Michael Cretu – Samurai (Did You Ever Dream)
#quotefromthe80s
Samurai samurai
Does your blood run cold
No light shines in your eyes
No burning flame in your soul
#MichaelCretu #Samurai
In the first days of September 1985, a very popular song entered the charts across Europe, sung by an artist that not everyone knew, perhaps because he often preferred to remain in the shadows rather than show himself in broadcasts and concerts.
We are talking about Michael Cretu, a Romanian author, singer and producer who moved and then found success in Germany, and from there became famous throughout Europe. Michael, whose original name is Mihai Crețu, was obviously familiar with the German language, because his mother was an Austrian lady, and after a few years of studying in various countries he decided to settle in Germany. In the early 80s he collaborated with many people both in France, where he lived for a few years and worked for example for Mireille Mathieu, and in Germany, where he joined Frank Farian’s team.
Farian was the inventor and voice of Boney M, and subsequently the architect of the disaster of Milli Vanilli, who with Girl You Know It’s True marked the saddest page of the 80s. In the early 80s Cretu was also known as “Curly M.C.”, a reference both to the fact that he actually had curly hair, but also to the meaning of the word Creț in Romanian, which means… curly-haired.
After a couple of albums and a series of singles, Michael reached his turning point in 1985. His third album in the German edition is titled Die Chinesische Mauer, the same title as Chinese Wall, Philip Bailey’s album from the previous year which contained the beautiful Easy Lover written and sung together with great Phil Collins. Well, Michael Cretu’s album also contains a song that has a resounding success, with German lyrics, Samurai.
Cretu, who is far-sighted and as we have seen is a true European citizen, has an ace up his sleeve: he recorded an English version of both the song Samurai and the entire album, changing the title, which becomes The Invisible Man in the English version. And the complete title of the single in the English version is Samurai (Did You Ever Dream).
Samurai climbs all the charts and makes Michael Cretu the artist of the moment. The song is certainly beautiful and particular, and it seems really strange that in the days of Live Aid, the golden age of MTV, such a beautiful and popular song was released without a real video.
Michael doesn’t like to show in person, and television stations need to broadcast mixes of his very few television appearances. Michael was truly the invisible man, and as we said he gave very few interviews, rarely participated in broadcasts, and practically never did concerts or live performances: his work was in the recording studio.
Shortly after, Michael Cretu will start working with a beautiful girl who will mark his life, because she will become his wife. Actually Michael will also mark the girl’s life, because he will be a very important part of her success! In fact, he became the producer of the former lead singer of Arabesque, a German female trio, the beautiful Sandra Ann Lauer, who since then we all know as Sandra. Exactly, the singer of (I’ll never be) Maria Magdalena, Innocent Love, and many other hits. Cretu was the producer of both songs, and was also among the authors of Maria Magdalena. Cretu and Sandra got married in 1988 and their story ended in 2007.
In short, Michael Cretu was a bit of a samurai of music, who came out of the shadows to carry out his mission with cold blood and then disappear again, perhaps changing his identity, as he later did in the ’90s when Mike Oldfield (exactly the author of Moonlight Shadow) convinced him to launch the Enigma project, with the incredible song Sadeness (Part I).
In short, perhaps it was impossible to see live or meet the great Michael Cretu, but like a samurai, he truly left a masterstroke in the music of the 80s and beyond!
Michael Cretu on Wikipedia
Hits: 894