Hi, I’m Baron von Luxxury. I’m gonna be like Joan Rivers to Disaster’s Johnny Carson and do the “New Wave Tuesday” column every other week, which will be syndicated on The Workout, MissingToof and BigStereo. Try all three!
Dusseldorf’s Propaganda is probably my favorite band from the 80’s. Sounding a bit like a Nico-fronted Kraftwerk in an Autobahn collision with ABBA, they created a nearly perfect blend of synthpop, disco and sturm und drang. Their dark, robotic songs were given a larger than life sheen thanks to the lush, wittily bombastic production of dark pop master Trevor Horn.
Propaganda hit the UK top 40 with their first single “Dr. Mabuse” in early 1984, but it took another year to follow up with their debut album, 1985’s “A Secret Wish.” While at times seemingly Fairlighted within an inch of its life by Horn and his crack team of session musicians (including Japan’s David Sylvian, Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory, and Steve Howe from Yes), the songs were terrific, the drama heavy, and oh the German-ness! So much German-ness! Singer Claudia Brucken was Teutonically hot and her vocals were hauntingly beautiful. And the videos? A classic mid-80s stew of WTF and OMFG.
“Secret Wish” was the only album Propaganda made with their original lineup, though there were a slew of remixes and a handful of followups with various replacement musicians. What happened? Depends on who you ask, of course, but it seems like the fact that Brucken was shtupping the label head didn’t go over too well with her band mates. But given the dramatic music they made, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
The first song, “Frozen Faces”, is my absolute fave Propaganda track. The synths that come in at 1:58 always gives me chills. There’s a 10 minute re-edit called “Echo of Frozen Faces” on the album Outside World (available on Amazon) which is truly sublime, it even has a killer eat-yr-heart-out-Oizo sax break!
MP3:”Frozen Faces” – Propaganda
“P-Machinery” is another gem of a song, and this megamix is nine minutes and 33 seconds of somber, pompous slow disco. There’s even a freakout guitar solo in the middle – someone needs to bring back wankin’ geetars back to the dance floor!
MP3:”P-Machinery (Beta Mix)” – Propaganda
And appropriately enough given the Nico-ness of it all, Propaganda’s Velvet Underground cover is pretty awesome too.
MP3: “Femme Fatale” – Propaganda
Buy Propaganda albums at Amazon.com
Propaganda are highly recommended for fans of Depeche Mode, Heaven 17, Yaz and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
xx + ttfn,
Baron von Luxxury
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Oh man do I love that first Propaganda record (let’s not speak of the second one). It was the pinnacle of the ZTT sound. I bought it on vinyl when it came out and promptly re-bought the inferior American CD when it came out, too.
It still sounds fresh in its own way today. Nice choice on the rare tracks, too…
[...] Some classic 80’s synthpop-related stuff I wrote about that I think is worth checking out if you missed it the first time includes a piece I did on David Sylvian, one on Daniel Ash, the awkwardness that is Goth, the awesomeness of Moroder’s “The Chase” and his work with Sparks, and Propaganda. [...]