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Last year, Claudia Brücken, the first lady of cinematic electronic pop, was joined by a host of special guests to perform her highly anticipated live show This Time: It’s Claudia Brücken at London’s The Scala. The show was filmed in its entirety and will be released on CD and DVD under the title This Happened on 6th August 2012 through There (there)/ The Orchard.
This Happened will delight fans that were there and equally so the fans who really wished they had been. It is a sensational celebration of Claudia’s life in pop music from Propaganda to Onetwo and features a host of brilliant one off collaborations. The line-up reads like a who’s who of avant pop and includes Ralf Dörper and Susanne Freytag of Propoganda; Paul Humphreys of Onetwo and OMD; Andy Bell of Erasure standing in for Thomas Leer of Act; Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 and British minimalist composer Andrew Poppy.
Commenting on the DVD Claudia says:
Claudia Brücken was one of the two girls in the two girl, two boy Düsseldorf avant pop group Propaganda, memorably – and positively – described by one critic as ‘Abba from Hell’. The first signing in 1982 to Trevor Horn’s innovative Zang Tum Tumb label, later joined by Art of Noise and Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Propaganda’s debut single ‘Dr. Mabuse’ was one of the strangest, darkest singles ever to make the British charts, and the follow up ‘Duel’ one of the greatest and smartest. The one and only Propaganda album released on ZTT, ‘A Secret Wish’, is generally considered to be one of the decades finest and a definitive electronic music masterpiece, extravagant, surreal songs of intimacy and intrigue sung by Claudia with icy passion and impassive splendour.
After leaving Propaganda in 1985, Claudia formed the conceptual pop Act with respected electronic music pioneer Thomas Leer, producing a series of delirious hype-focused lost electro-classics that emerged out of and commented on the excess, eccentricity and effervescence of the 1980s, pointing the way ahead of their time to the dramatic electro-glitter world of Florence, Gaga and La Roux. Claudia further developed her own uncompromising personal electronic aesthetic with an album produced in 1991 for Island Records, Love: and a Million Other Things, and stuck to her synth guns throughout the 90s.
Her collaborations with Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17, Andy Bell of Erasure and Martin Gore of Depeche Mode emphasized her special identity as discreet, discerning electro icon, and her album of surprising, non-electro cover versions, Another Language, produced with composer Andrew Poppy for There(there), demonstrated her ability to interpret an unusual, or sometimes familiar, pop song with complete originality. The 21st century group she formed with Paul Humphreys of OMD, Onetwo, was the logical latest stage in her music, as much a direct follow up to Propaganda, Act and her solo work as it was a unique entity in its own right and a close, inventive relation to electro pop lords OMD. A recent comprehensive compilation of her work from Propaganda to Onetwo, Combined, also containing Act songs, solo songs, collaborations and new work, celebrated 30 years of Claudia Brücken – none of it sounded old, all of it sounded new, revealing an adventurous narrative consistency to all of her work, whoever she collaborates with, and also a commitment to her own sense of style.
Claudia will be releasing a new solo album, her first for 20 years, this winter.
This Happened DVD Tracklisting
1) Backstage Stills by Glenn Gregory
2) Thank You – Official Video
Catalogue Number:
TTDVDCD001 – a There (there) production.
Running Time:
1hr 38m
http://www.claudiabrucken.co.uk/
This Happened will delight fans that were there and equally so the fans who really wished they had been. It is a sensational celebration of Claudia’s life in pop music from Propaganda to Onetwo and features a host of brilliant one off collaborations. The line-up reads like a who’s who of avant pop and includes Ralf Dörper and Susanne Freytag of Propoganda; Paul Humphreys of Onetwo and OMD; Andy Bell of Erasure standing in for Thomas Leer of Act; Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 and British minimalist composer Andrew Poppy.
Commenting on the DVD Claudia says:
I've worked, sung and written with some great musicians over the years. After the 'Combined' compilation album was released featuring favourite songs I'd sung solo, as part of Propaganda, Act and Onetwo, and in various collaborations, it seemed right to gather everyone together for a special one-off show. That's not as easy as it seems - getting Heaven 17, Andy Bell from Erasure, Ralf and Susanne from the original Propaganda, Andrew Poppy and Paul Humphreys from OMD together at the same time took some organising. But it happened, and it was filmed, so what turned out to be a pretty unique occasion, filled with some pretty special moments, can permanently exist. It took thirty years for such a show to happen - it won't take so long for the next one! There is also a DVD film of what turned out to be some fantastic memories. I called the DVD 'This Happened', because it was brilliant that it did, and the show was like a happening, a summing up of my favourite songs, and the fabulous people I've worked with. I'm very happy 'This Happened' exists, and I hope you are too.
WATCH // This Happened : Claudia Brücken and Guests Live at the Scala Trailer
After leaving Propaganda in 1985, Claudia formed the conceptual pop Act with respected electronic music pioneer Thomas Leer, producing a series of delirious hype-focused lost electro-classics that emerged out of and commented on the excess, eccentricity and effervescence of the 1980s, pointing the way ahead of their time to the dramatic electro-glitter world of Florence, Gaga and La Roux. Claudia further developed her own uncompromising personal electronic aesthetic with an album produced in 1991 for Island Records, Love: and a Million Other Things, and stuck to her synth guns throughout the 90s.
Her collaborations with Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17, Andy Bell of Erasure and Martin Gore of Depeche Mode emphasized her special identity as discreet, discerning electro icon, and her album of surprising, non-electro cover versions, Another Language, produced with composer Andrew Poppy for There(there), demonstrated her ability to interpret an unusual, or sometimes familiar, pop song with complete originality. The 21st century group she formed with Paul Humphreys of OMD, Onetwo, was the logical latest stage in her music, as much a direct follow up to Propaganda, Act and her solo work as it was a unique entity in its own right and a close, inventive relation to electro pop lords OMD. A recent comprehensive compilation of her work from Propaganda to Onetwo, Combined, also containing Act songs, solo songs, collaborations and new work, celebrated 30 years of Claudia Brücken – none of it sounded old, all of it sounded new, revealing an adventurous narrative consistency to all of her work, whoever she collaborates with, and also a commitment to her own sense of style.
Claudia will be releasing a new solo album, her first for 20 years, this winter.
This Happened DVD Tracklisting
- 01 Kiss like Ether
- 02 Sequentia
- 03 Dr Mabuse – (featuring Susanne Freytag and Ralf Dorper of Propaganda)
- 04 Absolut[e]
- 05 Cloud 9
- 06 Snobbery and Decay – (featuring Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17)
- 07 Temptation – (featuring Martyn Ware & Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17)
- 08 When your heart runs out of time – (featuring Martyn Ware and Glenn Gregory)
- 09 Running up that Hill – (featuring Andrew Poppy)
- 10 In Dreams – (featuring Andrew Poppy)
- 11 Dream within a Dream – (featuring Susanne Freytag)
- 12 p:Machinery – (featuring Susanne Freytag and Ralf Dorper)
- 13 Night School
- 14 Light the Way - (featuring Susanne Freytag)
- 15 Home (Tonight)
- 16 Delicious – (featuring Andy Bell of Erasure)
- 17 Absolutely Immune - (featuring Andy Bell)
- 18 Duel - (featuring Susanne Freytag)
- 19 Thank you
1) Backstage Stills by Glenn Gregory
2) Thank You – Official Video
Catalogue Number:
TTDVDCD001 – a There (there) production.
Running Time:
1hr 38m
http://www.claudiabrucken.co.
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