In the late 1970s, mysterious model/socialite known as Amanda Lear enjoyed quite burst of fame (or is it notoriety?) as a disco singer, despite obvious lack of voice usually associated with disco divas like Gloria Gaynor or Donna Summer. Since she hang out with celebrities for at least a decade, it was just a matter of right opportunity when Lear herself will enter the recording studio and its very possible that knowing the business inside out, she was aware that singing voice might not be the only predisposition to make it in the industry. It is actually quite endearing and fascinating that someone would be so brazen to confidently enter the music arena relying exclusively on tongue-in-cheek image. And image was all that everybody talked when it came to Lear - her unrepentant, androgynous presence was so powerful that voice itself was not important at all.
Perhaps it was not a coincidence that the market that welcomed Amanda Lear so warmly was initially Germany that traditionally had long fascination with androgynous artists, in fact its easy to imagine Lear as some decadent cabaret performer in 1920s Weimar Republic. Lear herself was not a fool and perfectly aware of her vocal limitations, often gleefully remarked how easy it is to toy with the media who was in uproar with such unprecedented, outsized personality. It was a German producer Anthony Monn who tailored several hit albums for her on Ariola Records and "Sweet Revenge" is by far the most successful and accomplished of them. The highlight of the album is side A that had certain concept (girl selling her soul to a Devil) with camp classics as "Follow Me", "Gold" and "Mother, Look What They've Done to Me" although side B had the biggest hit of them all, deliciously decadent "Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me)" that might be Lear's biggest claim to music fame. It was a huge seller all over continental Europe and still sound fascinating today.
On personal level, I remember being a kid absolutely besotted with such unabashedly decadent artist - at that time I knew nothing about sex but Lear spoke to me on some deeper, unconscious level and probably promised the worlds that are still to come when I grow up. Years later, when I finally got it on CD, my sweet innocent niece caught the bug and she loved the album so much that I had to give it to her - imagine my horror when this little girl started to draw Amanda Lear with a whip (yes, that was a whip on the album cover) in a school, where all the other kids drew princesses. I was afraid that I corrupted the child but she grew into completely sane, mature person with no SM inclinations. So far.
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