Michael Learns To Rock

Michael Learns To Rock (also known as MLTR) is a Danish soft rock band that performs songs in English. It was formed in 1988 and has sold over 9 million records worldwide, mainly in Asia. It has produced seven studio albums as well as live and "greatest hits" albums.

History

In 1987, the singer-keyboardist Jascha Richter and drummer Kåre Wanscher were high school students in Aarhus, Denmark, when they saw guitarist Mikkel Lentz with his group the Rocking Studs and asked him to form a band. A year later Søren Madsen joined, playing bass.

The group debuted in Aarhus in May 1988 and later entered the city's annual talent show. The band won and hurriedly had to come up with a name. In an interview Richter admitted that it was named after Michael Jackson: "Yeah, it was like Johnny Hates Jazz and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Sure, I've regretted calling ourselves this many times since, but we were successful so quickly we had to stick with it and over time I got used to it." (Taipei Times, 06 07 2007)

A member of the contest jury, J.P. Anderson, became the band's manager. MLTR played live but did not release its eponymous debut album, "Michael Learns to Rock," until September 1991. A single from the album, "The Actor," topped the Danish chart and also did well in Norway, Sweden, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.

In 1993, MLTR released Colours which sold over 1 million records. The album included the singles "Sleeping Child," "25 Minutes" and "Out of the Blue." It also toured Asia for the first time

. Two years later MLTR's third album, Played On Pepper came out, selling 1.2 million units, and the group played 25 shows in 10 countries. Hits from this album included "That's Why (You Go Away)" and "Someday."

The album "Paint My Love" was released in 1996 and sold 3.4 million copies. The band was also chosen as the headliner for the "Celebrate Hong Kong" concert on July 6, 1997, marking the transfer of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China. Its fourth studio album, "Nothing To Lose," was released in September 1997.

Soon after, MLTR's members took a break to spend time with their families and develop projects on their own or in collaboration with other artists. Even so, Richter wrote some new songs and the band's anthem "Strange Foreign Beauty" was added to a 1998 greatest hits album.

In 2000, Søren Madsen decided to leave the group to embark on a solo career, and the three remaining members carried on and produced the album "Blue Night," which went platinum in Denmark and sold well
After the release of "Blue Night", the band took a prolonged hiatus, with Jascha Richter branching out to work on his solo album, "Blue Planet". Jascha and the band later admitted that they even considered disbanding during this time, but ultimately decided against, after their success with their greatest hits album releases. By 2004, the band regrouped again for yet another album. First, they decided to change their name once again, reverting from MLTR back to the original Michael Learns to Rock.(not cited)

"Take Me To Your Heart" (2004) focused on the Asian market. The single "Take Me To Your Heart" was a remake of Jacky Cheung's "Goodbye Kiss ??" and was popular in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan. MLTR sang an English and Chinese duet of "Take Me To Your Heart" with Chinese singer Hu Yanbin at a 2005 New Year's Party in Guangzhou, China. The band also did a duet of the song with South Korean star Shin Hye-sung, of boy band Shinhwa.

In 2007, MLTR released "The Best of Michael Learns to Rock Live" (available by download from the band's Web site) and in July toured Hong-Kong, Taiwan, Thailand and Malaysia.

MLTR's music has been described as a Scandinavian glow that meets the international pop song, something which has been refined through the years by artists such as The Beatles, The Eagles, Elton John and Billy Joel. According to their record label releases, their sound is "precisely the perfect balance of the two elements described above that has been instrumental in forming the compelling sound of the band and won MLTR millions of fans around the globe."

Discography

Studio albums

Michael Learns to Rock (1991)
Colours (1993)
Played On Pepper (1995)
Nothing To Lose (1997)
Blue Night (2000)
Take Me To Your Heart (2004)
Eternity (2008)

Compilations, Concerts, and mix albums

Paint My Love (1996)
Complicated Heart (Greatest Hits vol.2) (1999)
Greatest Hits - Strange Foreign Beauty (1999)
19 Love Songs / Love Ballads (2002)
All The Best Of Michael Learns To Rock (2004)
All The Best (2005)
Frostbite (2005)
India Tour Edition (2005)
That's Why (You Go Away) (2005)
The Ultimate Collection (2005)
Ultimate Collection 15th Anniversary Edition (2006)
The Best Of Michael Learns To Rock Live (2007)
I Walk This Road Alone (2007)

Singles

25 Minutes
A Different Song
A Kiss In The Rain
African Queen
Angel Eyes
Animals
Blue Night
Breaking My Heart
Breaking the Rules
Come On And Dance
Complicated Heart
Crazy Dream
Digging Your Love
Don't Have To Lose
Eternal Flame
Everything I Planned
Final Destination
Fools Direction
Forever And A Day
Frostbite
Gone After Midnight
Hit By A Feeling
Home To You
Hot to Handle
How Many Hours
I Still Carry On
I Wanna Dance
If You Leave My World
I'm Gonna Be Around
I'm Gonna Come Back
I Walk This Road Alone
It's Only Love
Judgement Day
Laugh & Cry
Let's Build A Room
Looking At Love
Love Will Never Lie
Magic
Messages
More Than A Friend
My Blue Angel
Naked Like the Moon
Nothing To Lose
Ocean Of Love
One More Minute
One Way Street
Out Of The Blue
Paint My Love
Party
Romantic Balcony
Salvation
Sleeping Child
Someday
Something Right
Something You Should Know
Strange Foreign Beauty
Stuck In The Heat
Sweetest Surprise
Take Me To Your Heart
Take off Your Clothes
Tell It To Your Heart
That's Why (You Go Away)
The Actor
This Is Who I Am
Traffic And Stars
Upon a Christmas Night
Watch Your Back
Whatever It May Take
Wild Women
Without Your Love
You Keep Me Running
You Took My Heart Away
You Want More
You'll Never Know

Signed Music Artists