Stereo Total

Stereo Total
Stereo Total
	Stereo Total, 2005
Background information
Origin	Berlin, Germany
Genres	Electropop; new wave; synthpop; garage rock; indie; lo-fi; electroclash; punk rock; indie pop; post-punk revival;
Years active	1993–2021
Labels	Disko B; Peace 95; Little Teddy; Desert; Bungalow; L'Appareil Photo; Bobsled; Blow Up;
Members	Brezel Göring
Past members	Françoise Cactus†; Angie Reed; San Reimo; Iznogood; Lesley Campbell; † = deceased
Website	stereototal.de

Stereo Total was a Berlin-based multilingual, French-German^[1] duo which comprised Françoise Cactus (born Françoise van Hove and formerly co-leader of the West Berlin band Les Lolitas) and Brezel ('pretzel') Göring (aka Friedrich von Finsterwalde, born Friedrich Ziegler, ex-Haunted Henschel, Sigmund Freud Experience).

Stereo Total's social media accounts reported that Françoise Cactus died from breast cancer on 17 February 2021, aged 57.^[2]

Both Cactus and Göring sung and played multiple instruments. When they appeared on stage as a duo, Cactus frequently played drums while Göring played guitar and synth; at other times the touring band has included additional musicians such as Angie Reed.

Their early career was nurtured within Berlin's easy listening scene, and they frequently supported the DJ team Le Hammond Inferno, who went on to form Bungalow Records and sign Stereo Total to their label. Stereo Total became the most successful act on Bungalow, finding an audience not just beyond Berlin but also across Europe and eventually in Japan, Brazil and the US.

Musical style

Their music is a playful, wildly eclectic^[3] mash-up of synthpop, new wave, electronica, and pop music.^[4] The most consistent element in their cut and paste compositions is a retro-hip^[5] European 1960s style, with references to psych and garage-rock^[6] as well as to 1960s French-pop in the vein of Françoise Hardy, Jacques Dutronc, France Gall, and Brigitte Bardot. Some of their most recognized tracks are kitschy lo-fi covers of pop, rock and soul songs, such as their self-consciously trashy version of Salt-N-Pepa's electro rap hit "Push It."^[7]

Their songs are primarily sung in German, French and English, but some of their output also features a number of other languages, such as Japanese, Spanish and Turkish. The band has covered songs by: Sylvie Vartan, Françoise Hardy, Brigitte Bardot, Brigitte Fontaine, Serge Gainsbourg, Johnny Hallyday, Velvet Underground, Nico, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Harpo, Pizzicato Five, Hot Chocolate, Die Tödliche Doris, Nina Hagen, KC and the Sunshine Band and Marjo (Corbeau).

Songs used in advertisements

"I Love You, Ono"—a re-titled cover version of "I Love You, Oh No!" by Japanese new wave band, Plastics—from their album My Melody, was used by Sony in a European commercial for the Handycam in June 2005, and was also featured in Robot Food's snowboarding hit "Afterbang". In 2009, the song was used in a Dell commercial for the Studio 15. In 2012 "I Love You, Ono" was used on the Dior Addict advert in the UK and Spain. In 2013 it was used as the theme music for Channel 4's Anna and Katy – the choice of the show's co-writers and performers, Anna Crilly and Katy Wix. The title of the Stereo Total version is a play on both the original Plastics title and Yoko Ono, and is a likely homage to the original's Japanese origin.

Another one of their songs, "L'Amour à trois" (the French version of the song "Liebe zu Dritt"), was used in a commercial for 3G-phones in Sweden in the fall of 2005 by the company 3, as well as by the Spanish TV Channel Cuatro in an advert for the company and in the disco scene in the independent Argentinian film "Glue". Their song "Cannibale" was included in the console game Dance Dance Revolution ULTRAMIX 4, released in November 2006. "Megaflittchen" was also used in a commercial by Estonian mobile operator EMT.

"Aua" from the Monokini album was used in the trailers and closing titles for Adam Curtis's BBC Two documentary series All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace.

Discography

^[8]^[9]

Studio albums

1995 · Oh Ah!
1997 · Monokini
1998 · Juke-Box Alarm
1999 · My Melody
2001 · Musique Automatique
2005 · Do the Bambi
2007 · Paris-Berlin
2010 · Baby ouh!
2012 · Cactus versus Brezel
2016 · Les Hormones
2019 · Ah! Quel Cinéma!

Compilations

1998 · Stereo Total
2000 · Total Pop
2002 · Trésors cachés [Hidden Treasures] [available free on their website]
2003 · Party Anticonformiste
2003 · Party Anticonformista
2007 · Party Anticonformiste (The Bungalow Years)
2008 · Grandes Exitos
2009 · No Controles
2009 · Carte postale de Montréal
2015 · Yéyé Existentialiste

Soundtracks albums

2011 · Underwater Love (Onna no kappa) (Shinji Imaoka)
2014 · Ruined Heart: Another Lovestory Between a Criminal & a Whore (Pusong wasak) (Khavn De La Cruz)

Remix album

2006 · Discotheque

References

^ Fortier, Lindsey (1 June 2010). "Stereo Total, "Baby Ouh!"". Billboard.com. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
^ Thiessen, Brock (17 February 2021). "Stereo Total's Françoise Cactus Dead at 57". Exclaim!. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
^ Abebe, Nitsuh (9 February 2005). "Stereo Total: Do the Bambi". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
^ Wood, Mikael (7 November 2002). "Stereo Total, Soviet". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
^ Donaldson, Jonathan (20 August 2010). "Inside the retro-futuristic world of Stereo Total". The Boston Phoenix. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
^ Levack, Chandler (21 August 2007). "Stereo Total Goes "Plastic"". SPIN. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
^ Savage, Emily (1 September 2010). "Stereo Total: Show Preview". SF Weekly. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
^ [1] Archived 14 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Stereo Total Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 27 June 2012.