Propaganda are a German synthpop group, formed in 1984.Propaganda was formed in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1982 by Ralf Dörper (a member of the German industrial band Die Krupps), part-time DJ Andreas Thein and singer Susanne Freytag. As a trio, they made demo recordings for future release. With the inclusion of classically trained musician and composer Michael Mertens and 19-year old vocalist Claudia Brücken, journalist Paul Morley signed the band to Trevor Horn's newly-formed ZTT Records label.
The group relocated to the United Kingdom and released the single \"Dr. Mabuse\", named after the fictional character made famous by film maker Fritz Lang. A dark slab of rhythmic synthpop, the release reached number 27 in the UK Top 40 in April 1984, and number 7 in Germany. The group appeared on various TV shows in the UK, including Channel 4's \"The Tube\". Here, as well as performing \"Dr. Mabuse\", they also gave one of their few performances of a cover version of Throbbing Gristle's song \"Disziplin\". The band had included the song in their original demo and it was intended to be their debut single, but Throbbing Gristle blocked this. As Paul Morley marketed the band as a twisted, hellish version of ABBA, Michael Mertens remained in the background as an invisible fifth member - although this was not to last long.
Before the year was out Thein had left the band, and with Mertens now filling the gap left by his departure, the band forged ahead with recording their follow-up single and debut album. However both of these were to be delayed as a result of the unexpectedly huge success of ZTT's most famous signing, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. As the label was still in its infancy, ZTT were forced to spend all their limited resources on promoting and marketing the Liverpudlian five-piece. This also meant that Trevor Horn was unable to produce Propaganda's album. Stephen Lipson, one of Horn's established studio engineers, took his place. As a result Propaganda's second single, the more pop-oriented \"Duel\", didn't surface until April 1985. Perhaps the band's most recognisable release, it was also their most successful single in the UK, reaching number 21. It led to the band making their one and only appearance on the flagship BBC music programme, \"Top of the Pops\", in June of that year. It was also used as the theme music for the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2005.
