Arabesque

Arabesque was created as an all-girl trio at the height of the disco era in 1977 in Frankfurt, Germany.

After an unsuccessful first album, the group lineup was changed by keeping original member Michaela Rose and replacing the two other girls with new members Jasmin Vetter and Sandra Lauer. After they split up in 1984, Jasmin and Michaela continued on as the duo "Rouge", while Sandra started her own career as a solo artist with the help of her future husband, Michael Cretu.

Arabesque were extremely popular in Japan, and also had success in the USSR. In 1980, the single "Take Me Don't Break Me" became a hit, which only scraped the German Top 40. Their next single, "Marigot Bay", would become their only Top Ten hit a few weeks later. Their last singles "Ecstasy" and "Time to Say Goodbye", became hits only after their split, in various European countries, as they sounded very close to the "Italo-disco" sound, a very popular music genre of the European discothèques at that time. Those songs spread and gained success through LP compilations of dance/pop music, and bootleg tapes, so, the group could never take advantage of this success, as neither those songs could properly appear on any music charts as "singles" anyway. (That was a common problem for many '80s European artists.) These last Arabesque singles also introduced the "Italo-disco" sound to Japan, under the term "eurobeat", previously used in the UK for the Stock Aitken Waterman productions. That soon lead to Japan's Super Eurobeat music style.

On December 16, 2006, Arabesque (featuring Michaela Rose and two new members, Sabine Kaemper and Silke Brauner) headlined the second Retro FM festival in Moscow. According to Russian press they are planning a tour in Japan and possibly releasing a new album.^[1]

Discography

Albums

• 1978 - Friday Night
• 1979 - City Cats
• 1980 - Marigot Bay
• 1980 - Arabesque-IV
• 1981 - In for a Penny
• 1981 - Caballero
• 1982 - Why No Reply
• 1983 - Dance Dance Dance
• 1984 - Time to Say Good Bye
• 1994 - Twin Best (2-CD compilation)

Singles

• 1977 "Hello Mr. Monkey"
• 1978 "Friday Night"
• 1979 "Fly High Little Butterfly" (Japan only)
• 1979 "Rock Me After Midnight" (Japan only)
• 1979 "City Cats" (Germany only)
• 1979 "Peppermint Jack"
• 1980 "High Life" (Japan only)
• 1980 "Parties in a Penthouse" (Japan only)
• 1980 "Make Love Whenever You Can" (Japan only)
• 1980 "Take Me Don't Break Me" (Germany only)
• 1980 "Marigot Bay" (Germany only)
• 1981 "Midnight Dancer" (Japan only)
• 1981 "In for a Penny, In for a Pound"
• 1981 "Billy's Barbeque" (Japan only)
• 1981 "Hit the Jackpot" (Japan only)
• 1982 "Caballero" (Japan only)
• 1982 "Young Fingers Get Burnt" (Japan only)
• 1982 "Indio Boy" (Germany only)
• 1982 "Tall Story Teller" (Germany only)
• 1983 "Why No Reply"
• 1983 "Pick It Up" (Japan only)
• 1983 "Dance, Dance, Dance" (Japan only)
• 1983 "Loser Pays the Piper" (Japan only)
• 1983 "Sunrise in Your Eyes" (Germany only)
• 1984 "Hearts on Fire" (Japan only)
• 1985 "Time to Say Goodbye"
• 1986 "Ecstasy" (Germany only)
• 1998 "Hello Mr. Monkey '98" (Remix)

Rouge

Singles

• 1986 "Hold On" / "Perfect Timing"
• 1986 "Einer Von Uns" / "Nobody Knows" (entry in the German Eurovision selections 1986)
• 1987 "The Leader Of The Pack" / "So Close"
• 1988 "Love Line Operator" / "(instrumental)"
• 1988 "Love Line Operator (extended version)" / "(real life mix)"
• 1988 "Koi Wa No Time" (Japan only)
• 1989 "Koi Wa No Time ~Loving Me Totally~" (Japan only) (English version of above, performed in in the Tokyo Music Festival 1989)^[2]

Albums

• 1988 "Rouge" (Japan only)^[2]

External links

• Arabesque feat. Michaela Rose
• http://www.arabesque-music.de
• http://www6.plala.or.jp/arabesque/index.htm
• big section about Arabesque band
• Arabesque at Last.fm

References