User:Bizarre Bizarre/WIP3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
German producer and songwriter Dieter Bohlen began his career in the late 1970s at Hamburg-based label Intersong, working as a songwriter for various schlager singers. In 1980, he started working as a producer at Berlin-based label Hansa, while also attempting a solo career under the pseudonym Steve Benson. None of the three singles, all of which he wrote and two of which he also produced, were successful. After Bohlen met singer Thomas Anders and produced five unsuccessful German-language singles for him between 1983 and 1984, they founded pop duo Modern Talking. All of their songs were written and produced by Bohlen. Their first five singles ("You're My Heart, You're My Soul", "You Can Win If You Want", "Cheri, Cheri Lady", "Brother Louie", and "Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. for Love)") topped the German Singles Chart and also were highly successful in Europe, Asia, and Africa. While still in Modern Talking, Bohlen continued writing and producing for other artists, such as C. C. Catch, whom he discovered, and former Smokie singer Chris Norman.
In 1987, following Modern Talking's split, Bohlen founded Blue System, for which he provided lead vocals. He wrote and produced all of the project's songs, while also continuing his work with other artists, including Roy Black and Bonnie Tyler. In 1998, Modern Talking made a successful comeback with songs such as "You're My Heart, You're My Soul '98, "You Are Not Alone", or "TV Makes the Superstar". All songs from that era were produced by Bohlen and he also wrote most of them, though some very few songs were written by Thomas Anders. The duo split up again in 2003, but Bohlen released the song "Shooting Star" in 2006, as well as the album Back for Gold in 2017, which features new versions of Modern Talking's first six singles produced by him.
In 2002, Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of Pop Idol and American Idol, was launched with Bohlen as one of the judges. Since the start of the programme, he has written and produced for most of the winners, who include Alexander Klaws, Pietro Lombardi, and Beatrice Egli. While the collaborations were sometimes limited to one song, as was the case for Elli Erl, they sometimes extended for several albums, such as with Mark Medlock. He also continued working with both newcomers (Yvonne Catterfeld) and veteran artists (Andrea Berg).
Bohlen was involved in several soundtracks. German crime series Tatort featured three songs written and produced by him in their episodes: "Midnight Lady" (performed by Chris Norman in 1986), "Silent Water" (performed by Blue System in 1988), and "Against the Wind" (performed by Bonnie Tyler in 1991). He also wrote and produced the entirety of the soundtrack of German series Rivalen der Rennbahn in 1989. He wrote and produced the soundtrack to the cartoon film based on his life, Dieter: Der Film, in 2006.
He also wrote and produced several songs intended for participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, some of which actually made it to the contest. In 1983, he wrote and produced "Mit 17" for Bernd Clüver, which reached the third place of the German preselection. In 1989, two of his songs were sent to the contest: Nino de Angelo represented Germany with "Flieger", while Thomas Forstner represented Austria with "Nur ein Lied". The Austrian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992, "Zusammen geh'n" performed by Tony Wegas, was also written and produced by Bohlen. In 2006, the song "Be My Boyfriend", which he wrote and produced for duo Indiggo, reached the seventh place of the Romanian preselection.
Throughout his career, Bohlen's songwriting and production work has been credited to his real name as well as to various pseudonyms, such as Art of Music, Dee Bass, Double Trouble, Fabricio Bastino, Fabrizio Bastino, Howard Houston, Jennifer Blake, Joseph Cooley, Marcel Mardello, or Steve Benson.
Easy access: German list