1980s 5 Items

Javier Revilla and Chris Demere, both from Hanover and inspired by electronic music of Kraftwerk and Jean-Michel Jarre, started to experiment with sounds since the late 70’s. The arrival of New Wave with bands like Heaven 17, The Human League, Soft Cell and Depeche Mode influenced these teenagers to began Cetu Javu in 1984 with Javier on vocals, Chris on synths, guitar, programming, Torsten Engelke on keyboards and Stefen Engelke on bass. In 1985, the band won the third place in a contest, a year later opened for Erasure and released their first single "Help Me Now!” in 1987 on their own label Deme Records.

Like their compatriots Camouflage, Cetu Javu were unapologetically Depeche Mode-like in their sound, but with a fairly original twist on their synth pop formula. Their extremely catchy 1988 singles "Situations" and "Have in Mind" were instant hits on dance clubs and even received airplay on U.S. alternative radio stations. The band signed a contract with ZYX Records and released their debut album “Southern Lands” in 1990 followed by a tour together with Wolfsheim and Blind Passengers as supporting acts.

“Southern Lands” is re-released including all original songs plus some extended versions, remixes and bonus tracks from the accompanying singles “Situations", “Have in Mind" and "So Strange".

Cetu Javu was a German synth-pop band lead by singer Javier Revilla Diez and synth wizard and composer Chris Demere. They started with the band in 1984 and in the spring next year surprisingly reached the third place in a young talent festival in Hanover. Several other shows followed but the highlight was a concert in December of 1986 as the opening act of Erasure. Their first maxi single “Help Me Now” was released in the spring of 1987 on their own label’s. Through the mediation of Talla 2xlc, Cetu Javu got a record contract with major company ZYX Records and released their debut album “Southern Lands” in 1990.

When the song “A Dónde”, a B-side sung in Spanish included on the single “So Strange”, hit number two in Spain, the band surprisingly achieved a great success and toured all this country. The second full-length, “Where Is Where”, was released in 1992 in Spain. The success did not stop here and led Cetu Javu became very popular in some other countries such as Argentina and Mexico. Unfortunately, in 1994, between problems and having to make decisions about the future, the group withdrew from the music scene and each member moved to focus to other activities.

“Where is Where” is re-released contains the original album along with some extended versions and remixes from the singles “¿Por Qué?”, “Dame Tu Mano” and “Una Mujer".