Topas - Topas (1980) LP

Topas was a music group from Germany, known for their 1980 album of the same name.

The group was founded by the composer, lyricist and lead singer Dieter Brandt-Gudat (born March 15, 1947 in Frankfurt/Main; † October 19, 1991 in Frankfurt/Main). Dieter Brandt celebrated his first successes in 1971 with the duo “Alpha & Omega” together with Uwe Röhrdanz with German chansons such as The Old Man, Farewell to a Summer Time and With the Eyes of a Child. This was followed by appearances at Drei mal Neun, presented by Wim Thoelke, and at the Turmpalast in Frankfurt, including the first single You have changed so much. After years of extensive tours through Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux countries, the duo split up.

Dieter Brandt continued to write lyrics and compose music and founded the group “Topas” in 1979 together with F. Landvogt, S. Miensok and Rolf Oppermann † 2022. From August 1979 to July 1980, nine songs were created that are referred to as “AOR melodic rock”. can. Many guest musicians took part in the production - including Michael Cretu, who would achieve great success with Enigma and his later wife Sandra Ann Lauer.

They decided not to include a track called Amerika on the album because they felt it needed a higher pitch for the vocals. Finally they handed the song over to the German singing duo Hoffmann & Hoffmann.

The first and only album was released in 1980, but there was no great success and after a short time the members of the group separated. While most went back to their trained professions, founder Dieter Brandt tried his luck in the music scene alone - but without success.

This circumstance combined with severe depression led to Dieter Brandt taking his own life in 1991.

Two songs from the album, Hurricane and Train to an Island, are still known today and appear from time to time on CD compilations of rock rarities/hits, although they did not chart at the time of their release.