Artist Spotlight: Falco

The one (and a half) hit wonder

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Vienna in a Tux: Falco’s Flashpoint

When I was in college in the late ‘90s soaking in all this great new wave music, I came across an artist called Falco. I recognized Rock Me Amadeus right away (which was a great novelty hit), and learned he did the original, German version of Der Kommissar. One-and-a-half hit wonder, I said. But then I realized there’s so much more to him!

From Conservatory to Chaos

While there were are a few German new wavers (Alphaville, Peter Schilling), Falco is the only well-known one from Austria, the home of Mozart himself! And he was a classically-trained, just like Mo- you get the drift. He played bass and wrote for a Viennese punk band before parlaying these skills into a solo career. His quirky writing, techno-pop sound (more synths than the Cars but not as much as the Human League), punk pedigree, and musical experimentation firmly place him in the new wave camp.

Falco released his debut Einzelhaft in 1982. It had a techno-pop sound, and all lyrics were in his native German. But unlike other new wavers, Falco rapped a lot of the verses, in homage to a genre that only had hits in the US two years prior. Not just for a goof: in most of his songs! His rapping style was tight for the ‘80s: much more than Debbie Harry in the bridge of “Rapture”. The rapped-verse / sung-chorus formula made him stylistically similar to ‘80s rap group Whodini, much earlier than the new jack swing craze. Indeed, Falco has a love of American pop culture, as evidenced by rap music even being in his radar in the early ‘80s. The lead single Der Kommissar was a European hit, and made it to the US dance clubs. Right out of the gate, Falco was not afraid to lean on dark material, as Der Kommissar is about a drug pusher outsmarting the authorities. The video for this is the first exposure of Falco to a lot of Americans, thanks to MTV. After the Fire made an English version two years later that was a big hit in both Britain and the States. In homage to Bowie’s Berlin era, Falco remakes Heroes into Helden Von Heute.

Rapping with Mozart: The Peak Years

Then, inspired by the movie with the same name, Falco releases the bio-song Rock Me Amadeus. While Rock Me has Falco’s usual techno-rap, he also appropriately folds in classical violins. The inventive video builds on the narrative by having himself and Mozart switch time periods and still having each others’ fans swoon over them. It was #1 in the US, UK and many other countries. In the 1980s Falco had the first worldwide Austrian smash since the 1780s! Amadeus and the accompanying album Falco 3 introduces his new, more accessible sound. After Amadeus, Falco’s lyrics were more often in English (especially the choruses). He also embraces his love of US pop culture, but uses it to satirize it (America, Manner des Westens, Cowboyz and Indianz, Crime Time). He still continues to have some Austria-themed songs (Sound of Musik, Vienna Calling). Like any rocker, Falco had his share of love/lust songs. But his tongue-in-cheek odes to celebrities are catchy and even funny (Kiss of Kathleen Turner, Garbo). He even mocks his own quick rise in fame and ego in songs like Falco Rides Again. Falco continued go dark though: in the ballad Jeanny, he sings from the point of view of an abductor and rapist. That, and him being in a mental asylum in the video, got it banned from MTV. He borrowed other melodies from Bowie (Sand Am Himalaya) and did a German-language cover of the Cars’ Looking for Love in Munich Girls.

The Fade and the Firestorm

Unfortunately, Falco had a just-as-quick descent from musical fame. After the singles from Falco 3, he never again had a hit outside of the German-speaking part of Europe. There might have been a language/country barrier (though he pivoted more to English). Also, though new wave was friendly to unique sounds, Falco might have been pigeonholed as a novelty act because of the rap and classical elements.

That being said, he continued to have hits in Austria and Germany. Falco collaborated with several European artists over the years. I was watching the VH1 Show The Surreal Life in the early 2000s, and in a song-making exercise Brigette Nielsen claimed she never recorded anything. Granted, she was drunk but she forgot her duet with Falco Body Next to Body which was an Austro-German hit (and her two solo albums)!

In the ‘90s Falco doubled down on danceability with the classical-tinged Titanic and the rest of the album Nachtflug. After a hiatus, Falco had two albums mostly in the can when he died in a car accident in 1998. The post-humous releases spawned three hit singles in German-speaking Europe.

Still Amadeus After All These Years

As much as I love the guy, Falco is now a musical curiosity, rather than an influencer. Outside of Germany and Austria, I’d argue the only artist he had some influence on is Robyn (from Sweden). While his early passing obviously squashed any comeback tries in the 2000s, he already had faded as new wave lost its luster at the end of the ‘80s (in chart standing and MTV exposure) and rap deviated from his style (e.g. Gangsta Rap). Had he lived at least a bit more, he might have rode a wave on the backs of the mid-2000s New Wave Revival, like Duran Duran and Howard Jones did.

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At the bottom is a playlist of his (mostly ‘80s) work. Come for Amadeus, stay for his unique new wave/rap fusion, with a good dose of classicism!