Some high-drama debate over the merits of SANDRA

I didn't mean the Arabesque stuff, just from Her solo stuff onwards - was Japan Ist Weit her first single?
 
Ooh, Alphaville, are they fit for discussing in here? Their debut album remains such a tour de force, the first three singles ("Big in Japan", "Sounds Like a Melody" and "Forever Young") are like a holy trinity of 1984 synthpop but any track could have been a single really. Further albums were a bit shorter on tunes (partly due to one of the key members leaving after the debut), they went a bit too much out of their way to be a synthpop Pink Floyd. I have a soft spot for 1989 flop single "Romeos" too, if only for those female backing vocals by none other than SAW stalwarts Miriam Stockley and Mae McKenna!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZvCZwSWGZJc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

It always gave me a giggle their lead vocalist is called MARION though :sheena:
 
Kalabaliken said:
I didn't mean the Arabesque stuff, just from Her solo stuff onwards - was Japan Ist Weit her first single?
Click to expand...

Nope, she already released a novelty single about her DOG as 'Sandra Ann' all the way back in 1976 :D

1_20080729_133116.jpg


(Funny how the B-side title translates as "I'm still a child")
 
Andricicle said:
EVERYTHING up to and including her 2002 'new age' album The Wheel of Time (or Ray of Lite *tee hee hee* KLUNK), I reckon? I think the first time she was 'unfaithful' to him in her solo career was with DJ BOBO :D
Click to expand...
I think other members of his team took over relatively early in the 90s and he only produced the odd track here and there himself - effectively the whole thing was kept in-house until they divorced though. The profit margins must have been excellent!

"Forgive Me" from The Wheel Of Time is a proper GEM.
 
I LOVE a bit of Alphaville. Particularly the 'Prostitute' and 'Salvation' albums.
 
lolly said:
I LOVE a bit of Alphaville. Particularly the 'Prostitute' and 'Salvation' albums.
Click to expand...

Both good albums but they were a few years late with either, I reckon. The pensive Prostitute could have been big amid the Enigma hype in 1990/91 and the hyper Salvation in the Eurodance craze of 1993/94. Alas, when they finally did see the light of day, no-one except a few steadfast loon fans from the eighties days cared anymore :(
 
Maria Magdalene really is a TUNE AND A HALF, and there is no denying THAT. :disco: 10/10

In The Heat of the Night is catchy enough, but a bit all fur coat & no knickers. Striving to be much more 80s epic than it is. 7/10

Hey Little Girl is quite nice. This one stood out to me on previous listens. 8/10

Innocent Love - Meh. Again catchy enough but nothing special. Sounds like a decent filler on an early 80s SAW album. 7/10

Hi! Hi! Hi! - I love this. The chorus is pure braindead fluff but SO infectious. Shit verses but WHO CARES? 9/10

Loreen - Well it's no Euphoria, but a decent ballad even if she doesn't have the PIPES. 7/10

Midnight Man - This is the point where, on previous listens, it's all descended into samey German 80s hell. I shall try to keep a keen ear, but this one is just dull, repetitive nothingness. 5/10

Everlasting Love - Well this is obviously a great song. She doesn't do it as well as Gloria Estefan, but it's fun and I do love the utterly 80s-tastic production that makes her sound like she's singing it with a bucket on her head. :D 8/10

Stop for a Minute - I'm finding it difficult to find interesting things to say about these songs that all follow the exact same formula. I realise the irony of this coming from a Swedish schlager fan. :D This is one of the better versions of her signature sound though. 7/10

Heaven can Wait - I wish the production was a little better on this one as there's a good tune in there. I'll mark it up for sounding a bit different. 8/10

Secret Land - Is the In A Secret Land album her MAGNUM OPUS, then? I can definitely hear a progression in the sound, and not before time. This is very good. 8/10

We'll Be Together - Ooh yes, this is a great bit of dramatic late 80s synth pop. I can imagine Kim Wilde having a UK hit with this (then, not now). 9/10

Around My Heart - We're definitely on a good run here. 8/10

Hiroshima - The intro had me worried, but this is actually quite decent, although it plods by the end. 7/10

(Life May Be) A Big Insanity - Oh my God HOW MUCH does this rip off 'What Have You Done For Me Lately'? How was she not SUED? :D I like it though, big chorus. 8/10

One More Night - Not unpleasant, but pretty boring 6/10

Don't Be Aggressive - Starting to feel very laboured now. 6/10

Johnny Wanna Live - I love the Sarah Brightman version of this. It is a completely ludicrous song. Sandra's version is about as good I suppose. They're kind of identical actually. 8/10
 
Last edited:
'Innocent Love' is TOTALLY AMAZING. And it does NOT sound like SAW! :argh:

It probably helps if you spent most of your FORMATIVE YEARS wanting to be CHRISTIANE F and listening to the vinyl copy of 'Trans-Europe Express' from GRAYS LIBRARY*. It creates a certain GERMANISM

(*As I did)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I never heard a THING about Sandra until around 2004, I knew OF her but because she didn't have a hit in the UK I hadn't heard any of her stuff. I picked the Essentials CD (Basically the 18 Greatest Hits CD) up on a whim and I was SOLD! But then I'm an 80s child through and through. VoR, you're definitely more of a 90s child...
 
C C Catch is so DEADPAN and CLUELESS in her delivery she makes Cherly Cole look like WHITNEY HOUSTON.

It's quite the feat! :basil:
 
QUICK top 10 Sandra singles Rank (off the top of my head)

1 Maria Magdalena
2 We'll Be Together
3 In The Heat Of The Night
4 Heaven Can Wait
5 Secret Land
6 Around My Heart
7 Stop For A Minute
8 Everlasting Love
9 Don't Be Aggressive
10 Innocent Love

HOWEVER, there's really NOTHING in it.
 
Last edited:
The production on Heaven Can Wait is FANTASTIC! That intro! Those SYNTHS! :disco:
 
I like 'Love's Unkind' by Donna Summer but she doesn't do it as well as SOPHIE LAWRENCE
 
I think I need to go on Spotify and listen to some Sandra albums. All I know are the songs off 18 Greatest Hits, plus I Need Love, the only single missed off the Greatest Hits. :(
 
VoR said:
:D

I know, but COME ON. Half these songs sound like MISTER ENIGMA just pressed the '80s drums' button on the BONTEMPI and slipped out for a fag. :D

I'm trying, I really am...
Click to expand...

You're giving them mostly 7s and 8s so you can't think they're THAT BAD!
 
(Life May Be) A Big Insanity sounds like the track Paula Abdul never recorded! :disco:
 
As I suspected, individually most of the tracks are fine, taken in one sitting they're a bit much though.

I might investigate the In A Secret Land album as those tracks were by far the best, but I don't think I could ever loon over her.
 
VoR said:
Is the In A Secret Land album her MAGNUM OPUS, then?
Click to expand...
I personally prefer Paintings In Yellow (conceptual barminess that was the clear blueprint for what was to come with Enigma), Close To Seven (comparatively slowed down Sandra with an amazing lead single in "Don't Be Aggressive") and Mirrors (the synth-tastic follow up to the debut) but that's JUST ME.

"Johnny Wanna Live" is rather good, though I much prefer our Sandy's original to Saz Brightman's take.
 
Last edited:
From the Close To Seven singles you can clearly hear the Enigma influences in them, I think the Into A Secret Land singles are definitely her strongest run though...
 
SORRY LOVES, you might have convinced VoR but I'm sticking with "STILL, on the whole, UTTER TRIPE"
 
Apocalypt_flyer said:
C C Catch is so DEADPAN and CLUELESS in her delivery she makes Cherly Cole look like WHITNEY HOUSTON.

It's quite the feat! :basil:
Click to expand...

Quite. To be fair to her though, Dieter never threw substantial material her way that would have allowed her to put any emotion into. 'Cause you are young, you will always be so strong, you are right then you are wrong, anyone?

I was quite shocked that the hilariously overblown video for "Heaven and Hell" features TITS though :o Not her target audience (small kids, teen girls and developmentally arrested gays) at all, surely?

After her split with Dieter Bohlen she went BRUNETTE and tried to switch to a more mature/American repertoire. Needless to say, the German record-buying public wasn't having any of it and she was relegated to oblivion for ten years until the inevitable bunch of late-'90s remixes of her eighties hits in the wake of the Modern Talking comeback. And then a failed appearance on the German Hit Me Baby One More Time another few years later. Nowadays she's still big in the Ukraine apparently!
 
Oh how exciting: the DVD HAS ARRIVED :disco:

"It was a COLD NOVEMBER..."
 
The videos are uniformly dreadful and off-putting, however. Blindness has its virtues.
 
The discovery that Sandra is on Spotify has led to me sampling the 'In A Secret Land' album.

It's QUITE ENJOYABLE.

"CRAZY JULIET HERE I COME AGAIN
Let's HAVE FUN tonight!"

:D
 
VoR said:
The discovery that Sandra is on Spotify has led to me sampling the 'In A Secret Land' album.

It's QUITE ENJOYABLE.

"CRAZY JULIET HERE I COME AGAIN
Let's HAVE FUN tonight!"

:D
Click to expand...

I think pretty much EVERYTHING by her is on Spotify! :disco:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top Bottom