19July
Mysterious Art was a five-piece gothic dance band, formed by Mike Staab in 1988. Their first single, Das Omen
(The Omen) was the summer smash in West Germany during 1989, spending nine weeks as the country's best-seller. The song is simple: a pulsing dance beat with wailing female vocals on top. The video was more interesting, featuring monks trying to save a woman from a castle. It's an influence on the clip for I'd do anything for love (but I won't do that)
.
After the big hit, Mysterious Art had one more sizable release, Karma
(Karma) went top ten in late 1989. We could see how little originality was available when the subtitle emerged - Omen II
. The album, subtly entitled Omen - The Story
, came out in early 1990, and sold fewer copies than expected. In fact, the album missed the top 50 entirely, and though the group played on Madonna's Blonde Ambition tour that summer, the breakup was inevitable.
Mike Staab continued to record, and in 1994 his group Magic Affair (see what he did there?) released Omen III
. This was an Italiano-house number, spent four weeks at number 1 in Germany, and winkled its way into the UK top 20. It is not clear if Herr Staab was a fan of David Rappaport, Sylvester McCoy, or indeed if he ever saw an edition of Die Tischlerbandsäge
with Adrian Kopfley und Janet Ellis.
