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
Untouchable
Falco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This girl is real - She's every schoolboy's dream
She fills my fantasies, my eyes and my ears
But every time I try to touch her - She disappears
Oh oh oh oh oh She's untouchable
Oh oh oh oh oh untouchable delight
Oh oh oh oh oh She's untouchable
Oh oh oh oh oh She's outta- sight
I touch her full red lips - her silken thighs
We meet in the city, she begs, "please take me home"
But when I wake up in a cold sweat: I'm all alone
Falco's song "Untouchable" is about a girl that is unattainable, someone that people fantasize about but can't have. The first two lines of the song highlight that the girl is not just another pretty face in a magazine, she is actually real and every schoolboy's dream. The singer is drawn to her, and she fills his fantasies, but every time he tries to touch her, she disappears, making her untouchable. The chorus of the song repeats the word "untouchable," emphasizing the unattainable nature of the girl.
The second verse of the song discusses how the girl is with the singer in his mind, where they engage in intimate activities. He touches her full red lips and her silken thighs, but when it comes to actually being with her, the singer wakes up in a cold sweat, alone. The girl begs him to take her home when they meet in the city, but she is always just out of reach. The song's themes of unrequited love and longing for something unattainable are relatable, and the lyrics paint a picture of a person who is constantly chasing after something they can't have.
Overall, "Untouchable" is a catchy song with meaningful lyrics. It highlights the consequences of attaching oneself to something unattainable and how it leaves one feeling unfulfilled. The song has a timeless quality that resonates with fans even today, decades after its initial release.
Line by Line Meaning
She's not just another pretty face in a magazine
This girl is more than just a superficial image in a publication
This girl is real - She's every schoolboy's dream
She is a tangible person who embodies the ideal woman that young boys fantasize about
She fills my fantasies, my eyes and my ears
She occupies my thoughts, senses, and desires
But every time I try to touch her - She disappears
Whenever I attempt to make a physical connection with her, she vanishes from my grasp
Oh oh oh oh oh She's untouchable
She is unattainable no matter how much I yearn for her
Oh oh oh oh oh untouchable delight
It brings me pleasure to imagine her, but it is frustrating that she cannot be in my life
Oh oh oh oh oh She's untouchable
She is an entity that I cannot possess
Oh oh oh oh oh She's outta-sight
I cannot see or reach her despite my constant fixation on her
In my mind I'm always with her - moans and sighs
Despite her physical absence, I have vivid sexual encounters with her in my imagination
I touch her full red lips - her silken thighs
In my fantasies, I have intimate contact with her facial features and body parts
We meet in the city, she begs, "please take me home"
In my imagination, we have a romantic rendezvous where she desires to be taken back to my dwelling
But when I wake up in a cold sweat: I'm all alone
Upon reality setting in, I realize that she is not actually with me and I am devoid of her presence
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: FERDINAND D. BOLLAND, ROBERT J. BOLLAND
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Libor Synthesizer
on Out of the Dark
super muzika ,nádhera