Dieter Bohlen (183 cm tall) was born on February 7, 1954. His parents were Hans and Edith. He was the oldest son and lived in Oldenburg (Germany);about 40 km to the east of Oldenburg is Bremen situated. In the west you have the Dutch border and in the south you find Dortmund and the Ruhrgebied. (For those who know nothing of Germany : you find these cities in the north-west of Germany) Dieter's father was hydraulic engineer and had also a business in constructions. His dream was that Dieter on a day would co-operate with him.

Oldenburg was a city that couldn't offer Dieter much. The streets were narrow, even somewhat creepy, with high walls. Variety was there hardly and there was surely nothing of any interest for the youth. Television wasn't available yet in that time and the consequence was that the youth wasn't informed about the outside world. Up to the greatest events belong : the summer cityfestival, in October the old junk market and around Christmas the Lamberti-market. There weren't anymore possibilities, for those who lived in the city. Those who wanted to make something of their life, didn't stay in Oldenburg.

The north of Oldenburg was characterized by farmers. The south was totaly different; there you have even the greatest "Mercedes-density". Besides this, Oldenburg was really a city with musea and sights. But the youth wasn't interested in this too ... They didn't like to live in a museum or the fact that old people led their life. The more they felt narrow-minded, the more they became impulsive. They wanted to do something with their life and stand on their own legs. Also Dieter Bohlen belonged to this group.

Already in his early years, you saw two caracter-traits which are typical for Aquarius : to strive after freedom and curiosity to the new and the strange. When Dieter was forced to do something, the result was that he only offered resistance. He would to be independent. When he felt oppressed, he didn't control the situation anymore, but the situation controlled him instead. Many times, when everyone was against him and they called him crazy, he offered resistance and carried on his own opinion. On the other hand, he developed an unusual strength and did (apparent) the impossible, when he followed his own ideas, his ideas what he considered as right. He surprised often his surroundings with his sudden solutions. If you consider Dieter's point of view, it's easy to understand that he couldn't work in his father's business. When Dieter had followed his father's wish, it's clear he wouldn't have only a physical break down, but his father's business would go smash.

This doesn't surely mean that Dieter Bohlen has found his way as a musician and on a day will be buried as a musician. You never know with Dieter. It could be that on a fine day, he will start with something new, when he has enough of studios, success or even music. The only condition is that it comes straight from his heart. Nobody or external factors will have their influence on his discision.

This idea arised already when he was at primary school. Everything went very good in his first two years, but from the third year on, he caused a lot of problems, specially with the teachers. They saw in him a spoiled boy, who wanted put up with it; always carried on his own ideas and somebody who didn't adapt himself to his classmates. Dieter's performances at school were getting worse and worse and finally Dieter had to leave the school, because his teachers were at a loss what to do with him. From verbal standpoint, Dieter knew no mercy and said always his point of view directly and without discretion to his teachers. You have to know Dieter went to school in the fifties. On the one hand you had the old fashioned, severe teachers and on the other hand you had the rebellious youth.

An example of what is ridicilous in our eyes, is the fact that the teachers forced a left-handed to become a right-handed pupil. This happened with Dieter too. Naturally, Dieter is left-handed. Nowadays, he's still writing with his right hand, but he plays tennis with his other hand. The reason is easy : he learned playing tennis after his school days.

Slow but sure, his parents were also at the end of their Latin : Dieter was a hopeless case ! If his uncle, Heinz Giszas, hadn't helped him, Dieter was certainly going his undoings. His uncle was in that time chief of the harbour of Hamburg and it was exactly the autorithy, which Dieter respected. He admired his uncle nearly a little bit. His uncle took care of Dieter, so he developed again ambition and got again good results on school. Sudden, Dieter became a modelstudent for all his classmates ! You could almost say it was a miracle : Dieter went from primary to grammar-school !

After this promotion, his parents had again good hopes. But it was false hope. The old problems turned up again : Dieter couldn't agree with his new teachers too. In this years, Dieter experimented also with softdrugs; due to bad influence of older students. When there were joints, Dieter was there too. His curiosity was much too great to reject. The consequence is that Dieter had to leave the grammar-school, but he was admitted to a new one. But it was again the same story : problems. His father found it was enough now and decided to make consequences. Consequences which Dieter will not like at all ! Dieter turned up a boarding-school in Wersen, situated in Osnabr?ck (about 100 km to the south of Oldenburg). At this school, he had practical no free time. The pupils were nothing allowed, as longs as they didn't ask for it. Even just reading a book or writing a letter to their parents was only allowed, if a responsible person agreed. It isn't difficult to understand that Dieter saw the boarding-school as a prison. He couldn't bear the continual supervision and the restrictions. It was very hard for him, but eventually, he was speaking with his father. And Dieter could convince his father : he might go back to Oldenburg, where he was allowed again to the grammar-school.

Dieter learned a lot in the boarding-school. He discovered that the time of playing games was over. Dieter developed his skills and his ambition exceeded everything. Dieter went even so far, he might omit the tenth class. And even in the eleventh, he was in practical all the subjects the best. When he was seventeen years old, he did the examinations and went with honour to the university !

1964 was for Dieter a year where his live took an important change. In this year, the Beatles were hot. When he was ten years old, he started already playing their music. Soon, Dieter was composing his own songs. His first song was called "Viele Bomben fallen". (Many bombs fall) Dieter competed in contests, but his songs weren't a success near the general public. Next to playing the guitar, Dieter learned also to play keyboards. At this age, Dieter was already certain he would become a musician !!!

After Dieter passed the examinations with success; his parents found (obviously) that he was ready to go to the university. Dieter had to put his dream aside again ... Dieter went to the university of Gittingen.

He signed up for the subject business economics. Temporary, his goal is to become a consultant. Even the prospects to become an independent entrepreneur or to get a job as a manager in a large concern, are really good. G?ttingen means also something else : the supervision of his parents is gone ! Now, Dieter can develop his musical skills. What style or direction in music he will follow, is not really sure ...

At the beginning of the seventies, the musicscene is totally different. The Beatlesmania is over and the hippyculture seems also to disappear. Flowerpower and 'love and peace' disappear : music is starting to put his accents on the political and social level. It's the time of new trends. This changes didn't fail to notice Dieter too.

Groups like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple were getting popular. But also excentric groups like Pink Floyd and Genesis, lay the foundations of their success. Dieter Bohlen still staggers between these extremes.

With the band 'Da Capo', he went in the weekends through the villages in Hessen and he played on public amusements. It doesn't bring Dieter many laurel wreaths, but financial it's very good. At any rate, the money is enough to finance his studies and to buy some extra wishes, something what couldn't be possible with the money he got from his dad. It was also the pre-eminently way to stand on his own legs.

In small students' clubs, he played with the group Aorta and plays jazzrock. At that moment, this was the music which Dieter really liked, but he wouldn't become rich with it. The English groups were much better and G?ttingen doesn't belong to the great rockcities ...

The third group, where Dieter played in, was called Mayfair. It was one of the hardest groups of G?ttingen. Here could Dieter blow of steam and live his agressions to the full. Btw, when Dieter was in this group, he let his blond hairs grow ... Besides these additonal activities, he wrote also solo-songs. In his Mayfair period, he wrote about 200 songs of all kinds. In first instance, the songs were used to supply the group with material, but there were already ideas to contact recordcompagnies. One thing was sure for Dieter : after his studies, he would separate himself for the band. Dieter wasn't planning to stay in G?ttingen and going back to Oldenburg was the last thing he would do ! He needed also contacts with people, a contract with a recordcompagny or a publishing-firm. It was for him the same to be accepted as a musician or singer, as a songwriter or a producer. The most important thing was that he became a contract and some money to live. When he would follow this way, Dieter also knew that he won't get any money anymore from his father. Dieter wanted to avoid the humiliation to ask his father for money, in case he wouldn't earn enough money with his music to pay the rent and food.

Time was passing by ... Dieter composed and sent off his songs to all possible addresses. But nothing happened, he received always the same letters back, telling him they didn't need him.

It's really incomprehensible that in this stressperiod, Dieter still could do his studies. But also his studies were good. It's amazing that Dieter was always right on time for the lectures at his university. And in his spare time, he did manage to arrange his private life. All this, shows which strengths and energy are in Dieter ! Driven by his ambition and self-confidence, he never gave up and never lost his spirit. With the refusals, Dieter had to get over; a lot of people would be encouraged. Dieter couldn't believe that his dream wouldn't become a reality. He really couldn't accept that ! When there was an idea in Dieters head, he could work for weeks on that project. And suddenly, from one minute to an other, he could stop his project and start with something totaly different ! But Dieter gained also some experience from this rejections, on which he would build up his career and even today, he's benefiting from this bad experiences. He learned in this period that you never may give up, in spite of all set-backs. A bad experience can also give positive results. He noticed that people in his surroundings, who reached faster and sooner their goal, did everything wrong, because they didn't knew how do deal with it. Others couldn't live with their luck, didn't saw their chances and messed up things. Dieter lay his musical foundations of his success in G?ttingen. It were the different bands and the contrast in styles, which helped him to be flexible with other artists and he always took out with musical surprises.

One of Dieters favorites places was the discotheque 'Afro-Asiaten-Heim' in Gettingen. Here, he met his wife Erika. She was born in Bad Wildungen on 29.9.54. Erika did an education as a stylist. Professional, she has nothing to do with music and she didn't go to the university too. Erika and Dieter lived 10 years together, before they married. They married (in jeans !) on November 11th, 1983 in Wandsbeck, Hamburg. Up till now, Dieter has still the capability to get easy in contact with people and to talk with them, to meet them. With this caracter, he sharps his feelings and he gets to know in what subjects the people are interested. Important for Dieter are the reactions on certain musicstyles, sounds, rhythms and effects. Besides, Dieter is much too curious in people. He needs the company of others and feels best when there are a lot of people. Dieter is for that matter a great chatterbox, but on the other side he can be an enthusiastic and attentive listener too. It isn't amazing that Dieter is soon the centre of the interest. Wherever he goes, he attracts the attention. Only his height (1.83 m) and his blond hairs did already the job ...

In 1977, Dieter was for the first time in a studio. With his friend Holger from G?ttingen, he formed the duo Monza. Hei?e Nacht in der City and Hallo Taxi nr. 10 were the two songs they recorded. Unfortunately, the two records never got in the charts. After this flop, Dieter was really disillusioned and he decided to stop with his music-career and started to concentrate himself on his final exams.

On 8 Nov. 1978, Dieter got his diploma in business economics. He has just finished university and immediately he had a contract as an investment-advisor in Emden. Initially, it's over with his music-career and the chances to get in Emden the necessary contacts are nil. At that point of time, it is true that Dieter is still in contact with the Hamburg publishing-firm Intersong. Often he sent his demos to this firm, but the answers weren't very encouraging. And basically, Dieter didn't count anymore on a positive reaction. Nevertheless came the deciding letter, which made his life totaly different from one day on another. They asked Dieter if he was stil interested in a co-operation. Ofcourse he was !!!

But the contract was more a demand which was almost impossible to do : Dieter was obliged to write 36 songs in one month ! But Dieter accepted the contract. On 1 Jan. 1979, Dieter starts as a composer and producer for Intersong. Dieter moved with Erika to Hamburg. Dieter is working very hard and a year passed by : Intersong gives him the chance to sing a song on his own. The single is Don't throw my love away, but Dieter uses a pseudonym Steve Benson. But also with this single, the public doesn't pay much attention too him. On the other hand, he makes his name as a soundartist and producer. Recordcompagnies and wellknown artists are getting interested in Dieter. Stars like Katja Ebstein, Roland Kaiser and Bernd Cluver are getting Dieter as their producer and they ask him to write some songs. But 1982 could be considered as the real breakthrough for Dieter ! In this year, he got a golden album for his Ricky King production : Happy guitar dancing.
Another acknowledgement came in 1982 when Dieter made a new single. This time he used the pseudonym Sunday and the single is named Hale Hey Louise.

Dieter may even present the single on the chartshow on the German television channel ZDF. But the single didn't do very well ... But a year later, Dieter had again a golden record for the album 'Gefuhle sind frei' with Roland Kaiser. But Dieter isn't really happy with this. It's not what he wants : he wants to put himself in the forefront ! He wants to sing his own songs ...

1982 was also the year where Dieter composed his first song for the Eurovision-songcontest. For Bernd Cluver he wrote the song Mit 17. This song got the third place in the German pre-selections. More success had Dieter in 1989. Flieger was sung by Nino De Angelo. This song achieved the first place in the pre-selections and on the proper festival in Lausanne (Switzerland), Flieger got the 14th place. In that year, there were even two songs in the Eurovision-songcontest written by Dieter. The second one was Nur ein Lied by Thomas Forstner. This song achieved the fifth place. They asked Dieter which song he preferred. He replied : "You don't ask me who of my two children Ilike most. So ..."

On 9 May 1992, Tony Wegas sung Zusamme gehen in Malm? (Sweden). This song got the tenth place.

In 1989, Dieter composed music for the serial Rivalen der Rennbahn. Different artists are doing theircontribution, like Nino De Angelo, Marianne Rosenberg, Ann Turner, Ricky Shayne and Leslie McKeown (ex Bay City Rollers) There are also two instrumental songs which are performed by Countdown G.T.O. - a pseudonym of Dieter Bohlen ... After the Rivalen der Rennbahn aventure, Dieter starts a cooperation with some of the artists, like Nino De Angelo and Les McKeown.

CONTINUE...