- Claudia Brücken
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Claudia Brücken 
Background information Birth name Claudia Brücken Born December 7, 1963 Origin Berching, Germany Genres synthpop Instruments vocals Years active 1984–present Labels ZTT, Island, There(There) Associated acts Propaganda
Act
OnetwoNotable instruments voice Claudia Brücken (born 7 December 1963, Berching, Bavaria) is a German singer who fronted the synthpop groups Propaganda and Act. Since 1996 she has been working with OMD member Paul Humphreys, first without a name, since 2004 as Onetwo. Together they also founded the independent record label There(There).
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Propaganda
In 1982, Brücken joined the German band Propaganda and relocated to London when they signed with ZTT Records. Propaganda had two UK top 30 hit singles with "Dr Mabuse" (1984) and "Duel" (1985). On 14 February 1985, Brücken married British music journalist Paul Morley, who was one of the founders of the ZTT label. In July 1985, the first Propaganda album A Secret Wish was released. While promoting their first album and writing songs for a new album, internal tensions rose within the group. This was mainly attributed to the relationship between Brücken and Morley, and the profitless contract the band had signed with ZTT. In 1986 Propaganda left ZTT, and Brücken left Propaganda to stay with ZTT.
“ I wasn't this kind of control freak which I sometimes was portrayed as. It was because we didn't have a very good deal at the time with ZTT, and everybody got very defensive about his or her bit, which was what drove us apart, really. It seemed for the band there were Paul and I and then the rest of them. They accused me of things; I'm really not one for making strategies and plotting behind people's back.[1] ” Act and solo
She joined Thomas Leer to form Act, who in 1988 released their only album Laughter, Tears and Rage. In 1991 she released a solo album Love: And a Million Other Things for Island Records. In the United Kingdom two singles were released from this album "Absolut(e)" in 1990, and "Kiss Like Ether" in 1991. Throughout the rest of the 90s, Brücken concentrated mainly on motherhood (she has a daughter, Maddy, with Paul Morley) and made some guest performances on albums of other artists. She met Paul Humphreys (of OMD) in 1996 when she was working on songs for a possible second solo album. They started just as co-writers, but now live and work together in London.[2]
Propaganda reunion
In 1998, Brücken joined the reunion of Propaganda and they began working on new material. Several tracks were completed as demos, including a snippet of a video. A preview of this video was released via the band's official website in early 2000, however, the reunion fell apart and no album materialized, although nine songs were leaked to the internet. Two of these were later released as Onetwo songs: "Cloud Nine", co-written by Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, and "Anonymous". Another attempt at a band reunion failed in 2010, meaning A Secret Wish will remain the only Propaganda record to feature the members Dörper, Freytag, Brücken and Mertens.
2000s
At the end of 2000, Brücken and Humphreys made a short tour of the United States as "Paul Humphreys of OMD: OMD Revisited". The tour started in Salt Lake City, and they performed songs from OMD and Propaganda, but also some new songs they had written. As Onetwo, in June 2004 the pair became the first established artists to release new material exclusively on eBay with a 5-track EP format called Item. Onetwo made their live debut in September 2004 at the Carling Academy at Islington.
A collaboration between Brücken and pianist Andrew Poppy resulted in the album Another Language in 2005. On this album they performed songs of other artists with just vocals and piano.
Onetwo finally released their debut album Instead on 26 February 2007, and performed some gigs in April 2007. They also supported Erasure and The Human League in the second half of 2007.
Her vocals can be heard in the hit 2011 video game L.A. Noire, as the singing voice of lounge singer, German immigrant and the main character's love interest Elsa Lichtmann.
In 2011, Brücken will release "Combined", which will contain eight previously-released tracks and four brand new ones, including her duet with Andy Bell of Erasure and two tracks from Onetwo.[3]
Selected discography
Release date Label Artist Title Notes 1985 ZTT Propaganda A Secret Wish album 1985 ZTT Propaganda Wishful Thinking remix album August 27, 1985 ZTT Glenn Gregory and Claudia Brücken "When Your Heart Runs Out Of Time" single June 27, 1988 ZTT Act Laughter, Tears and Rage album February 1991 Island Records Claudia Brücken Love: And a Million Other Things album 1991 London Records Jimmy Somerville The Singles Collection vocals on the single "Run From Love" 1994 One Little Indian Spirit Feel Spirit Feel vocals on the track "Halleluhwah" 1996 Interpol The Brain featuring Claudia Brücken "I'll Find A Way" single 1997 Landspeed Records Oceanhead featuring Claudia Brücken "Eyemotion" single February 19, 2002 Hard:Drive Apoptygma Berzerk Harmonizer vocals on the track "Unicorn" April 7, 2003 Gang Go Music Blank & Jones Relax vocals on the track "Unknown Treasure" June 28, 2004 There(There) Onetwo Item five-track EP March 28, 2005 There(There) Andrew Poppy and Claudia Brücken Another Language album October 3, 2005 Sanctuary Records Andy Bell Electric Blue vocals on the tracks "Love Oneself" and "Delicious" February 26, 2007 There(There) Onetwo Instead album February 7, 2011 Salvo/Soulfood Music Claudia Brücken Combined: The Best Of Claudia Brücken compilation album References
- ^ "Femme Fatale", Daryl Easlea, Record Collector, September 2002, pp. 89–91
- ^ "Where are they now? #2 Propaganda", Johnny Black, Q Magazine, 2004
- ^ http://www.ztt.com/news/claudia_brucken_combined_2.html
External links
Categories:- 1963 births
- Living people
- People from the District of Neumarkt
- German female singers
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