderella Girl 5. Cinderella Girl ( Instrumental Version ). Track number
three is a remix by German techno project Scooter who had several Top 10 hits
throughout Europe, for instance "Hyper, Hyper" and "Back In
The U.K.".
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February
22, 2001: Yesterday, Modern Talking had their first TV appearance this year
in the show "Interaktiv" on German music TV station Viva. The video
for "Win The Race" was played again and Modern Talking were live in
the studio. During the interview, Dieter Bohlen indicated that the second
single from "America" will be "Last Exit To Brooklyn".
Furthermore, Dieter Bohlen talked about a German rock band currently
recording a cover version of "You're My Heart, You're My Soul".
Modern Talking had already presented the new single "Win The Race"
on "The Dome". This German TV show was taped on February 16 but
will not air until February 25.
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February 16, 2001: The
new Modern Talking single "Win The Race" is no yet available in
stores but fans can already listen to the brand new song on the Internet.
Last year ChartRadio.de exclusively
broadcasted the album "Year Of The Dragon" over the web before it
was released in stores. This year ChartRadio.de
exclusively features "Win The Race" on their web site before the
single becomes available in stores. Listening to streaming audio files on ChartRadio.de requires registration
(free of charge). The web site provides service in German and English language.
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February 16, 2001: The
music video for the new Modern Talking single "Win The Race" had
it's world premiere on German music TV station Viva today in the show "Interaktiv".
Pictures from the video are already posted on the Internet and can be found here.
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February 15, 2001:
After the Internet had been flooded already for weeks with false track lists,
the real track list of the new Modern Talking album "America" was
now published on Thomas-Anders.com.
According to Thomas-Anders.com,
the songs are: 1. Win the race 2. America 3. Last Exit to Brooklyn 4.
Cinderella Girl 5. Witchqueen of Eldorado 6. I need you now 7. New York City
Girl 8. Lonely Maria 9. SMS to my heart 10. I will run to you 11. Why does it
always rain in my heart? 12. There's something in the air 13. From coast to
coast 14. Why does it feel so good? 15. For a lifetime 16. Send me a letter
from heaven. The order of the songs was not yet determined and changes to the
track list are also still possible.
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February 09, 2001:
According to an article published on Echo Online, Modern
Talking filmed the music video for "Win The Race" in Griesheim
(Germany). Modern Talking and a production team of 60 people recorded 30
different sequences in front of a "blue screen". This will allow to
add background computer animation to the video. Video production costs are
estimated to be 200,000 Deutsche Mark (ca. US$ 95,000). According to Thomas
Anders, "Win The Race" is a rather untypical Modern Talking song
with new rhythms.
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February
09, 2001: According to a statement by Thomas Anders on Thomas-Anders.com the 10th Modern
Talking album will be called "America" and will be released on
March 19 in Germany. The album will also contain a song titled
"America".
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February 06, 2001:
According to DocRock.de, Dieter Bohlen
had already signed a contract with top model Naomi Campbell (for instance
starring in Michael Jackson's "In The Closet" music video) to
produce an album. However, according to DocRock.de
Naomi never showed up for the production sessions and did not inform Dieter
Bohlen about her reasons for disrespecting the contract.
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February 02, 2001: DieterBohlen.com may have had a short
life in its first run but according to an interview Dieter Bohlen gave to
German Internet magazine "Tomorrow"
this may change very soon. In the interview Dieter Bohlen said that when he
personally answered questions on the message board of his web site, which was
operational for a few weeks last year, this yielded some very strange and
offensive questions. Therefore, the site was shut down in December last year.
Dieter indicated that a new homepage at www.dieterbohlen.com
will be online soon but without a message board. However, he also indicated
that he might chat with fans once a week on the site.
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January 25, 2001:
Modern Talking are among the nominees for the "National Band of the
Year" at the upcoming Echo awards, the official music awards of the
German music industry. Other nominees are the German bands Böhse Onkelz, Die
Toten Hosen, Pur and Reamonn. However, given the fact that the awards are
strongly based on CD sales, it is unlikely tha Modern Talking will win the
award. Modern Talking were nominated for best national ban last year and for
national rock/pop single in 1999. Modern Talking actually won the best
national band award in 1999. The award ceremony will be held on March 15 in
Germany's capital Berlin.
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January 25, 2001:
According to Thomas-Anders.com the new Modern Talking single will be called
"Win The Race" and is tentatively scheduled for release in Germany
on February 26. The single will be the official song for Formula 1 television
broadcasts on German TV station RTL. This exposure certainly gives the single
a good chance to become a hit in Germany.
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January 07, 2001:
Yesterday the Official Thomas Anders Fan Club Party for this year took place
in the discoteque "Extra" in Koblenz (Germany). At this occasion,
Thomas Anders introduced a girl band (It Girls) he is producing. Their first
single will be released in Germany in March. The girls sang three songs.
Thomas Anders also sang one song, which he wrote for the girl group "No
Angels" casted for the German edition of the reality TV show "Pop
Stars". Thomas also told the fans that he will be producing
"T", the former singer of German pop group Mr. President
("Coco Jambo" was their best known hit). Thomas also talked about
the new Modern Talking album. According to him the tenth album will be in the
disco style of the seventies and eighties. Eric Singleton raps will continue
to be an important part of Modern Talking. Thomas also clarified that there
will be no Blue System and Thomas Anders solo albums as long as Modern
Talking exists. Furthermore, he indicated that a live video recording of a
2001 Modern Talking concert is planed for a DVD release in late 2001.
Finally, Thomas indicated that Modern Talking are in discussions to produce
the official song for Formula 1 television broadcasts in Germany.
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January 07, 2001: 2000
may have been the "Year Of The Dragon" according to the Chinese
calendar but it was not really the year of Modern Talking compared to other
years. According to Media Control the Modern Talking album "Year Of The
Dragon" was number 55 when it came to the total album sales for the year
2000 in Germany. For comparison, in 1999 "Alone" held a lofty year
end number 7 and in 1998 "Back For Good" was year end number 3 in
Germany. As always, Modern Talking had their biggest success in the German
federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the album finished as the
year's number 18 seller. In Switzerland the album came in as year end number
79. At this time no other year end chart results are available.
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January 03, 2001:
According to a statment by Thomas Anders on Thomas-Anders.com, the new Modern
Talking album is likely to be released on March 19. A TV performance on
Germany's popular TV show "Wetten Dass?" with the first single from
the tenth album is already scheduled for March 17.
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