View source for Blue System

{{short description|German pop group}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Distinguish|Blue Systems}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Blue System
| image             = Blue System.svg
| caption           = 
| origin            = Germany
| genre             = {{flatlist|
* [[Pop music|Pop]]
* [[Eurodance]]
* [[Euro disco]]
}}
| years_active      = 1987–1998
| label             = {{flatlist|
* [[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG]]
* [[ZYX Music|ZYX Music USA]]
}}
| past_members      = [[Dieter Bohlen]]
}}

'''Blue System''' was a German pop group that was founded by [[Dieter Bohlen]] in 1987<ref>{{Cite web |title=Blue System Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/blue-system-mn0000066378 |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref> after the break-up of [[Modern Talking]].

== Career ==
The group consisted of [[Dieter Bohlen]] (mastermind creator, composer, writer, producer, mixer, arranger and verse main vocals), and hired backstage musicians [[Rolf Köhler]] (chorus main vocals), [[Michael Scholz]] (background vocals), [[Detlef Wiedeke]] (background vocals) and other background and/or front female voices Tuti Kanta ("[[Laila (song)|Laila]]", "[[Only with You (Blue System song)|Only with You]]"), Marion Schwaiger ("[[Déjà vu (Blue System song)|Déjà vu]]", etc.), Audrey Mountang and Madeleine Lang.{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}}

On stage: Joachim Vogel (rhythm guitar), Jeanne Dupuy and Frank Otto (drums), [[Nadja Abd el Farrag]] (vocals).{{what|date=July 2020}} In 1988 Frank Otto was replaced by Michel Rollin. After that in 1991 a new keyboardist joined for live shows – Achim Strieben. In TV shows and videos he was replaced by Friedrich Graner (Sir Fritz), who remained a part of the group until the break-up in 1998. In 1992 Dirk Sauer, Rene Engelman and Wolfgang Fritsch joined the group, while Joachim Vogel left.

Some of the group's singles such as "[[Sorry, Little Sarah]]" or "[[My Bed Is Too Big]]" achieved moderate success in Europe. The group released 22 video clips from their album repertoire and most of these were aired in Europe, especially on German TV shows. Blue System also had several concert performances in [[Russia]]{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}} during the late 80s and early 90s.

== List of band members ==
[[File:Dieter Bohlen.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Dieter Bohlen]]]]

* [[Dieter Bohlen]] – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards (1987–1998)
* Frank Otto – drums (1987–1989)
* Joachim Vogel – rhythm guitar (1987–1990)
* Husnu Baylav (Snoopy) – drums (1989)
* Michel Rollin – drums (1989–1998)
* Joachim Strieben – keyboards (1989–1998)
* Lutz Krüger – vocals (1990–1991)
* Wolfgang Fritsch – rhythm guitar (1990–1996)
* Fritz Graner – keyboards (1991–1998)
* Dirk Sauer – vocals (1992–1994)
* Thorsten Feller – vocals (1994–1996)
* Lars Illmer – vocals (1997–1998)

'''Timeline'''

{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:24
PlotArea = left:95 bottom:80 top:0 right:5
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/10/1987 till:21/03/1998
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1988
ScaleMinor = increment:2 start:1989

Colors =
  id:lvocals  value:red         legend:Lead_vocals
  id:guitar   value:green       legend:Guitar
  id:bass     value:blue        legend:Bass 
  id:drums    value:orange      legend:Drums,_percussion
  id:keys     value:purple      legend:Keyboards
  id:bvocals  value:pink        legend:Backing_vocals
  id:studio   value:black       legend:Studio_album

BarData =
  bar:Diete   text:Dieter Bohlen
  bar:Kohl    text:Rolf Köhler
  bar:Scholz  text:Michael Scholz
  bar:Wiede   text:Detlef Wiedeke 
  bar:Vogel   text:Joachim Vogel
  bar:Lutz    text:Lutz Krüger
  bar:Fritsch text:Wolfgang Fritsch
  bar:Feller  text:Thorsten Feller
  bar:Lars    text:Lars Illmer
  bar:Koli    text:Joachim Koli
  bar:Rene    text:Rene Engelman
  bar:Dirk    text:Dirk Sauer
  bar:Snoopy  text:Snoopy
  bar:Strieb  text:Joachim Strieben
  bar:Fritz   text:Fritz Graner
  bar:Otto    text:Frank Otto
  bar:Rollin  text:Michel Rollin

PlotData=
  width:7   textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
  bar:Kohl    from:start      till:end color:bass

  width:3 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
  bar:Diete   from:01/10/1987 till:31/12/1987 color:keys
  bar:Diete   from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1994 color:guitar

  bar:Kohl    from:start      till:end color:bvocals
  bar:Scholz  from:start      till:end color:bvocals
  bar:Wiede   from:start      till:end color:bvocals

  width:11  textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
  bar:Diete   from:start      till:end color:lvocals
  bar:Kohl    from:start      till:end color:drums
  bar:Scholz  from:start      till:end color:keys
  bar:Wiede   from:start      till:end color:guitar
  bar:Strieb  from:01/09/1989 till:31/12/1990 color:keys
  bar:Strieb  from:01/05/1993 till:31/10/1993 color:keys
  bar:Snoopy  from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:keys
  bar:Otto    from:01/10/1987 till:31/12/1988 color:drums
  bar:Vogel   from:01/10/1987 till:31/05/1990 color:guitar
  bar:Lutz    from:01/06/1990 till:31/08/1990 color:guitar
  bar:Rollin  from:01/02/1989 till:end color:drums
  bar:Fritsch from:01/09/1990 till:31/12/1996 color:guitar
  bar:Koli    from:01/06/1990 till:31/12/1990 color:bass
  bar:Rene    from:01/06/1991 till:30/06/1991 color:bass
  bar:Dirk    from:01/01/1992 till:30/06/1994 color:bass
  bar:Fritz   from:01/01/1991 till:end color:keys
  bar:Feller  from:01/07/1994 till:31/12/1996 color:guitar
  bar:Lars    from:01/01/1997 till:end color:guitar

LineData =
  at:02/11/1987 color:black layer:back
  at:17/10/1988 color:black layer:back
  at:09/10/1989 color:black layer:back
  at:08/10/1990 color:black layer:back
  at:12/04/1991 color:black layer:back
  at:30/09/1991 color:black layer:back
  at:23/03/1992 color:black layer:back
  at:19/04/1993 color:black layer:back
  at:24/03/1994 color:black layer:back
  at:31/10/1994 color:black layer:back
  at:09/10/1995 color:black layer:back
  at:14/10/1996 color:black layer:back
  at:17/11/1997 color:black layer:back
}}

== Discography ==
=== Studio albums ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2017}}
* 1987 ''[[Walking on a Rainbow]]'' ([[Hansa Records]])
* 1988 ''[[Body Heat (Blue System album)|Body Heat]]'' ([[Hansa Records]]) [No. 23 Austria, No. 20 Germany]
* 1989 ''[[Twilight (Blue System album)|Twilight]]'' [No. 30 Austria, No. 26 Switzerland, No. 11 Germany]
* 1990 ''[[Obsession (Blue System album)|Obsession]]'' [No. 18 Austria, No. 14 Germany]
* 1991 ''[[Seeds of Heaven]]'' [No. 12 Austria, No. 11 Germany]
* 1991 ''[[Déjà vu (Blue System album)|Déjà vu]]'' [No. 18 Germany, No. 27 Austria]
* 1992 ''[[Hello America (album)|Hello America]]'' [No. 29 Germany, No. 21 Austria]
* 1993 ''[[Backstreet Dreams (album)|Backstreet Dreams]]'' [No. 5 Germany, No. 22 Austria]
* 1994 ''[[21st Century (Blue System album)|21st Century]]'' [No. 11 Germany]
* 1994 ''[[X – Ten]]'' [No. 24 Germany]
* 1995 ''[[Forever Blue (Blue System album)|Forever Blue]]'' [No. 18 Germany]
* 1996 ''[[Body to Body (Blue System album)|Body to Body]]'' [No. 29 Germany]
* 1997 ''[[Here I Am (Blue System album)|Here I Am]]'' [No. 38 Germany]

=== Singles ===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:16em;"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year
! scope="col" colspan="4"| Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album
|- 
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[GfK Entertainment charts|GER]]<br /><ref>[https://archive.today/20141018162544/http://www.officialcharts.de/suche.asp?search=blue+system&x=0&y=0&country=de&kategorie=single German peaks]</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[Ö3 Austria Top 40|AUT]]<br /><ref>[http://austriancharts.at/search.asp?search=Blue+System&cat=s Austrian peaks]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225111305/http://austriancharts.at/search.asp?search=Blue%20System&cat=s |date=25 December 2015 }}</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[Productores de Música de España|SPA]]<br /><ref>{{cite book|title=Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002|last=Salaverri|first=Fernando|date=September 2005|publisher=Fundación Autor-SGAE|isbn=84-8048-639-2|edition=1st|location=Spain}}<!--|access-date=2011-01-26--></ref>
! scope="col" style="width:2.5em;font-size:90%;"| [[Swiss Hitparade|SWI]]<br /><ref>[http://hitparade.ch/search.asp?search=Blue%20System&cat=s Swiss peaks] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307125004/http://hitparade.ch/search.asp?search=Blue%20System&cat=s |date=7 March 2016 }}</ref>
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Sorry, Little Sarah]]"
| 1987
| 14 || 10 || 6 || —
| rowspan="3"| ''Walking on a Rainbow''
|-
! scope="row"| "Big Boys Don't Cry" {{small|(Denmark only)}}
| rowspan="4"| 1988
| — || — || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "She's a Lady" {{small|(Spain only)}}
| — || — || 14 || —
|-
! scope="row"| "[[My Bed Is Too Big]]"
| 10 || 4 || — || —
| rowspan="4"| ''Body Heat''
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Under My Skin (Blue System song)|Under My Skin]]"
| 6 || 12 || — || 18
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Silent Water]]"
| rowspan="4"| 1989
| 13 || 16 || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Love Suite]]" (remix '89)
| 14 || — || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Magic Symphony]]"
| 10 || 23 || — || 21
| rowspan="2"| ''Twilight''
|-
! scope="row"| "Love Me on the Rocks"
| — || — || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "[[48 Hours (song)|48 Hours]]"
| rowspan="3"| 1990
| 29 || 28 || — || —
| rowspan="3"| ''Obsession''
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Love Is Such a Lonely Sword]]"
| 16 || 13 || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "When Sarah Smiles"
| 63 || — || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Lucifer (Blue System song)|Lucifer]]"
| rowspan="4"| 1991
| 25 || 8 || — || —
| rowspan="2"| ''Seeds of Heaven''
|-
! scope="row"| "Testamente d'Amelia"
| 34 || — || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Déjà vu (Blue System song)|Déjà vu]]"
| 12 || 16 || — || —
| rowspan="2"| ''Déjà vu''
|-
! scope="row"| "[[It's All Over (Blue System & Dionne Warwick song)|It's All Over]]"<br />{{small|(with [[Dionne Warwick]])}}
| 60 || — || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Romeo and Juliet (Blue System song)|Romeo and Juliet]]"
| rowspan="2"| 1992
| 25 || 22 || — || —
| rowspan="2"| ''Hello America''
|-
! scope="row"| "I Will Survive"
| — || 30 || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "[[History (Blue System song)|History]]"
| rowspan="2"| 1993
| 26 || — || — || —
| rowspan="2"| ''Backstreet Dreams''
|-
! scope="row"| "Operator"
| 87 || — || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "[[6 Years – 6 Nights]]"
| rowspan="3"| 1994
| 47 || — || — || —
| rowspan="2"| ''21st Century''
|-
! scope="row"| "That's Love"
| — || — || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Dr. Mabuse (Blue System song)|Dr. Mabuse]]"
| — || — || — || —
| ''X–Ten''
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Laila (song)|Laila]]"
| 1995
| 29 || — || — || —
| ''Forever Blue''
|-
! scope="row"| "[[Only with You (Blue System song)|Only with You]]"
| rowspan="3"| 1996
| 58 || — || — || —
| rowspan="3"| ''Body to Body''
|-
! scope="row"| "For the Children"
| 67 || — || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "Body to Body"
| — || — || — || —
|-
! scope="row"| "Anything"
| 1997
| 79 || — || — || —
| rowspan="2"| ''Here I Am''
|-
! scope="row"| "Love Will Drive Me Crazy"
| 1998
| — || — || — || —
|-
| colspan="7" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
|}

== See also ==
* [[Modern Talking]]
* [[Euro disco]]
* [[Systems in Blue]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{AllMusic}}
* {{Discogs artist}}
* {{MusicBrainz artist|id=5d411d28-49a6-4dbc-af18-a496fee7c0d9|name=Blue System}}

{{Blue System}}
{{Modern Talking}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1987 establishments in West Germany]]
[[Category:1998 disestablishments in Germany]]
[[Category:German Eurodance groups]]
[[Category:German synth-pop groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1986]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1998]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Hamburg]]
[[Category:German Eurodisco groups]]
[[Category:Hansa Records artists]]
[[Category:ZYX Music artists]]
[[Category:Bertelsmann Music Group artists]]