Nena

99 Luftballons

We here at The Big 80s Music Videos Blog love everything about the 80s. Nena was unique in that she charted with the German version of 99 Luftballons. She also was one of the first to release a 12 inch dance video in addition to the radio version video.

Nena (born March 24, 1960 in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German singer who became famous with the New German Wave song "99 Luftballons" ("99 Red Balloons" in the English version). Nena is also the name of the band she played with. With the re-release of her own hits, Nena's career saw a second wind in the year 2002. She acquired her nickname, "Nena", a term of endearment for "little girl", at the age of three. In 1977 she left high school prior to her graduation to receive training as a goldsmith. Around the same time guitarist Rainer Kitzmann offered her the position of lead singer of his band, The Stripes. The group had a minor hit with the song "Ecstasy" but never managed to achieve broad success, and soon split.

In 1981 Nena and her boyfriend Rolf Brendel moved to West-Berlin, where they met their later band members: guitarist Carlo Karges, keyboard player Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen and bass player Jürgen Dehmel. A year later the band released their first single, "Nur geträumt" ("Only dreamt"), which came to fame after the band appeared on the German television show "Musikladen".

The following year the band released its self-titled first album, which contained the singles "Leuchtturm" ("Lighthouse") and above video "99 Luftballons" ("99 Balloons"). The latter one quite accidentally got into the hands of a few Californian DJs, who helped to promote the song internationally. The single managed to become a worldwide #1 hit, becoming Nena's most popular song to date. Nena then released (Fragezeichen) in 1984, Feuer und Flamme ("Fire and Flame") in 1985, It's All In The Game (featuring English versions of the songs on Feuer und Flamme) and Eisbrecher ("Icebreaker") in 1986. Despite achieving constant success the group decided to go their separate ways in 1987.

Throughout the late 1980s and the 1990s, Nena released a wide range of moderately successful solo albums, quite a few of them consisting of songs for children. Simultaneously, she hosted several TV shows, including Metro and the German preselection Countdown Grand Prix of the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. In 2002 Carlo Karges the songwriter of the most successful Nena songs like "99 Luftballons" or "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" died because of liver failure.
In that same year, Nena celebrated her 20th stage anniversary with the album "Nena feat. Nena", a CD consisting of newly arranged remakes of her own hits from the '80s. The jubilee album meant an incredible comeback for Nena, which once again spawned a number of successful chart entries. The remake of "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" as an English-German duet with Kim Wilde was a major hit in various European countries, hitting the No.1 spot in the Netherlands and Austria, and No.3 in Germany in 2003. She soon released a live DVD. Nena's 2005 album "Willst du mit mir gehn" ("Do You Wanna Go with Me?") quickly achieved platinum status as well. The first single from the album, "Liebe ist" ("Love Is"), shot to #1 on the German charts in early 2005 and was used as the theme song for a German telenovela, Verliebt in Berlin. Nena's "Willst du mit mir gehn Tour 2005" throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in November and December 2005 was another tremendous success for Nena, consisting of numerous sold-out concerts.

The song 99 Luftballons is featured in the 2002 videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as part of the New Wave radio station Wave 103.

In 2004, Nena took to the stage during the Howard Jones 20th Anniversary concert at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. Nena sung '99 Luftballons' with a combination of German and English lyrics.

Discography
Albums
· The Stripes (1980) as The Stripes
· Nena (1983) #1 GER
· ? (Fragezeichen) (1984) #1 GER
· 99 Luftballons (1984)
· Feuer und Flamme (1985) #2 GER
· It's All In The Game (1985)
· Eisbrecher (1986) #45 GER
· Wunder gescheh'n (1989) #23 GER
· Komm lieber Mai... (1990) #45 GER
· Nena Die Band (1991)
· Bongo Girl (1992) #32 GER
· Und alles dreht sich (1994) #53 GER
· Nena singt die schönsten Kinderlieder (1994)
· Nena Live (1995)
· Unser Apfelhaus (1995) #69 GER
· Nena und die Bambus Bären Bande (1996)
· Jamma nich (1997) #29 GER
· Nenas Weihnachtsreise (1997) #28 GER
· Wenn alles richtig ist, dann Stimmt was nich (1998) #42 GER
· Nena macht... Rabatz (1999)
· Chokmah (2001) #18 GER
· Nenas Tausend Sterne (2002)
· Nena feat. Nena (2002) #2 GER
· Madou und das Licht der Fantasie (2002)
· Nena Live Nena (2004) #31 GER
· Willst du mit mir gehn (2005) #2 GER

Singles
Year
Title
1982
"Nur geträumt"

1983
"99 Luftballons"

1983
"Leuchtturm"

1983
"? (Fragezeichen)"

1984
"Rette mich"

1984
"Lass mich dein Pirat sein"

1984
"Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann"

1985
"Feuer und Flamme"

1985
"Haus der drei Sonnen"

1985
"Jung wie du"

1986
"Du kennst die Liebe nicht"

1986
"Mondsong"

1987
"Engel der Nacht"

Solo
Year
Title
1989
"Wunder gescheh'n"

1990
"Du bist überall"

1990
"Im Rausch der Liebe"

1992
"Manchmal ist ein Tag ein ganzes Leben"

1992
"Ohne Ende"

1992
"Conversation"

1993
"Viel zuviel Glück"

1993
"N Zentimeter Liebe" (feat. Kralle Krawinkel)

1994
"Hol mich zurück"

1994
"Ich halt dich fest"

1995
"Weißes Schiff"

1997
"Ganz gelassen..."

1997
"Jamma Nich"

1997
"Alles Was Du Willst"

1997
"Auf Dich Und Mich"

1998
"Was hast du in meinem Traum gemacht"

1998
"Dann Fiel Mir Auf"

1998
"Das Ist Normal?"

1999
"Ich umarm' die ganze Welt"

2001
"Carpe diem"

2002
"Oldschool Baby" (with Westbam)

2002
"99 Luftballons (New Version)"

2003
"Leuchturm (New Version)"

2003
"Wunder gescheh'n" (New Version) (with Friends)

2003
"Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" (feat. Kim Wilde)

2003
"Nur geträumt (New Version)"

2004
"Bang Bang" (feat. Toktok)

2004
"Schade" (feat. Sam Ragga Band)

2005
"Liebe ist"

2005
"Willst du mit mir gehn"

2005
"Lass Mich"

2006
"Caravan of Love"(feat. Duncan Townsend)

2007
"Ich kann nix dafür"(feat. Olli and Remmler)

2007
Mach die Augen Auf

External links
Official Web Site (German)
Comprehensive Nena fansite (German)
A comprehensive Nena English fansite