Michael Cretu

Michael Cretu
Birth name	Mihai Crețu
Born	(1957-05-18)18 May 1957 Bucharest,Romanian People's Republic
Genres	New-age new wave downtempo disco synth-pop
Occupations	Musician composer producer
Instruments	Vocals keyboard piano guitar drums
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Virgin Polydor East West
Spouse	Sandra ​ ​ (m.1988;div.2007)​
Website	enigmaspace.com

Michael Cretu(Romanian:Mihai Crețu,pronounced[miˈhajˈkretsu];born 18 May 1957) is a Romanian-born German musician, composer and record producer.He gained worldwide fame as the founder and musician behind the musical projectEnigma,which he formed in 1990.

Cretu began a music career in 1976 as a solo artist and released numerous studio albums as well as writing and producing albums for his then-wife, German pop singerSandra.He also worked with artists through the 1980s, includingPeter Cornelius,Hubert Kah,andMike Oldfield.Cretu was sometimes identified as"Curly"or"Curly M.C.",in reference to his curly hair andcrețmeaning "curly" in Romanian.

Cretu scored an unexpected worldwide commercial hit with the debut Enigma albumMCMXC a.D.(1990), helped by its lead single, "Sadeness (Part I)".Cretu continues to produce Enigma albums and singles; the most recent isThe Fall of a Rebel Angel(2016), its eighth overall. Enigma has sold an estimated 70 million albums worldwide,Cretu's management company Crocodile-Music stated that Cretu's produced recordings have sold 100 million copies worldwide.

Early life

Cretu was born on 18 May 1957 inBucharest,Romanian People's Republic,to a Romanian father and Austrian mother. In 1965, he studied the piano and classical music at Colegiul Tehnic Nr. 2 in Bucharest, followed by further study inParisfor five months in 1968.Around this time, Cretu wished to pursue a career in pop music after listening to "Golden Slumbers"onAbbey Road(1969) byThe Beatles,calling the song "beautiful". After he informed his mother, Cretu recalled: "She goes, 'Aaargh! Disaster! Do you want to end up starving?'"In 1975, Cretu relocated toBad Homburg,West Germany and studied at the Academy of Music inFrankfurt,where he graduated with a degree in musical composition in 1978.Cretu went on to speak four languages.

Career

1976–1988: Solo career, producer, and early bands

After graduating from the Academy of Music, Cretu remained inWest Germanyand took up work as asession musician.Among Cretu's first jobs was being taken on as keyboardist and producer for West-German recording artistFrank Farian,and playing keyboards on "Rivers of Babylon"byBoney M.In 1981, Cretu co-formed the West-German new wave bandMoti Specialwith other session players. Their debut albumMotivation(1985) contained the single "Cold Days, Hot Nights" which became a hit around Europe.Cretu left the group before they released their second album in 1990.

Cretu's first solo album was released in 1979, titledMoon, Light & Flowers.It contains the singles "Shadows Over My Head" and "Wild River" released in 1978, and "Moonlight Flower" and "Love Me" (the latter two singles became popular hits in thePhilippines) from 1979. His second album,Legionäre,was released in 1983 and features German lyrics sung by him.Cretu's third solo album was titledDie Chinesische Mauerand was released in 1985. The literal English translation isThe Chinese Wall.As with the second album, it features German lyrics sung by Cretu and is co-produced by Armand Volker. This album was also released as a separate album with English-language lyrics and a different track listing under the nameThe Invisible Man.Several of the tracks onThe Invisible Manwere edited slightly and, therefore, had different lengths than the German-language versions onDie Chinesische Mauer.This featured the song "Samurai",which became a hit.

In 1985, Cretu produced, arranged and played the keyboards, drums, and programming onThe Long Play(1985), the first studio album from West-German pop singerSandra.The two began a relationship, and were married in 1988.

In the 1980s, Cretu took over production for the pop quartetHubert Kahand started writing songs with the band leader Hubert Kemmler, achieving a number of hits. Among his other work, Cretu was also one of the producers ofMike Oldfield's 1987 albumIslandsand the producer ofPeter Schilling's 1989The Different Story (World of Lust and Crime)album.

In 1992, Cretu worked with Peter Cornelius onReturn to Innocence,to provide the guitar riffs.

For the third album, Cretu teamed up withJens Gadto work together onLe Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!and launched in 1998 a new trance projectTrance Atlantic Air Wavesand the albumThe Energy of Sound.

He owned theA.R.T. StudiosinIbizabefore moving to a new mansion in the Ibiza hills. His former house, near Sant Antoni de Portmany on the western coast of Ibiza, was a Moroccan-style mansion that was designed and built by Bernd Steber and Gunter Wagner in more than nine years. It also featured a new recording studio. The Spanish High Court deemed the house to have been built illegally and in infringement of Spanish environmental regulations which led to the €18 million villa being razed in May 2009.

1988–present: Enigma

Cretu was encouraged to pursue a solo project by Oldfield, who was impressed by his studio production skills and musical ideas. This led to the creation of his musical projectEnigma,which Cretu said was born from the idea of making music that he himself liked, while bringing in a sense of mysticism.The formation of Enigma involved Fabrice Cuitad, under the alias of David Fairstein, andFrank Peterson.The trio worked together to create their groundbreaking debut single "Sadeness (Part I)",which became a surprise international hit.MCMXC a.D.,the album, which was released in 1990, was hugely successful.

Cretu was not surprised by the album's unexpected success, as he recalled telling his wife before its release, "This will be a huge hit or nothing at all".Cretu's style of mixing a variety of musical genres, samples and sounds was very unusual to the ears of the listening public at the time, and led to him being described as an "alchemist in sound".

The second album,The Cross of Changes,was released in 1993. Peterson had disagreements with Cretu by the time of recording and left the project in 1991.Cretu changed Enigma's direction fromGregorian chantsto tribal chants for its second album, culminating in its second international hit single "Return to Innocence".

Cretu purposefully reduced the use of Gregorian chants as numerous artists had started to use them in their music, causing "an avalanche of bad copies", but later regarded it as a compliment.

Cretu was approached byParamount Picturesto write thesoundtrackof the filmSliverand he came up with another 1993 single "Carly's Song"after the main female character's name.

In 1996 Enigma's third albumLe Roi est mort, vive le Roi!was released. Stylistically, it sounded like a combination of the first and second albums. It did not achieve the same level of success as them, but sold over 1 million copies in the United States and received a Gold certificate in the United Kingdom nonetheless.

In 1999 Cretu steered the project in another direction by using samples ofCarl Orff'sCarmina Buranafor the fourth albumThe Screen Behind the Mirror,released in 2000.Andru DonaldsandRuth-Ann Boylefirst appeared as features on this Enigma project. AlthoughJens Gadhad been working with Cretu on the earlier albums, this was the first time that he had been given actual credits.

In 2001, Cretu released two Enigma compilation albums:Love Sensuality Devotion: The Greatest HitsandLove Sensuality Devotion: The Remix Collectionthat include credits toATB.By this time, Enigma has clocked close to an estimated 30 million sales worldwide.

Cretu continued to record Enigma albums, releasingVoyageurin 2003. Familiar sounds of theShakuhachiflute, tribal or Gregorian chants were replaced with more commercially-friendly tunes and beat.In March 2006, a new single called "Hello and Welcome"was released in anticipation of another album,A Posteriori.

A Posterioriis the sixth Enigma studio album. It was released on 22 September 2006.

Seven Lives Many Facesis the seventh Enigma studio album. It was released on 19 September 2008.

The Fall of a Rebel Angelwas released on 11 November 2016.

Personal life

Cretu marriedSandraon 7 January 1988; together they have twin sons who were born in July 1995.They lived inIbiza,Spain in a home that also housedA.R.T. Studios,where the Enigma albums were recorded. In November 2007, the couple divorced. The Ibiza home was bulldozed after Cretu lost a legal battle in which he did not obtain planning permission to renovate and build on the site.After the divorce, Cretu remarried.He now lives inMunich.

Cretu became known as an artist who kept a low profile, giving few interviews and avoiding concert tours.

Discography

Solo albums

• 1979 –Moon, Light & Flowers(re-released in Germany in 1994 as:Ausgewählte Goldstücke)
• 1983 –Legionäre(English edition:Legionnaires)
• 1985 –Die Chinesische Mauer(English edition:The Invisible Man)

Solo singles

• 1978 – "Shadows Over My Head"
• 1978 – "Wild River"
• 1979 – "Moonlight Flower"
• 1979 – "Love Me"
• 1983 – "Total Normal"
• 1983 – "Zeitlose Reise"
• 1983 – "Der Planet der verlorenen Zeit"
• 1983 – "Today, Today"
• 1984 – "Schwarzer Engel"
• 1985 – "Carte Blanche"
• 1985 – "Die Chinesische Mauer"
• 1985 – "Samurai "(German Version)"
• 1985 – "Samurai (Did You Ever Dream)"(English Version) [#3 Austria, No. 2 Switzerland, No. 4 Sweden, No. 1 Greece, No. 4 Italy, No. 12 West Germany]
• 1985 – "Silver Water"
• 1986 – "Gambit"
• 1987 – "School's Out" (Cretu & Thiers)
• 1987 – "When Love Is the Missing Word" (Cretu & Thiers)
• 1988 – "Don't Say You Love Me (Let Me Feel It)" (Cretu & Thiers)
• 1988 – "Captain Right" (Cretu & Thiers)
• 1992 – "Rettungsringe sterben aus" (Cretu & Peter Cornelius)
• 1992 – "Nur die Hoffnung nicht" (Cretu & Peter Cornelius)

Collaborations and productions

• 1980 – Topas; "Topas"
• 1981 – Peter Kent; "Happy Weekend"
• 1982 –Severine
• 1983 –Mireille Mathieu;"Ein neuer Morgen"
• 1983 – Mary and Gordy
• 1983 –Peter Cornelius;"Fata Morgana"
• 1984 –Hubert Kah;"Goldene Zeiten"
• 1986 – Hubert Kah;Tensongs
• 1986 – Avenue; "Imagination"
• 1985 –Moti Special;Motivation
• 1987 –Mike Oldfield;Islands
• 1987 – Inker & Hamilton;Dancing Into Danger
• 1987 – Cretu And Thiers;School's Out
• 1988 – Cretu And Thiers;Belle Epoque
• 1989 –Hubert Kah;"Sound of My Heart"
• 1989 –Sylvie Vartan;"Confidanses"
• 1989 –Peter Schilling;The Different Story (World of Lust and Crime)
• 1992 – Peter Cornelius and Cretu;Peter Cornelius and Cretu
• 1993 –Maggie Reilly;"Midnight Sun"
• 1996 – Kurt Maloo;The Captain of Her Heart (Michael Cretu Mixes)
• 1998 –Trance Atlantic Air Waves;The Energy of Sound
• 1999 –Andru Donalds;"Snowin' Under My Skin"
• 2001 – Andru Donalds; "Let's Talk About It"
• 2007 –Ruth-Ann Boyle;"What About Us"

Sandra

Cretu worked as writer, producer and background vocalist for Sandra's albums:

• 1985:The Long Play[#12 West Germany, No. 8 Norway, No. 2 Sweden, No. 18 Austria, No. 4 Switzerland]
• 1986:Mirrors[#16 West Germany, No. 14 Norway, No. 40 Sweden, No. 13 Switzerland]
• 1987:Ten on One[#19 West Germany, No. 28 Austria, No. 14 Switzerland]
• 1988:Into a Secret Land[#14 West Germany, No. 18 Norway, No. 22 Sweden, No. 13 Austria, No. 9 Switzerland]
• 1988:Everlasting Love
• 1990:Paintings in Yellow[#4 Germany No. 30 Sweden, No. 14 Austria, No. 8 Switzerland]
• 1992:Close to Seven[#7 Germany, No. 20 Norway, No. 27 Sweden, No. 26 Austria, No. 13 Switzerland]
• 1992:18 Greatest Hits[#10 Germany, No. 7 France, No. 36 Sweden, No. 27 Switzerland No. 1 Finland]
• 1995:Fading Shades[#42 Germany, No. 37 Switzerland]
• 1999:My Favourites[#16 Germany, No. 15 Norway, No. 43 Switzerland]
• 2002:The Wheel of Time[#8 Germany, No. 63 Austria, No. 68 Switzerland]

External links

• The Official Enigma website(international)
• Michael CretuatIMDb
• Michael CretuatAllMusic
• Michael Cretudiscography atDiscogs