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| '''Sandra''' is the shortened name for successful ] singer ] (vocals), who usually works in collaboration with ] as writer and producer. After enjoying some success with the disco trio ] Sandra began performing under her solo name in ]. Other members of her team include ] (singer and song writer), ], ], ], ], ] (singer) and ] (song writer, co-producer). | |||
| {{R from Merge}} | |||
| She has sold over 12 million albums to date. Sandra and Michael Cretu are also well known for their work under the name ]. | |||
| ==History== | |||
| ] and ] in video "Don't Cry (Recording Session)" in ]]] | |||
| ===The Long Play (1985)=== | |||
| Her first album, ''The Long Play'' (1985), reached the top 10 in her home country of ], while the single "Maria Magdalena" topped the charts in 21 countries worldwide, and reached the top 10 in five more countries. The song was aimed at the continental European market, so it never received a promotional video (in mainland Europe personal appearances remained the most important method of record promotion until the early 90s). | |||
| While "Maria Magdalena" was going number one all over Europe, it took some time to do so in Germany, but finally topped the charts in her home country as well, remaining in the German top 20 for 16 weeks. | |||
| The follow-up single was called "In the Heat of the Night". In her first proper music video, a lustrous Sandra was featured in a steaming sauna filled with bare-chested men. Although the song rushed to number one again, in ] and ], it remained at number two in Germany for a couple of weeks, not able to get past "]" by ]. Nevertheless, the song earned Sandra the second place at the Tokyo Music Festival later in ]. | |||
| "Little Girl" was the third single with the music video filmed on location in ]. | |||
| Shortly after the release of ''The Long Play'', Sandra moved to ] for six months. Helena Shelen, a singing therapist who'd worked with artists like ] and ] took her under her wing. She also joined the London Berlitz School for Languages, where she improved her English abilities and took drumming lessons to get a better feeling for rhythm and timing. Over weekends she went back to Munich, where she continued working on a new album. | |||
| ===Mirrors (1986)=== | |||
| Sandra's second studio album ''Mirrors'' (October 1986) reflected the continuous musical development of Michael Cretu. On this album he decided to make much more use of the writing and singing talents of Hubert Kemmler from the popular German group Hubert Kah. "(Don't Cry) The Breakup of the World" was the first track on the album, written in reaction to the ] in 1986. | |||
| "Innocent Love" was the first of four successful singles from the album, entering the German top 20 at number 11. | |||
| Sandra continued her success with a string of hits. | |||
| ===Ten on One (1987)=== | |||
| Two years after her debut album she put out a Greatest Hits compilation "''Ten on One''" 1987, testimony to her quick rise to fame. Accompanied with it was the video collection of the album giving fans a glimpse inside her private life and day-to-day routine. Her version of "]", a favourite song since her childhood, went to number five on the European chart. The music video showed Sandra and a male model depicting scenes of various great lovers through the ages, with ], ], ] and Marc Anthony, and a colorful 80s ] couple. | |||
| The British team, ] tried to cash in on the success of "Everlasting Love" by remixing a special version of the song in 1988 for the British market. The song failed to make any impression on the UK charts, but did well in ] and ]. The second single from the album "Stop for a Minute" was written especially for the German TV crime series '']''; she sang the song during a scene in a club in one of the episodes. The music video was controversial as it included a rape scene featured in the episode. | |||
| At this stage Sandra was already known as the "European queen of pop" and rivaled ] in terms of her popularity and top 10 hits. | |||
| On ], ], Sandra married Michael Cretu and relocated from Munich to the Spanish island of ]. | |||
| ===Into a Secret Land (1988)=== | |||
| In 1988 Sandra recorded the album ''Into a Secret Land'' (1988), moving away somewhat from electro-pop to a more mysterious and seductive sound. This proved to be a huge success and the album delivered four hit singles. | |||
| The first single was "Heaven Can Wait", accompanied by a video featuring Sandra dancing and singing on a Mediterranean beach. The title track "Secret Land" entered the German charts at number seven and went to number one in Israel. | |||
| With animal rights and nature conservation high on her personal agenda, she took part in the project ] in 1989. The song "Yes We Can" featured, amongst others, ], ] and ]. | |||
| Sandra ended the 1980s as one of the most popular female performers in Europe, and had sold-out concerts in Moscow. | |||
| ===Paintings in Yellow (1990)=== | |||
| Sandra's album ''Paintings in Yellow'' (1990) gave her another top 10 hit with a surprising cover version of ]'s "Hiroshima". Elements of this song foreshadowed the ] sound, which was particularly evident on the album track "The Journey". ], long-time band member, took up the role of writing and producing some of the tracks with Michael. Frank was also the co-producer (alias "F. Gregorian") on the Enigma project. The influence was clearly audible. In 1991, the song "]" became a huge hit in many countries all over the world. At first nobody knew who was hiding behind the alias ], but Sandra fans quickly identified her voice. It didn’t take long to find out that Enigma was actually Michael Cretu (alias Curly M.C.). Sandra performed the second single of the album "(Life May Be) A Big Insanity" at the ] in ] when she accepted the prize for Best Selling German Artist at the end of 1990. | |||
| Because of the overwhelming success of ], and the more than two years break after ''Paintings in Yellow'', there was a gap in Sandra’s career, which was finally closed with the album ''Close to Seven''. | |||
| ===Close to Seven (1992)=== | |||
| "Close to Seven" (1992), regarded by many as her best work to date, continued a development towards a more meditative, less dance-oriented musical style. Sandra wanted to get rid of her teen idol image and perform for a more mature audience. It was also her first album almost completely produced by Michael Cretu. The male vocals were sung by Andy Jonas, a German singer who chose the artist name Andy "Angel" Hart. Although the first single "Don't Be Aggressive" entered the European top 20, the subsequent singles failed to achieve the same success. The music video for "Don't Be Aggressive" was directed by ]. | |||
| Sandra wrote the words to "When the Rain Doesn’t Come", a touching song about child prostitution. The second single "I Need Love" was the first single after "Japan ist weit" for Sandra to flop. Nevertheless, Sandra and Michael were recognized as the most successful married couple and were awarded with the Golden Europe Award in 1992. | |||
| ===18 Greatest Hits (1992)=== | |||
| The compilation ''18 Greatest Hits'' from 1992 marked the end of Sandra's successful solo career up to that point. She recorded a new version of "Johnny Wanna Live", previously off the ''Paintings in Yellow'' album. The song, co-written by Frank Peterson and later redone by his wife ], was an anthem against cruelty to animals. | |||
| The music video was once again directed by Howard Greenhalgh and showed shocking scenes of cruelty to animals. In 1993 she released a new techno version of "Maria Magdalena" with a futuristic music video, but it was not a success. | |||
| ===Fading Shades (1995)=== | |||
| In 1995, whilst pregnant with twins, Sandra recorded and released ''Fading Shades''. The album saw a new writer/producer ] working alongside Michael. The album featured a powerful cover version of "]" by ]. The song went to number one in ]. The music video showed only close ups of Sandra's face as she was heavily pregnant at the time. She even had to sit during the recording sessions of the album. Again Andy "Angel" Hart did all the male vocals on ''Fading Shades''. The second single release "Won’t Run Away" was Sandra's first in a long time without a video clip. It didn't enter the charts. | |||
| One of the other standout tracks on ''Fading Shades'' was "First Lullaby", a song Michael wrote for his as-yet unborn children. | |||
| Sandra decided to put her career on ice for some time for her children. On July 6 1995, she gave birth to twin sons Nikita and Sebastian in a Munich hospital through caesarean section. | |||
| ===My Favourites (1999)=== | |||
| In 1999 a double disc album was released. As the trend began with artists like ] to remix old material, ''My Favourites'' was released featuring remixes of her hits by long-time band companion Peter Ries, featuring also some of Sandra's personal favourite ballads. It quickly made its way into the top 20 of the German album charts. "Secret Land '99" was taken as the single and showed Sandra sporting a short hairstyle in the music video. In 2000, Sandra did background vocals on Andru Donald's single release "Precious Little Diamond". | |||
| ===The Wheel of Time (2002)=== | |||
| Sandra's first studio album in seven years came with ''The Wheel of Time'' in 2002, reaching number eight on the German album charts. The first single "Forever" had moderate success and showed a new mature, more natural-looking Sandra, still sporting short hair. Although some criticised the fact that ''The Wheel of Time'' contained no less than four cover versions of 80s songs, including the second single release "Such a Shame" by ], the album was received well by her fans. Michael Cretu convinced Sandra to cover a ] song, which she did in one take - "]". Unfortunately ''The Wheel of Time'' faded away quickly. | |||
| In 2003, the long awaited Sandra DVD ''The Complete History'' was released. | |||
| Sandra's public appearances were few and far between when word got out in 2005 that the Swiss superstar ] was planning a duet with her. She met DJ Bobo during the ] in ] in 2002, when her husband accepted the prize for best-selling German artist. That meeting led to the single "The Secrets of Love" in 2006. The dance anthem reached number five in Switzerland and 13 in Germany. The music video was shot in ] in Paris with Sandra and DJ Bobo being the only artists ever allowed to film inside the Cinderella castle. During this time Sandra took up performing live again and signs of her retro 80s look, with the signature long hair, were seen again. | |||
| ===Reflections - The Reproduced Hits (2006)=== | |||
| It was at a meeting that Virgin Music France suggested Sandra's biggest hits get a new face lift. They suggested that her vocal recordings be sent to different teams of producers/remixers so that they could produce entirely new music. Sandra hesitated at first because she had already put out a remix collection in 1999 and did not want to promote all of her former hits once again. She had already finished her ninth studio album and wished to move forward in a new musical direction. Nevertheless, five teams from Germany - Christian Geller, Schallbau, Felix J. Gauder, Matthias Menck, Ivo Moring and Mirko on Schlieffen - delivered a successful result. Sandra's 1987 dance hit "Everlasting Love" even got new vocals and was redone as a powerful ballad. Although the album reached the top 10 of many online stores worldwide, no single was released and as far as publicity goes not much was done to promote this album. | |||
| In the past few years there were critical statements about how Sandra’s management and Virgin Records were handling her career and also the career of Michael Cretu. | |||
| Sandra remains one of Germany's most successful female pop stars. | |||
| ===Latest news=== | |||
| An anticipated new studio album, ''The Art of Love'', will be released in January 2007. | |||
| The album is completely produced by ] and will see Sandra doing much of the song writing. The new album will also see her moving in a new musical direction, leaving behind her "''pop princess''" image. | |||
| For the first time ]'s touch will be completely absent from one of her albums, recorded over a one year period. Other contributions will come from ] and ]. | |||
| The first single "The Way I Am" will be released on 12 January 2007. | |||
| Note: The Eurochart singles top and Eurochart albums top are compiled by ''Music & Media'' trade magazine (subsidiary of ]) and are based on the sales charts of 16 European countries. (). | |||
| ==Discography== | |||
| ===Albums=== | |||
| (all albums were released on ].) | |||
| * ] Longplay - #12 Germany | |||
| * ] Mirrors - #16 Germany | |||
| * ] Into a Secret Land - #14 Germany, #14 France | |||
| * ] Paintings in Yellow - #4 Germany, #13 France | |||
| * ] Close to Seven - #7 Germany, #18 France | |||
| * ] Fading Shades - #42 Germany | |||
| * ] The Wheel of Time - #35 Eurochart, #8 Germany | |||
| * ] The Art of Love | |||
| ===Singles=== | |||
| (all singles were released on ].) | |||
| *] ''Japan Ist Weit'' | |||
| *] ''Maria Magdalena'' - #1 Germany, #3 Italy, #5 France, #87 UK (Worldwide sales: 5 Million) | |||
| *] '']'' - #2 Germany, #4 Italy, #5 France, #1 Switzerland, #1 Israel, #2 Sweden | |||
| *] ''Little Girl'' - #1 Germany, #3 Italy, #2 Israel, #18 Switzerland | |||
| *] ''Hi! Hi! Hi!'' - #7 Germany, #8 Italy, #13 France, #5 Israel, #20 Switzerland | |||
| *] ''Innocent Love'' - #1 Germany, #7 Italy, #10 France, #4 Israel, #18 Sweden, #14 Switzerland | |||
| *] ''Loreen'' - #23 Germany, #8 Israel, #4 Sweden, #29 Switzerland | |||
| *] ''Midnight Man'' - #24 Germany, #33 Italy, #12 Israel, #13 Sweden | |||
| *] '']'' - #5 Eurochart, #88 UK, #5 Germany, #11 Italy, #12 France, #5 Israel, #8 Netherlands, #13 Sweden | |||
| *] ''Everlasting Love (] Hammond mix)'' - #45 UK, #22 Dance US | |||
| *] ''Stop For A Minute'' - #38 Eurochart, #9 Germany, #5 Israel, #19 Sweden, #14 Switzerland | |||
| *] ''Heaven Can Wait'' - #11 Eurochart, #12 Germany, #6 France, #97 UK, #2 Israel, #16 Switzerland | |||
| *] ''Secret Land'' - #24 Eurochart, #7 Germany, #32 Italy, #26 France, #9 Switzerland, #1 Israel, #16 Sweden | |||
| *] ''We'll Be Together'' ('89 Remix) - #9 Germany, #13 France, #3 Israel, #22 Switzerland | |||
| *] ''Around My Heart'' - #11 Germany, #28 France, #6 Israel, #19 Switzerland | |||
| *] ''Hiroshima'' - #4 Germany, #16 France, #4 Switzerland, #4 Israel, #21 Sweden | |||
| *] ''A Big Insanity'' - #31 Germany, #41 France, #18 Israel | |||
| *] ''One More Night'' - #31 Germany | |||
| *] ''Don't Be Aggressive'' - #17 Germany, #39 France, #11 Israel, #24 Switzerland | |||
| *] ''I Need Love'' | |||
| *] ''Johnny Wanna Live'' - #37 Germany, #9 Israel | |||
| *] ''Maria Magdalena '93''- #8 Finland | |||
| *] ''Nights In White Satin'' - #86 Germany, #1 Israel | |||
| *] ''Won't Run Away'' | |||
| *] ''Secret Land '99'' - #69 Germany, #61 Czech Republic, #19 Israel | |||
| *] ''Forever'' - #47 Germany | |||
| *] ''Such A Shame'' - #76 Germany, #19 Hungary, #21 Czech Republic | |||
| *] ''I Close My Eyes'' - #93 Germany | |||
| *] '']'' (with ]) - #13 Germany, #39 Austria, #5 Switzerland | |||
| *] ''The Way I Am'' #50 Germany | |||
| ===Compilations=== | |||
| * ] Ten on One - #19 Germany | |||
| * ] Everlasting Love (Virgin Records, USA) | |||
| * ] 18 Greatest Hits - #10 Germany, #7 France | |||
| * ] My Favourites (2xCD) - #69 Eurochart, #16 Germany, #16 France | |||
| ===Video=== | |||
| * ] Ten On One (VHS) | |||
| * ] 18 Greatest Hits (VHS) | |||
| * ] The Complete History (DVD) | |||
| ==Audio sample== | |||
| {{Listen|filename=Sandra - (I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena excerpt.ogg|title=Sandra - (I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena excerpt|description=An excerpt from ''(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena ''}} | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| ] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * - fan site. | |||
| * - fan site | |||
| * http://www6.plala.or.jp/arabesque/sandra.htm | |||
| * at | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
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