Group Modern Talking (Modern Talking). Modern Talking Biography Group mode

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Biography

In February 1983, Frenchman FR David presented his second single "Pick up the phone" ("Pick up the phone"). When Dieter Bohlen heard the first sounds of "Pick up the phone", he already knew that he would make a German version of this hit. But, he could not find the artist. He decided to call the song "Was macht das shon?" . One day, Dee received a letter from the Hansa record company, which said that this company had in mind one young performer whose songs were not very successful - Thomas Anders. Upon arrival in Hamburg, Thomas was delighted with Dieter's version of "Pick up the phone".
Thomas (who does not know - the real name is Bernd Weidung) was born on March 1, 1963 in Münstermeifilde, near Koblenz. At the age of 15, Thomas already had success, hitting the Michael Schanze television show - "Hatteh Sie heut" Zeit fur uns?", He got the opportunity to record his first single "Judi" ("Judy"). In September, he became friends with Thomas Oner and two other soloists of the group, which already with him (Thomas Anders) traveled all over Germany with concerts. But, the success ended as quickly as it began. And Thomas's father decided that it was better for his son to finish school. Thomas passed all the exams in 1982. Tommy then spent five semesters at the University, studying German and music.
In 1981, Thomas recorded 3 more singles: "Du weinst um ihn" ("You cry because of him"), "Ich will nicht dein leben", ("I can't live this life without you") "Es war die nacht der ersten Llebe" ("It was the night of first love"), Dieter and Thomas immediately liked each other. They made a great team in the studio. They often visited Dieter's house in Hamburg. Dieter recorded with Thomas the song "Wovon traumst du denn" ("Who do you dream about?") and it was with this song that Thomas "burst" into the charts (December 1, 1983). About 30,000 copies of this song have been sold. March 1984 "Endstation Sehnsucht" and "HeiBkalter Angel" were recorded (cover version of Real life - "Send me an ange1" ("Send me an angel")).
After such great job, Dieter decided to take a "breather" and relax (for the first time in 5 years) on the island of Mallorca. But, even on vacation, new ideas arose in Dieter's thoughts. One of these ideas became the European "shock" of 1985 - this is "You" re my heart, You "re my soul". This song lasted for a whole half a year in the spell of Germany.
And another idea came into the pretty head of Thomas - to create a duet!
When Dieter was vacationing in Mallorca, Thomas, along with his girlfriend Nora, vacationed in the Canary Islands, where they got engaged (August 6, 1984)
When they (Dieter and Thomas) both returned to Germany, they immediately began work on "You" re ..." and on the future duet - " Modern Talking". In October" 84g. the single was already ready, but ... in November "84, Thomas (on his Golf GTI car) got into a terrible accident. The car was literally flattened, but neither Thomas (thank God!), nor Nora were injured. And it was from this misfortune began "happiness" "Modern Talking". On January 17, "85, a video for "You" re my heart ..." was filmed and a few days later Dieter and Thomas already took part in musical programs. It was a real "breakthrough" for M.T. Finally, Dieter was on the coveted peak!...
In March "85, the second single "You can win ..." was released. All Dieter's songs have never lost their quality, neither then nor now. This applies to "Cheri ...", "Brother Louie", "Atlantis is calling ". The first album contains the song "There"s too much blue in missin"you" ("How much sadness in my soul when I miss you") - it is the only song performed by Dieter (in "Modem Talking"), Thomas on the choruses. "Modern Talking" became a worldwide success. But, soon the public began to notice that something was happening, Dieter began to complain that Thomas was practically not working (Dee worked 5 months on the 2nd album, and Thomas came only twice to record songs ...). One of the most important assistants to Dieter was and is Luis Rodriguez, who led the entire technical work and was also a sound engineer. But, for Dieter, Louis was not just a technical worker, but also a person who could always give advice about this or that song, this or that sound. Dieter always consulted with Louis. "Brother Louie" is dedicated specifically to Rodriguez.
While Dieter was working with "Modern Talking", he was also working with other bands. In 1985 he recorded "Keine Trane tut mir leid" ("I'm sorry for my tears") with Mary Rus. Together with S.S. Catch, Dieter achieved the same success as with "Modern Talking". Caroline Müller lived in the Bund but was born in the Netherlands. Dieter discovered her as a singer at the competition in Hamburg "Looking for Talents". That same evening, Dieter offered her a contract and became her producer. He also came up with her pseudonym - "C.C. Catch". In 1985 (summer), the single "I Can Lose My Heart" was released - her first hit. Together with dancers Dag, Dirk., and Pierre, CC Katch became the "queen" of disco. Dieter and Caroline worked together until 1989... 12 singles and 4 albums were released. Dieter also wrote "Midnight Lady" for Chris Norman. This song became the opening theme of the television series "Tatort". "Midnight Lady" brought Norman back to the stage. With all these projects, Dieter wanted to prove that "Modern Talking" was famous not for the voice and personality of the handsome Thomas Anders, because in "Modern Talking" everyone saw only Thomas, and did not notice that Dieter did everything. No one believed in the deep lyricism of Dieter's songs, no one could even imagine that Dieter really put deep meaning and life problems in their works, and it was just that.
So, "With a Little Love" is dedicated to Dieter's son Mark (born July 9 "85, he was named after the singer Marc Bolan), the same applies to "Give me peace on Earth". much attention to Thomas and Hope, these songs were not noticed.From the repertoire of "Blue System", the song "Crossing the river" ("Crossing the river"), is also dedicated to son Mark.
While Dieter and Luis were becoming a good "team", relations with Thomas gradually deteriorated. Their quarrels even occurred at concerts that were held throughout Europe. It soon became clear that Thomas could not stand stress. In the middle of "85, Thomas had a breakdown. When Thomas got better, he married Hope on July 27 "85, in Koblenz. Their wedding was a real show, with screams and tears of 3000 fans in a crowded church. Dieter was also invited, but he refused, because he went to the hospital to father who had a heart attack. But those who knew Dieter well understood that he was against all this hype around the wedding (Rolls-Royce near the church, a trip to Cannes, tea drinking with Princess Stephanie). Thomas was able to extend the contract for another 2 years (until late 1987) What Thomas did in his personal life did not interest Dieter, he was only interested in their general work. Once Thomas did not come to the television show "Formula One" (a prize was awarded for the song "Brother Louie"). And Thomas was also not present at the P.I.T show, but the day before the show he warned Dieter that he had jaundice.
May 27 "85" was supposed to start their tour of Germany, but this time there was no Dieter, who was injured playing tennis, the doctor advised him to rest for 2 weeks.
Thomas decided to start the tour on his own and the organizers didn't mind. Dieter had no choice but to admit that he was forgotten and only Thomas and Nora existed. But, Dieter was still famous and still tried to keep "Modern Talking". He had to admit that all his efforts did not materialize. Newspaper critics became even more critical and cynical. In addition, they wrote stories about Thomas, one more terrible than the other "Thomas was on edge and took decisive action against the journalists. But, everything was in vain. All the excuses of Thomas in response to journalists made him even more interesting and the newspapers were full of headlines about his actions against the media. Instead of keeping a proud silence, Thomas, on the contrary , made a real warrior with the press. By this, Thomas wanted to prove that he would not allow himself to be made a "fool", and defended not only himself, but also Dieter. But, the effect was the opposite, all his words were "distorted" in numerous articles. Dieter and Thomas spent less and less time together, and even when they received awards, there was always only one of them present. Last time they appeared together at the end of 1986. in Formula 1. It was the beginning of a huge tour, but "little warriors" walked between them all the time. One such scene took place at a concert in Munich, while the fans were screaming and waiting for them, a terrible quarrel began, but Dieter and Thomas still went on stage. Nora and her friend Jutta Temes also appeared on the stage. Then no one knew that Dieter took two girls to "sing along": Sylvia Zaniga and Biji Nandke, but the girls were kept by the guards (by Nora's order). In fact, when Nora saw Dieter's girls in the wardrobe, she was furious... and ordered them not to let the girls on stage.
Dieter was fed up with "that" Nora!!! When Dieter understood everything, he saw that Nora and Giutta defiantly left, and Thomas followed them ... So the concert ended and everyone understood what was happening ... Behind the scenes, Nora "poured" all the dirt on Dieter, she screamed loudly that even the fans in the hall could hear her. To this, Dieter only succinctly replied: "Of course, the girls I chose are not as beautiful as Nora, but they are part of Modern Talking, and she is" nobody "...". Nora irritated not only Dieter, but also all the media, even the fans of "Modern Talking", who, in turn, threw eggs and tomatoes at her at one of the concerts ... Dieter realized that "Modern Talking" had already ceased to exist. Thomas did not want to work together anymore, and Nora did not want to change her behavior, Dieter had to make an important decision ... He knew exactly what Nora wanted to make a trio out of "Modern Talking", but he really did not want to. Music and the future were very important to Dieter. Everything he achieved was at stake. Everyone understood that "M.T" had already disintegrated, but there was also a contract ... The group had to continue to exist whole year... Dieter began to plan his future without Thomas. In his studio, the songs he wanted to present after "Modern Talking" were already ready, Dee was looking for new musicians to work on a new project. At that time, "MT" had 5 singles. 6th single - "Geronimo"s Cadillac", the song was not so bad, but the press did its job. There were negative comments about the duet, especially because of Nora. She was not a member of M.T., but desperately tried to capture leadership of the group. Nobody liked her, but she was everywhere and always with Thomas, she decided when to photograph Thomas and Dieter. When she was with Thomas, she decided who he would give an interview
With each new article, hatred for Hope grew, and therefore for Thomas and Dieter too. For Dieter, "MT" no longer existed. Dieter was famous in America, England, and many wanted him to become their producer. "Modern Talking" disappeared in 1987... Two years later, on a show, Dieter said it was Nora's fault. Nora tried to take part in the same show, but they only laughed at her. Because of this incident, M.T. lost $200,000. 1987 - the end of "Modern Talking". The last two albums have been released: "Romantic Warriors" (June), "In The Garden Of Venus" (November).

Beginning in 1994, the BMG bosses stubbornly suggested to DIETER BOHLEN to make peace with THOMAS ANDERS and how to think about the revival of the gold-bearing duet. But every time BOLEN refused. And then came 1998. DITER's business went from bad to worse - the albums of his solo project BLUE SYSTEM sold worse and worse every year. If until recently he could easily sell 400-500 thousand copies of his solo albums, then the latest BLUE SYSTEM albums "Body To Body" and "Here I Am" stayed on the charts for a total of two months, dispersing 150 thousand pieces each. Things were a little better for his sponsored teams. In particular, TOUCHE, whose debut album "Part One" only lasted eight weeks on the German charts, never rose above number 35. And this is in the golden era of boy bands! And therefore, in the current situation, BOLEN simply had no other choice but to try to enter the same river a second time.

The beginning of the reunion of the legend of the 80s was laid by a non-binding phone call DIETHER: "Hello, Thomas! How are you? I want to invite you to Hamburg." The conversation was continued in one of the Hamburg fast food restaurants over a portion of selected fried potatoes with goulash. THOMAS at first broke a little for decency: "Dieter, you're crazy, who needs us today?" But, in the end, Bolen's arguments still outweighed, and in March 1998, the newly reborn duet performed in the most popular German television show "Wetten Dass...?" with a medley made up of their immortal No. 1 hits.

Soon a single with a modernized remake for the most famous hit group "You" re My Heart, You "re My Soul "98", which took 2nd place in the German single charts and stayed there for a total of 21 weeks (of which 13 weeks in the TOP 20). In the consolidated European charts, the composition reached the ninth places, taking the honorable 28th place in 1998. The song becomes No. 1 in Turkey, Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary, Argentina, Spain, Croatia and Albania, No. 2 in Israel, Austria and Lithuania, No. 3 in France and the Czech Republic; #4 in Switzerland and Greece, #6 in Sweden, #8 in Finland and Ireland, #10 in Belgium, #11 in Macedonia, #17 in Hong Kong.

An even greater triumph awaited the album "Back For Good"! On the first day, 180,000 copies were sold in Germany alone. The album takes a well-deserved first place in the German album charts, where it will stay for 5 weeks. In total, "Back For Good" was in the DEUTSCHLAND ALBUM TOP 100 for 52 weeks! Other countries did not lag behind Germany - the album took 1st place in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Turkey, Argentina, South Africa, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Poland, Malaysia, Latvia and Estonia, 2 3rd in France, Belgium and Denmark, 3rd in Holland, 4th in Taiwan, 6th in Spain, 7th in Portugal, 9th in Italy, 15th in Israel. In EUROPEAN ALBUM CHARTS "Back For Good", as well as in Germany, stayed on the first line for 5 weeks, taking the 8th place at the end of the year. As for global sales, here too the seventh album of MODERN TALKING turned out to be on top - second place in the world charts and 4th place in 1998.

The second single "Brother Louie "98" also achieved excellent results, as well as "You" re My Heart, You "re My Soul "98" recorded with the participation of American rapper ERIK SINGLETON - No. 16 in Germany (4 weeks in the TOP 20 and 11 weeks in the TOP 100), #1 in Turkey, Argentina and Hungary, #2 in France and Spain, #5 in Lithuania, #7 in the Czech Republic, #9 in Sweden, #10 in Greece and Slovakia, #12 in Hong Kong, No. 17 in Austria, No. 21 in Switzerland, No. 51 in Holland and 12th in the European charts. This was not the first experience of collaboration between DITER and ERIK - in 1997 they released two joint singles in the style of EURO-HIP-HOP, within the framework of the COOL CUT and G-TRAXX projects.

As for the "Back For Good" album itself, from a nostalgic point of view it was of much greater value than from a musical point of view. Most remakes of old hits were made by standard recipe BOLEN-RODRIGUEZ and was intended mainly for fans of the new call, who knew MODERN TALKING only from the stories of their parents or vinyl records and films worn to holes. Old fans were much more interested in new songs. And there were only four of them for "Back For Good": "I Will Follow You" - a completely traditional Bolenov ballad, "Don" t Play With My Heart "- a typical medium-tempo boy band hit a la BACKSTREET BOYS or "N SYNC and two EUROPROGRESSIVE-style tracks "We Take The Chance" and "Anything Is Possible" that would have found a place on the latest BLUE SYSTEM album "Here I Am" next to "I Miss You" and "Don"t Do That ". So, as it will be easy to see, even in his new songs BOLEN focused primarily on the youth audience.

The new composition "We Take The Chance", written especially for the World Cup in France, came under furious fire from critics. Let me remind you that all the fuss then flared up because of the first TWO bars borrowed by SICK from the introduction legendary hit 1986 "The Final Countdown" once popular Swedish group EUROPE. But the thing is that under international copyright law, borrowing the first FOUR bars is considered plagiarism. So from the point of view of the law, SICK turned out to be completely clean. DITER himself, in his interviews, blamed the customers of this football anthem, who "they asked for it to be like in EUROPE". Perhaps the composer understood them really too literally, but, nevertheless, this scandal influenced the sales of new MODERN TALKING releases in the most positive way.

The third single from the "Back For Good" album was "Space Mix", previously released as a promotional single called "We Take Chance". In addition to the scandalous composition, it included a new version of "You Can Win If You Want" and the "Space Mix" itself, which was a potpourri composed of the group's most popular hits and recorded with Erik SINGLETON. The single became #4 in Hungary, #14 in France, #15 in Greece, #19 in Argentina, #34 in Belgium. Surprisingly, in the countries that are the main consumers of MODERN TALKING's music products - in Germany, Austria and Switzerland - "Space Mix" was not released at all.

Alone (1999)

Most MODERN TALKING fans have been waiting for this album with great anticipation and excitement. After all, it's one thing to leave due to nostalgia for the eighties, and quite another to write a full-fledged album, consisting entirely of completely new songs that can interest both old fans who were brought up on the music of the 80s, and a new generation of fans. And, despite the fact that the task before the musicians was then daunting, on the whole they successfully coped with it.

Absolutely new single MODERN TALKING "You Are Not Alone", made in the style of updated remakes from the album "Back For Good", immediately takes off to 7th place on the German single charts, where it will stay for 15 weeks. The composition becomes No. 1 in Moldova, No. 4 in Slovenia, Hungary and Norway, No. 5 in Spain, Argentina and Austria, No. 6 in Latvia, No. 8 in Finland, No. 11 in Greece, No. 12 in Switzerland, No. 13 in France, No. 15 in Sweden, No. 24 in the Czech Republic, No. 36 in Brazil. In the pan-European charts "You Are Not Alone" gets to 19th place and for 18 weeks will last in the top 100 in Europe.

The success of the eighth album "Alone" was quite comparable to the triumph of a year ago "Back For Good" - four weeks No. 1 and 27 weeks in the DEUTSCHLAND ALBUM TOP 100. It is curious that all the first four weeks of sales of "Alone" the duo's seventh album " was still in the top 100 albums in Germany, balancing between the sixth and ninth ten! In Europe, "Alone" reaches number 6, and in the global charts, the album takes an honorable 8th place. As in the case of the single "You Are Not Alone", the eighth album of the German superduo easily conquers the TOP 5 and TOP 10 of the vast majority European countries, plus the charts of Argentina, Taiwan and Malaysia traditionally loyal to the work of MODERN TALKING (No. 1 in Estonia, Latvia, Turkey, Argentina, Hungary, No. 2 in Austria and the Czech Republic, No. 3 in Switzerland, No. 4 in Finland and Poland, No. 5 in Sweden, No. 6 Greece, No. 8 Malaysia, No. 9 South Korea, Taiwan and Norway, No. 11 France, No. 13 Spain, No. 15 Slovakia, No. 17 South Africa, No. 6 Europe and No. 8 worldwide charts).

The second single "Sexy Sexy Lover" also sold well, as well as "You Are Not Alone" made in the style of the modernized EURODISCO or, as it is also called, DISCO-NRG - No. 15 and 9 weeks in the TOP 100 in Germany, No. 9 in Finland and Hungary, #10 in Latvia, #19 in Spain, #20 in Argentina, #25 in Sweden, #27 in Austria, #35 in Switzerland and #63 in Europe.

More singles from "Alone" were not released, although such compositions as "Rouge Et Noir" and in particular "Can" t Get Enough" were quite capable of blowing up the TOP 10 of any of the European or Latin American countries. What can I say - almost the entire eighth the album turned out to be extremely even and hit - in the best traditions of the duo's classic LPs. Most of the dance compositions from "Alone" were performed in the spirit of the modernized EURODISCO. new compositions of MODERN TALKING with "Back For Good", was further developed in the newest track "I Can" t Give You More". In addition, for the first time a numbered MODERN TALKING album could boast such a rich tracklist - in the eighties, such a number of songs for BOLEN would have been more than enough for two full-fledged numbered albums.

Another feature of "Alone" was the rather active participation of THOMAS ANDERS in the creation musical material for the album. So, with his direct participation, four compositions were written - "Love Is Like A Rainbow" and "For Always And Ever" (music and lyrics), "It Hurts So Good" and "I" ll Never Give You Up "(text only ).

The eighth album of MODERN TALKING concludes with an extended 17-minute version of "Space Mix", released in 1998 as a separate maxi-single.

"Year Of The Dragon" (2000)

1998 and 1999 became one of the most successful years in the career of MODERN TALKING and Dieter Bohlen in particular. As in the good old days, the group occupied the top lines of the charts in the vast majority of countries, received a lot of gold and platinum awards around the world. MODERN TALKING receives well-deserved THE WORLD MUSIC AWARD and ECHO (the German equivalent of GRAMMY). To top it all off, the Pope himself, JOHN PAUL II, offers THOMAS and DITER to compose music for his own CD (he composed poetry on religious and political subjects himself). Moreover, among other candidates for participation in this project were such star names as WHITNEY HOUSTON, MICHAEL BOLTON, ARETA FRANKLIN and RICKY MARTIN. Of the negative moments, one can only note the car accident that DIETER BOHLEN got into together with NADJA ABDEL FARRAG and the attack on DIETER by his beloved Rottweiler DICKIE.

In February 2000, a new single "China In Her Eyes" was released, which is almost identical in style to last year's "You Are Not Alone" and "Sexy Sexy Lover". And in terms of its European sales, it was easy to see that, in general, Europe had already managed to get enough of the revived MODERN TALKING. In Germany, the composition takes 8th place in the first single hundred, where it will stay for only nine weeks. As for other countries, the situation was as follows - No. 1 in Moldova, No. 3 in Estonia, No. 6 in Spain, No. 7 in Hungary, No. 9 in Latvia, No. 20 in Switzerland, No. 22 in Austria, No. 24 in Greece, #26 in Sweden and #49 in Europe. Compared to previous works, not much.

Well, in March, the ninth album of the duo "Year Of The Dragon", dedicated to the upcoming MILLENNIUM, finally goes on sale. In Germany, the album never managed to rise above number 3 and stayed on the charts for 18 weeks. Despite the relative decline in public interest in the work of the group, the album still manages to take worthy places in the charts of many European countries - No. 1 in Turkey and Estonia, No. 3 in Hungary and Poland, No. 4 in Switzerland, No. 5 in Austria, No. 7 in Czech Republic, No. 14 in Bulgaria, No. 22 in Finland and Greece, No. 26 in Norway, No. 28 in Sweden, No. 10 in Europe and No. 16 in the global charts.

In May 2000, the revived group will face the first serious commercial failure - the second single from the new album "Don" t Take Away My Heart "for the first time in the history of the project does not fall into the German TOP 40, hopelessly frozen in place 41. I think what to talk about European sales are not even worth it - No. 8 in Hungary, No. 18 in Latvia and Moldova, No. 20 in Estonia.Although the video for this composition was filmed simply gorgeous.

The album itself in many respects became a logical continuation of "Alone", except that in stylistic terms it turned out to be much more diverse - in addition to the tracks typical of the new MODERN TALKING in the spirit of the modernized EURODISCO with elements of EUROENERGY, here you can also find compositions in the style of POP-LATINO ("No Face No Name No Number" and ITALO-DANCE ("Part Time Lover", enjoy samples a la ATB ("I"m Not Guilty", MOLOKO ("Walking In The Rain Of Paris" and even E-ROTIC ("Fly To The Moon". As in the case of "Alone", "Year Of The Dragon" could easily be split into two full numbered albums without any noticeable loss in quality.

But, one way or another, even with all its rough edges and frank stylistic blunders, "Year Of The Dragon" can quite safely be considered the best MODERN TALKING album after the reunion. Perhaps, since the time of "Romantic Warriors" the musicians have not been able to create an album that captures the soul to such an extent and penetrates our consciousness literally from the very first chords.

"America" ​​(2001)

The year 2001 became one of the most significant and turning points not only in the history of MODERN TALKING, but also in the career of DITER BOLEN himself. First of all, BOLEN parted ways with his faithful "squire" LUIS RODRIGUEZ, who for sixteen long years determined the sound of all his projects, polished and brought to mind each Bolen work. official reason the termination of their cooperation, voiced in the press - "problems with the sound recording device at LUIS". Soon DITER will face another no less serious loss - almost simultaneously with RODRIGUEZ, three other key figures leave him - ROLF KOHLER, MICHAEL SCHOLZ and DETLEF WIEDEKE, who have also plowed on him in the studio all these years, playing the role of his "studio voices". It was their backing vocals that sounded in the choruses of almost all the compositions of BLUE SYSTEM, MODERN TALKING and C.C. CATCH. Subsequently, they will create their own musical project called SYSTEMS IN BLUE.

It would seem that after so many impressive blows of fate on any other musical project one could safely put an end to it, but not on MODERN TALKING! Soon the musicians received a very timely proposal from the organizers of Formula 1 to write an anthem for one of the next stages of these most popular races. And the musicians enthusiastically set to work. Moreover, BOLEN manages to quickly find a more than worthy replacement for RODRIGUEZ in the person of the legendary producer AXEL BRIGHTUNG, who made a name for himself thanks to successful work with superstars like DJ BOBO, SILENT CIRCLE, REDNEX, INDRA and X-PERIENCE. The result was not long in coming - the pompous disco march "Win The Race" instantly hits the German TOP 10 and in two weeks rises to 5th place, becoming the most successful single in the recent history of MODERN TALKING since "You" re My Heart, You "re My Soul "98" and "You Are Not Alone". This composition lasted 13 weeks in the TOP 100. Also, "Win The Race" becomes No. 1 in Romania, No. 4 in Hungary, No. 9 in Estonia, No. 13 in Poland, No. 14 in Austria, No. 15 in Moldova, No. 16 in Argentina, No. 20 in Latvia, No. 28 in the Czech Republic, No. 31 in Switzerland, No. 36 in Sweden, No. 34 in Europe and No. 35 in the global charts. The popularity of the new single was greatly facilitated by a chic remix made by another living German musical legend - the SCOOTER trio, whose unexpected creative alliance with EURODISCO veterans looked symbolic in many respects, demonstrating the continuity of generations in dance music.

Most of the tracks included in MODERN TALKING's tenth numbered album "America" ​​were created by a completely new studio team, which included AXEL BREITUNG, THORSTEN BROTZMANN, BULENT ARIS, ELEPHANT, JEO, LALO TITENKOV, AMADEO CROTTI. Some of these musicians, in particular BROTZMANN and TITENKOV, were previously engaged by BOLEN as session musicians and sound engineers for the recording of MODERN TALKING and BLUE SYSTEM albums. But from that moment on, they were given much more creative freedom, and their official studio status was upgraded to co-producers and arrangers. As for LUIS RODRIGUEZ, he was directly involved in the creation of only one single track, and even then not the most successful - "Rain In My Heart". Surprisingly, the renewal of the castrati choir was also painless - from now on CHRISTOPH LEIS-BENDORFF and WILLIAM KING become the main "studio voices" of DITER BOLEN, which fit almost perfectly into the overall sound palette of the group. And so perfect that most fans didn't even notice. It is curious that the notorious NINO DE ANGELO became one of the auxiliary backing vocalists of "America".

The second single "Last Exit To Brooklyn", as expected, was not as successful as "Win The Race" - #2 in Estonia, #8 in Hungary, #11 in Moldova, #37 in Germany, #44 in Austria, number 94 in Switzerland. After a short break, much to the displeasure of the old fans of the band, ERIK SINGLETON again took part in the recording of the composition. By the way, not so long ago, good for everyone famous program"Maximum" tried to inflate a small scandal because of the alleged similarity of the refrains of "Last Exit To Brooklyn" by MODERN TALKING and "Work Your Magic" by DIMMA KOLDUN. Moreover, not just anyone, but THOMAS ANDERS himself was invited there as an expert. As a result, the parties agreed that "remotely resembles", but no more. In fact, if the creators of this show knew a little about the history of the EURODISCO style, they would probably know that the "original source" of both compositions is the same - "Little Russian" by the Italian project MR. ZIVAGO.

Despite the fact that "America" ​​turned out to be somewhat more successful than "Year Of The Dragon" in the chart and commercial terms (#1 in Bulgaria, Turkey and Latvia, #2 in Germany and Estonia, #5 in Hungary, #7 in Austria, No. 8 in the Czech Republic and Slovenia, No. 10 in Switzerland, No. 19 in Poland, No. 25 in Greece, No. 37 in Sweden, No. 9 in European and global charts), from a musical point of view, she noticeably lost to him - rather predictable melodies, more partly borrowed from the BLUE SYSTEM repertoire and more early albums MODERN TALKING, unpretentious arrangements, very far from EURODISCO standards.

One of the best and most memorable tracks on the album was, not surprisingly, the composition "I Need You Now", written entirely by THOMAS ANDERS. Maybe when you want! And so, except for "New York City Girl", woven from pieces of SILENT CIRCLE, DJ BOBO and EIFFEL 65, there is, perhaps, nothing more to catch on here. Apparently, after all, it’s not the fate of BOLEN to conquer America

Victory (2002)

2002 marked the beginning of the events that were destined to play in the future fatal role in the fate of MODERN TALKING, bringing the matter to the second and this time the final breakup of the duo. And it all started with the fact that during the tour in 2002, THOMAS ANDERS began to frankly "rat". Suppose limousine drivers are entitled to 75-100 euros per nose per day (the cars themselves were rented at the expense of sponsors), but a completely different figure is prescribed in the cost estimate, suppose 750-1000 euros. It is easy to calculate how much the difference will be, and in whose pocket it will smoothly move. Or another example - a free hotel room, again at the expense of sponsors (plus non-existent bodyguards), on paper costs the group already several thousand euros. And so in every city where the tour takes place. Of course, alone, without the support of the "Barzini and Tataglia families", it would have been impossible for THOMAS to pull off such a scam - the soloist of MODERN TALKING was in collusion with the manager responsible for all expenses and general planning of concerts during the tour. And if it weren't for the organizer of the tour itself, BURGARD ZALMANN, who opened DITER's eyes to Tomas's tricks in time, it is quite possible that this sweet couple (Thomas & Manager) would have been filling their bins for a long time at Bolenovsky's expense.

However, in the life of MODERN TALKING in 2002 there were much more pleasant moments, namely, their new songs. The duet's next single was another sports disco march "Ready For The Victory", which took 7th place in the German single charts and almost repeated the success of last year's "Win The Race" - the composition lasted 11 weeks in the TOP 100. In the rest of the world, the results were also very good - No. 2 in Estonia, No. 3 in Hungary, No. 11 in Spain, No. 13 in South Korea, No. 20 in Austria and Moldova, No. 21 in Romania, No. 31 in Latvia, No. 62 in Switzerland and #33 in Europe.

The new eleventh album "Victory" was worked on by basically the same studio team as on "America". Among the new names in the booklet appear only KAY M. NICKOLD and WERNER BECKER. As in the case of the album "America", DIETER BOHLEN completely withdrew himself from the arrangements, giving carte blanche to Axel Breitung, TORSTEN BROTSMAN and LALO TITENKOV. And this time Bohlen's experiment was a 100% success. In terms of hits, the album is practically not inferior to "Alone" and "Year Of The Dragon", and in terms of arrangement moves and stylistic finds, perhaps even surpasses them in some way. It is especially worth highlighting here a rather bold track in the style of VOCAL-EUROTRANCE "I"m Gonna Be Strong", created not without the influence of the super hit "Heaven" by DJ SAMMY, the killer EURODANCE action movie "When The Sky Rained Fire", in the crazy energy of which BRIGHTUNG's eurodance past and simply chic EURODISCO-composition "Mrs. Robota", with its sophisticated melody reminiscent of early work groups. There is also another sports anthem "10 Seconds To Countdown", originally even planned as the first single. And intense studio work has borne fruit - for the first time since 1999, the new numbered album MODERN TALKING takes first place in the German national charts. In addition, "Victory" becomes No. 1 in Estonia and Latvia, No. 7 in Austria, No. 10 in Hungary, No. 14 in Switzerland and Poland, No. 18 in the Czech Republic, No. 20 in Argentina, No. 37 in Greece, No. 74 in Denmark and #9 in Europe.

In April 2002, the second single from the album "Victory" was released, and on the track that the fans least expected to see as such - it was the DISCO-HOUSE-style composition "Juliet". Main Feature this single was that for the first time in the history of MODERN TALKING we witnessed the appearance of a non-album b-side - "Down On My Knees", performed at the junction of EURODISCO / EUROENERGY styles, in the spirit of MODERN TALKING of the Breitung period. And I must say that this single sold much better than the second singles from the last two albums - No. 3 in Hungary, No. 4 in Paraguay, No. 21 in Latvia, No. 25 in Germany, No. 30 in Estonia, No. 42 in Austria, No. 83 in Switzerland and Europe.

"Universe" (2003)

All good things come to an end sooner or later. So the second coming of MODERN TALKING has come to its logical conclusion. A long five years THOMAS ANDERS and DIETER BOHLEN have been delighting us with their new songs, releasing six amazing albums and many singles. Of course, not all of their latest creations can be compared with such classic masterpieces of the group as "Brother Louie" or "Cheri Cheri Lady", but, nevertheless, the fact remains - the group managed to acquire a whole army of new, very young fans, and , and thanks to their latest albums. And from now on, it is with these songs that many people will associate both the work of the group itself and the years of life spent under this wonderful music.

The album "Universe" became the twelfth numbered album in the history of the project and the sixth since its reunion. From a melodic point of view, the disc looks simply flawless, and almost any composition from it, with proper promotion, could become a 100% hit. But as for the arrangements, here the feeling of "déjà vu" does not leave us for almost all forty-four minutes, and that is how long this disc lasts. And if the GRAMMY award was awarded in the "plagiarism of the year" nomination, then this record would hardly have serious competitors.

One way or another, but the album "Universe" set a kind of record of "borrowing" from the latest work of such "heroes of our days" as BRITNEY SPEARS ("TV Makes The Superstar", IN-GRID ("I" m No Rockefeller", JENNIFER LOPEZ ("Mystery", WESTLIFE ("Knocking On My Door", KYLIE MINOGUE ("Nothing But The Truth" and AQUAGEN ("Superstar") hand", which, of course, could not but affect the level of sales of "Universe" - it hardly reached "platinum". In Germany, the album became the second (12 weeks in the TOP 100), No. 1 in Latvia, No. 4 in Estonia , No. 10 in Austria, No. 19 in the Czech Republic, No. 20 in Poland, No. 24 in Hungary, No. 25 in Switzerland and No. 11 in Europe.

But even despite the fact that the album itself became the most disastrous recent history group, the first and only single from it, "TV Makes The Superstar", released in the wake of the popularity of the television show "Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar", was sold in the amount of 250 thousand copies, which automatically led to the award of him "gold" status. The song about how "cool you got on RTL" reached the second line of the German national charts, by the way, for the first time since 1998, and became a kind of " swan song"the most successful pop duo in world history. Along the way, the single takes 4th place in Hungary, 9th in Moldova, 15th in Austria, 20th in Latvia, 25th in Lithuania, 32nd in Estonia, 55

The Modern Talking group throughout its existence was not only one of the most popular, but also the most influential group of the eighties.

To be precise, the Modern Talking group was a duet consisting of two soloists - Thomas Anders and Dieter Bohlen.

Dieter Bohlen, after graduating from the university, received the specialty of a business economist, participated in youth musical groups, where he wrote about 200 songs. Interestingly, the maternal grandmother of the singer was of Russian origin. Dieter, in his youth, constantly made attempts to find work in recording studios, sending them his demos. After many attempts, luck smiled at him - Dieter was hired by the music publishing house Intersong, where he worked as a producer and musician.

Before meeting Thomas Anders, Bohlen was a member of the bands Monza, Sunday, collaborated with Katya Ebstein, Bernd Klüver, and also released his own singles.

Bernd Weidung (real name Thomas Anders) was born in the town of Münstermeifelde. The boy was lucky, as his father encouraged him in every possible way music lessons. Bernd actively studied to play the guitar and piano, graduated from the university with a degree in German language and literature.

In 1980, his debut song Judy was released, at the same time the singer came up with his stage name. In 1981, there was a historical acquaintance with Dieter Bohlen, who at that time was a novice producer looking for a vocalist to record a cover of the F.R. David song.

The recorded song was the beginning of a fruitful collaboration - 1983-84 was marked by the release of five German-language singles, one of which hit the German charts. To achieve international recognition, Dieter takes the initiative to record an English-language song "Catch Me I'm Falling". However, no one knew the names of the musicians yet - the project was known as Headliner.

The musicians became famous after the hit "You're My Heart, You're My Soul". This song "Modern Talking" is their calling card by which they are recognized in all corners of the world. After the stormy fame that fell on the heads of the musicians, Adidas signs a contract with Dieter.

In 1985, Modern Talking recorded their first collaboration " The First Album", the vocals on which are mainly by Thomas. The record was a resounding success - the group received gold and platinum discs a total of 75 pieces.

In the autumn of the same year, another song "Modern Talking" was released, without which it is difficult to imagine their era: "Cheri, Cheri Lady".

The group was rapidly gaining momentum in Europe, but Bohlen yearned to become popular in the US and the UK. His dream was helped by the songs "Brother Louie" and "Atlantis Is Calling", which reached the Canadian and English charts.

"Modern Talking" songs which everyone knew by heart, at that time sounded in every house in Europe.

Despite prosperity and fame, friction arises between Thomas and Dieter, which caused the breakup in 1986. The official reason for the breakup is disagreement with the recording of backing vocalists. Although there were rumors in the press that the real reason was the too ambitious wife of Thomas Nora Balling. By the way, a curious fact: after marriage, the singer took her last name.

The group lasted another year, releasing two albums during this time, and after the completion of the contract, they disbanded. After the collapse of Modern Talking, Dieter switched to his brainchild Blue System, which the singer created even before the collapse of Modern Talking.

The reunion of the group took place in 1998, which the musicians noted with the album "Back For Good". In the new album "Modern Talking", remixes of old hits occupied the main part, and were diluted with only four new compositions.

A present for the fans was the Modern Talking concert, where the soloists were accompanied by Blue System musicians.

In the period from 1999 to 2003, five more records were released, which received a warm response from the audience.

A surprise for fans and the leadership of the group was Bohlen's statement about the breakup of the group, made at one of the concerts in 2003: “I must say that the group is over. Thomas and I decided to go our separate ways." According to Dieter, the reason for the collapse was Thomas' tour in the United States, without agreement with a colleague.

Fans agreed that the reason for the collapse was the fall in album sales and Bohlen's desire to engage in his own projects.

However, the musicians could not just leave their fans - in 2003, The Final Album was released, which collected the best songs of the duet recorded during the entire existence of the group.

The personal life of musicians is not as successful as their careers. Dieter Bohlen lived most of his life with Erica Sauerland, who gave him three children. After a divorce from his wife, Dieter married Verona Felbusch in 1996, but did not live with her even a year.

But the musician is quite philosophical about success in all aspects of life: “Before you know victory, you will experience many more failures. Success is the exception and failure is the rule. On the way to success, you will fall a thousand times, but it is important to be able to rise.”

Thomas Anders also could not devote his life to one woman - after breaking up with Nora, in 2000 he married Claudia Hess, and two years later the couple had a son.

Despite the fact that the Modern Talking group no longer exists, and the paths of the musicians have diverged, their joint work has become a bright contribution to contemporary art.

Music "Modern Talking" and to this day is dearly loved by millions of fans.

Clip Modern Talking "You're my heart you're my soul"

Thomas Anders is a German pop artist, lead singer of Modern Talking, composer, performer of the songs "You're My Heart, You're My Soul", "Cheri, Cheri Lady", "Brother Louie". Thomas was born on March 1, 1963 in the small German town of Munstermeifelde, not far from Koblenz, in the family of Burgomaster Peter Weidung, a financier by education. The boy was born with the name Berndhart Weidung. The mother of the future singer Helga Weidung was engaged in entrepreneurship - she kept a cafe and a shop along the highway to Koblenets. In the family, in addition to Bernd, the eldest son Achim and the youngest daughter Tanya-Katrin were brought up.

From the age of 7, Bernd began his studies in general education and music schools Münstermaifeld. For several years, the boy mastered playing the piano and guitar, repeatedly became a laureate music competitions and festivals. From an early age, Bernd sang in the church choir. In high school, Weidung transferred to the Koblenz Gymnasium.

Music

In 1979, Bernd became a laureate of the Radio Luxembourg competition, and a year later he made his debut with the single "Judy" and immediately on the recommendation of the producers recording studio adopted a sonorous pseudonym. The name for the scene Bernd chose together with his brother, using the telephone directory. The surname Anders was the first on the list, and the brothers considered the name Thomas international.

In a year young artist invited to broadcast music show Michael Shants. In 1983, a meeting with a musician took place. It took the singers a year to unite in a joint project called "Modern Talking".

"Modern Talking"

The first single of the new disco group "You're My Heart, You're My Soul", which was included in the debut album "The First Album", was the discovery of the year. The song held the leading position in the European popular music rating for six months, and the disc itself was sold daily in the amount of 40,000 copies.

The musicians became winners and laureates of international music awards, and each appearance at the concert of the band's frontman Thomas Anders caused a storm of delight among the fans. The soloist of Modern Talking, having an attractive appearance and a slender figure (Thomas's height is 172 cm, weight is 84 kg), became a real sex symbol of that time.

The musicians signed the first contract for three years. During this time, Thomas and Dieter released six records, among which the first four received the greatest popularity: "The First Album", "Let's Talk About Love", "Ready for Romance", "In the Middle of Nowhere".

Thomas Anders in duet "Modern Talking"

In 1987, after the expiration of the contract, the group broke up, and each of the leaders musical group began solo career. But neither Thomas nor Dieter managed to repeat the success of Modern Talking, so in 1998 the musicians resumed their creative union. The group's musical style changed to techno and eurodance: the first album after the break, "Back For Good", contained mainly dance tracks and remixes of previous hits.

In 1999, the duo received an award for music festival in Monte Carlo in the nomination "The best-selling German group in the world." Soon 4 more discs appeared: "Alone", "Year of the Dragon", "America", "Victory and Universe". To diversify the sound, rap artist Eric Singleton was invited to the group. Fans did not like the new trio, so the clips in which the rapper participated were re-shot. In 2003, the group ended its existence.

Solo career

Work in the disco group Modern Talking played a positive role in the development of the creative biography of Thomas Anders, and the singer was able to achieve the same success on his own only in the 2000s. After the first breakup of the band, the musician leaves for America with his wife. For 10 years, Thomas has released six solo albums: "Different", "Whispers", "Down On Sunset", "When Will I See You Again", "Barcos de cristal" and "Souled".

In the early 90s, Anders recorded the songs "Waiting So Long", "I Believe", "The Sweet Hello", "The Sad Goodbye", "Can't Give You Anything". In 1993, Thomas Anders gained acting experience by starring in the films Stockholm Marathon and Phantom Pain. Working in the USA, the singer tries himself in various musical directions: Latino, soul, lyrics, ballad style, jazz.

In the second half of the 90s, Thomas mastered the dance direction, working on joint projects Phantomas and Chain Reaction. In 1997, Anders recorded a live jazz concert, the full video of which was distributed only among members of the singer's fan club.

Thomas Anders and the Scorpions in Moscow

After the second breakup of the Modern Talking group in 2003, Anders began his solo career again. Together with the production center that worked with, the artist creates the album "This time". The singer gives concerts big cities USA (Atlantic City, New Jersey, New York and Chicago), gives a joint concert with Scorpions on Red Square in Moscow.

For the second disc “Songs Forever”, the artist reworks a number of compositions from the mid-80s, performing them in a swing style, accompanied by symphony orchestra. In the same year, a disc from the series "The DVD Collection" was released, which included all the videos shot over a 20-year period. musical career Thomas Anders.

In 2009, the duet of Thomas Anders and the star of the 80s singer Sandra "The Night Is Still Young" was released as a single. A year later, the premiere of the album "Strong" took place, which was created specifically for the Russian fans of the singer.

A number of pop songs "Why do you cry?", "Stay with me", "My Angel", "Sorry, Baby" provide the disc with double platinum status and second place in the Russian rating of pop artists. In support of the album, Thomas Anders conducts a large tour of the cities of Russia Strong Tour. In 2012, the singer publishes the collection "Christmas for You", consisting of 4 new compositions and a number of cover versions of Christmas-themed hits.

Personal life

Thomas Anders is married for the second time. The first wife of the singer was the aristocrat Eleanor (Nora) Balling. The wedding of young people took place in 1984, the wedding - a year later. Nora had a strong influence on her husband, she often interfered in the creative process of Modern Talking.

Educated as a cosmetologist-make-up artist, Balling participated in creating the image of her husband. In 1987, the couple moved to the California coast, since 1994 the relationship of the spouses was completely upset, and in 1998 a divorce took place.

In 1996, Thomas met Claudia Hess, who became his translator. The easy nature of the girl attracted the artist, and soon the young people began to meet, and in 2000 they got married. Two years after the wedding, Thomas and Claudia had a son, Alexander Mick Weidung. Now Thomas is satisfied with his personal life and career and calls himself a happy person, which is confirmed by joint family photos appearing regularly in the media.

Thomas Anders now

In 2016, Thomas Anders delighted fans with the release of the History disc, which, in addition to the hits of past years, included two new songs, Lunatic and Take the Chance, recorded in the style of Modern Talking. The Russian premiere of the album took place in Moscow in the Great Hall of Crocus City Hall. The online broadcast of the performance of the idol of the 80s was held on the radio "Retro-FM".

In 2017, the artist released the next album "Pures Leben", all the songs of which were performed on German. In the same year, a video clip for the hit "Der Beste Tag Meines Lebens" was released.

Discography

• "Different" - 1989
• "Whispers" - 1991
• "Down On Sunset" - 1992
• "When Will I See You Again" - 1993
• "Barcos de Cristal" - 1994
• "Souled" - 1995
• "This time" - 2004
• "Songs Forever" - 2006
• "Strong" - 2010
• "Christmas for You" - 2012
• "History" - 2016
• "Pures Leben" - 2017

"Founding Fathers" of European disco of the 80s, the German duet of Thomas Anders and Dieter Bohlen, Modern Talking - before today so far the most successful pop artists from Germany. In addition to them, they could only escape from the local to the world stage, but in a completely different genre.

The duet reached its greatest fame in the second half of the 80s, and the collapse in 87 only increased their popularity, the group became a cult group and had a great influence on the development of pop music. After 11 years, in 1998, Modern Talking reunited, but broke up again five years later, in 2003.

Thomas and Dieter met in Hamburg in 1983 when young composer Bohlen needed a vocalist for his song.

During the year they released five singles, all in German. even managed to sell a good circulation - 30 thousand copies. However, Bohlen understood that without in English they will never rise above the German stage. We started, as usual, with covers, and the first original song in English produced the effect of an exploding bomb.

A year later, in 1986, Modern Talking broke into both the British and American charts, overcoming the usual distrust of musicians from Romance countries.

At the peak of fame, the musicians suddenly quarreled to the ground. The reason was squabbles in the troupe, when Anders' wife, a backing vocalist, found a dead chicken in her dressing room and threw a tantrum. The concert was canceled, Anders supported his wife, and when the contract expired, he left the group. Later, he said in an interview that the main reason for the collapse was not "henpecked", but the usual fatigue from endless trips and fame.

Thomas Anders went to America and began releasing solo albums, which had some success in Latin America, especially since he performed many songs from the Modern Talking repertoire. Dieter also took up his own project - much more successful, and wrote music for various performers.

The band returned to the stage with great fanfare in 1998. The album of remixes and several new songs sold well among the band's fans. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be even more commercially successful than the discs of the duo's first peak of fame.

Until 2003, Modern Talking released five Eurodance albums, which were also quite successful. This year, a new breakup followed - Dieter Bohlen unexpectedly announced it during a concert. The reason was the tour of Thomas Anders in the USA, not coordinated with Bohlen, but, since. it wasn't the first time true reason and remained a mystery to fans.

The farewell concert took place in Berlin in June 2003, at the same time that The Final Album was released with twenty best songs throughout the existence of the duo.

A little later, Dieter Bohlen's autobiography was published, where Anders' accusations of financial dishonesty caused new wave squabbles, including lawsuits against each other.

Now both musicians are engaged in solo projects. By 2014, they were able to reconcile and even release another Modern Talking greatest hits collection together.

In the second half of the 1980s, the group - the duet "Modern Talking" was perhaps the most popular pop group in our country. The team broke up a long time ago, but its fans are still interested in the biography of the performers of this group, and they believe that the duet will be revived.

Modern Talking Group - Biography

Producer Dieter Bohlen was looking all over Germany for a guy who could be trusted with new hits. 20-year-old handsome Thomas Anders (real name Bernd Weidung) fit in all respects: he played the piano, guitar, had already managed to record a single and take part in the tour. During the audition, Dieter came up with an idea: to go on stage with him. Play with contrast! The duet turned out to be colorful: a brutal blond and a slender brunette. And the single You "re My Heart, You" re My Soul, released in 1984, took first place in all European charts.

The Modern Talking group has become especially popular in our country. Jokes immediately appeared about the "sick" Dieter, and the name of the duet was changed to "Shock in the face." Jokes are a sign of true recognition! But before the fans had time to rewrite the group's first vinyl albums on cassettes, the terrible news came - the duet is no more. Many did not believe: why scatter at the peak of popularity?

It turned out it was true. In 1986, at a concert in Munich, there was a quarrel between backing vocalists. Nora Balling, part-time wife of Thomas, was offended for something by two other girls, Dieter's protégé. Everyone rushed to defend their own - and the duet cracked. However, two more albums were to be recorded under the contract. Nobody was going to slam the door and then pay a penalty.

In 1987, when the obligations were fulfilled, Anders and Bohlen separated. Only then did Thomas state his version: he was tired of endless concerts and tours. He asked to take a break from the tour for several months, but Bohlen did not want to lose money.

Refusing Anders, Bohlen was sure that he would return anyway. But just in case, he created the Blue System group, with which he continued to perform. As a composer, he collaborated with C.C. Ketch, Bonnie Tyler, Chris Norman and other pop artists.

But Anders did not disappear either: already in 1989 he released solo album, and a year later founded a recording company. He himself turned out to be a good writer, and the second album already included his songs. In the 1990s, Thomas began to write music for films and act in films, took part in dance shows and, of course, gave concerts.

The news that the Modern Talking group was together again was completely unexpected for everyone. In 1998, plump Dieter and short-haired Thomas, having revived old hits, went on tour. In five years, they released five successful albums, recorded many video clips, and even went on an experiment: they began to perform three of them, with rapper Eric Singleton. The ending was just as unexpected.

On June 21, 2003, Modern Talking gave a farewell concert in Berlin, and on the 23rd, the last album went on sale. Shortly before this, Bohlen accused Anders of "going to the left": he, they say, secretly gave solo concerts. And soon he released an autobiography, where he accused his partner of also embezzling the duet's money. Anders defended his good name in court, but it became clear that cooperation was over.

Yet fans continue to hope. In 2014, in honor of the band's 30th anniversary, a remix album was released, and Anders announced a reconciliation and a possible reunion with Bohlen. So far, the "third coming" has not happened, but Thomas's fans are already celebrating: in the summer of 2016, his solo concerts are scheduled in Russia. What if Dieter takes the stage?..