"Sounds Like a Melody" is a song by German

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

band Alphaville, released on May 14, 1984 as the second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from their debut album '' Forever Young''. The song was a big success in

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

and

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, reaching the top 10; it topped the charts in Italy and Sweden, and was certified gold in Germany.

Song background

Originally, Alphaville had planned to release " Forever Young" as their second single, to follow the success of " Big in Japan". However, record studio executives requested that Alphaville release an additional song between the two singles, and as a result "Sounds Like a Melody" was written and arranged in just two days. Of the experience, singer

Marian Gold Marian Gold (born Hartwig Schierbaum; 26 May 1954) is a German singer-songwriter who gained fame as the lead singer of the German synth-pop band Alphaville, but also has recorded as a solo artist. He is known for his tenor multi-octave vocal ra ...

said "the whole affair felt like an insult to our naive hippie instincts. Writing music exclusively for the sake of commercial success seemed like the sell-out of our virtual beliefs. On the other hand, did this not open up possibilities for wonderful games to play in the brave new world of pop music?" This corporate pressure caused the band to dislike the song and they refused to play it live for over 10 years.

Track listings

; 7" single # "Sounds Like a Melody" – 4:29 # "The Nelson Highrise Sector One: the Elevator" – 3:14 ; 12" maxi # "Sounds Like a Melody" (special long version) – 7:42 # "The Nelson Highrise Sector One: the Elevator" – 4:12 ; 12" maxi

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

2020 yellow vinyl # "Sounds Like a Melody" (Grant & Kelly remix) - 8:33 # "Sounds Like a Melody" (special long version remastered) - 7:43 * The 7" version differs greatly from the version released later on the album. * The B-side is commonly referred to simply as "The Elevator", and a remix appears on 1999's ''

Dreamscapes The discography of German synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was p ...

''.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References