Producers, Writers, Artists OCEAN SWELL In 1986, the independent company Melodie der Welt again stood up remarkably well amid the "opposition" of Reach for Int'1 Stardom the multinationals, standing number two in the success rat- ings. U.S. repertoire which made a major contribution in- cluded: "When The Going Gets Tough" (Billy Ocean), "I En- NOW THE WORLD IS OPEMIG gineer" (Animotion), "Why Can't This Be Love ?" (Van Halen), All You Zombies" (Hooters), "Like A Rock" (Bob Seger), and Suzanne Vega's album. OP TU GERMAN TALENT Outstanding revivals were "Spirit In The Sky" (Dr. & the Medics) and "Don't Leave Me This Way" (the Commu- nards). By WOLFGANG SPAHR And among the most successful songwriters and produc- ers represented by the company are: Stephen Bray (Madon- na's "True Blue "; Nick Kamen's "Each Time You Break My Device, roducers and songwriters from the German - concerned, we're only at the start of a worldwide career for Heart) "; Mike Chapman & Holly Knight (hits from speaking countries, including such names as Gior- Jennifer Rush. Our across -the -borders marketing concept Tina Turner, Rod Stewart and others); Narada Michael Wal- gio Moroder, Harold Faltermeyer and Jack White, plays a very important part in gaining maximum acceptance den (Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin); Burt Bacharach have become both successful and influential at internation- for her." (Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald). for was "Top Gun" (Berlin and al level, and particularly in the U.S. CBS Germany has already had substantial international Film hit of the year MDW ë But there are also some German performers, musicians, success with Andreas Vollenweider and with Nena. Kenny Loggias) and tour of the year was that of Rod Stew- singers and groups, who manage to break into the Europe- The pop duo Modern Talking, signed to Intersong pub- art, whose album turned gold. It's been a good start for an and, sometimes, the U.S. charts. Among them are James lishing in Hamburg, has been an industry phenomenon and 1987, too, with Santana's album "Freedom," Gap Band's Last, Kraftwerk, Nena, Falco, Modern Talking, Accept, and gold /platinum earner for three years now. The soft sounds "Big Fun," Carly Simon, and Oran "Juice" Jones from the Scorpions. of producer and author Dieter Bohlen have been released in Def Jam catalog, which also takes in success groups like the Dieter Ohms, managing director of PMV, the PolyGram all European countries but have also sold remarkably well in Beastie Boys and Slayer. distribution company, says confidently: "There's absolutely Asia and Latin America. Estimated total sales for Modern 40 LOVE COULD BE UFA'S ACE no need for us to hide our national product, no need for us Talking in 1986 were around the 13 million mark and the A healthy mix of German standard catalogs, money -spin- to be ashamed of it. But the fact is our creative people in act has got off to a similarly successful start this year. ning international copyrights and successful local talent is Munich and Hamburg and elsewhere have to be constantly But Modern Talking is by no means the end of Dieter Boh- at the heart of UFA Music's long- running status as one of aware that it takes a high level of talent and flexibility of ap- len's area of creativity. With much the same basic style, he the biggest German music publishing outfits. It is now part proach to achieve real international success. They also, of has seen C.C. Catch and ex- Smokie lead singer Chris Nor- of the BMG International group. course, have to have sensitive ears, man into the charts. Clearly success breeds success Long associated with UFA are: Peter Maffay, leading Ger- attuned to pick up the very latest man rock star whose latest album "Tabaluga" went to No. 1 trends as they happen." Alphaville (WEA) in the chart and producer /singer /songwriter Harold Falter- The German music industry is meyer, who received his second Grammy recently and rightly proud of the success of Har- wrote and produced songs for Jennifer Rush's last album old Faltermeyer and Jack White in and the upcoming album of Donna Summer. the U.S. The latter helped artists like Joe Bamburger, UFA Publishing chief, looks for success Pia Zadora, Engelbert (Humper- this year from new local signings Moscow West and 40 dinck) and Audrey Landers into the Love. On the international side, the firm represents a roster charts, while still looking after Ger- of top names including Alan Parsons Project, Bruce man artists of considerable national importance such as Hornsby, Rick James, Katrina & the Waves, plus major cata- Tony Marshall and Andrea Juergens. logs such as Arista, Chinnichap, Disney. and Private I. Faltermeyer, most recently successful with the music for DIVERSITY THE KEY TO SUCCESS "Top Gun," also wrote and produced material for German - The Sikorski group of music publishing companies. still based (U.S. -born) CBS artist Jennifer Rush and boosted her one of the few top- ranking indie units in West Germany, to new levels of international in his case, for there are half a dozen international artists in claims to be the most diversified publishing entity in Eu- successes. The new Rush album line waiting to be produced by him. But Bohlen admits he rope. has been released in more than sets very high critical standards and won't be rushed into Around 50% of its activity is dedicated to "serious" mu- 20 different territories. Now, the studios just for the sake of it. sic and includes exclusive representation of G. Schirmer with her manager Michael Stark, "That element of searching criticism is one of the key rea- Inc. and VAAP, the Soviet copyright agency. The other half she's putting maximum effort sons for his success," says Goetz Kiso, head of Intersong of the action is on the popular music catalog. one of the fin- into breaking into the U.S. mar- Hamburg, who adds that Bohlen has already received more est in respect of standards. ket in a big way. Last year she than 120 gold and platinum records for his work as writer, A classical highlight recently was the worldwide release of sold more than 3 million sound - producer and artist. the stage version of "West Side Story" (Leonard Bernstein carriers. EMI -Electrola are going flat out to place national German conducting a company led by Kiri Te Kanawa and Jose Car - Says CBS marketing director product in charts around the world, say deputy managing reras). It's a multi -million seller in vinyl and CD worldwide. Heinz Canibol: As far as we're director Helmut Fest and marketing chief Erwin Bach. The The popular section has been enriched by acquisition of the new band Mixed Emotions is a case in point, about to get Bert Kaempfert catalog (Edition Doma). Above: C.C. Catch the same kind of opportunities as proffered earlier to the TEAMWORK TELLS (Ariola) Left: Mod- Scorpions, who toured the U.S. successfully many times. Last year was the most successful yet for Francis, Day & ern Talking (Ariola) The act is produced by Drafi Deutscher, who also writes Hunter, with the strength in depth of copyright resulting in songs for them and sings with the band. more than 50 entries in the German national charts, a suc- Says Fest: "We have to take the greatest care in prepar- cess consistency highlighted by Europe, Queen, Simple ing German acts for an international launch. We're very Minds, Glass Tiger, Run D.M.C., Stevie Wonder and many aware that it remains a very rare happening for a German others. artist to make it into the Billboard charts. We have the right And the chart activity has continued this year, reflecting (Continued on page G -15) the strong teamwork of a staff of 22 on exploitation, pro- motion and administration. Outside local activities, FD &H main repertoire sources are the Screen Gems /EMI Music Jennifer Rush (CBS) catalogs, sub-publishing deals around the world and the ad- ministration of the Rondor Music catalog. Current success comes from the new Fleetwood Mac al- bum and the Steve Silk Hurley "Jack Your Body" single. FDH chief Peter Ende says: "We've been able to help estab- lish Canadian bands Glass Tiger and Honeymoon Suite in Germany in past months, and there's more to come." MORE THAN READY FOR THE WORLD The publishing division of the Siegel Music Group has had Klaus Doldinger (WEA) a good year, with international names like Bruce Spring - Peter Schilling (WEA) (Continued on page G -4) BILLBOARD JUNE 13, 1987 G-3 www.americanradiohistory.com.