Biography
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Years Active
1982 – present (42 years)
Saâda Bonaire is the fantastic disco/world music project duo out of Bremen, Germany that was never meant to be.
Formed by Bremen DJ Ralf Behrendt in 1982, Saâda Bonaire was a unique concept band centered around two sultry female vocalists (Stefanie Lange and Claudia Hossfeld) who would be joined by dozens of Kurdish musicians recruited from the local immigration centre.
Originally signed to EMI in 1982, their first and only single, “You Could Be More As You Are” was produced in Kraftwerk’s studio by legendary Matumbi, Slits and Pop Group producer Dennis Bovell. There they were joined by jazz icon Charlie Mariano (previous collaborations include Gong, Stan Kenton and Charles Mingus) who lent his talents on saxophone. The resulting sound was a unique fusion of husky female vocals, Eastern instruments, dub and African music aesthetics, drum computers and synthesizers.
1984. Just as the “would-be” hit single was due for release, a scandal struck at the EMI office. Saâda Bonaire’s A&R man, notoriously famous for exceeding his budget, was in a constant tug of war with the EMI finance department. He had previously exceeded his budget 5 times over on Tina Turner’s “Private Dancer” and was more than 3 times over budget for Saâda Bonaire; this was the last straw. Fed up, EMI released “You Could Be More As You Are”, but pulled the plug on all further promotional support for Saâda Bonaire. The group disappeared from public eye soon after.
November 2013 saw the release of an eponymous compilation album, featuring tracks from the 1984 single and previously unreleased material.
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