Claudia Brücken (born 7 December 1963) is a German singer and songwriter. She was the lead vocalist of the
synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...
band
Propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
for many years.
In 1996, Brücken started working with
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Meols, Merseyside in 1978 by Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboards, vocals). Regarded as pioneers of electronic musi ...
co-founder
Paul Humphreys
Paul David Humphreys (born 27 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the keyboardist and secondary vocalist of the Electronic music, electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), which he f ...
, first without a name, and from 2004 as
Onetwo. In March 2013, Brücken and Humphreys ceased working and living together, and she has subsequently returned to pursuing her solo career.
Early career
At age 14, Brücken joined her first band, Haarsträubend. Her second band was the all-female ''The Tripolinas'' together with Susanne Freytag, who also became a member of the band Propaganda.
Propaganda
In 1983, Brücken joined the German band Propaganda and relocated to London when they signed with
ZTT Records
ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by the record producer Trevor Horn, the businesswoman Jill Sinclair and the ''NME'' journalist Paul Morley. They released music by acts including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Grace Jones, the ...
. Propaganda had two UK top 30 hit singles with "Dr Mabuse" (1984) and "Duel" (1985). On 14 February 1985, Brücken married British music journalist
Paul Morley
Paul Robert Morley (born 26 March 1957) is a British music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983, and has since written for a wide range of publications and written his own books. He was a co-founder of the reco ...
, who was one of the founders of the ZTT label. In July 1985, the first Propaganda album ''
A Secret Wish'' was released. While promoting their first album and writing songs for a new album, internal tensions rose within the group. This was mainly attributed to the relationship between Brücken and Morley, and the profitless contract the band had signed with ZTT. In 1986, Propaganda left ZTT, and Brücken left Propaganda to stay with ZTT.
Act and solo career
She joined
Thomas Leer to form
Act, who in 1988 released their only album ''
Laughter, Tears and Rage''. In 1991 she released a solo album ''
Love: And a Million Other Things'' for
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
. In the United Kingdom two singles were released from this album "Absolut(e)" in 1990, and "Kiss Like Ether" in 1991. Throughout the rest of the 90s, Brücken concentrated mainly on motherhood (she has a daughter, Maddy, and a son, Daniel, with
Paul Morley
Paul Robert Morley (born 26 March 1957) is a British music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983, and has since written for a wide range of publications and written his own books. He was a co-founder of the reco ...
) and made some guest performances on albums of other artists. She had met
Paul Humphreys
Paul David Humphreys (born 27 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the keyboardist and secondary vocalist of the Electronic music, electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), which he f ...
(of
OMD) in the early 1980s but it was in 1996 when the pair became close, as she was working on songs for a possible second solo album.
Propaganda reunion
In 1998, Brücken joined the part-reunion of Propaganda (in which founder Ralf Dörper, see also
Die Krupps
Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/electronic body music, EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler, Ralf Dörper, and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf.
The band has had a diverse range of musical influences over time, i ...
, did not take part) and they began working on new material. Several tracks were completed as demos, including a snippet of a video. A preview of this video was released via the band's official website in early 2000, however, the reunion fell apart and no album materialized, although nine songs were leaked to the internet. Two of these were later released as Onetwo songs: "Cloud Nine", co-written by
Martin Gore
Martin Lee Gore (born 23 July 1961) is an English musician and songwriter. He is one of the founding members of the electronic music band Depeche Mode and is the band's main songwriter. He is the band's guitarist and keyboardist, and occasiona ...
of
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...
, and "Anonymous".
The original four-piece including founder Ralf Dörper performed together at the
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English record producer and musician. His influence on pop and electronic music in the 1980s was such that he has been called "the man who invented the eighties".
Horn took up the bass guitar at an ...
Prince's Trust extravaganza which took place at the Wembley Arena in 2004. Another attempt at a band reunion failed in 2010.
2000–2018
At the end of 2000, Brücken and Humphreys undertook a short tour of the United States as "Paul Humphreys of OMD: OMD Revisited". The tour started in
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...
, and they performed songs from OMD and Propaganda, but also some new songs they had written. As
Onetwo, in June 2004 the pair became the first established artists to release new material exclusively on
eBay
eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
with a 5-track EP format called ''
Item''. Onetwo made their live debut in September 2004 at the Carling Academy at
Islington
Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...
.
A collaboration between Brücken and pianist
Andrew Poppy resulted in the album ''Another Language'' in 2005. On this album, they performed songs of other artists with just vocals and piano/guitar.
Onetwo finally released their debut album ''
Instead'' on 26 February 2007, and performed some gigs in April 2007. They also supported
Erasure and
The Human League
The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...
in the second half of 2007.
Her vocals can be heard in the hit 2011 video game ''
L.A. Noire'', as the singing voice of lounge singer, German immigrant and the main character's love interest Elsa Lichtmann.
In 2011, Brücken released ''Combined'', which contained eight previously released tracks and four new ones, including her duet with Andy Bell of
Erasure and two tracks from Onetwo. She also did a duet with
Paul Rutherford of
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). Johnson and Ruther ...
singing "
This Is Not America
"This Is Not America" is a song by English singer David Bowie and American jazz fusion band the Pat Metheny Group, taken from the The Falcon and the Snowman (album), soundtrack to the 1985 film ''The Falcon and the Snowman''. It was released as ...
" a song written by
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
and
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...
for the soundtrack of the movie ''
The Falcon and the Snowman''.
In March 2011, Brücken performed at the
Scala, Kings Cross, London. She performed a selection of songs from her work with Propaganda, Act, Andrew Poppy, OneTwo and several numbers from her solo career. She was joined onstage by a variety of guests including
Paul Humphreys
Paul David Humphreys (born 27 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the keyboardist and secondary vocalist of the Electronic music, electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), which he f ...
,
Glenn Gregory,
Martyn Ware, Andrew Poppy, Susanne Freytag, Ralf Dörper and
Andy Bell. The concert was called 'This Time: It's Claudia Brücken'. The concert was recorded and released on 23 July 2012 as a CD/DVD entitled ''This Happened: Live at the Scala'', and was produced by
Paul Humphreys
Paul David Humphreys (born 27 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the keyboardist and secondary vocalist of the Electronic music, electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), which he f ...
and
Martin Gooch who also directed.
On 6 November 2012, Brücken released a new CD/vinyl set entitled ''The Lost Are Found'', a collection of "lost" songs from artists such as the
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...
,
Julee Cruise and
The Band
The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...
, whose second album ''
The Band
The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...
'' contains "Whispering Pines" which lends the album its title. A video for "Whispering Pines" was released as the album's first single in December.
Brücken played live in the UK in March 2013. Germany tour dates were postponed after an announcement on 7 March reporting that Paul Humphreys would have to withdraw from the original dates.
In October 2014, Brücken released a new solo album, entitled ''Where Else...'' (Cherry Red), a collaboration with co-writer and producer
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
.
2018–present: xPropaganda
For two nights in March 2018, Brücken, along with Propaganda bandmate Susanne Freytag, performed the Propaganda album "A Secret Wish" in its entirety at The Garage in London under the name X-Propaganda. By 2021 the duo of Brücken and Freytag decided that their band's name would be now styled as xPropaganda, with the duo recording a new album with producer
Stephen Lipson called ''The Heart Is Strange''. In February 2022, Universal Music announced that it would release ''The Heart Is Strange'' on the ZTT Label in May, a label the original line-up of Propaganda had signed to in the 1980s. ''The Heart Is Strange'' features the tracks "The Night", "Don't (You Mess With Me)" and "No Ordinary Girl", with xPropaganda scheduled to play it live in 2022, with a line-up including Brücken, Freytag and Lipson. The album reached #11 on the UK charts, a higher position than the original Propaganda achieved forty years earlier.
She releases new album ''Night Mirror'' in July 2025.
[https://www.classicpopmag.com/2025/04/claudia-brucken-announces-new-album-night-mirror/]
Select discography
Citations
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brucken, Claudia
1963 births
Living people
People from Neumarkt (district)
German women singers
Women new wave singers
German new wave musicians
Emigrants from West Germany to the United Kingdom
Island Records artists
Synth-pop new wave musicians