''Nena'' is the first album by German

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band Nena and the second studio album of its singer, Gabriele "Nena" Kerner. Released on 14 January 1983, it is part of the music genre called Neue Deutsche Welle (meaning "New German Wave") in German music. The album was a great success in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and the second single " 99 Luftballons" successfully reached in the

music charts A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

worldwide including Australia, Austria, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The single is considered a "

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

" by many in the US, despite the fact that other band's singles repeatedly topped European charts. It was produced by Manfred Praeker and

Reinhold Heil Reinhold Heil (born May 18, 1954) is a German-born musician and film and television composer based in Los Angeles. He initially achieved success in Germany as a member of the post-punk and Neue Deutsche Welle bands Nina Hagen Band and Spliff and ...

of the German band

Spliff A joint (), also commonly referred to as a "doobie" or "doob", is a rolled cannabis cigarette. Unlike commercial tobacco cigarettes, the user ordinarily hand-rolls joints with rolling papers, though in some cases they are machine-rolled ...

. The album has been initially released as a

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

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and CD. The first single from the album, "Nur geträumt", was released a year earlier, in 1982. "99 Luftballons" was the second single, released in 1983. The third and final single was "Leuchtturm", released in 1983, a few months after "99 Luftballons".

Prominent tracks

The three singles released from the ''Nena'' album have enjoyed particular prominence in Nena's career. Although " 99 Luftballons" is by far the most well known globally, the other two ("Nur geträumt" and "Leuchtturm") have for more than 30 years been ever-present features of the live concerts of firstly the band and then Nena in her subsequent solo career.

"Nur geträumt"

"Nur geträumt" was released in May 1982, eight months before the release of the album. Upon release, the single sold poorly. However, after Nena performed it on the TV programme '' Musikladen'' in August 1982, it catapulted the band to fame in Germany. Written by Nena and her boyfriend

Rolf Brendel Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic name ''Hrolf'', itself a contraction of ''Hrodwulf'' ( Rudolf), a conjunction of the stem words ''hrod'' ("renown") + ''wulf'' ("wolf"). The Old Norse cognate is ''Hrólfr''. ...

, the band's drummer, it is about a couple longing to spend time together. It reached in the German charts where it stayed for seven weeks from late October through early December 1982, being blocked from reaching by "Words". Label LP Nena

If the track was the one which launched Nena's career in Germany, where its release preceded "99 Luftballons", it had the opposite effect in the Anglophone world where an English version ("Just a Dream") failed as a follow-up, only scraping into the low reaches of the UK charts (). In 2002, when Nena rekindled her solo career by releasing the triple platinum album ''

Nena feat. Nena ''Nena feat. Nena'', also known as ''20 Jahre Das Jubiläums-Album'' (''20 Years The Anniversary Album'') is a studio album by German pop singer Nena. It contains new versions of her hits, some of them are duets with other singers, including Kim ...

'' comprising re-worked versions of her 1980s greatest hits, "Nur geträumt" was among them. The album spawned three Top 10 hits in Germany but not the new version of "Nur geträumt", which only made . Given the huge success of the album, by 2010 Nena had reverted to performing the original versions of most of the album's songs, including "Nur geträumt".

"Leuchtturm"

"Leuchtturm" is a love song, its lyrics, written by Nena herself, describing how she and her "Kapitän" (captain) set off alone in a "U-Boot" (submarine) to see the world from a "Leuchtturm" (Lighthouse). They enjoy themselves so much that by the time the submarine surfaces, the lighthouse is no longer in view. Released as the follow-up to "99 Luftballons", it reached in the German charts in 1983. In 2001, a reggae-style version of "Leuchtturm" for Nena's solo album '' Chokmah'' proved to be the precursor of the following year's ''Nena feat. Nena'' album, which was made up of updates of her 1980s greatest hits. Another version of "Leuchtturm" appeared on this 2002 album, this makeover both more fundamental and more enduring. The tempo of the song quickened and the lyrics were overhauled. With all mentions of captains and "U-Boots" removed, the song's message became a more generic affirmation of loyalty ("I'll go with you wherever you want... I won't ever leave you"). The drift from the song's original meaning is best illustrated by the fact that the song's title "Leuchtturm" doesn't even appear in the new lyrics and the revised theme of unquestioning devotion led to it being adopted as a football chant by fans of Borussia Dortmund. The changes worked: "Leuchtturm (2002)", as it was officially titled, returned to the Top 10 of the German charts 19 years after its first appearance, this time peaking at . Furthermore, despite the huge success of ''Nena feat. Nena'', "Leuchtturm" is the only re-work from the album which Nena hasn't completely discarded in favour of the original version, instead during live concerts, the original version is first performed, then the 2002 version follows, which has been the case ever since. In 2002 the single "Leuchtturm" was released with the additional title "Ich häng immer noch an dir" and with a remix by DJ Tomekk.

Track listing

Side A contains tracks 1 to 6 and Side B contains tracks 7 to 12.

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

and

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Nena

Nena Kerner Gabriele Susanne Kerner (born 24 March 1960), better known as Nena, is a German singer and songwriter who rose to international fame in 1983 as the lead vocalist of the band Nena with the Neue Deutsche Welle song "99 Luftballons". In the same ye ...

– lead vocals *

Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen (born 10 March 1960) is a German keyboard player, producer and composer. He was the keyboardist of the band Nena and co-wrote their world famous hit "99 Luftballons" as well as another great hit entitled "Irgendwie, ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Carlo Karges Carlo Karges (31 July 1951 – 30 January 2002) was a German musician who became a guitarist and songwriter for the rock band, Nena. He wrote the lyrics of Nena's most famous song, "99 Luftballons", released in 1983. He was attending a 1982 Rolli ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s *

Jürgen Dehmel Jürgen Dehmel (born 12 August 1958) is a German bass player and songwriter. Biography Dehmel was born in Berlin, Germany. He was brought by keyboardist Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen to join the rock band Nena in 1981. Fahrenkrog-Petersen and Dehmel ha ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Technical personnel

*Udo Arndt – mixer * Manfred "Manne" Praeker –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– production *Imre Sereg – recorder *Jim Rakete – cover design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links

''Nena''
at the official Nena website * * {{Authority control 1983 debut albums Nena (band) albums Albums produced by Reinhold Heil CBS Records albums Columbia Records albums German-language albums