Song:Rock Me Amadeus
Album:Greatest Hits
Rock Me Amadeus was one of the more curious number one hits in pop music history. Falco was a big pop star in Europe, especially Germany. He was born Johann Holzel Feb. 19, 1957 in Vienna, Austria. He showed musical talent as a child but he had problems in school and left at age 16. He briefly studied at the Vienna Music Conservatory but he left and played clubs with his jazz rock band. Then he took the name Falco after an Austrian ski jumper. He was in a few bands, most notably the punk band Drahdiwerbl who had some success locally. Falco was spotted by producer Markus Spiegel who signed Falco to a solo record deal with his label GIG Records. Distribution was by CBS in Europe and by A & M in the US. Falco had immediate success in Europe with the single Der Kommissar. An English cover was a hit for After The Fire in the US. When Falco's second album wasn't as successful as his first, he decided to write in English. He also hired the Dutch duo Bolland & Bolland to produce. Brothers Rob and Ferdi Bolland were successful recording artists in Europe. Rock Me Amadeus was inspired by Milos Forman's hit film Amadeus which of course was about Mozart. There's nothing much to the song. It's a repetitive hook with Falco reciting facts about Mozart. It's not singing but it's not really rapping either. Somehow the record caught on and it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985. I guess it proves that a good hook is all one needs to have a hit record. Also, the video was played a lot on MTV. His follow up single Vienna Calling reached the top 20. And the album Falco 3 reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 200. That was it for Falco in the US. But he continued to have success in Europe into the 90s. You can get all his hits on this budget comp. Falco was on holidays in the Dominican Republic when his car collided with a bus. He died instantly on Feb. 6, 1998 at age 40. Tests showed Falco was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he died. He was planning a comeback at the time. Here's the video for Rock Me Amadeus by Falco.
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