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
Tanja P. Nicht Cindy C
Falco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Es steht fest, in dieser Klinik bist nur do meine Therapie.
Ich frage sie -
So oft wie nie -
Wie heiß ist meine Hose mit und ohne Eis -
In der Prärie
Doch sagt ihr Mund mir leider nein -
Mein Herz ist sein -
Und nehm das
Bein.
Tanja P. nicht Cindy C.
Es ist aus, es ist vorbei, jetzt ist Schluß
Mit diesem Vis-a-Vis.
In Germany
So heiß wie nie -
Hast do Heimvorteil und auch noch
Kühle Nibelungen - luxury
Dann sagtihr Mund uns wieder
Nein, das kann nie sein
In mein Budget nur DOLLARS rein.
Es steht fest, in dieser Klinik bist nur do meine Therapie.
Hast do Heimvorteil und auch noch...
Tanja deine frozen Hosen, hau'n mich um
In starken Dosen
Tanja P. nicht Cindy C.
The song "Tanja P. Nicht Cindy C." by Falco is about a man who is in a clinic or hospital for therapy, and he seems to be romantically interested in a nurse named Tanja P. He repeatedly asks her how he looks in his pants with and without ice, and while she always says no, he still can't help but be drawn to her. He compares her to Cindy C., perhaps as a way of saying that Tanja is not like the other girls he's known before.
The lyrics suggest that the man is not in a good place mentally, and that Tanja is maybe the only bright spot in his life at the moment. However, he knows that their relationship can't continue since he's in the hospital and she's a nurse, and he seemingly accepts this at the end of the song.
Overall, the lyrics are a bit cryptic and can be interpreted in different ways, but they seem to capture the confusion and longing of someone who is dealing with mental health issues.
Line by Line Meaning
Tanja P. nicht Cindy C.
I prefer Tanja over Cindy
Es steht fest, in dieser Klinik bist nur do meine Therapie.
You are the only one who can help me in this clinic.
Ich frage sie - So oft wie nie - Wie heiß ist meine Hose mit und ohne Eis - In der Prärie
I keep asking her repeatedly how cool my pants are in the prairie with and without ice.
Doch sagt ihr Mund mir leider Nein - Mein Herz ist sein - Das seh' ich ein - Und nehm das Bein.
Unfortunately, she answers with 'no' but my heart belongs to her and I accept it.
Es ist aus, es ist vorbei, jetzt ist Schluss - Mit diesem Vis-a-Vis.
It's over with this face-to-face (with Cindy), it's done.
In Germany So heiß wie nie - Hast do Heimvorteil und auch noch Kühle Nibelungen - luxury
Being in Germany is hotter than ever, and you have the comfort of home and cool Nibelungen - a luxurious experience.
Dann sagt ihr Mund uns wieder Nein, das kann nie sein In mein Budget nur DOLLARS rein.
Then her mouth says 'no' again, but I can only spend dollars, not marks.
Tanja deine frozen Hosen, hau'n mich um In starken Dosen
Tanja, your frozen pants knock me out when taken in large doses.
Tanja P. nicht Cindy C.
I prefer Tanja over Cindy
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: FALCO, ROBERT PONGER, GERD PLEZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Libor Synthesizer
on Out of the Dark
super muzika ,nádhera