[2] Propaganda was formed in Düsseldorf, West Germany, in 1982, by Ralf Dörper (a member of the pioneering German industrial band Die Krupps).
As a trio, with artist Andreas Thein and vocalist Susanne Freytag, the group made initial recordings in Germany which were destined for future release in the UK, where Ralf Dörper's early experimental recordings had received critical acclaim by radio DJ John Peel and journalist Chris Bohn (aka Biba Kopf).
[3] The group relocated to the United Kingdom and released the single "Dr. Mabuse", named after the fictional character made famous by filmmaker Fritz Lang.
[3] As the label was still in its infancy, ZTT was forced to spend all its limited resources on promoting and marketing Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and this also meant that Trevor Horn was not available to produce Propaganda's album.
[3] Stephen Lipson, one of Horn's established studio engineers, took his place along with Andy Richards playing keyboards, but the delay meant that Propaganda's second single, the more pop-oriented "Duel", did not surface until April 1985.
In May 1985, with Frankie Goes to Hollywood becoming tax exiles in Ireland, the band effectively headlined "The Value of Entertainment", a series of showcase gigs of ZTT signings, held at the Ambassadors Theatre in London.
They were joined once again by Derek Forbes on bass, with his fellow ex-Simple Minds colleagues Brian McGee on drums, and Kevin Armstrong on guitar, with backing tapes used for most of the keyboard parts.
[citation needed] The year 1986 started positively—the single "p:Machinery" gained the number 1 chart position in Spain (for one week) and entered the Top 10 in France—but ended in disaster.
[3] ZTT signed the duo Act of Brücken and Thomas Leer in 1988,[3] which did not match the commercial success of Propaganda despite the production of Stephen Lipson.
Alongside Michael Mertens was the new line-up of American vocalist Betsi Miller, with bassist Derek Forbes and drummer Brian McGee (both ex-Simple Minds) who had both actually joined the band following their split with ZTT in 1986.
[3] The result was a new album, released in 1990 called 1234,[3] produced by former Tears for Fears' associates Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes, Miller's future husband.
[citation needed] The first single from the album, "Heaven Give Me Words", was co-written with 1980s synth-pop star Howard Jones[7] and reached the UK Top 40.
In early 2005, Propaganda, now comprising Susanne Freytag and Michael Mertens, started to release new material on the German independent label Amontillado Music.
[11] Propaganda is credited for remixing Holly Johnson's single "Dancing with No Fear" (released 2015), on which Michael Mertens and Ralf Dörper also played a synthesizer.
[12] On 20 May 2022, the xPropaganda album titled The Heart Is Strange by Brücken, Freytag and Lipson was released in various formats by Universal Music on the ZTT imprint.
Music journalist Daryl Easlea of Louder praised the album as "a compelling listen", remarking as well that its style sounded "exactly like it could have followed their old group's debut".
[16] The album was a result of Brücken and Freytag approaching Stephen Lipson to ask him to write new songs with them that they could include in their live show.