For a couple of heady years in the mid 1980s, Frankie Goes To Hollywood ruled the world. Their Mike Read upsetting single 'Relax' sat atop the hit parade, preening itself and waiting for follow-up, 'Two Tribes', to take its place. Much of this success was the work of Trevor Horn and his ZTT label - but FGTH weren't the only act to soak up the label's literary vision and expansive production style.
In 1982, Düsseldorf-based experimental musician Ralf Dörper invited the classically trained composer Michael Mertens and singers Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag to form Propaganda. They weren't actually signed by Horn, but by the writer and ZTT publicist, Paul Morley, who brought them to London to release their debut single 'Dr. Mabuse'. Taking its title from the sinister and silent film by Fritz Lang, the track rapidly entered the top 30 in Germany and Britain.
To build on the momentum, Trevor Horn was set to produce a second single and album in 1984, but the spectacular impact of the Frankie project meant Propaganda's next recording, 'Duel' didn't actually emerge until Spring 1985.
Then, in July, ZTT released their album: 'A Secret Wish'.
Simultaneously rooted in 80's electronica and utterly timeless, the album is unmistakably European. Blending the icy cool of Kraftwerk with the hooks of the Human League, Propaganda's sound is theatrical, experimental, ethereal and industrial. Like 'Dark Side of the Moon', 'A Secret Wish' insists we listen to the entire piece in one go. No hardship, as it immediately takes us to a world of angular architecture and operatic heartbreak, where gothic melodrama (lines from Edgar Allan Poe open the album), whales and ghostly orchestras live side by side. You really don't get that from 'Scouting For Girls'.
Perhaps inevitably, Propaganda and their exceptional album were overshadowed by their scouse label mates and Horn's commitment to his new stars. But it's clear where Paul Morley's admiration lay as he married Claudia Brucken shortly after the launch of 'A Secret Wish'.
Interestingly, the band also had a taste of the controversy 'Relax' attracted, when a further single 'p:Machinery', carried sleeve notes from Paul Morley quoting J. G. Ballard's praise for German terrorists Red Army Faction. This even upset some of the band so, in Germany, the text was changed to another Ballard passage on the aesthetics of Germany's suburbs. Not quite the same as having your lyrics condemned on the Radio 1 breakfast show, but certainly a more intellectual scandal.
Other than an occasional radio play for 'Duel', Propaganda's music is seldom heard nowadays. But thanks to the glory of Spotify, here's an opportunity to discover a band and an album as unique as 'Dare' or 'Autobahn' and realise this is surely the great lost album of the 80s.
A - WITHIN
"Dream Within A Dream" – 8:04
"The Murder Of Love" – 5:12
"Jewel" – 3:10
"Duel" – 4:43
B - WITHOUT
"p:Machinery (album mix)" – 3:50
"Sorry For Laughing" – 3:25
"Dr. Mabuse (first life)" – 5:00
"The Chase" – 4:03
"The Last Word/Strength To Dream" – 3:01
Magnus Shaw, July 2010
