Liaisons Dangereuses was founded by Beate Bartel (Mania D, Einstürzende Neubauten) and Chris Haas (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) together with vocalist Krishna Goineau in 1981. As a part of the Neue Deutsche Welle scene (especially electropunk) in Germany they pioneered Electronic body music. After recording four ten minutes cassettes they released their sole album in 1981. The self-titled album was mixed at Conny Plank's studio in Köln. The group made several live appearances throughout 1981 and 1982 and were occasionally joined by Anita Lane (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) and Hideto Sasaki. The album carried the single "Los Niños del Parque" which became an underground hit and has been cited by many prominent Chicago house and Detroit technoDJ's as a crucial influence. Einstürzende Neubauten is an ever-changing experimental music band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. ... DAF is an influential electropunk band from Düsseldorf, formed in 1978 featuring drummer/synth player Robert Görl, vocalist Gabi Delgado, guitarist W. Spelmans and bassist/keyboardist/saxophonist Chrislo Haas. ... Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave, often abbreviated NDW) was a style of German music originally derived from punk rock and New Wave in 1976. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Konrad Conny Plank (frequently spelled Planck) (born about 1943 in Austria, died December 18, 1987 in Cologne) was a record producer. ... Anita Lane on the cover of her album Dirty Pearl Anita Lane is an Australian singer and songwriter who directly influenced the early 1980s European post-punk landscape. ... Nicholas Edward Cave (born September 22, 1957) is a musician, songwriter, poet, author, and actor. ... Chicago house is a style of house music. ... Detroit techno is an early style of techno music originating from Detroit, Michigan, USA in the mid-1980s. ... DJ or dj may stand for Disc jockey, dinner jacket The DeadJournal website, or Djibouti. ...
Because the story of Les LiaisonsDangereuses unfolds entirely via letters written among the characters with no omniscient author intervention, the novel offers great subjectivity of interpretation -- not only about who should be considered the protagonists and who the villains, but about the significance of events and even, in some cases, what actually happened.
Hampton's play Les LiaisonsDangereuses ends with the shadow of the guillotine falling across the stage, though in the moment, Merteuil plays chess and enjoys the return of her control.
If the various versions of Les LiaisonsDangereuses offer any clear any message, it is that what people do influences their reputations less than what they say and what is said about them by others.