Note from the editor (kek): this is the first post from my m8 Boyan on my blog; and first post not authored by yours truly! Truly honored to have his words on my blog! Enjoy!

I got excited when my mate Guillaume asked me to write a music-related piece - tens of thousands of tracks and a plethora of genres in my digital library, dating back to my childhood, probably just as many lying dormant in my memories, all of which worthy of at least a few words of praise. So which ones to start with, given it’s the first time I can focus on them in written word under such a format?

Perhaps the choice should be for something recent for myself (as to still carry my excitement for it), but fairly old for the world (as to carry with itself sufficient history). I remember I noticed this song for the first time during the early months of my lockdown in Belgium, quite possibly playing on one of the last Red Light Radio shows before their truly saddening closure. I loved the radio for inviting DJs who select gems like this, and this was possibly one of my last souvenirs from it, despite enjoying it away from my beloved Amsterdam.

Cosa Rosa - Die Fantasie Reicht Bis Zum Knie (1983)

Being something of a German Bildungsinländer myself, I picked up enough from the lyrics to be mesmerized by this dashing lady’s tale of fantasies. Mind you, despite having some appreciation for German literature back in school, it was never my preferred language for music unless it was connected to something spanky, dominating, industrial or Wagnerian (sorry to all the German pop and indie that never got to me during my student years in Stuttgart). But the combination of this soothing, almost cliché, mysterious future-cabaret voice carrying the glittery denim vibes of the 80’s, and the seductive yet filled with humour lyrics “The fantasy reaches down to the knee and never further” got me sailing around the living room with a blissful smile on my face. Not to mention the Krafty mechanical percussions and the shades-wearing synths throughout the track.

Rosemarie “Rosa” Precht, the face and soul of the project Cosa Rosa, was working as an architect at a Berlin office when she decided to enter a very bright and promising music career. Honestly, nothing can feel more personally relatable to me than ditching architecture to do more awesome stuff with your life. Passionate singer and keyboard-player, she made her way through the Western German pop, punk and New Wave scene before teaming up with a talented producer named Reinhold Heil, with whom she would release three albums and several singles as Cosa Rosa. From what I gather, it was a special friendship between Precht and Heil, as he stood by her side until her untimely death of stomach cancer in 1991, at the end of her thirties.

A heartbreaking story from the glamorous world of German 80’s pop, one that touched me quite profoundly in the emotionally tense times of Corona. Even though I had never felt a strong pull towards that music universe (as an ‘89 kid it took me time and maturity to distance myself from the sound of the 80’s in order to be able to appreciate it again), the timeless beauty of this specific song prompted me to look up more tracks by Cosa Rosa, which did not leave me disappointed. Take for example the dreamy balearic vibes of this one:

Cosa Rosa - Zufall (1985)

Perhaps still revered in Germany, but somewhat forgotten outside of it (if ever having reached international public), the least Cosa Rosa deserves is the re-exposure through this humble post. And wherever Rosa’s soul may roam, in heavenly realms or in sonic messages to distant civilizations, I can hear the dreamy sound travel with it.