Rock me Amadeus - Falco

The history of the track 'Rock me Amadeus' has been badly documented on the web. A remix version of the track was a big hit around the world, but this single is the original version, released in early 1985. On this single, the track has the lengthy title 'Rock me Amadeus (Ihn liebten alle Frauen)', the subtitle of which means 'All the women loved him'.

The track was produced by the Dutch brothers Bolland and was going to be included on the forthcoming album 'Falco 3' later on in 1985. Of course, the remix version of this single was a number 1 hit all over the world, but this single didn't cause much of a stir.

My collection: 7" single no. 4799
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 10, 2010
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Rock me Amadeus (Ihn liebten alle Frauen)' / 'Urban tropical'

Coming home - Falco

Subtitled 'Jeanny part 2, one year later', this single was released as a sequel to Falco's big hit 'Jeanny'. The single was later said to be part of a trilogy. A third song, however, was never officially released. After Falco's death, a half finished version of a potential third song was made available for download, but it seemed to be a reworked version of the original with an alternative newsflash, designed to change the entire context of the song.

'Coming home' is a more straightforward song than 'Jeanny' was, with a more upbeat stance to it. It may be the explanation why it wasn't a big hit: the song was probably not intriguing enough like 'Jeanny' was.

My collection: 7" single no. 1819

Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, January 13, 1993

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Coming home (Jeanny part 2, One year later)' / 'Crime time'

Jeanny - Falco

'Jeanny' was released in 1986 and would become one of Falco's best known and most controversial singles. The song is about a relationship between a man and a girl named Jeanny. The song is sung in a slightly unhinged voice, but the lyrics don't actually contain any direct reference to the act of rape or abduction. It is left to the listener's imagination. Falco argued that it's about the musings of a stalker, but also said the song was inspired by serial killer Jack Unterweger.

The song was banned in East Germany. There were also demands to prohibit the song in West Germany, but this didn't happen, although some radio stations did boycot the song. Despite all this, Falco had a number one hit in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland with 'Jeanny'.

My collection: 7" single no. 412

Found: Free Record Shop, Den Haag, 1986

Cost: 6 guilders

Tracks: 'Jeanny' / 'Männer des Westens'

Rock me Amadeus - Falco

Falco released 'Rock me Amadeus' in 1985. The song was produced by the Dutch brothers Bolland, who co-wrote the song with Falco. The lyric was inspired by the movie 'Amadeus' (1984) and talks about Mozart's poverty and his debts.

For the U.S. release, the song was remixed with an English background overlay by L.A. DJ Chris Modig. This is also the version included on this single, which is a Dutch pressing. Interestingly enough, the song only became a hit in the Netherlands when this version was released.

My collection: 7" single no. 2286
Found: Record fair, May 6, 1995
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Rock me Amadeus' / 'Tango the night'

Der Kommissar - Falco

In a previous entry, I already wrote about 'Der Kommissar' by After the fire, but this is the original version - and it can't be beat. Johann (Hans) Hölzel was born in Vienna, Austria on February 19, 1957 and took on the stage name Falco in the late Seventies, reportedly as a tribute to the East German skier Falko Weißpflog. His first hit was 'Der Kommissar', taken from his debut album 'Einzelhaft' (1982). Besides being a hit in his native Austria and neighbour countries Germany and Switzerland, it also reached number 18 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 1678

Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, June 28, 1992

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Der Kommissar' / 'Helden von heute'

Download: here