In February 1983, the Frenchman FR David released his second single "Pick up the phone". (Words was his first hit). When Dieter listened to the first notes of "Pick up the phone", he knew right there that he would make a German production of this song. But he did have a suitable person to sing the song. The title was "Was macht das schon?"

However, a tip comes from the Berlin record-company Hansa. They have a singer who has already recorded some songs, but the great hit hasn't break through yet. This guy's name was Thomas Anders. Thomas flies to Hamburg and is immediately enthusiastic about Dieter's cover.

In 1981 they recorded Thomas Anders' first three singles : "Du weinst um ihn", "Ich will nicht dein Leben" and "Es war die Nacht der Ersten Liebe". Dieter, the blonde and casual type, and Thomas, the dark, elegant type, liked each other from the beginning. In the studio, they were the perfect team. Yet, they were often at Dieter's house near Bergstedt, a part of the town Hamburg. There Dieter had his 16-track studio.

Dieter never gave in. In the same year, he produced with Thomas the song "Wovon traüst du denn?" With this song, Thomas hits the charts. (1 October 1983) About 30.000 records were sold. In March and June of 1984, were the singles "Endstation Sehnsucht" and "Heißkalter Engel" (a cover of Send me an angel by Real life)released. After the recordings of these singles, Dieter decides to take a vacation on the isle Mallorca. It's the first time after 5 years of intensive work, Dieter takes a vacation. But being idle and laying under the sun, doesn't really do anything for Dieter. A lot of new ideas are already brewing in his mind !

One of this ideas, will be the European revelation of the year '85. "You're my heart, you're my soul" was a song which will lead Dieter Bohlen and Thomas Anders straight into the European charts. The song would even stay on the German charts for six months!

Dieter made a proposition to Thomas to form a duo. At the same time, Thomas was also in the south. Together with his girlfriend Nora Isabell Balling,. When the two guys got back to Germany, they started immediately with the song "You're my heart, you're my soul" and the duo-idea worked really great.

Twenty years after his first appearance in Oldenburg and five years after his first step into the professional show-business, Dieter Bohlen was at the top!!!

With the release of the second single, the first album appeared too. On that album there was a song "There's too much blue in missing you", that sung by Dieter and Thomas' voice on the background. Initially, this it was not noticed, but the secret came to light when Modern Talking brought the song for the first time on television.

And as if this wasn't enough, Dieter records "The night is yours, the night is mine" for a second time, sings the song himself and releases the song by the name of Ryan Simmons. On the other hand, Thomas is singing the song on the first album. These are already the first signs of resentments between the two. In interviews with Dieter, you can read between the lines that something was going on. Dieter passes some critical judgements on Thomas and complains about the fact that Thomas wasn't working hard enough.

Dieter says that he worked for two months on the second album, while Thomas would come only for two days to the studio for singing...

Louis Rodriguez has always been one of the most important assistants of Dieter. He is a sound engineer, who has a hand on the technical work. For Dieter, Louis is not only the technical man. Dieter Bohlen consults Louis Rodriguez, and it is not surprising that Louis Rodriguez is the co-producer on almost all the Bohlen's productions ...

While Dieter was still working on Modern Talking, he was already working with other groups. In 1985 he recorded the song "Keine Träne tut mir Leid" with Mary Roos. With the group C. C. Catch, he was almost as successful as with Modern Talking. Caroline Müller lived in Bünde. She was discovered by Dieter on a "search for talent" contest in Hamburg. On the same evening, Dieter offered her a contract and he also became her producer. In the summer of 1985, "I can lose my heart" was released as her first single. With the dancers Dag, Dirk and Pierre, C.C.Catch became a disco-queen. Dieter and Caroline worked together until the end of 1989.. Twelve singles and four albums were recorded.

Dieter also wrote "Midnight lady" for Chris Norman. The song was the title for a Tatort television serial. Chris made a comeback with this song. With the success of this projects, Dieter had proved that Modern Talking was not a coincidence and that it was certainly not owing to the beauty of Thomas Anders. But nearly nobody engaged himself with the music or lyrics of Dieter's songs. And precisely in his lyrics, Dieter wrote about different topics and quoted different problems. Off and on, there are some indications to personal experiences or persons from his surroundings. But not many people are able the contents of his lyrics, because they are influenced by prejudices : they can't believe that Dieter's lyrics have a contents. They probably the same people who don't understand art either. For example, the song "Brother Louie" is dedicated to his co-producer, Luis Rodriguez. Dieter wrote the song "With a little love" for his son Marc, born on 9 July 1985. (Dieter named his son Marc, dedicated to the T-Rex singer Marc Bolan.) The same counts for the single "Give me peace on earth". But since public was paying more attention to Thomas and Nora, this single was a flop.

While Dieter and Louis form a real good team, the relationship between Dieter and Thomas got worse. The "sparks" were noticeable during their concerts. In the beginning of Modern Talking, there concerts all over Europe, but now it seemed that Thomas wasn't a match for the stress.

On 27 July 1985 Thomas married Nora. The happening became a great show with 3000 crying, female fans in a crowded church. Dieter is also invited, but he did not show up because his father had a heart attack. Those who know Dieter better, say that he didn't like Thomas and Nora's uproar: Rolls Royce to the church, travels to Monaco and Cannes, coffee with princess Stephanie... All this, took place after that Thomas had lengthen his contract with two years. (until the end of1987)...

Dieter read about those trips in the papers; it added more resentment between the two. What Thomas did in his private life, didn't interest Dieter, as long as he wasn't involved in it...

One day, Thomas didn't show up at the television show Formel Eins, where Modern Talking was supposed to get an award for their fourth single "Brother Louie." Thomas wasn't present at the P.I.T. show either.

On 27 May 1985, a German tour would start in Rosenheim. And now it was Dieter, who didn't came up, because he had contracted a double rib fraction while he was playing tennis. The doctors advised Dieter to keep quiet for at least four weeks. Thomas was prepared to do the tour on his own, on condition that the organizers agreed with a solo-performance.

Dieter couldn't get used to the fact that there weren't any questions anymore about his music, instead, there were only questions about Thomas and Nora. However he did his best to keep the success in the charts and to save the project Modern Talking; one must admit too that his every effort was in vain. The critics in the papers got more critical and more cynical. In the long run, journalists began to invent stories about Thomas, which were almost offensive. Thomas took revenge by bringing a lawsuit against the journalists. But he lost.

On the backstage, Nora vented her rage on Dieter, so loud that everybody could here it. Not only Dieter, but also the media got irritated by Nora. The fans didn't appreciate Nora. Even Dieter, who hadn't any hope anymore, had tried to keep the duo alive; it was obvious with this event on stage, that Modern Talking couldn't be saved anymore. Somebody had to go. Because Thomas wasn't willing to work together anymore and Nora wouldn't change her opinion, Dieter had to make the final decision. One thing was for Dieter sure : Nora made a trio of Modern Talking, and he couldn't live with that. For Dieter his music and future were important. Everything he reached until know, was at a stake. It was obvious for everybody that Modern Talking would split. But there was still a contract. Modern Talking was still obliged to exist a year.

Dieter Bohlen was planning already his future without Thomas. In the studio, he made already his own songs, which would be released after the contract. At the same time, he searched new musicians, worked on a new sound and project. Modern Talking had five number one hits in a row. The sixth single, "Geronimo's Cadillac", was an exception. This was not so bad, because groups like the Beatles and Abba went through the same period in their careers. But worse was what the journalists wrote in their articles and what the fans thought about Modern Talking. Public's opinion about Modern Talking was not positive, especially, against Nora. To devoted fans she was an outcast. Although she didn't belong to the group or had a contract, she just wanted to be more and more in the foreground. Nobody liked her, but she was always there. She even foreboded the journalist to photograph Dieter and Thomas together. Interviews with Thomas were only allowed when she was at the side of Thomas. With each article, the displeasure against Nora grew, with as consequence also a dislike against Thomas and Dieter.

For Dieter Bohlen, Modern Talking was past. He was noticed in America and England, there were already some requests to make music for some international artists. The missing number one of "Geronimo's Cadillac" was not a disaster, but rather a sign.

Finally, there was a split in 1987. Two years later, Dieter told once that through the fault of Nora, three American television appearances were lost, because Nora wanted that she was the host of the show. The American producers only laughed at her... Because of her, Modern Talking lost about $200.000.

1987 meant eventually the end of Modern Talking. Two albums were made: "Romantic Warriors" (June) and "In the garden of Venus" (November). With these two albums, the contract was fulfilled. After the split, Thomas and Dieter went their own way. Between 1984 and 1987, there were about 42 million Modern Talking records sold ...

A major period in Dieter's career was over , but it was Dieter who wrote a song "Don't Give Up" and that's what he did.

You don't know what you are missing!!