Enigma is a German musical project founded in 1990 by Romanian-German musician and producer Michael Cretu. Cretu had released several solo records, collaborated with various artists, and produced albums for his then-wife, German pop singer Sandra, before he conceived the idea of a new-age, worldbeat project. He recorded the first Enigma studio album, MCMXC a.D. (1990), with contributions from David Fairstein and Frank Peterson. The album remains Enigma's most successful, helped by the international hit single "Sadeness ", which sold twelve million units alone. According to Cretu, the inspiration for the creation of the project came from his desire to make a kind of music that did not obey "the old rules and habits" and presented a new form of artistic expression with mystic and experimental components.
Sandra Ann Lauer, commonly known under her stage name Sandra and Sandra Cretu, is a German pop singer who enjoyed mainstream popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s with a string of European hit singles, produced by her then-husband and musical partner, Michael Cretu, most notably "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena" (1985), "In the Heat of the Night" (1985), "Everlasting Love" (1987), "Secret Land" (1988), "Hiroshima" (1990) and "Don't Be Aggressive" (1992). Her albums Into a Secret Land (1988) and Close to Seven (1992) have won Sandra high critical acclaim.
"Everlasting Love" is a song written by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden, originally a 1967 hit for Robert Knight and since remade numerous times, most successfully by Love Affair, as well as Town Criers, Carl Carlton, Sandra Cretu, and Gloria Estefan. The original version of "Everlasting Love" was recorded by Knight in Nashville, with Cason and Gayden aiming to produce it in a Motown style reminiscent of the Four Tops and the Temptations. When released as a single, the song reached No. 13 on the US chart in 1967. Subsequently, the song has reached the US Top 40 three times, most successfully as performed by Carl Carlton, peaking at No. 6 in 1974, with more moderate success by the duo Rex Smith and Rachel Sweet and Gloria Estefan.
"Forever" is a 2001 pop song by German singer Sandra. It is a love ballad written by Peter Ries and Wolfgang Filz, and produced by Michael Cretu and Jens Gad. The song was released in October 2001 as the lead single from Sandra's seventh studio album The Wheel of Time and was a minor success on the official German chart. Music website AllMusic rated the song 3.5 out of 5 stars.
"(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena", also known simply as "Maria Magdalena", is a song recorded by German singer Sandra for her debut studio album The Long Play (1985). The song, written by Hubert Kemmler, Markus Löhr, Michael Cretu and Richard Palmer-James, was released as the lead single from The Long Play on July 15th. 1985, by Virgin Records, and was a major chart hit in Europe, reaching number one in multiple countries. It remains Sandra's signature song.
"In the Heat of the Night" is a 1985 song by German singer Sandra, written by Michael Cretu, Hubert Kemmler, Markus Löhr and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu. Kemmler also provided backing vocals on this recording as well as numerous Sandra's songs in the 80s.
"Heaven Can Wait" is a 1988 song performed by German singer Sandra and written by Michael Cretu, Hubert Kemmler, Markus Löhr and Klaus Hirschburger. It was arranged by Michael Cretu and Markus Löhr, and produced by Cretu. The song was released as the lead single from Sandra's third studio album Into a Secret Land in mid-1988. The single reached the top 10 in Austria and France, the top 20 in Germany and Switzerland and was one of Sandra's few singles to break into the UK Top 100. In Austria, it was also a top 10 airplay hit. It was Sandra's fourth and last silver-certified single in France.
"Secret Land" is a 1988 pop song by German singer Sandra. It was written by Uwe Gronau, Hubert Kemmler, Michael Cretu, Mats Björklund, Susanne Müller-Pi, Klaus Hirschburger and Michael Höing, and produced by Cretu. It is an adaptation of the 1987 Kemmler-produced song "Trenchcoat Man" recorded by the short-lived German band Fabrique, the members of which were Gronau and Höing.
"Little Girl" is a 1985 pop song performed by German singer Sandra. It was composed by Michael Cretu, Hubert Kemmler, and Markus Löhr to lyrics written by Klaus Hirschburger. Cretu also produced the track. The song was released as the third and final single from Sandra's debut album The Long Play in early 1986. It did not repeat the commercial success of the two previous singles, but still managed to reach the top 3 in Greece, the top 10 in Italy and the top 20 in Germany and Switzerland. It also reached no. 12 and no. 13 on the German and Austrian airplay charts, respectively.
"Innocent Love" is a 1986 synthpop song performed by German singer Sandra. It was written by Hubert Kemmler, Ulrich Herter, Susanne Müller, and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Michael Cretu and Armand Volker. The song was released as the first single from Sandra's second solo album, Mirrors. The single was commercially successful, reaching the top 10 in Norway and France, and the top 20 in Germany and Switzerland.
"Hi! Hi! Hi!" is a 1986 song performed by German pop singer Sandra. It was written by Michael Cretu, Hubert Kemmler and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu and Armand Volker.
"Loreen" is a 1986 pop song by German singer Sandra. It was written by Frank Peterson, Michael Cretu and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu and Armand Volker. The song was released in November 1986 as the third single from Sandra's second album Mirrors. The contents of the 7" and the 12" single are identical, with "Loreen" being the only Sandra single from the 1980s or 1990s to lack an extended version. The song was a moderate success in Germany and Switzerland.
"Midnight Man" is a 1986 pop song by German singer Sandra. It was written by Hubert Kemmler, Michael Cretu and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu and Armand Volker. The song was released as the fourth and final single with added synthesizers from Sandra's second album Mirrors in early 1987, and was a moderate chart success in Germany and Belgium.
"Stop for a Minute" is a 1987 pop song by German singer Sandra, written by Michael Cretu and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu. It was released as the second single from Sandra's first greatest hits compilation Ten on One in early 1988, and reached the top 10 on the German sales and airplay charts. The song was used in the German crime TV series Tatort, in the episode "Salü Palu", where Sandra performs it in a club scene. The show was set in Saarbrücken, Sandra's hometown, and aired on 24 January 1988.
"We'll Be Together" is a 1988 pop song performed by German singer Sandra from her third studio album Into a Secret Land. It was written by Hubert Kemmler, Markus Löhr, Klaus Hirschburger and Sandra Cretu, and produced by Michael Cretu. This is the only song along with "When the Rain Doesn't Come" that was written or co-written by Sandra herself, prior to the 2007 album The Art of Love.
"Around My Heart" is a 1988 pop song performed by German singer Sandra. It was written by Hubert Kemmler, Markus Löhr, Sör Otto's, Frank Peterson and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Michael Cretu. The song was released as the fourth single from Sandra's third studio album Into a Secret Land in spring 1989 and was a top 20 hit in Germany and Switzerland. It also reached no. 12 on the German airplay chart.
"Hiroshima" is an anti-war song performed by British band Wishful Thinking, written by David Morgan and produced by Lou Reizner, which tells about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The track was recorded at the Chappell Recording Studios in London in 1970. It was first released in 1971 as a single from their album of the same name, but achieved commercial success only upon its re-release in 1978, when it peaked at No. 8 in West Germany, staying on the chart for 44 weeks. It was one of the best-selling singles of 1978 in West Germany.
"(Live May Be) A Big Insanity" is a 1990 pop song performed by German singer Sandra, written by Michael Cretu and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu. It was released in spring 1990 as the second single from Sandra's fourth studio album, Paintings in Yellow. The single became only a moderate hit in Germany and France.
"Don't Be Aggressive" is a 1992 pop song by German singer Sandra. It was written by Michael Cretu and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu. The song uses a sample of the 1990 track "Daydreaming" by Massive Attack, which in turn samples "Mambo" (1984) by Wally Badarou. It was released in January 1992 as the lead single from Sandra's fifth studio album Close to Seven, reaching the top 10 in Norway and Finland, and the top 20 in Germany.
"Johnny Wanna Live" is a pop song by German singer Sandra, written by Michael Cretu, Klaus Hirschburger and Frank Peterson, and produced by Cretu. The song was originally released on Sandra's fourth studio album Paintings in Yellow in 1990 and was subsequently remixed for her 1992 compilation 18 Greatest Hits. The new version was released as a single to promote the album, backed with "Mirrored in Your Eyes" from Sandra's most recent album at that time, Close to Seven, and only met with minor chart success.
