Johann (Hans) Hölzel (19 February 1957 – 6 February 1998), better known by … Read Full Bio ↴Johann (Hans) Hölzel (19 February 1957 – 6 February 1998), better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian rap, pop and rock musician and had four #1 Hits - "Der Kommissar", "Rock Me Amadeus", "Jeanny" and "Coming Home (Jeanny Part 2, Ein Jahr danach)".

He is the only artist to score a #1 Hit in the U.S. with a German language song, and his albums and singles have sold about 60 million copies worldwide.

Early Years

Born in Vienna, studying at the Vienna Music Conservatory in 1977 which he left after one semester to pursue a career in music, he lived for a short time in West Berlin while singing in a jazz-rock band. When he returned to Vienna he was calling himself "Falco," reportedly in tribute to the East German ski jumper Falko Weißpflog, and playing in the Austrian bands Spinning Wheel and Hallucination Company. En route to becoming an international rock star in his own right, he was bass player in the Austrian hard rock-punk rock band Drahdiwaberl (from 1978 until 1983). With Drahdiwaberl he wrote and performed the song "Ganz Wien" which he would also include on his debut solo album Einzelhaft.

Individual success

Falco's first hit was "Der Kommissar" from the 1982 album Einzelhaft. A German language song about drug consumption that combines rap verses with a sung chorus, Falco's record was a number-one success in many countries but failed to break big in the U.S. The song, however, would prove to have a life of its own in two English-language versions. British Rock band After the Fire recorded an English cover version, loosely based on Falco's lyrics and also called "Der Kommissar" (with "uh-oh" and "alles klar Herr Kommissar" the only other lyrics held over from the original). This time, the song shot to number three in the United States (their only major hit there) in 1983, though it failed to crack the UK Top 40. The band - who had been together more than a decade - broke up almost immediately thereafter. That same year, American singer Laura Branigan recorded a version of the song with new English lyrics, under the title "Deep in the Dark" on her album Branigan 2.

After a second album, Junge Roemer, failed to provide a repeat to his debut single's success (outside of Austria and Germany, where the album topped the charts), Falco began to experiment with English lyrics in an effort to broaden his appeal, and chose a new production team. The result would be the most popular album and single of his career.

Falco recorded "Rock Me Amadeus" inspired in part by the Oscar-winning film Amadeus, and the song became a worldwide hit in 1986. This time, his record reached #1 in the U.S. and UK, bringing him the success that had eluded him in that major market a few years earlier. The song remained in the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and his album, Falco 3, fittingly peaked at the number three position on the Billboard album charts. Unheard of at the time for a white performer, much less a European one, the Austrian rapper's single climbed to the upper reaches of the Billboard Top R&B Singles Chart (only a few years earlier called the "Black Singles" chart), peaking at number 6. Falco 3 peaked at number 18 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Ultimately, "Rock Me Amadeus" went to the #1 spot in over a dozen countries including the Soviet Union and Japan. Follow-up single "Vienna Calling" was another international pop hit, peaking at #18 of the Billboard Charts and #17 on the U.S. Cash Box Charts in 1986. A double A-side 12" single featuring remixes of those two hits peaked at #4 on the U.S. Dance/Disco charts.

"Jeanny" the third release from the album Falco 3, brought the performer back to the top of the charts across Europe. Highly controversial when it was released in Germany and the Netherlands, the story of "Jeanny" was told from the point of view of a rapist and possible murderer. Several DJs and radio stations refused to play the ballad, which was ignored in the U.S., although it became a huge hit in many European countries, and inspired two sequels on later albums.

In 1986, the album Emotional was released, produced by Rob and Ferdi Bolland (Bolland & Bolland). On the Album were "Coming Home (Jeanny Part 2, Ein Jahr danach)" and the song "Kamikaze Cappa" which was written as a tribute to the late photojournalist Robert Capa. "The Sound of Musik" was another international success, and a Top 20 U.S. Dance hit, though he failed to make the U.S. pop charts. He also went on "Emotional-Tour" which was a world tour where he ended up in Japan at 1987. In 1987, he sang a duet with Brigitte Nielsen "Body Next to Body" and the single was a Top 10 hit in the Germanic countries. The Album Wiener Blut was released in 1988 but it did not get much publicity outside Germany and Austria.

After "Jeanny," there were a number of European hits, but Falco was rarely heard in the U.S. and the UK. His 1992 U.S. comeback attempt, the album Nachtflug with the song "Titanic" won a number of awards, but failed to chart in America.

Death

Falco died of severe injuries received from a collision with a bus in his Mitsubishi Pajero near the city of Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic on 6 February 1998, just two weeks before his 41st birthday. While it was initially reported that the autopsy showed high blood levels of alcohol and cocaine, this was disputed. At the time of his death, he was working on a comeback into the music world.
He was buried in the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Vienna, Austria.

Years active: 1974 -1998

Data Da Groove
Falco Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Cyberspace has got to be anarchy
A pirate concept
In and out and over me

Create a sequence file
On mapdisk from - gotta call me
ABBDSO1

Megauser high extension enter edit go AD DA
Stop stop roger over and go

Syntaxerror crashed on badblock
Is it real, is it nothing?
Is it
Data overflow

There's no river too deep
No Mountain too high
Any kind of vision in the air
Kein backspace mehr
Low-tech revolution
Formt sich dann
Zum Frontprogramm

The MEGA the SCORE
Desto MONO de CHROME
ATMO de FORCE
Is the Atmo at home
It's got to be the higher the goal
Desto schwerer Beruf - SAY!
The deeper the Soul desto
DATA DE GROOVE

Ich mein: Ich - Mich - do - Dich - Ich - Mein
do Dein so allein, so allein zu sein
Und so weiter

Hin zu wem zu fällst do ab und zu
Fällst do, nur zu
Sind zuende zu ganz auf

Cyberspace is auto-ex-ex
Show memorysize of(sex)...
I guess you know what
Stop Stop roger over and go

Syntaxerror crashed on badblock
Is it real, is it nothing?
Is it
Data overflow

There's no river too deep
No Mountain too high
Any kind of vision in the air
Kein backspace mehr
Low-tech revolution
Formt sich dann
Zum Frontprogramm

The MEGA the SCORE
Desto MONO de CHROME
ATMO de FORCE
Is the Atmo at home
It's got to be the higher the goal
Desto schwerer Beruf - SAY!

The deeper the Soul desto
DATA DE GROOVE

Overall Meaning

The song "Data Da Groove" by Falco is a techno-pop song that touches on the theme of Anarchy in cyberspace. The song starts with Falco singing "Cyberspace has got to be anarchy, a pirate concept, in and out and over me" which suggests that the internet and its users should not be bound by any rules or regulations. The next line talks about creating a sequence file and calls out a mapdisk, which suggests the use of early computer technology. Falco is essentially trying to convey that the digital world can be chaotic, furthermore, the line "Syntaxerror crashed on badblock, is it real or nothing, is it data overflow" could be interpreted as how even the smallest of glitches can cause chaos in our digital systems. The lyrics in this song show that Falco predicts cyberspace to be a platform with unlimited potential, however, it would come at the cost of regulation.

The chorus "There's no river too deep, no mountain too high, any kind of vision in the air, kein backspace mehr" suggests that the internet can help break boundaries, promoting the idea of a "Low-tech revolution" eventually taking shape to form a frontprogramm, referring to becoming mainstream or something visible. The "MEGA the SCORE, Desto MONO de chrome, ATMO de force, is the Atmo at home" lyrics seem to hint at the idea of cyberspace as a place to achieve huge success, regardless of where one is- suggesting that the possibilities are endless. Additionally, the line "The deeper the Soul, desto data de Groove," suggests that success in the digital world comes not just from creativity but the spirit behind it. The song, released in 1990, speaks to the growth and potential that Falco saw in the emergence of the digital age, and its lyrics have a certain prophetic quality.

Line by Line Meaning

Cyberspace has got to be anarchy
The internet has to be a chaotic and rebellious place.

A pirate concept
It's like an idea that belongs to a renegade or a pirate.

In and out and over me
The internet's influence is felt in every aspect of our lives.

Create a sequence file
Make a file that lists things in a specific order.

On mapdisk from - gotta call me
Save it on a specific type of disk, and you'll need to contact me to get it.

ABBDSO1
The name or code for the particular type of disk to use.

Megauser high extension enter edit go AD DA
Access a specific user's files and make changes using special commands.

Stop stop roger over and go
Pause and wait for confirmation before proceeding.

Syntaxerror crashed on badblock
An error occurred because of a problem with the code or the disk.

Is it real, is it nothing?
Is what's happening actually significant or not?

Is it Data overflow
Is there too much information being processed at once?

There's no river too deep
No challenge is insurmountable.

No Mountain too high
No obstacle can't be overcome.

Any kind of vision in the air
Any idea that's out there is worth pursuing.

Kein backspace mehr
No going back, no do-overs.

Low-tech revolution
A change that doesn't rely on advanced technology.

Formt sich dann
Is taking shape, becoming something real.

Zum Frontprogramm
A forefront movement, the newest and most important thing.

The MEGA the SCORE
The bigger the achievement, the greater the reward.

Desto MONO de CHROME
The more focused and simple, the better.

ATMO de FORCE
A powerful atmosphere, a strong vibe.

Is the Atmo at home
Is the environment just right?

It's got to be the higher the goal
The objective must be significant and challenging.

Desto schwerer Beruf - SAY!
The harder the job, the more worthwhile it is.

The deeper the Soul desto
The more profound and meaningful the aspiration, the better.

DATA DE GROOVE
The data has a rhythm and flow to it.

Ich mein: Ich - Mich - do - Dich - Ich - Mein
I mean: me, myself, you, yourself, me, mine.

do Dein so allein, so allein zu sein
You are so alone, to be so alone.

Und so weiter
And so on.

Hin zu wem zu fällst do ab und zu
You sometimes fall towards someone.

Fällst do, nur zu
Just let yourself fall.

Sind zuende zu ganz auf
Are finished, all used up.

Cyberspace is auto-ex-ex
The internet is automatic and extreme.

Show memorysize of(sex)...
Display the amount of memory used.

I guess you know what
You probably understand what I mean.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Johann Hoelzel, Robert Ponger

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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