Rock Me Amadeus

"Rock Me Amadeus"
Single by Falco
from the album Falco 3
Released	June 16, 1985 (1985-06-16) (German) March 28, 1986
Format	7"
Recorded	1985
Genre	Neue Deutsche Welle New Wave Synthpop Hip Hop
Length	3:11
Label	A&M
Writer(s)	Falco, Rob Bolland, Ferdi Bolland
Falco singles chronology
"Junge Römer (Young Romans)" "Rock Me Amadeus" (1986) "Vienna Calling"

"Rock Me Amadeus" is a 1985 song by Austrian pop musician Falco from his album Falco 3. It topped the singles charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It was Falco's only number one hit in either the United States or the United Kingdom, despite his popularity in Germany, his native Austria, and much of Europe. The song was written by Falco and Dutch music producers Bolland & Bolland.

History

With "Rock Me Amadeus", Falco became the first German-speaking artist to be credited with a No. 1 single in all mainstream US pop singles charts: the Billboard Hot 100 and Cashbox Top 100 Singles. The single hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 29 March 1986. Falco is erroneously often considered a one-hit wonder for this song in the United States. However, Falco had already had a minor US hit in 1982 with "Der Kommissar" (a hit the following year there for After the Fire), "Sound of Musik" reached No. 13 and his follow-up single from Falco 3, "Vienna Calling," reached No. 18 on the Hot 100.

In the United Kingdom, the song hit number one on 10 May 1986, becoming the first single by an Austrian act to achieve this distinction. In the UK, where his "Der Kommissar" failed to make the charts, Falco is also often regarded as a one-hit wonder, despite the fact that "Vienna Calling" hit number ten and three subsequent singles briefly charted.

In Canada, the song reached No. 1 on 1 February 1986. (There, "Der Kommissar" had reached No. 11 in January 1983, and "Vienna Calling" would hit No. 8 in April 1986.)

"Rock Me Amadeus" would later be ranked No. 87 in VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s and No. 44 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders.

Production

Originally recorded in German, the song is about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, his popularity and his debts. A longer version (eight minutes), named the "Salieri Mix," appeared on the initial US release of the album Falco 3. The song was inspired by the movie Amadeus.^{[citation needed]} For the US release, the song was remixed with an English background overlay by L.A. DJs Boris Granich and Chris Modig. There was never a full English version.

Voiceover facts

1756: Salzburg, January 27, Wolfgang Amadeus is born.

1761: At the age of 5 Amadeus begins composing.

1773: He writes his first piano concerto.

1782: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart marries Constanze Weber.

1784: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart becomes a Freemason.

1791: Mozart composes The Magic Flute.

On December 5 that same year, Mozart dies.

1985: Austrian rock singer Falco records "Rock Me Amadeus"!

Official versions and remixes

The song was released in Europe in 1985 in its original, German-language version. For the international markets (USA, UK, Japan etc.) several different single and extended mixes were produced; none of them were a solely English-language version, but the international single versions reduced the German lyrics. However, the video, which featured the original European version, was used world-wide.

1. Original Version (a.k.a. The Gold Mix) (3:21)
2. Extended Version (7:07)
3. Salieri Version (8:21) (on the international versions of "Falco 3" this mix is denoted wrongly as "Solieri Version")
4. Short Salieri Version (4:50)
5. Edited Salieri Version (4:08)
6. Extended Salieri Version (8:34)
7. American Edit (3:10)
8. Canadian Edit (4:02)
9. Canadian/American Edit (3:59)
10. Extended American Edit (6:10)
11. Club Mix 1991 (6:47)
12. Radio Remix 1991 (4:30)
13. Instrumental Remix 1991 (1:29)
14. Live Version 1986 from the album Live Forever (6:04)
15. Symphonic Remix 2008 from the album Symphonic (4:52)
16. Live Symphonic Version 1994 from the DVD Symphonic (4:12)
17. Falco Biography Mix 2010 from the 25th Anniversary Edition of Falco 3 (download only) (8:48)

Music video

The song's music video mixes elements of Mozart's time with modern times. Falco is shown in a modern dinner jacket, walking past people in eighteenth-century formal wear. Later, he is shown dressed as Mozart, with wild colored hair, being held on the shoulders of men dressed in modern motorcycle-riding attire. At the end, the two crowds mix.

Covers and samples

• The song was covered in 1998 by German industrial metal rock band Megaherz. They released "Rock Me Amadeus" as their 1998 single from their album Kopfschuss. Megaherz infused the song with heavy metal riffs and industrial-trip rock beats in their version.
• German hard rock/gothic metal band Umbra et Imago released a cover of the song on their 2000 album Mea Culpa.
• Mexican band Molotov covered the song on their 2004 single "Amateur", included in the album Con Todo Respeto.
• German rapper Fler sampled the song on his 2005 single "NDW 2005" from his debut album Neue Deutsche Welle.
• Norwegian experimental black/thrash metal band Sturmgeist released a cover of the song on their 2006 album, Über.
• Spanish metal band Después de Todo made a translated cover of the song on their 2011 album, El Camino de los Olvidados.

Live cover performances

• The folk-rock group Girlyman performs the song live fairly regularly, with Nate doing the German parts and the other band members and audience supplying the ohs.
• German band Münchener Freiheit performed the song at the 2007 Muenster Eurocityfest.
• Cantopop artist Anthony Wong covered the song with Chinese lyrics written by Albert Leung.

Sampling

• Rapper Tech N9ne made a song titled "I'm A Playa" set to the same tune, except with a more Dirty South/crunk style beat.
• The Bloodhound Gang samples "Rock Me Amadeus" throughout the song "Mope" on the 1999 album, Hooray for Boobies.
• Radio station WSKZ (Chattanooga, Tennessee) played a version on that station's morning zoo called "Rock Me Donny Osmond" which sampled music from the original by Falco.
• During their Vienna concert on their 2010 Tour, the band U2 played "Rock Me Amadeus".

Parodies and references

The song has been lampooned and paid tribute to by many:

• "Weird Al" Yankovic included it in his medley "Polka Party!" on the album of that name.
• A Muppet Babies episode used a parody of the song called "Amadogus," based on one of the characters' ancestor.
• A parody version of this song titled "Amateur" was released in 2004 by Mexican hip-hop/rock band Molotov on their 2004 cover album, "Con Todo Respeto.". In their version the song starts with a melody of "Aber bitte mit Sahne" by Udo Jürgens, a famous Austrian singer.
• The song is featured in the Simpsons episode, "A Fish Called Selma": Troy McClure performs the part of the human in a musical adaptation of Planet of the Apes. "Amadeus" becomes "Dr. Zaius".
• Jewish parody band Shlock Rock parodied the song as "Achashverosh".
• The song is also featured in the movie Adventureland. The song is played frequently over the amusement park speakers, much to the annoyance of the characters.
• In the Family Guy episode "Petarded", Brian asks Lois if Peter's stupidity bothers her, to which Lois responds that she just represses the thought. The camera then zooms into her brain and shows a tumor with the face of Peter singing, "I'm a tumor; I'm a tumor" to the tune of "Rock Me Amadeus".
• Momus's 2001 album Folktronic contains a song entitled "Folk Me Amadeus".
• Adam Sandler sings along to this song in his truck in the feature film Bedtime Stories.
• LaTour under the name Bud Latour, along with Phoenix Disc Jockey Mike Elliot did a parody called "Rock Me Jerry Lewis" in 1986.
• Selina Griffiths performed a portion of the song on the comedy "Benidorm" at Neptune's Bar on the karaoke stage. The character Pauline is an alcoholic, who treats the song very seriously and performs it very seriously.

External links

• "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco Song Facts at songfacts.com
• Music video for Rock Me Amadeus

Preceded by "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" by Billy Ocean	Canadian RPM number-one single February 1, 1986	Succeeded by "I Miss You" by Klymaxx
Preceded by "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys	New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single 21 March 1986 – 18 April 1986	Succeeded by "Harlem Shuffle" by The Rolling Stones
Preceded by "These Dreams" by Heart	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single March 29, 1986 – April 12, 1986	Succeeded by "Kiss" by Prince and the Revolution
Preceded by "A Different Corner" by George Michael	UK number-one single 10 May 1986	Succeeded by "The Chicken Song" by Spitting Image