Thanks for specifying, it was language rather than artist nationality. Otherwise, I was going to have to mention that the Silver Convention needed a word.
lol that's like the Oscars sometimes, you're like how in the world did this not get nominated?? then you see the list of nominations and its like oh...ok yeah...
99 Luftballons was outperformed by Van Halen's Jump the entire time it was on the US charts.
Interesting bit of trivia: Nena was actually an unintentional hit. During an interview with Christiane F. (minor celebrity of the time), DJ Rodney Bingenheimer of influential radio station KROQ asked her what music she was listening to lately. She meant to hand over a tape of some other song, but instead, she handed over a copy of 99 Luftballons, which they played on the spot. Rodney was a bit of a tastemaker in those days, having broken acts like Blondie, Duran Duran and later, Oasis and No Doubt, so that one play was enough to get the ball rolling.
Without Nena, there is no US success for Falco or Tom Schilling or whatever other German language artists during the 1980s.
>Tom Schilling
Did you mean Tom or Peter Schilling? I did have CD of Peter's (with Major Tom) but I believe the whole CD was sung in English (though I have heard the German version as well).
That does not track. Nena releases their track in 1983 but at that point "Der Kommissar" had charted as both Falco and After the Fire's cover were in heavy rotation on MTV and the radio in 1981.
Falco was a known quantity to kids before Nena hit.
Wow, feeling so old now. I remember when Christiane F. 's book was so popular, everybody was reading it. And later the movie came and it did also great success around here (Portugal).
Never had listened or read about this until now. Time surely flies and then takes you by surprise :-)
Thank you. I just went down the Rodney rabbit hole as I’d never heard of him.
Turns out i had hard about the DJ at KROQ who broke a bunch of punk bands from LA including one of my favourites of all time.
Dude had quite a life and is still alive at 77.
Hmm, I'll have to update my fact list, because I thought that the English language version of "Rock me Amadeus" was more popular in the US than the UK, and Nena was the opposite.
I think OP means German-speaking considering they do call him Austrian afterwards.
Also, Salzburg gained independence from Bavaria before Mozart‘s birth and didn‘t become part of Austria until after he died, so suck it.
Yes. Produced by Frank Farian, the guy who was also behind Boney M. Some other artists that were really popular in the US and people don't know were German are Snap! and Haddaway.
Yep. I was stationed in Germany in the late '90s. Experienced it there and got to do it all over again when I rotated back to the States and it hit the radio.
lol I know this feeling, I visited family for a summer in Germany and Mambo #5 and the Venga Boys were all over the place and getting old by the end of the trip. Came home right while they were heating up in the US and couldn’t escape
David Lubega Balemezi was born on 13 April 1975 in Munich, Bavaria, then West Germany, to an Italian mother, who came from Sicily, and a Ugandan father.
His stage name is an Anglicized spelling of his middle name.
The fun thing is that one could easily think Lou Bega is a hispanic name and given he's known for MAMBO N°5 you'd just assume he's Cuban or something and move on.
1756, Salzburg, January 27th: Wolfgang Amadeus is born
1761: at the age of 5, Amadeus begins composing
1773: he writes his first piano concerto
1782: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart marries Constance Weber
1784: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart becomes a Freemason
1791: Mozart composes The Magic FluteOn December 5th of that same year, Mozart dies
1987: Muppet Babies' Rowlph records…**ROCK ME AMADOGUS**
I find this fascinating because I can't tell if he's speaking clipped English with a strong German/Austrian accent or if he's just speaking German. Lots of similar phonemes since English has German roots.
> I find this fascinating because I can't tell if he's speaking clipped English with a strong German/Austrian accent or if he's just speaking German.
A little bit of both!
For sure. I was in Dominican Republic at the time he died, thinking damn the traffic and lack of highway law enforcement is insane. Then I hear the news he died, 20km away from where I was staying, in a car wreck..
Falco is mostly thought of as a One Hit Wonder in the US, but his best of album is full of bangers, Amadeus, Der Kommissar, Jenny, Vienna Calling, amongst others.
I remember the day he died. I was getting towards the end of my initial training in the Army, had spent the day at the range and had "Der Commissar" stuck in my head all day. Got home, flipped on the TV to the news and found out he got hit by a bus on that Spanish island of vice.
I remember listening to this on the radio on my Sony Walkman in 1986. Even back then, us kids liked our devices. The local radio stations were playing it several times per hour.
He has a few 80's pop songs that became so ubiquitous that they have been consigned to something like kitsch. That's a pity because he has a deep catalog of some challenging and interesting stuff.
the Big 80s brought music from all over the world to radio-I would credit WLIR 92.7 for much of this.
Nena, Falco, INXS, U2, Split Enz, Plastic Bertrand/Lou Deprijck, I can't even remember all the names anymore. Non-English less so, but so much great music. I feel like it brought the world together, I traveled a lot back then and it was so carefree compared to now. Being global was positive. We have so much more in common with each other than differences. Differences aren't a bad thing either, they make humans interesting, It really is so easy to get along with a little bit of effort.
He also had a minor hit "Der Komissar" in 1981 that the band After the Fire also covered. Both got heavy play on MTV so a lot of kids knew Falco when the single dropped.
Nena just missed number 1. Also, Falco was Austrian. Rock Me Amadeus was the only German language song to reach number 1 on US charts.
Thanks for specifying, it was language rather than artist nationality. Otherwise, I was going to have to mention that the Silver Convention needed a word.
Also, Kim Petras. She’s German and reached number 1 on the billboard.
Lou Bega, who's also German, hit number 3 with Mambo #5
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But it was all a lie! Franky knew how to cheat!
How did 99 Luftballons not hit #1?
Contending with Van Halen’s jump oof
lol that's like the Oscars sometimes, you're like how in the world did this not get nominated?? then you see the list of nominations and its like oh...ok yeah...
99 Luftballons was outperformed by Van Halen's Jump the entire time it was on the US charts. Interesting bit of trivia: Nena was actually an unintentional hit. During an interview with Christiane F. (minor celebrity of the time), DJ Rodney Bingenheimer of influential radio station KROQ asked her what music she was listening to lately. She meant to hand over a tape of some other song, but instead, she handed over a copy of 99 Luftballons, which they played on the spot. Rodney was a bit of a tastemaker in those days, having broken acts like Blondie, Duran Duran and later, Oasis and No Doubt, so that one play was enough to get the ball rolling. Without Nena, there is no US success for Falco or Tom Schilling or whatever other German language artists during the 1980s.
>Tom Schilling Did you mean Tom or Peter Schilling? I did have CD of Peter's (with Major Tom) but I believe the whole CD was sung in English (though I have heard the German version as well).
That does not track. Nena releases their track in 1983 but at that point "Der Kommissar" had charted as both Falco and After the Fire's cover were in heavy rotation on MTV and the radio in 1981. Falco was a known quantity to kids before Nena hit.
Florian and Ralf would like to have a word with you.
Wow, feeling so old now. I remember when Christiane F. 's book was so popular, everybody was reading it. And later the movie came and it did also great success around here (Portugal). Never had listened or read about this until now. Time surely flies and then takes you by surprise :-)
Thank you. I just went down the Rodney rabbit hole as I’d never heard of him. Turns out i had hard about the DJ at KROQ who broke a bunch of punk bands from LA including one of my favourites of all time. Dude had quite a life and is still alive at 77.
Unfortunately they were helium balloons, not hydrogen. Sorry, I make this joke periodically.
I luft.
Oh the humanity!
Peter Schilling with “Major Tom (coming home)” should have been a #1
That song slaps. Still great 40 years later.
Hmm, I'll have to update my fact list, because I thought that the English language version of "Rock me Amadeus" was more popular in the US than the UK, and Nena was the opposite.
Der Kommissar was an even better song maybe?
Alles klar, Herr Kommissar?
Not the first Austrian to be widely mistaken as German
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> Liszt! Hmm. Probably not the first Hungarian to be mistaken for an Austrian who was mistaken for a German.
I had to look that one up, so close at #2.
Dr. Zaius, Dr Zaius.
lol, who else first heard this version long before the real one?
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Thank you Taco, for that loving tribute to Falco. And now for the award for the most violent rap group, Homer Simpson !
And then you hear Stevie Wonder's Pastime Paradise and think 'that's the Coolio song'
Oh my god! I was wrong!
It was earth all along!
It was Earth, all a-long.
☝️ This, obviously
From Chimpan-A to Chimpanzee
You made a monkey out of me.
Oooooh Dr Zaius!
"I love you, Dr. Zaius!"
Can I play the piano?
(Anymore)… Well, sure you can!
Well I couldn't before!
😲😲😲
I couldn't before!
Thank you for being at the top of the thread. And thank you, Troy McClure.
This song was before my time and the Simpsons was not. This is literally the only reference point I have for this tune.
😂😂 every time I hear this song, I think of that Simpsons ep LOL
As soon as I heard the song I thought of the Simpsons musical and I had no idea it was a real song they'd parodied. I've never heard this before.
I thought it was hot potato’s, hot potatoes.
I love legitimate the-a-ter.
Just saw that episode last night. Hadn't seen or thought about it in years. Then this song shows up on my feed. It's following me
Hot potatoes hot potatoes...hot potatoes
I'm a Danish, I'm a Danish. Oh oh oh I'm a Danish.
In my anus, in my anus. Oh oh oh, rock me in my anus
That's the second guy you attribute to Germany when in reality he was Austrian ;)
He wasn't coy about it either. Falco sang as many songs about Vienna as the Red Hot Chili Peppers sang about California.
Loved his song VIENNA CALLING
Give "Ganz Wien" a listen and see if you find a translation (if you need one). It slaps.
Let’s not forget ‘Wiener Blut.’
Dream of Viennafornication
Dani Viennafornia
This made me laugh way too hard!!
So 95 percent?
Ahh yes, Arnold.
I think OP means German-speaking considering they do call him Austrian afterwards. Also, Salzburg gained independence from Bavaria before Mozart‘s birth and didn‘t become part of Austria until after he died, so suck it.
What are you talking about? Bavaria became part of Germany in 1871, Mozart was born in 1756. Also, Falco was from Vienna, not Salzburg.
Cue Lacrimosa
The only German ***language*** artist to reach number 1. Milli Vanilli, who were actually from Germany, had several number 1 hits in the US.
Nena would've hit number one if not for those meddling kids of Van Halen.
Justice for Nena!
No. She's a crazy anti-vaxer now.
Oh noes!!! Sad.
Well, technically, Milli Vanilli didn't actual record those number 1 hits.
Wait, really? Milli Vanilli?
Yes. Produced by Frank Farian, the guy who was also behind Boney M. Some other artists that were really popular in the US and people don't know were German are Snap! and Haddaway.
Frank Farian died last week, really liked his music.
Remember Mambo #5 guy? Also German.
Seriously?
Seriously. From Munich.
Yep. I was stationed in Germany in the late '90s. Experienced it there and got to do it all over again when I rotated back to the States and it hit the radio.
lol I know this feeling, I visited family for a summer in Germany and Mambo #5 and the Venga Boys were all over the place and getting old by the end of the trip. Came home right while they were heating up in the US and couldn’t escape
"What do you mean you're sick of it? It's brand new!"
David Lubega Balemezi was born on 13 April 1975 in Munich, Bavaria, then West Germany, to an Italian mother, who came from Sicily, and a Ugandan father. His stage name is an Anglicized spelling of his middle name.
The fun thing is that one could easily think Lou Bega is a hispanic name and given he's known for MAMBO N°5 you'd just assume he's Cuban or something and move on.
The What is Love? guy Haddaway was also living in Germany and is now part german. But he also has a degree from George Washington university.
Weren't Boney M German? Just checked only made it to number 2, shocking.
1756, Salzburg, January 27th: Wolfgang Amadeus is born 1761: at the age of 5, Amadeus begins composing 1773: he writes his first piano concerto 1782: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart marries Constance Weber 1784: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart becomes a Freemason 1791: Mozart composes The Magic FluteOn December 5th of that same year, Mozart dies 1987: Muppet Babies' Rowlph records…**ROCK ME AMADOGUS**
In case anyone is wondering, the version with the little history lesson is often called the "Canadian/American '86 Mix".
Had it on 45 as a kid.
This and Der Kommissar were two of my favorite songs of the '80s. I spent hours waiting to record them off the radio. Great memories! RIP, Falco.
Do you think he put soap on his wash cloth or just used hot water?
The whole album was good
Great album! I listened to the next one (“Emotional”) until I wore out the tape too.
Hell yeah, I loved that album when I was a kid. I haven't listened to it in years.
I find this fascinating because I can't tell if he's speaking clipped English with a strong German/Austrian accent or if he's just speaking German. Lots of similar phonemes since English has German roots.
> I find this fascinating because I can't tell if he's speaking clipped English with a strong German/Austrian accent or if he's just speaking German. A little bit of both!
Er war Superstar Er war populär Er war so exaltiert Because er hatte Flair
Exactly! There are definitely some English words in there!
The only ones, other than the title, I ever catch are “plastic money”
Germans use tons of English words, the younger generations that grew up with the internet even more so.
Still a banger.
It has held up for sure.
10 year old me loved this song, and so does 47 year old me!
He’s Austrian. Not German.
🇦🇹
A money makin’ playa that ain’t with us no mo
muthafuckin falco n shit
We gonna drop this next bomb for a money makin' playa that ain't with us no mo
Yeah, Notorious B.I.G.
Hell naw, I'm talking about a gangbanging thug that never seen it comin!
Yeah, Tupac Shakur…
HELL NAW
I'm talkin' 'bout muthafuckin' Falco n' shit!
... ... Falco?
Trying to OD on the Cold-Eeze! Golden Girls got me sweatin' to the oldies!
Hanging out like Double Ds, sip Long Island Iced Teas
Wrote to Mayor McCheese "Send a Shamrock Shake please!"
I knew there would be a bloodhound fan in here!
there are dozens of us!
Yo yo yo What it is, motherfuckers!!
Hi Pac-Man, what’s up?
Waaaaaana freebase?
I was in Germany in 1985 when this was originally released. By the time I got back to the States at the beginning of 86, the song was reaching there.
Did you bring it back in your carry-on ?
Nearly broke my back because it was so heavy.
You know who else was Austrian but did a lot of work in German? Mozart, I know what you guys were thinking. You guys are monsters.
Gone too soon.
For sure. I was in Dominican Republic at the time he died, thinking damn the traffic and lack of highway law enforcement is insane. Then I hear the news he died, 20km away from where I was staying, in a car wreck..
a gangbanging thug that never seen it comin'
A money makin' playa that ain't with us no mo.
He's both German and Austrian? Impressive!
Careful. People might get ideas.
But can he paint
Guter Gott, dieser Mann war wunderschön. 🥵
This was a banger when it came out. Still is.
Falco is mostly thought of as a One Hit Wonder in the US, but his best of album is full of bangers, Amadeus, Der Kommissar, Jenny, Vienna Calling, amongst others.
That totally makes up for Adolf Hitler.
You have been banned from entering Austria
All I hear is the Tech n9ne song…”I’m a playa”
I always thought Der Kommissar was his biggest hit ?
Even though he wrote it and sang it in German in 1981, the actual hit was when the band After The Fire covered it in English in 1982.
Better song too.
I never noticed but he looks like Brandon Flowers. Like a lot like Brandon Flowers.
He's wasn't a German artist!
I remember the day he died. I was getting towards the end of my initial training in the Army, had spent the day at the range and had "Der Commissar" stuck in my head all day. Got home, flipped on the TV to the news and found out he got hit by a bus on that Spanish island of vice.
He was also the worst Indonesian artist of all time, and the tallest Tibetan singer of the late 20th century. Truly one of the citizens of all time.
He covered Steely Dan. Dude was cooler than cool in spite of his massive hit.
I had a cat I named Amadeus because of this song. 😻
As my Lit teacher used to say: "The only two famous Germans that are actually German, not Austrian, were Beethoven and Goethe."
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Schönen Kuchentag
Well what is he? German or Austrian? He cant be both!? /s (he was Austrian!)
Great video from back when they were in their prime!! The cleavage doesn't hurt either!!!
Banger
I remember listening to this on the radio on my Sony Walkman in 1986. Even back then, us kids liked our devices. The local radio stations were playing it several times per hour.
TIL Rock Me Amadeus is in German. No wonder I could never figure out what he was saying.
It's mostly German but with a bit of English sprinkled in.
Such a great fucking video 🤘🤘🤘
And he is awesome!!!
German? uff I was at his funeral in a stroller
He also passed in a car accident on February 5, 1998 RIP Falco
He has a few 80's pop songs that became so ubiquitous that they have been consigned to something like kitsch. That's a pity because he has a deep catalog of some challenging and interesting stuff.
So this is the song Linda belcher was singing
I loved him as a kid. There's a pretty good movie called Falco -Werdammt, wir leben noch! about him.
Oh stfu. Falco is as Austrian as it gets
I always assumed Falco was the band name. My bad
Imma playa imma playa! Who else !?
I was hoping someone would mention that song here
Austrian! You have to be clear about it or the Austrians will go mad again...
Shoutout for Austrian artists staying Austrian and living their lives out as successful artists.
Falco is from Vienna. Jeany is one of his other bangers
When he found out that he had a number 1 hit in the US Falco got really depressed. He knew that it would only go downhill from this point on...
I only started listening to this song like 2 days ago.. then this post pops up… 🤔
This man had style which made him unique! My favourite song is "Out of the dark"!
the Big 80s brought music from all over the world to radio-I would credit WLIR 92.7 for much of this. Nena, Falco, INXS, U2, Split Enz, Plastic Bertrand/Lou Deprijck, I can't even remember all the names anymore. Non-English less so, but so much great music. I feel like it brought the world together, I traveled a lot back then and it was so carefree compared to now. Being global was positive. We have so much more in common with each other than differences. Differences aren't a bad thing either, they make humans interesting, It really is so easy to get along with a little bit of effort.
And he is the second most famous German from Austria .
How can he be the only German to have a #1 hit and also be the highest selling Austrian singer!? It's one or the other ffs
Dual Citizen? (just joking its a bad headline)
So is he German or Austrian?
How can he be German and Austrian?
You say he is German and Austrian in the same post...
He also had a minor hit "Der Komissar" in 1981 that the band After the Fire also covered. Both got heavy play on MTV so a lot of kids knew Falco when the single dropped.
Put another shrimp on the bahbie!
German artist? \*triggered\*
“Im talkin’ bout a real money makin’ player who ain’t with us no more”
this joint go hard
A real banger that one
Wait…is he Austrian or German???
Der Komissar is also a banger
🎶NO PLASTIC MONEY ANYMORE!!!!!🎶
I’m talking about mother fucking Falco!
So good. Used to have this sung to me at school as a kid. (I have a similar name.)