The long play

The Long Play is the debut studio album from German singer Sandra, released on 9 December 1985.

Recording

Shortly after the album's release, where it reached the top 20 in her home country of Germany, Sandra moved to London for six months. Helena Shenel, a singing therapist who had worked with such artists as George Michael and Paul Young, took Sandra under her wing. She also joined the London Berlitz School for Languages, where she improved her English abilities and took drumming lessons to get a better feeling for rhythm and timing. During weekends she went back home to Munich to work on her new, soon-to-be follow-up album, the future-titled Mirrors.

Singles

The single "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena" topped the charts in 21 countries worldwide, reaching the top 10 in five additional countries. The song was aimed at the continental European market, so it never received a promotional video clip. (In Europe, personal appearances remained the most effective method of record promotion until the early 90s). Although "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena" had already gone on to number one in some European countries, it took some time to do so in Germany where it remained in the German top 20 for 16 weeks.

The follow-up single was called "In the Heat of the Night". In her first proper music video, Sandra was featured in a steaming sauna filled with bare-chested men. Although the song rushed to number one in Switzerland, Lebanon and Israel, it remained at number two in Germany for a couple of weeks, not able to get past "Nikita" by Elton John. Nevertheless, the song earned Sandra's second place at the Tokyo Music Festival later in 1986.

"Little Girl" was the third single released from the album with the music video being filmed entirely on location in Venice, Italy.


"Sisters and Brothers" cover.
"Sisters and Brothers" was released in 1988 as a promotional single in Japan only. The song appeared on her debut album The Long Play and also as the B-side to the album's third single "Little Girl". "Sisters and Brothers" is a cover version of Michael Cretu's song "Zeitlose Reise" from his 1983 solo album Legionare. Sandra dedicated this song to her brother Gaston (who later died in 1995).

Sisters and Brothers - Track listing
3" CD single
"Sisters and Brothers" — 3:23
"Stop for a Minute" — 4:05

Track listings

# Track Writer(s) - Producer(s) Time
1 "In the Heat of the Night" Cretu/Kemmler/Löhr - Hirschburger 5:20
2 "On the Tray (Seven Years)" Kemmler/Cretu - Hirschburger 3:46
3 "Little Girl" Kemmler/Löhr/Cretu - Hirschburger 3:13
4 "You and I" Cretu - Palmer-James 6:00
5 "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena" Kemmler/Löhr/Cretu - Palmer-James 4:31
6 "Heartbeat (That's Emotion)" Besser/Cassandra - Chirney 4:55
7 "Sisters and Brothers" Cretu - Palmer-James 3:24
8 "Change Your Mind" Cretu - Palmer-James 4:02
Source : Allmusic[1]

Personnel and credits

Keyboards, drums and programming by Michael Cretu
Guitars by Markus Lohr
Background vocals by Hubert Kemmler and Michael Cretu
Photography by Dieter Eikelpoth
Cover design by Mike Schmidt
Arranged and produced by Michael Cretu

Release history

Date Label Format Catalog
1985 Virgin LP 610 627-225
1993 EMI CD 077778696827
1998 Virgin 86968

Chart (1985) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart[2] 18
German Album Charts 12
Norwegian Albums Chart[2] 8
Swedish Albums Chart[2] 2
Swiss Albums Chart[2] 4

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Germany[3] Gold 1986 250,000