Arabesque was an all-girl trio formed at the height of the European disco era in 1977 in Frankfurt, West Germany. The group's changing lineup worked with the German composer Jean Frankfurter (Erich Ließmann) and became especially popular in Japan. History 1975–1978: Formation and early years In 1975, schlager music singer Mary Ann Nagel proposed a girl group to producer Wolfgang Mewes, who accepted. Two additional members were recruited through a singing competition. An Englishwoman (Karen Ann Tepperis), a German-Uzbek (Michaela Rose), and a German (Mary Ann Nagel) comprised the initial group. After the first album, the band lineup changed by keeping only the original member Michaela Rose, while replacing the two other girls, Karen Ann Tepperis and Mary Ann Nagel, with new members Jasmin Vetter and Heike Rimbeau, respectively. Nagel was replaced due to her becoming tired of the long daily commute from Karlsruhe to Frankfurt am Main, where the group was based. Tepperis was replaced due to the fact that she was pregnant and could not go on tour. The surprising overnight success of Hello Mr. Monkey in Japan prompted the producers to schedule an immediate tour to Japan. The duration of Heike Rimbeau in the group was also short-lived; due to her pregnancy in 1978, she was briefly substituted with Elke Brückheimer. This German country singer appeared only in a few live performances during the year 1979. However, shortly afterward, she too was replaced by Sandra Lauer. Lauer had previously attended the Young Star Music contest in 1975, where she achieved a record deal and released the song "Andy mein Freund" ("My Friend Andy"). In 1979, at age 17, Lauer was invited to become the lead singer of Arabesque. 1979–1984: Breakthrough Arabesque became extremely popular in Japan, and also had success in the USSR. The group first appeared in Japan in 1979 for a television special, performing Hello Mr. Monkey on the 11PM TV show. Lauer even spent her 18th birthday in Japan while they were on tour there in May 1980. They later took part in the Seoul Song Festival in 1981. Further, the group performed a number of concerts in Japan between 1980–1982. During these, they released a live album, dubbed "Fancy Concert". All in all, Arabesque came to Japan on tours a total of 6 times during their career. Back at home in Germany in 1980, the single "Take Me Don't Break Me" became a