Seth Swirsky (b. August 5, 1960, New Haven, Connecticut) is an American pop music songwriter (including the Grammy-nominated "Tell It To My Heart"), author, recording artist, filmmaker, political writer and baseball memorabilia collector^[1] -- a self-described "Manic Expressive."^[2]

Songwriter[link]

In 1980, at the age of 20, Seth Swirsky wrote the national jingle for Thomas' English Muffins.^[2]

After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1982,^[3] Swirsky wrote the Grammy-nominated hit "Tell It To My Heart" with Ernie Gold for Taylor Dayne.^[4] The song was on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart for six months in 1988, reaching #7 (gold single pictured left).^[5]

The song was also a #1 hit in Germany and Sweden and #3 in England.^[4] In 2002, Kelly Llorenna’s version of the song went to #9 on the British charts.^[6] The song won Swirsky an ASCAP songwriter’s award for being one of the most performed songs of the year.^[7] In 2006, the song was recorded by the Royal Gigolos and spent two weeks on the Swiss charts at #2.^[8] It was featured as a clue in The New York Times crossword^[9] in 1998.

Swirsky wrote Dayne's follow-up top ten hit, "Prove Your Love," with Arnie Roman.^[10] That song was a #7 Billboard pop hit as well as a #1 Billboard dance hit.^[5] It reached #1 in Switzerland, #4 in Germany and #8 in England.^[11]

Swirsky wrote "Love is a Beautiful Thing," which was recorded by Al Green for his 1995 album Your Heart's in Good Hands.^[12] The song also appears on his 2002 Love, The Essential Al Green Greatest Hits Collection.^[13] It was Green's last charted single (#56 in the UK).^[14] The song was originally written for and recorded by Charles and Eddie on their 1991 debut album, Duophonic.^[15] Green's version was featured in the movies The Pallbearer (1996),^[16] Sorority Boys (2002),^[17] Two Weeks Notice (2002)^[18] and The Cookout (2004).^[19] Krystal Harris sang it for the movie Legally Blonde in 2001.^[20] Al Green's version was also used as Revlon's theme song in their international ad campaign in 2004.^[21] Tina Turner's version of "Love Is a Beautiful Thing" was on the Princess Diana Tribute Album in 1997.^[22] On a trivial note, the song was Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's wedding song.

Swirsky composed "Instant Pleasure" for Rufus Wainwright, which was featured in Adam Sandler's Big Daddy (1999).^[23] The song also charted with Rockell in 2000. Swirsky's song "You Got The Power," written with Albert Hammond, Jr., was featured in the Bronson Pinchot movie Second Sight (1989).^[24] He wrote "Did You Give Enough Love" with Arnie Roman for Celine Dion (a top 20 song in Canada),^[2] "Tear it Up" with Gardner Cole for Michael McDonald^[25] (a Billboard top 20 Adult Contemporary hit^[25] and top 40 British charting single^[26]), "After All"^[25][2] for Air Supply, "Not Gonna Be the One" for Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits album, Back to Basics: The Essential Collection 1971–1992^[27][28] (which reached #2 in Australia^[29] and #12 in the UK^[30]) and "Christmas Lullaby" for Faith Evans^[25]. He also wrote (with Jack Ponti) "Hard On Me" for the 1980s German heavy metal band Bonfire.^[31] Others he has written songs for include Jane Weidlin^[32] of The Go-Go's, Peter Allen,^[33] Lara Fabian, The Four Tops, The Spinners, Deniece Williams, Brenda K. Starr,^[33] Trey Lorenz, Melissa Manchester, Rita Coolidge, Exposé^[34] and Wild Orchid.

During his career he has collaborated with Eric Carmen^[25] of Raspberries, David Pack^[35] of Ambrosia, Marshall Crenshaw, Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals, Cy Curnin^[36] of The Fixx, Eric Schenkman of Spin Doctors, Michael Bolton, Natalie Merchant, Jim Ellison^[37] of Material Issue, Gerry Goffin, Chynna Phillips and Steve Kipner,^[33] among others.^[38]

Swirsky was featured as the "Writer of the Week" in the 2011 Nov./Dec.issue of American Songwriter Magazine.^[39]

Mariah Carey plagiarism lawsuit[link]

In 2000, Swirsky and co-writer Warryn Campbell filed a copyright infringement lawsuit claiming that a Mariah Carey song, "Thank God I Found You," plagiarized "One of Those Love Songs", a song which Swirsky and Campbell wrote for Xscape's 1998 Traces of My Lipstick album.^[40]

In the precedent setting "Swirsky v. Carey" decision,^[41] which clarified the standard for proving copyright infringement, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned the initial 2002 dismissal of the case.^[42][43] The case was settled out of court in April 2006.^[44]

Recordings[link]

Swirsky was named in Music Connection Magazine's December 2010 issue as one of the Hot 100 unsigned artists of the year.^[45]

Instant Pleasure[link]

In 2005, Seth Swirsky's first solo album, Instant Pleasure, won Best Pop Album at that years Los Angeles Music awards.^[46][47] Guest appearances on the 11-song album, produced by Jewel drummer Dorian Crozier, include Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish, The Rembrandts, Michael Chavez of John Mayer's band and Justin Meldal-Johnsen of Beck. Several tracks from the album were featured on XM Radio's The Loft's "In Spite of All the Danger" program.

Watercolor Day[link]

Swirsky’s second solo album, Watercolor Day, was released on May 18, 2010.^[48] The title song, Watercolor Day, won Best Pop Song of the year at The Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA’s) on November 18, 2010.^[49][50][51] The headline for Goldmine Magazine for their May 10, 2010 issue was "Seth Swirsky’s Watercolor Day is the first great power pop record of 2010."^[52] It was named the #4 Best Pop record in their 2010 year-end poll.^[53] Mike Marrone, the Program Director of the satellite radio station XM/Sirius The Loft, declared, on air, that Watercolor Day was the station's "Album of the Summer."^[54] The Audities (which consists of writers, musicians, industry observers and pop music fans) named Watercolor Day the #2 album of 2010 in their year-end poll (out of 310 pop records released that year).^[55] Rich Rossi, writing for PowerPopOverDose.com, listed the "Watercolor Day" as his #1 powerpop album of the year.^[56] Powerpopaholic^[57] and Pop Fair ^[58] named Watercolor Day as the 4th Best Power Pop album of 2010. In Tim Cain's 2010 Top 20 year-end "Best Of" list in the Illinois Herald Review, he included Watercolor Day at #14.^[59] DJ Bob Brainen of the New York City radio station WFMU listed Watercolor Day as one of his Top 9 records of 2010.^[60] Internet Radio DJ Sparky Shockpop named Watercolor Day as the #1 record on his Top 30 of 2010 year-end list.^[61]

The Red Button[link]

Swirsky's album of pop songs, She's About to Cross My Mind^[62] recorded with Mike Ruekberg under the group name The Red Button, was released in February 2007.^[63] The first song from the CD, "Cruel Girl," charted #1 in Billboard Magazine as "Coolest Song In The World This Week" (July 22, 2007)^[64] on Little Steven's Underground Garage radio show. The song was chosen to be on The Coolest Songs in the World, Volume 4 CD on Wicked Cool Records in 2008.^[65] The Red Button has also been featured on The Loft's "In Spite Of All The Danger" program and on Sirius Radio's Idiot's Delight with Vin Scelsa.

On August 7, 2007, they gave their first performance at Spaceland in Los Angeles to a packed house, as part of David Bash's International Pop Overthrow pop music festival.^[66]

The CD was also ranked the "Top of the Pops - Overall Best of 2007" by VillageRecords.com.^[67]

In a year-end poll of the top pop records of the year, She's About to Cross My Mind was ranked #1 (out of 125) by Absolute Powerpop.^[68] Pop music journalist and author of "Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide," John Borack, ranked "She's About to Cross My Mind" #1 in his Top 20 Best Albums of 2007.^[69] Pop journalist and International Pop Overthrow founder David Bash ranked the album #8 (out of 125) in his year-end 2007.^[70]

Another song from the album, Cruel Girl, was named the 2nd Best Song of 2007 by Popbang Radio.^[71]

A second album by The Red Button, entitled "As Far As Yesterday Goes," was released on June 21, 2011.^[72] It was voted #7 (out of 748 entries) in the 2011 year-end poll taken by readers of the online music group Audities.^[73]

The first single on "As Far As Yesterday Goes" -- Caught in the Middle -- was named "The Coolest Song in the World" (for the week of July 11, 2011) on "Little Steven" Van Zandt's syndicated radio show The Underground Garage.^[74]

The song Picture from The Red Button's second album was nominated for Best Pop Song at the 2011 Hollywood Music and Media Awards in Los Angeles on November 17, 2011.^[75]

The Red Button was named to Music Connection Magazine’s 2011 Hot 100 Unsigned Artist list.^[76]

Baseball collection[link]

Swirsky's baseball collection^[77] includes the ball that went between Bill Buckner's legs in the 1986 World Series (it was originally owned by Charlie Sheen; Swirsky got it in April, 2000. ^[78] the only known bottle of 1986 sparkling wine from the Red Sox celebration that would never be;^[79] Reggie Jackson's 3rd home run ball from the 1977 World Series; a ball signed by The Beatles the night they played their famous Shea Stadium concert in 1965; Tom Seaver's 1969 World Series jersey; the only known surviving ball from the second game of Johnny Vander Meer's two consecutive no-hitters, and the letter written by baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banning Shoeless Joe Jackson from playing Major League Baseball,^[80] among other historic items. The Buckner ball went up for auction on October 15, 2011 for $1 million.^[81] It failed to sell.^[82] Many pieces in the collection were featured in baseball retrospectives at the Queens Museum of Art and The Bronx Museum of the Arts in 2004.^[83]

The "Buckner Ball" that brought Ray Knight home with the winning run in Game 6 of the '86 World Series – voted by Mets fans as the most memorable moment in Shea Stadium history^[84] – was on display at the Mets Hall of Fame & Museum at Citi Field during the 2010 baseball season.^[85] The February 2011 edition of Tuff Stuff Magazine did a feature on Swirsky's memorabilia collection^[86] as did the July edition of Collecting and Antiques Magazine.

Swirsky sold his 250 piece, historic collection on May 3, 2012 through Heritage Auctions for close to 1.5 million dollars. The ball that went through Buckner's legs sold for $418,250.^[87][88][89]

Publications[link]

Baseball Letters, the first of Swirsky's three books, was published in 1996.^[90] This bestseller^[91] consists of his handwritten correspondence with Major League baseball players including Ted Williams, Cal Ripken, Jr. and Whitey Ford.^[90]

Every Pitcher Tells A Story, Swirsky's second book, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller. The book consists of his correspondence with Major League baseball pitchers including Pedro Martínez, Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine and 70 others.

Something to Write Home About, the third book in the trilogy, consists of letters to Swirsky from both ballplayers and fans of the game, including Sir Paul McCartney, President George W. Bush, President George H. W. Bush, Senator Ted Kennedy, former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, journalist Tim Russert, sportscaster Bob Costas and Peter Tork of the Monkees.^[92]

Swirsky has been featured in many books including How to Raise an American Patriot: Making it Okay for Our Kids to Be Proud to Be American^[93] and John Lennon Called Me Normal.^[94]

Film[link]

Swirsky's full-length documentary, Beatles Stories,^[95] was chosen as an Official Selection at the 2011 European Independent Film Festival^[96]—considered the Sundance of Europe^[97][98] -- and had its world premiere in Paris, France on April 3, 2011.^[99][100] It was an Official Selection at The 2011 Newport Beach International Film Festival, where it made its North American premiere on April 29, 2011.^[101][102] It made its East Coast premiere at The Gold Coast International Film Festival on June 2, 2011.^[103]

It was also an official selection at The 2011 Las Vegas Film Festival,^[104] Santa Fe Independent Film Festival,^[105][106] Bend Film Festival, Kansas International Film Festival^[107] and the 2012 Fargo Film Festival.^[108] The documentary consists of filmed interviews that he conducted with people who had a personal story or recollection about themselves and one or all of The "Fab Four".^[109] Some of the more than 110 individuals that Swirsky interviewed for the film are former personal assistant Fred Seaman, Sir Ben Kingsley, Graham Nash, Art Garfunkel, Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues, actor Jon Voight, Susanna Hoffs, former first daughter Luci Baines Johnson, former New York Yankee Bernie Williams, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, actor Henry Winkler, Indianapolis Colts football owner Jim Irsay, Smokey Robinson, Donovan, Beatles longtime producer Sir George Martin, May Pang, Beatles engineers Norman Smith, Ken Scott and John Kurlander and American cultural icons Frank Gifford and Bob Eubanks, among others.

Beatles Stories made news when it was revealed by John Lennon's former personal assistant—one of the over 50 interviewees in the movie—that, by the time of his death, Lennon would have voted for Ronald Reagan in the 1980 elections and, that by the end of his life, he was embarrassed by the naivete of his song "Imagine".^{[110][111][112]}

Swirsky's short film The Last Giant^[113] (which consisted of on-camera reminiscences of 1930s major league baseball All-Star Harry "The Horse" Danning, who was the last living member of the New York Giants baseball team until his death in 2004) was a 2007 Official Selection in both the (Washington) D.C. International Film Festival (DCIFF) and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's 2nd Annual Film Festival.

Political writings[link]

Swirsky has contributed articles to online sites such as Real Clear Politics,^[115] The National Review (NRO),^[116] The Huffington Post^[117] and PoliticalMavens.com.^[118] One of his pieces, "Why I Left the Left,"^[119][120] caught the attention of Karl Rove, who invited him to lunch at the White House in July, 2006.^[114]

Media[link]

Seth Swirsky's works have been written about in The New York Times Week In Review,^[121][122] Newsweek,^[123], Forbes^[124] and People Magazine.^[125] USAToday did a feature story on him in 1997. He has been a guest on many major talk shows, including The Today Show,^[111] Good Morning America,^[126] and Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld^[78][127] on the Fox News Channel. He has been a guest on ESPN's Outside The Lines as well as The Dennis Miller Show. ^[128]

In 1999, Swirsky was featured in a PBS documentary about his eclectic life ^[2] called The Passion of Play.^[129]

Personal[link]

The house that Swirsky grew up in Great Neck, New York was once lived in by Rube Goldberg, famed for his complex devices which performed simple tasks in convoluted and indirect ways.

Seth Swirsky is married (1990) to Jody Gerson.^[130] She is a music publisher^[130], who became the co-president of Sony Music Publishing in 2008^[130]. She is also a movie producer (Drumline, ATL^[130]). In 2009 and 2010, she was named by Billboard Magazine as the 3rd most influential woman in the music business.^[131][132]

Swirsky has three children with Jody.^[130] Their eldest son, Julian, age 17, is a songwriter and producer known as Julkeyz.^[133] He has written and produced for Nicole Scherzinger (of the Pussycat Dolls), Bow Wow and Justin Bieber.^[134][135]

Swirsky's mother, Joan, is the author of 12 books on an array of subjects.^[136]

At his 50th birthday party, at his home, Seth participated in a sing-a-long duet with Davy Jones of The Monkees captured in three sequences on film by photographer Henry Diltz.^{[137][138][139]}

Swirsky sang the National Anthem at Wrigley Field, before the Cubs-Braves baseball game on August 23, 2011.^[140]

On November, 17, 2011, Seth Swirsky, along with former Shalamar singer Howard Hewitt, presented Smokey Robinson with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2011 Hollywood Music and Media Awards.^[141]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Seth.com - The Website of Seth Swirsky.
• Meet Song of the Year Nominee Seth Swirsky and His Musical Family
• The European Independent Film Festival Seth Swirsky Page
• Interview with Seth Swirsky
• Renaissance Man: Our Interview with Seth Swirsky
• Review of Watercolor Day

Saint Seth the Patriarch
Church icon of Seth
Holy Forefather, Antediluvian Patriarch, and Prophet
Honored in	Judaism Christianity Islam

Seth (Hebrew: שֵׁת, Standard Šet, Tiberian Šēṯ; Arabic: شيث‎ Shith or Shiyth; "Placed; appointed"), in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, he was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, who were the only other of their children mentioned by name. According to Genesis 4:25, Seth was born after the slaying of Abel by Cain, and Eve believed God had appointed him as a replacement for Abel.

In the Pentateuch[link]

According to Genesis, Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old^[1] "a son in his likeness and image."^[1] The genealogy is repeated at 1 Chronicles 1:1-3. Genesis 5:4-5 states that Adam fathered "sons and daughters" before his death, aged 930 years. In Genesis 4:25, there is a folk etymology for Seth's name, which derives it from the Hebrew word for "plant" as in "plant a seed" (syt). Eve says, "God has planted another seed, under/replacing Abel's". Seth lived to the age of 912.^[2]

In Jewish tradition[link]

Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi) refers to Seth as the ancestor of Noah and hence the father of all mankind, all other humans having perished in the Great Flood.

In gnosticism, Seth is seen as a replacement given by God for Abel, whom Cain had slain. It is said that late in life, Adam gave Seth secret teachings that would become the kabbalah. The Zohar refers to Seth as "ancestor of all the generations of the tzaddikim" (Hebrew: righteous ones).^[3]

According to Seder Olam Rabbah, based on Jewish reckoning, he was born in 130 AM. According to Aggadah, he had 33 sons and 23 daughters. According to the Seder Olam Rabbah, he died in 1042 AM.

In Islam[link]

Islamic tradition reveres Seth as the gift bestowed upon Adam after the death of Abel. Round about 25 prophets are mentioned in the Qur'an, although Seth is not mentioned, Muslims see Seth as a prophet like his father, and the one who continued teaching mankind after the death of Adam.^[4] Islamic lore gives Seth an exalted position among the Antediluvian Patriarchs of the Generations of Adam, and some sources even cite Seth as the receiver of a scripture.^[5] Islamic literature holds that Seth was born when Adam was past 100 and that, by the time Adam died, Adam had already made Seth the heir to him in guiding the "Children of Adam". Muslims hold that Seth was taught of the hours of day and night as well as of the Great Flood to come and was further taught to pray to God during the hours of the night. Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, traces the genealogy of mankind back to Seth, since Abel did not leave any heirs and Cain's heirs, according to tradition, were destroyed by the Great Flood.^[6]

Some Muslims believe that Seth's tomb is located in the village of Al-Nabi Shayth (literally meaning The Prophet Seth) where a mosque is named after him.

In Josephus[link]

In the Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus refers to Seth as virtuous and of excellent character, and reports that his descendants invented the wisdom of the heavenly bodies, and built the "pillars of the sons of Seth", two pillars inscribed with many scientific discoveries and inventions, notably in astronomy. They were built by Seth's descendants based on Adam's prediction that the world would be destroyed at one time by fire and another time by global flood, in order to protect the discoveries and be remembered after the destruction. One was composed of brick, and the other of stone, so that if the pillar of brick should be destroyed, the pillar of stone would remain, both reporting the ancient discoveries, and informing men that a pillar of brick was also erected. Josephus reports that the pillar of stone remained in the land of Siriad in his day.

William Whiston, a 17/18th century translator of the Antiquities, stated in a footnote that he believed Josephus mistook Seth for Sesostris, king of Egypt, the erector of the referenced pillar in Siriad (being a contemporary name for the territories in which Sirius was venerated (i.e., Egypt). He stated that there was no way for any pillars of Seth to survive the deluge, because the deluge buried all such pillars and edifices far underground in the sediment of its waters.

In Christianity[link]

The 2nd century BC Book of Jubilees, regarded as non-canonical except by Coptic Christianity, also dates his birth to 130 AM.^[7] According to it, in 231 AM Seth married his sister, Azura, who was four years younger than he was. In the year 235 AM, Azura gave birth to Enos.^[7]

Seth is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church, along with Adam, Abel, and others, with a feast day on July 26. He is also included in the Genealogy of Jesus, according to Luke 3:23–38.^[8]

See also[link]

• Biblical longevity
• Knights of Seth
• Sethian

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Seth

The Red Button is an American pop band consisting of Seth Swirsky and Mike Ruekberg. Swirsky is a well-known pop songwriter,^[1] while Ruekberg is a songwriter and performer in the Los Angeles area. Their debut album, She's About to Cross My Mind, was released in 2007 by Grimble Records.^[2] Their second album, entitled "As Far As Yesterday Goes," was released on June 21, 2011.^[3]

Biography[link]

Swirsky's music credentials include hit songs for dozens of artists, including Rufus Wainwright (Instant Pleasure), Al Green, Tina Turner and Taylor Dayne (Tell it to My Heart and Prove Your Love) among many others.

In the 1990s, Ruekberg worked as a singer and songwriter for the Minneapolis-based pop-rockers Rex Daisy, who recorded a CD for Geffen Records with producer Paul Fox. Ruekberg also wrote the soundtrack for the indie cult film classic Dummy, starring Adrien Brody.

Band[link]

The band was featured in The Los Angeles Times as a Buzz Band on August 7, 2007.^[4]

Album[link]

In a year-end 2007 poll of the top pop records of the year, She's About to Cross My Mind was ranked #1 (out of 125) by Absolute Powerpop.^[5] Pop Journalist and International Pop Overthrow founder David Bash ranked the album #8 (out of 125) in his influential year-end list.^[6]

Audities ranked The Red Button album 2nd best pop album of the year in their 2007 year-end poll.

A second album by The Red Button, entitled "As Far As Yesterday Goes," was released on June 21, 2011.^[3] It was voted #7 (out of 748 entries) in the 2011 year-end poll taken by readers of the online music group Audities.^[7]

The first single on "As Far As Yesterday Goes" -- Caught in the Middle -- was named "The Coolest Song in the World" (for the week of July 11, 2011) on "Little Steven" Van Zandt's syndicated radio show The Underground Garage.^[8]

The song Picture from The Red Button's second album was nominated for Best Pop Song at the 2011 Hollywood Music and Media Awards in Los Angeles on November 17, 2011.^[9]

The Red Button was named to Music Connection Magazine’s 2011 Hot 100 Unsigned Artist list.^[10]

Singles[link]

The first single from She's About to Cross My Mind, entitled "Cruel Girl",^[11] charted at #1 on Little Steven's Underground Garage radio show for the week of July 22, 2007^[4] and was named the 2nd Best Song of 2007 by Popbang Radio.^[12] The song was also chosen to be on The Coolest Songs in the World, Volume 4 CD (2008) on Wicked Cool Records.^[13] Other songs from She's About to Cross My Mind, have been featured on XM The Loft's "In Spite Of All The Danger" program, Sirius Radio's Idiot's Delight with Vin Scelsa as well as radio stations around the world.

The first single on "As Far As Yesterday Goes" -- Caught in the Middle -- was named "The Coolest Song in the World Week" (for the week of July 11, 2011) on "Little Steven" Van Zandt's syndicated radio show The Underground Garage.^[8]

Honors[link]

The Red Button was named to Music Connection Magazine’s 2011 Hot 100 Unsigned Artist list.^[10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Red Button Official Website
• Seth.com - The Website of Seth Swirsky
• Mike Ruekberg's Official Website

Thomas Anders
Thomas Anders in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Bernd Weidung
Born	(1963-03-01) 1 March 1963 (age 49)
Origin	Münstermaifeld, Germany
Genres	Pop, Europop, Euro disco, Latin pop, dance-pop, pop rock, blue-eyed soul, jazz, house
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1980–present
Labels	Teldec, East West, Polydor, BMG, Edel Records
Website	www.thomas-anders.com

Thomas Anders (born Bernd Weidung, 1 March 1963) is a German singer, composer and record producer.^[1] Anders was the lead singer of Germany's popular pop-duo Modern Talking in 1984–1987 and in 1998–2003.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Anders was born in Koblenz, West Germany. He began showing interest in music as a child, he did his first stage-performance at age of 7. Anders first studied music at Koblenz Eichendorff-Gymnasium, and then he studied musicology for five semesters at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.^[1] After having performed at several clubs and discothèques, in 1979, he participated in a music contest organized by the radio station Radio Luxembourg which he walked away from without earning enough points. Two days after the contest, Anders was offered a record contract by the same jury members of the radio contest.

It was then that his career officially began when in 1980, at age of 17, he released his debut single "Judy". Anders released several other singles produced by Daniel David including "Du weinst um ihn", which he performed on Michael Schanze's TV show Hätten sie heut' zeit für uns. In 1983, he met Dieter Bohlen who produced "Was macht das schon", the German cover version of F. R. David's "Pick Up the Phone" and also "Heißkalter Engel", the German cover version of Real Life's "Send Me an Angel". From late 1983 to the mid of 1984 Bohlen produced other tracks for Anders including "Wovon träumst du denn", "Endstation Sehnsucht" and "Es geht mir gut heut' Nacht". The success, however, came when in late 1984, Anders and Bohlen formed the successful duo Modern Talking, which they started things off by a worldwide hit single "You're My Heart, You're My Soul".^[1]

Solo career[link]

In late 1987, Anders and Bohlen decided to terminate Modern Talking and go their separate ways due to constant quarrel between the two. Shortly after which Anders went on a long tour performing before as many as 85,000 fans, the tour involved cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Viña del Mar and Moscow.^[2] This drove Anders to leave Germany for the United States, where in 1989, Anders released his first solo album Different with more pop style rather than dance, which he produced together with Elton John's producer Gus Dudgeon and a-ha's producer Alan Tarney. The first single "Love of My Own" released in the same year is considered the biggest success of his solo career at that time. The second album Whispers was released in 1991, three singles were released off Anders' second solo album "The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" written by Roxette member Per Gessle, "I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" and "True Love". In 1992, Anders released his third album Down on Sunset, the singles "How Deep Is Your Love" and "Standing Alone" (Duet with Glenn Medeiros) found some success both in Germany and Austria. Anders released his fourth solo album When Will I See You Again in 1993. The first single "When Will I See You Again" featured the original singers of the song, The Three Degrees. Also, in 1993, Anders experienced something new as he got a part in a Swedish movie Stockholm Marathon.^[1] He also wrote the title-song for that film "Marathon of Life", which is one of the tracks in his 1993's album When Will I See You Again. In 1994, he came back with an album Barcos de Cristal, which he released in Spanish only for U.S., South America and Argentina,^[1] this album contained songs from albums of 1992 and 1993, all redone in Spanish. Anders released one more album in 1995 called Souled, which he produced together with Peter Wolf, this album contained a duet featuring The Pointer Sisters "Feel for the Physical". Things for him then were quiet until March 1998 when Thomas Anders and Dieter Bohlen announced the reunion of Modern Talking.^[1] The duo released six studio albums between 1998 and 2003 and split again in 2003.^[1]

Subsequent years[link]

In 2001, Anders produced the song, " My Heart It Feels Like (Dub Dub ...)" together with Gerd Count Bernadotte for the pop girl duo It-Girl.^[1] In late 2003 Anders signed a contract with BMG international as a solo artist after their final album of Modern Talking. The first single, "Independent Girl" released in November 2003 reached No.17 on the German single chart and No.5 in Russia.^[1][3] His album, This Time released in 2004 entered the top-20 as well.^[4] The second single "King of Love" reached the top-40 in Germany.^[3] At this point, Anders was working with his new producer Peter Ries, who previously had worked with such artists as Sandra and No Angels.

Thomas Anders received an offer from NDR to host the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, 11 million viewers who already knew Anders as a singer watched him announce the German voting points.^[1] Also, in 2004, Anders was asked to record the ballad "Just Dream" which was to be the official anthem for the ballet Holiday on Ice which reached No.64 in Germany.^[1] The song can be heard during the international three-year Holiday on Ice tour.

In the following year, Anders was involved in a legal battle which he had brought against his Modern Talking partner, Dieter Bohlen.^[1] Anders claimed that Bohlen had slandered about him in his autobiographical book.^[1] In the Spring of 2005, the court rejected to have Bohlen pay the one million Euros which Anders had sued Bohlen for.^[1]

In March 2006, Anders got involved in Eurovision Song Contest again; however, he was one of the three contestants to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 alongside with the Greek-born Vicky Leandros (Eurovision Song Contest 1972 winner) and country band Texas Lightning featuring comedian Olli Dittrich.^[1] However, the spectators chose the latter.^[1]

Also in the same year, Anders left BMG and joined Edel Records and released his swing-album Songs Forever which was commercially unsuccessful peaking only at No.43.^[4] In April 2006, his The DVD-Collection arrived in stores, which contained 20 videos of his solo career as well as some hits taken from Modern Talking period. In July 2008, Anders was featured on two of download singles by Sound-Chateau, "Ibiza Baba Baya" and "For You".^[5]

Anders announced the German Eurovision voting results once again in 2009. In the Spring of 2009, Anders was featured on the song called "The Night Is Still Young for which he collaborated with Sandra, the single peaked at No.46.^[6] Anders released his next solo single, "Why Do You Cry" in 2010 which peaked at No. 21 on Russian Airplay Chart.^[7] In the Spring of 2010, Anders released his next studio album, Strong for Russian market only.^[1] The album reached the platinum status in Russia for sales of 10,000 units.^[8] In 2011, Anders came back collaborating with Uwe Fahrenkrog, German musician and songwriter. The duo's first single together called "Gigolo" was released on May 27, 2011 in Germany which peaked at No.40 there.^[9]Their second single "No More Tears On The Dancefloor" failed to enter the charts. Their album, Two was released on June 10, 2011 which debuted at No.11 on the German album chart.^[10] The single "Gigolo" is written and produced by Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen Thomas Troelsen.^[9] The duo appears under the name Anders | Fahrenkrog.

Personal life[link]

His parents are Helga and Peter Weidung. He has one brother, Achim, and one sister, Tania. He was married to Nora Balling from 1984^[11] to 1999.^[1] Since July 2000 he has been married to Claudia Hess, with whom he has a son, Alexander Mick, born 27 June 2002.^[1]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilation albums[link]

Live album(s)[link]

Collaboration album(s)[link]

Singles[link]

As lead artist[link]

As featured artist[link]

Collaboration singles[link]

Videos[link]

Video albums[link]

Collaboration compositions[link]

• 1988 "I Can Never Let You Go" (Co-wrote for Engelbert Humperdinck)
• 1989 "Soldier" (Written and produced by Alan Tarney)
• 1991 "The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" (Written by Per Gessle)
• 1992 "Standing Alone" (Duet with Glenn Medeiros)
• 1993 "When Will I See You Again" (Duet with The Three Degrees)
• 1993 "Emotional Thing" (Co-wrote for The Three Degrees)
• 1993 "Question of Love" (Co-wrote for The Three Degrees)
• 1993 "Ain't No Woman" (Co-wrote for The Three Degrees)
• 1994 "Tal Vez" (Co-wrote for Marta Sánchez) (#1 Mexico)
• 1995 "Feel for the Physical" (Duet with The Pointer Sisters)
• 2001 "Hey Mr. President" (Produced T-Seven)
• 2001 "Cry for You" (Co-wrote for No Angels)
• 2002 "Stay" (Co-wrote for No Angels)
• 2002 "Funky Dance" (Co-wrote for No Angels)
• 2009 "The Night Is Still Young" (Sandra featuring Thomas Anders)
• 2012 "No Ordinary Love" (Duet with Kamaliya)

See also[link]

• Modern Talking
• Nora Balling

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Thomas Anders at the Internet Movie Database
• http://www.thomasanders.ru - More than Talking - Tribute to Thomas Anders, a lot of information about the artist (English/Russian).
• Thomas Anders World-Spain
• Thomas Anders discography at Discogs