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 a number of hit singles, reaching the top 5 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". Ralf Stemmann was also one of the producers and can be heard playing the keyboard in their songs, especially in „Cheri Cheri Lady“. He did not get recognition for his work from Bohlen. Geff Harrison also was a writer for the first two Modern Talking albums. He filed a lawsuit against Bohlen in 1986 after Dieter did not credit him for the work he did for Modern Talking and C.C. Catch.

Modern Talking worked together from 1983 to 1987, when they disbanded. They made a successful comeback, recording and releasing music again from 1998 to 2003. The duo released singles (many of which involved American rapper Eric Singleton) which again entered the top 10 in Germany and elsewhere, such as "You're My Heart, You're My Soul '98", a remake of the first version of their hit. By the duo's final break-up in 2003, they had reached 120 million of sales worldwide. The single would go on to sell eight million copies worldwide.

Soon after their second hit, Modern Talking released 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). The two had had 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. 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 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.

Between 1987 and 1997

Immediately after 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 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. 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. This second break-up was reportedly sparked by Bohlen's negative portrayal of Anders in his autobiography, published 4 October 2003. 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 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 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 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 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.

Post years and legacy

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 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 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 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 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:

As of 31st of March 2025, the Modern Talking official YouTube channel has had over 4.5 billion views with many music videos being viewed hundreds of millions of times.

Production roles

{|class="wikitable"

!style="background:#e7ebee;"|1983–85

Dieter Bohlen – lead guitar, chorus, producer, composer
Thomas Anders – vocals, piano, keyboards

!style="background:#e7ebee;"|1985–87

Dieter Bohlen – lead guitar, chorus, producer, composer
Thomas Anders – vocals, piano, keyboards
Luis Rodríguez – co-producer

!style="background:#e7ebee;"|1998–2000

Dieter Bohlen – lead guitar, chorus, producer, composer
Thomas Anders – vocals, piano, keyboards
Luis Rodríguez – co-producer
Eric Singleton – rap vocals

!style="background:#e7ebee;"|2001

Dieter Bohlen – lead guitar, chorus, producer, composer
Thomas Anders – vocals, piano, keyboards
Eric Singleton – rap vocals

!style="background:#e7ebee;"|2002–03

Dieter Bohlen – lead guitar, chorus, producer, composer
Thomas Anders – vocals, piano, keyboards

Discography

Studio albums

The 1st Album (1985)
Let's Talk About Love (1985)
Ready for Romance (1986)
In the Middle of Nowhere (1986)
Romantic Warriors (1987)
In the Garden of Venus (1987)
Back for Good (1998)
Alone (1999)
Year of the Dragon (2000)
America (2001)
Victory (2002)
Universe (2003)

Awards and nominations

{|class="wikitable"

!Year!!Award!!Category!!Winner/Nominee!!Result

|rowspan=2|1999

|rowspan=1|World Music Awards

|World's Best Selling German Artist

|rowspan=2|Back for Good

|rowspan=4|ECHO Awards

|rowspan=4|Best National Rock/Pop Group

|2000

|"Alone"

|2001

|"Year of the Dragon"

|2002

|"America"