In February 1983, the Frenchman FR David releases his second single Pick up the phone. (Words was his first hit) When Dieter hears the first notes of Pick up the phone, he knows already that he would make a German production of this song.But he hasn't a suitable person to sing the song. The title is already settled : Was macht das schon? However, a tip comes from the Berlin record-compagny Hansa. They have a singer who has already recorded some songs, but the great hit hasn't break through yet. This guy names Thomas Anders. Thomas flies to Hamburg and is immediately enthusiastic about Dieters cover.Thomas Anders (Bernd Weidung) was born on 1 Mars 1963 in Munstermaifeld, near the city Koblenz. Already on his 15th, he hadhis first success, when he did a television performance in the Michael Schanze Show "Hatten Sie heut' Zeit fŸr uns ?" A record-compagny from Frankfurt noticed this performance too. Thomas Anders got a recorddeal and in August 1980, his first single Judy was released. In September, he did with his friend Thomas Ohner, and two other groups, a tour across Germany. After these hotfoot start, there came soon an end. There was no chart-entry and Thomas' father found that he better finish first his school. Thomas Anders did his final examinations in the spring of 1982 at Eichendorff grammar-school. After this, he went to Mainz and studied for five semesters Germanic and music-science. In 1981 recorded Thomas Anders yet three singles : Du weinst um ihn, Ich will nicht dein Leben and Es war die Nacht der Ersten Liebe. Dieter, the blonde and casual type, and Thomas, the dark, elegant type, liked eachother from the beginning. In the studio, they were the perfect team. Yet, they were often in Dieters house near Bergstedt, a part of the town Hamburg. There was his 16-track studio. Although, it wasn't plain sailing, Dieter never gave in. In the same year, he produced with Thomas the song Wovon tra?st du denn ? With this song, Thomas hits the charts. (1 October 1983) About 30.000 records were sold. In Mars and June '84, were the singles Endstation Sehnsucht and Heisskalter Engel (a cover of Send me an angel by Real life) released. After the recordings of these singles, Dieter decides to take a holiday on the isle Mallorca. It's the first time after 5 years of intensive work, Dieter takes a holiday. But being idle and laying in the sun, is not really something for Dieter. A lot of new ideas are already brewing in his mind !

In Mars '85, the second single You can win, if you want was released. You could say that this title expresses very good the experiences Dieter picked up in his whole life. Since the success of You're my heart, you're my soul, Dieter hadn't much time to compose and work in the studio. Now, he could drawn from his earlier songs, however without losing any quality. The second single was the proof of that. For that matter also the singles Cheri, cheri lady, Brother Louie, Atlantis is calling ... At once with the release of the second single, the first album appeared too. On this album is also the song There's too much blue in missing you. Striking is that Dieter sings the song and Thomas is singing on the background. Initially, this it is not conspicuous, but the secret came to light when Modern Talking brought the song for the first time on television. Unforgettable is the appearence in Peter's-Pop-Show in September 1985, where a lift truck was necessary to get 75 golden and platinum records. Those were handed to Modern Talking for their success all over the world.

While the first two singles and album are still having all the intrest of the public, Dieter is already preparing the second album. And as if this isn't enough, Dieter records The night is yours, the night is mine for a second time, sings the song himself and releases the song by the name of Ryan Simmons. On the other hand, Thomas is singing the song on the first album. These are already the first signs of resentments between the two. And in interviews with Dieter, you can read between the lines that something was going on. Dieter passes some critical judgements on Thomas and complains about the fact that Thomas isn't working hard enough. e.g. Dieter says that he worked for two months on the second album, while Thomas comes only for two days to the studio for singing the songs...

One of the most important assistants of Dieter, is Louis Rodriguez, who is a soundengineer and has a hand on the technical work. But for Dieter, Louis isn't only the technical man, but he may also decide about the sound of the songs. Dieter Bohlen consults Louis Rodriguez musical ! It isn't surprising that Louis Rodriguez is the co-producer on almost all the Bohlen productions ... While Dieter was still working on Modern Talking, he was already working with other groups. In 1985 he recorded with Mary Roos the song Keine Tr?ne tut mir Leid.

With the group C.C.Catch, he was almost even successful as with Modern Talking. Caroline Muller lived in Bunde. Born in the Netherlands. She was discovered by Dieter on a "search for talent" contest in Hamburg. On the same evening, Dieter offered her a contract and he became also her producer. He also contrives her nickname - C.C.Catch. In the summer of 1985, I can lose my heart was released as the first single. With the dancers Dag, Dirk and Pierre, C.C.Catch became a disco-queen. Dieter and Caro worked together until the end of 1989.. Twelve singles and four albums were recorded.

Dieter wrote also Midnight lady for Chris Norman. The song was the title for a Tatort television serial. Chris made a comeback with this song. With the success of this projects, Dieter had proved that Modern Talking was not a coincidence and that it was certainly not owing to the beauty of Thomas Anders.

But nearly nobody engaged himself with the music or lyrics of Dieter's songs. And precisly in his lyrics, Dieter wrote about different topics and quoted different problems. Off and on, there are some indications to personal experiences or persons from his surroundings. But not many people see the contents of his lyrics, because they are influenced by prejudices : they can't believe that Dieter's lyrics have a contents. For example, Brother Louie is dedicated to his co-producer, Luis Rodriguez. Dieter wrote With a little love for his son Marc, born on July 9th, 1985. (Dieter named his son Marc, dedicated to the T-Rex singer Marc Bolan.) Also the same counts for the single Give me peace on earth. But because there was more attention payed to Thomas and Nora, this single was a flop. (from the Blue System repertoire, Crossing the river is also dedicated to his son Marc.)

While Dieter and Louis form a real good team, it's getting worse and worse between Dieter and Thomas. These quarrels are also notable during their concerts. In the beginning of Modern Talking, there are concerts all over Europe. But it seems already soon that Thomas isn't a match for the stress. In the middle of 1985, Thomas gets a nervous collapse. When Thomas was getting better, he married with Nora on July, 27th 1985 in Koblenz. The happening became a great show with 3000 crying, female fans in a crowded church. Dieter is also invited, but he cancels because his father was admitted to an hospital with an heartinfarct. But those who know Dieter better, know that he didn't like Thomas and Nora's uproar. (with a Rolls Royce to the church, travels to Monaco and Cannes, coffee with princes Stephanie ...) All this, took place after that Thomas had lengthen his contract with two years. (until the end of 1987) ... Dieter read about those trips in the papers. Those things provide more resentments between the two. What Thomas did in his private life, didn't interest Dieter, aslong he wasn't involved in ... One day, Thomas didn't turn up at the televisionshow Formel Eins. (An award for their fourth single Brother Louie was handed in this show.) Also on the show P.I.T., Thomas wasn't present. The day before, he cancelled with the reason that he had jaundice ... On 27 May 1985, a German tour would start in Rosenheim. And now it was Dieter, who didn't came up, because he had contracted a double ribfraction while he was playing tennis. The doctors advised Dieter to keep quiet for at least four weeks. Thomas was prepared to do the tour on his own, on condition that the organizers agreed with a solo-performance.

Dieter couldn't do else to get used to the fact that there weren't any questions anymore about his music, instead of; there were only questions about Thomas and Nora. However he did his best to keep the success in the charts and to save the project Modern Talking; he must admit too that every effort was in vain. The critics in the papers got more critical and more cynic. In the long run, journalists began to invent stories about Thomas, which were almost offensive. Thomas took revenge by bringing an action against the journalists. But he lost the action. By this, Thomas was getting more interest and the result was that the well-meaning press started too with writing about this action. Instead of being quiet and let go the press, he just kept going on with attacking them. This image, having his own way, had strictly speaking something odd. On the other hand, Thomas proved with that he didn't let him fool around and that he stood at the side of Dieter. But it gave the reverse effect. He made the ideas and intentions broken. Both were seen together less. And when they got some award, it was Dieter or Thomas who went, but certainly not both ... The last time they appeared together was at the end of 1986 during the Formel Eins tour. What original the beginning was of a huge tour, became a little war behind the scenes. One of the less pleasant heigths was the appearance at Circus Krone in M?nchen. While the fans were shouting and waiting, a great quarrel had begun. Only with a lot of trouble, they managed to get Thomas and Dieter on stage. As both were on stage, two women appeared too : Nora and her friend Jutta Temes. But at that time, nobody knew that Dieter had also two M?nich go-go girls taken with him : Sylvia Zuniga and Biggi Nandke. But instead of getting on stage, the two girls had to wriggle themself between a wall of security. The security thought that the two girls were groupies ... But to be more precise, Nora found the two girls in the cloakroom. Furiously, she sent her assisant Guido Karp to the girls and he instructed the security to not let the girls by no means on stage ! Dieter was now fed up with it !!! It is true that Biggi and Sylvia could do yet their act with the song Brother Louie. But at that moment, Nora and Jutta left the stage and Thomas followed too. The concert was finished and now, everybody knew what was going on ... On the backstage, Nora vented her rage on Dieter, so loud that everybody could here it. Dieter answered only laconic : The girls, I choose, may not be more beautiful than Nora. She has on stage nothing to say. She hasn't worked on any Modern Talking song. Not only Dieter, but also the media got irritated by Nora.The fans didn't appreciate Nora's idea too : In Kiel, Nora was been stained with eggs and tomatoes and they shouted : Nora raus !

Even if Dieter, who hadn't any hope anymore, had tried to make the co-operation again; it was obvious with this event on stage, that Modern Talking couldn't be saved anymore. Somebody had to make the consequences. Because Thomas wasn't willing anymore to work together and because Nora wouldn't change her opinion, Dieter had to make the decision. One thing was for Dieter sure : Nora made a trio of Modern Talking, and he couldn't live with that. For Dieter his music and future were important. Everything he reached untill know, was at a stake. It was obvious for everybody that Modern Talking would split. But there was still a contract. Modern Talking was still obliged to exist a year. Dieter Bohlen was planning already his future without Thomas. In the studio, he made already his own songs, which would be released after the contract. At the same time, he searched new musicians, worked on a new sound and project.

Modern Talking had five number one hits in a row. The sixth single, Geronimo's cadillac, was an exception. This was not so bad, because groups like the Beatles and Abba had going through the same. But worse was what the journalists wrote in their articles and what the fans thought about Modern Talking. And here was the feeling against Modern Talking not really positive, particularly against Nora : she wasn't accepted. Although she didn't belong to the group or had a contract, she just wanted to be more and more in the foreground. Nobody liked her, but she was always there. She even forbidded the journalist to photograph Dieter and Thomas together. Interviews with Thomas were only allowed when she was at the side of Thomas. With each article, the displeasure against Nora grew, with as consequense also a dislike against Thomas and Dieter. The signals were recognizable and visible. For Dieter Bohlen, Modern Talking wasn't his priority anymore. He was even noticed in America and England, there were already some requests to make music for some international artists. This could be endanger. The missing number one of Geronimo's cadillac was not a disaster, but rather a sign that something must happen. Finally, there was a split in 1987. Two years later, Dieter told once that through the fault of Nora, three American television appearances were lost, because Nora wanted that she was the host of the show. The American tv-bosses only laught with her ... Through this incident, Modern Talking lost about $200.000.

1987 meant eventually the end of Modern Talking. Two albums were made : Romantic Warriors (June) and In the garden of Venus (november). With these two albums, the contract was fullfilled. After the split, Thomas and Dieter went their own way. Between 1984 and 1987, there were about 42 million Modern Talking records sold ...

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