Amanda Lear

Who is this amazing woman? An Italian? A Frenchwoman? In her life, she seems to have traveled the entire world. She posed for Salvador Dalí himself! She was the girl of David Bowie himself! And she also sang, with lyrics for all her songs written by her own hand. Amanda Lear was born in Hong Kong in 1946, with a father who was half English and half French, and a mother who was half Russian and half Indochinese. She spent her childhood in the south of France and Switzerland and by the age of 18 already spoke five languages (English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian). From 16, she studied painting in Paris, then entered the famous Saint Martin's School in London. There she became friends with Brian Jones from the rock group 'Rolling Stones'. Soon, her bright Euro-Asiatic appearance caught the attention of Catherine Harl, head of the most famous European modeling agency, and in 1965 Amanda returned to Paris and began working with Paco Rabanne and Yves St Laurent. She soon met the Spanish avant-garde artist Salvador Dalí, who wished to have her as a model, and she remained his muse and close friend for over 15 years. In 1973, at the peak of her career, her longtime admirer Bryan Ferry asked her to pose for the cover of one of his records, and that cover became more famous than the records themselves! David Bowie, the then-leader of British rock music, fell in love with her, and they were together for about a year. He wanted her to sing, and she participated in his composition 'Midnight special' (1974). In 1975, Amanda released her first single on the well-known British label Creole Records. The 'A' side of the single contained a cover of Elvis Presley's song 'Trouble.' The 'B' side was a dance composition, the lyrics of which were written by Amanda herself, while the music was by La Bionda, a future renowned disco group producer of 'One for you' and 'Vamos a la playa.' The single achieved noisy success in the disco category, even though its title had nothing to do with disco. The German producer Anthony Monn from Munich's Ariola label immediately offered Amanda to write a real disco single for her. The lyrics were again written by Amanda herself. The single released in 1976 Christmas topped the disco chart and was number 12 on the sales chart and number 4 in the Italian hit parade. As a result, Ariola signed a contract with Amanda for 7 years and 6 albums for an astronomical sum. As it happened, Amanda wanted to become a rock singer, but it was disco that brought her immense wealth. Her very first album 'I Am A Photograph' hung in the German charts for 33 weeks and gifted the public two mega-hits 'Tomorrow' and 'Queen of Chinatown,' the latter becoming number 1 and gold in Japan. However, three countries (Britain, USA, and France) did not notice the newly emerging singer at all. Nevertheless, not for long; her next single 'Follow Me' from the second album 'Sweet Revenge' caused a surge of Amanda's popularity throughout continental Europe, including France. In September 1978, she gave a concert in Paris for 5000 people inside and 15000 outside the royal palace. The album sold 4 million copies and made it to the charts in 41 countries, including even Chile, South Africa, India, and Thailand, where it remained number 1 for 16 weeks. The compositions 'Gold,' 'Run Baby Run,' and 'Enigma' were also released as singles. However, in the USA, Lear's recordings continued to sell poorly, despite a noisy promo campaign. Amanda's third album 'Never Trust A Pretty Face' was released in March 1979 and overshadowed the previous one in quality of its arrangement. The best hits were 'Fashion Pack' and 'The Sphinx.' Most of Lear's fans still consider this album the best in her work. That year, Amanda became the 'incarnation' of disco throughout Europe and tirelessly toured various countries. In April of the same year, she married French producer Alain Philippe Malagnac, the son of the famous gay writer Roger Peyrefitte. In 1980, her fourth album 'Diamonds for breakfast' opened doors for her in Scandinavian markets, where Amanda immediately became a huge star. Two hits released as singles, 'Fabulous' and 'Diamonds,' helped her in this, although in other countries, the songs 'When' and 'Japan' made it to the charts. The album was only number 43 in Germany and sold best in Scandinavia (number 4) and Italy. It felt like Monn's production formula was becoming outdated. Amanda toured Europe again from Greece to Finland, and in Italy, this album was released with three songs in Italian. In 1981, after Lear sold 15 million copies of singles and 8 million copies of albums, she wanted to return to her first love - 'rock' music, and even made a trial recording in London with producer Trevor Horn, who had previously worked with Tina Turner. That same year, she returned to exhibition her paintings and held 2-4 exhibitions a year, mainly in Europe. Some of her paintings were sold for 10,000 dollars! At the same time, her next disco album 'Incognito' was released on Ariola. The Spanish version included three songs in Spanish, which became big hits in South America, but the regular version flopped in Europe. In 1982, her last single with Monn 'Fever' was released, and her contract with the Ariola label was terminated. However, unexpectedly, this single became a big hit in South America, and Lear hastily went on a tour of South American countries, then gave a concert in New York, USA. Only in Italy did this recording not come out. Then Amanda records the single 'Incredibly Woman' in all Italian traditions, and it becomes an Italian hit. In the same year 1982, Amanda Lear toured Eastern European countries, where she also became a major star (in the USSR, her name was revered alongside Barbra Streisand and 'Pink Floyd'). And Anthony Monn soon after breaking up with Amanda began to produce a rising 'disco' star 'Fancy.' Unexpectedly, Italian tele-magnate Berlusconi offered her to host a variety show on his channel, and she remained a television star for four years. Her career as a singer was overshadowed by her television popularity in Italy, and then in Germany and France. The sixth album 'Tam Tam' (1983), which was produced in Italy, flopped everywhere it could. In 1984, Amanda also worked with Warner on a composition for Bolognini's video 'Assassino.' In 1985, she returned to disco stages with the recording 'No credit card' in the Hi-NRG style of producer Merack, which became a popular disco hit, especially among gay audiences. In 1987, Amanda released the album 'Secret Passion' with American producer Christian de Walden on the Carrere Records label. An automobile accident in the same year led her to a hospital bed, where she wrote a novel 'The Immortal,' published in France. In 1988, Lear recorded with the Italian rock group 'CCC Р,' and participated in the Italian Song Festival in San Remo. In 1989 and 1990, she recorded successful albums in Italian and French and began a new TV and radio show in these countries. In 1991, the Ariola label released remixes of her songs 'Follow Me' and 'Gold.' That same year, Amanda began participating in the most popular French television show 'The Big Heads' (a talk show with small games and jokes), and later became the host of the famous sex show 'Beware of the Blondes'/'Peep' (in Germany), which was watched by about 50% of the TV audience on Sunday evenings. In 1993, she recorded 'Cadavrexquis' - the album that marked her return to dance music. The single 'Fantasy,' produced by the German 'Bass Bumpers,' became a big hit and reminded listeners of her earlier best works. In 1995, she recorded in Munich for the first time in 12 years the album 'Alter Ego' on the dance label Zyx. In June 1995, she participated in a combined disco concert in Paris together with 'Boney M,' Grace Jones, and Gloria Gaynor. Who is not familiar with hits like 'Fashion pack,' 'Blood and honey,' and 'Sphinx'? However, when you prepare to listen to Amanda Lear for the first time, do not forget to take into account that she possesses the lowest voice among all pop singers. Otherwise, her voice and singing style, resembling an otherworldly mumble, might shock you just as much as everything else about Amanda Lear!