| "Samurai" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Michael Cretu | ||||
| from the album Die Chinesische Mauer | ||||
| B-side | "Sword of Fear" | |||
| Released | 1985 | |||
| Genre | Synth-pop | |||
| Length | 4:28 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Michael Cretu singles chronology | ||||
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"Samurai" is a song by Romanian-German singer-songwriter Michael Cretu from his third studio album, Die Chinesische Mauer (1985).
In the lyrics, the protagonist of the song shows how frustrating his live act is.
A German-language version of the song was also released around the same time as the English version, but it was not a commercial success unlike the English version which reached the top 20 in a number of countries across Europe.
The plot of the music video features Michael Cretu with some studio musicians in a dojo, while two kendōkas are fighting against each other. [1]
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [4] | 3 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) [5] | 5 |
| Italy ( Musica e dischi ) [6] | 7 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [7] | 4 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [8] | 2 |
| West Germany (Official German Charts) [9] | 12 |
MCMXC a.D. is the debut studio album by the German musical project Enigma, led by Romanian-German musician Michael Cretu. It was released in Europe by Virgin Records on 3 December 1990, and in the United States by Charisma Records on 12 February 1991. Cretu became fascinated with mixing archaic sounds with modern music after producing German pop singer Sandra's song "Everlasting Love", for which he experimented with Gregorian chant. Following Michael Cretu and Sandra's marriage in 1988, Michael developed the idea of the musical project Enigma and recorded the album over the course of eight months in 1990 at A.R.T. Studios.
Die Chinesische Mauer is Michael Cretu's third solo album, released in 1985. The literal English translation of the title is "The Chinese Wall", or as it is better known, "The Great Wall of China". Like his previous album Legionäre, this had German lyrics, was sung by Michael and was co-produced by Armand Volker. The album was separately with English lyrics and a different track listing under the name "The Invisible Man". Several of the tracks on "The Invisible Man" were edited slightly and therefore last for a different length than the German versions on Die Chinesische Mauer and sides 1 and 2 were swapped for a more commercial track-listing. The song Samurai was released as a single and became a hit in Europe, but its success was mostly with the English version. In 1986, after the success of the single "Gambit", the English version of the album was re-released on LP to feature this song, but with the track "Carte Blanche" removed due to groove space. This edition featured a whole new cover and package design by Mike Schmidt at Ink Studios, whom at this point had designed nearly all of the artwork and design for Cretu and related productions. The album was recorded entirely at Cretu's then-studio "Data Alpha Studio" alongside recording The Long Play by Sandra. The studio resided in the basement of Sandra and Cretu's home.
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