Propaganda is a
German synthpop group, formed in 1982. They were one of the initial roster of acts signed to
Trevor Horn's
ZTT label, between 1984 and 1986, during which they released the critically acclaimed album "
A Secret Wish".
Early history: 1982-1984
Propaganda was formed in
Düsseldorf,
Germany, in 1982 by Ralf Dörper (a member of the German
industrial band
Die Krupps). As a trio, with artist Andreas Thein and vocalist Susanne Freytag, they made initial recordings in Germany which were deemed for future release in UK, where Ralf Doerper's early experimental recordings had met critical acclaim. With the inclusion of classically trained musician and composer
Michael Mertens and singer
Claudia Brücken (who had worked with Freytag in her previous band, The Tripolinas), music-journalist
Paul Morley signed the band to
Trevor Horn's newly-formed
ZTT Records label.
The group relocated to the United Kingdom and released the single "Dr. Mabuse", named after the fictional character made famous by film maker Fritz Lang. The single reached number 27 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1984, and number 7 in Germany. The group appeared on various TV shows in the UK, including Channel 4's "The Tube". Here, as well as performing "Dr. Mabuse", they also gave one of their few performances of a cover version of Throbbing Gristle's song "Disziplin".
Before the year was out, Thein had left the band, and with Mertens now filling the gap left by his departure, the band forged ahead with recording their follow-up single and debut album. However both of these were to be delayed as a result of the unexpectedly huge success of ZTT's most famous signing, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. As the label was still in its infancy, ZTT were forced to spend all their limited resources on promoting and marketing FGTH, and this also meant that Trevor Horn was not available to produce Propaganda's album. Stephen Lipson, one of Horn's established studio engineers, took his place, but the delay meant that Propaganda's second single, the more pop-oriented "Duel", didn't surface until April 1985. Perhaps the band's most recognisable release, it was also their highest-charting single in the UK, reaching number 21. The band made their one and only appearance on the flagship BBC music programme "Top of the Pops" in June of that year. It was also used as the theme music for the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2005, the alternate version; "Jewelled" having also been used as the theme music for the BBC's Top Gear RAC Rally Report programmes in the late 1980s.
In May 1985, with Frankie Goes to Hollywood becoming tax exiles in Ireland, the band effectively headlined "The Value of Entertainment", a series of showcase gigs of ZTT signings, held at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. The shows also featured Art of Noise (Paul Morley addressing the audience after three dancers had performed to AON tracks), Anne Pigalle, Andrew Poppy and Instinct. Propaganda were joined on stage by former Simple Minds bassist Derek Forbes and ex-Japan drummer Steve Jansen.
First album
The first week of July 1985 finally saw the release of the band's debut album,
A Secret Wish. Receiving considerable critical acclaim and some commercial success, it reached number 16 on the UK Album Chart. The album was followed by another single, "p:Machinery", in August 1985, which only reached number 50 in the UK, but was a bigger hit in France, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. The 12-inch version of this release caused controversy (even within the group) as Paul Morley thought it was a good idea to have the sleeve feature a quote by writer
J. G. Ballard praising the activities of the German terrorist group
Red Army Faction.
Ariola, who distributed ZTT's releases in Germany, refused to carry the 12" as a result, so the quote was changed on the German release to another by Ballard on the aesthetic perfection of German suburbs.
The group spent the rest of the year on their "Outside World" tour, taking in Europe and America. They were joined once again by Derek Forbes on bass, his fellow ex-Simple Minds cohort Brian McGee on drums, and Kevin Armstrong on guitar, with backing tapes used for most of the keyboard parts. In the meantime a remix album, Wishful Thinking, was released in November 1985. Originally intended for the American club market, the album was also released in Europe, but against the wishes of the group themselves. The album peaked at number 82 in the UK. A remixed version of "p:Machinery" was also re-released as a single, only four months after its original release. In the UK, it too failed to make an impact and peaked at no.83, but was more successful in France and Germany.
Split
After making a second appearance on
The Tube in January 1986, things went quiet for Propaganda. In late 1985, their management had introduced them to the London based music lawyer Brian Carr of Compton Carr, who had helped to win the case of Johnny Rotten (Sex Pistols) vs. his management. Carr explained to the group that under their current contracts with ZTT, the members of the group could go on making records for the rest of their lives and never make any money from them. Based on this information the band asked ZTT to renegotiate the contracts, which the company declined. Soon afterwards Claudia Brücken left Propaganda to pursue a solo career, remaining signed to ZTT. After a protracted legal battle, which saw the remaining members of Propaganda under an injunction by ZTT for fourteen months, they were finally released from their contract to ZTT in a hurried out-of-court settlement in the summer of 1987. Claudia Brücken formed the duo Act with
Thomas Leer in 1988, and in 1991 she released a solo album (
) for
Island Records.
New line-up
In 1988, the band (initially still including Ralf Dörper and Susanne Freytag) signed to
Virgin Records, and began recording new material. Alongside Michael Mertens were the new line-up of American vocalist
Betsi Miller, bassist Derek Forbes and drummer Brian McGee (who had both actually joined the band following their split with ZTT in 1986). The result was a new album, released in 1990 called
1234, produced by
Ian Stanley and Miller's future husband
Chris Hughes (of
Tears for Fears and
Adam and the Ants fame. Some of Dörper's lyrics were used and Freytag also made a guest appearance on the album. David Gilmour of
Pink Floyd played guitar on what was to be the second single taken from the album, "
Only One Word". Despite the first single from the album, "Heaven Give Me Words", reaching the UK Top 40, the album was not a huge success and peaked at number 36 in the UK. Around this time, Propaganda founders Dörper and Thein (under the moniker Riffifi) scored a smash European dance hit called "Dr. Acid & Mr House"
Reunion and second split
In 1998, Mertens, Brücken and Freytag reunited, signed an options deal with
East West Records, and began working on new material. Several tracks were completed, including one produced by
Tim Simenon and featuring
Depeche Mode's
Martin Gore on guitar. A video for one song, "No Return", was produced in
Morocco and directed by "
Keyser Soze" in December 1998. Two minute clips of it, along with photos of the shoot, were released via the band's official website in early 2000. However, no album materialized, and in January 2002, Brücken announced, "The reunion was worth a try, but did not work out." Later that year, an untitled nine-track CD was leaked via file-sharing networks on the Internet. Track titles were "Ignorance", "Who's The Fool", "Beast Within", "No Return", "To The Future", "Turn To The Sun", "Dream Within A Dream", "Cloud 9" and "Anonymous". "Cloud 9" was later recorded by Brücken and former
OMD member
Paul Humphreys for their act
Onetwo. It first appeared on their 2004 5-track EP
Item; then appeared again in 2007 on their album
Instead, together with the song "Anonymous".
Recent activity
In early 2005, Propaganda, now comprising Suzanne Freytag and Michael Mertens, started to release new material on the German independent label Amontillado Music. In November 2004, the original Propaganda line-up with Brücken and Dörper but without Thein performed "Dr. Mabuse" at the
Wembley Arena showcase of Trevor Horn's lifetime celebration. In October 2007, the same Propaganda line-up appeared on RTL Germany's
The Ultimate Chart Show, and performed an edited version of "Dr. Mabuse". In July 2010, a 2-disc Deluxe Edition of
A Secret Wish, containing the varying tracks released on both the original vinyl album, cassette and CD versions, was released to mark the album's 25th anniversary. The release also includes unreleased 12" remixes, demos and previously-unheard songs. The booklet accompanying the release mentions that "At the time of writing, spring 2010, Mertens, Brücken, Freytag and Dörper are back on terms and for the second time since 2000 they are considering working together."
On March 2nd 2011 Claudia Brücken performed at Scala in London and was joined by Ralf Dörper and Susanne Freytag for some of the tracks. Thomas Leer was due to perform as well however never made it due to a throat operation. The gig was recorded for later DVD release and also featured Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 and Andy Bell of Erasure. However, in an interview around the same time, Brücken said that Mertens was unwilling to work with her any longer.
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Outside World ()
Singles
{|class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Release date
!align="left"|Song
!width="40"|
UK Singles Chart
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|"
Duel"
|align="center"|21
|align="center"|30
|align="center"|5
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|"p:Machinery"
|align="center"|50
|align="center"|26
|align="center"|12
|align="center"|10
|align="center"|29
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|"p:Machinery (Reactivated)"
|align="center"|83
|align="center"|16
|align="center"|
|align="center"|24
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|"Heaven Give Me Words"
|align="center"|36
|align="center"|40
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|"Only One Word"
|align="center"|71
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|"How Much Love"
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|"Wound in My Heart"
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|1
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|"p:Machinery (anniversary reissue)"
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
|align="left"|
|align="left"|"Valley of the Machine Gods"
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|align="center"|
|-
|}
References
External links
P-Fan.de - extensive Propaganda fan site
Amontillado Music - current label
Zang Tuum Tumb and all that
Category:German electronic music groups
Category:German pop music groups
Category:German musical groups
Category:Synthpop
Category:German New Wave musical groups
Category:ZTT Records artists
Category:Musical groups established in 1982
Category:1980s music groups
Category:1990s music groups
Category:2000s music groups
Category:Musical groups from Düsseldorf
![Therapsida-Subliminal propaganda [Band version]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110906145100im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1YKV4b3eGAQ/0.jpg "Therapsida-Subliminal propaganda [Band version]")
