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Falco (musician)

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Falco (Johann Hölzel), Austrian pop-star whose albums became #1 multiple times on the charts in both Europe and North America during the 1980s
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Falco (Johann Hölzel), Austrian pop-star whose albums became #1 multiple times on the charts in both Europe and North America during the 1980s

Falco (February 19, 1957 – February 6, 1998) was the stage name of the classical music prodigy turned Austrian rock star, Johann (Hans) Hölzel.

Born in Vienna, he studied at the Vienna Music Conservatory. Before becoming an international pop star, he was bass player in the Austrian hard rock band Drahdiwaberl. As a solo artist, Falco had taken an interest in the sounds and rhythms of rap music, and was one of the first Europeans to incorporate rap stylings into pop and rock music. He is best known internationally for the rap-styled "Rock Me Amadeus" (inspired in part by the Oscar-winning film Amadeus) from his album Falco 3, which became a worldwide hit in 1986 and reached #1 on the US charts (arguably the first "rap" song to achieve this feat, notwithstanding Blondie's success with their 1981 hit "Rapture" and the fact that Vanilla Ice's 1990 "Ice Ice Baby" was cited as the first "true" rap record to top the Billboard Hot 100).

Falco's first hit was "Der Kommissar" (a partial rap song about drug consumption) from the 1982 album Einzelhaft. An English cover version of "Der Kommissar" by After the Fire became a Top 5 hit in the United States in 1983. That same year, Laura Branigan recorded a version of the song with new English lyrics, under the title "Deep In The Dark," on her album Branigan 2. 16 years later, a new version "Der Kommissar 2000" and two new remixes of the original put the song back on the charts.

Other well-known international hits were "Vienna Calling" and "Jeanny" from the album Falco 3. "Jeanny" was somewhat controversial when it was released in Germany and the Netherlands, because it was told from the point of view of a rapist and possible murderer. Several DJs and radio stations refused to play the song, although it became a huge hit in many European countries, and inspired two sequels on later albums.

After "Jeanny", there were a number of European hits, but Falco was rarely heard in the US and the UK.

Falco died of severe head injuries received following his collision with a bus in his Mitsubishi Pajero near the resort of Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic on February 6, 1998 at age 40. At the time of his death, he was working on a comeback into the music world. He is buried in the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Vienna, Austria.

Tributes to Falco

In The Simpsons episode 3F15, "A Fish Called Selma," Falco's tune "Rock Me Amadeus" receives a slightly offbeat tribute in the musical presentation of Planet of the Apes (starring Troy McClure). The repeated tag of "Amadeus Amadeus" is transferred into "Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius". The later episode BABF19, "Behind the Laughter," features Willie Nelson saying, "Thank you, Taco, for that loving tribute to Falco," as well as the very end of that fictional tribute.

In 1998, Rob and Ferdi Bolland (Dutch producers and co-writers of about half of Falco's albums) released the EP Tribute to Falco under the name "The Bolland Project feat. Alida." The title track featured samples of Falco's music; the other tracks were "We Say Goodbye" and "So Lonely."

Adam Sandler's 1998 hit movie The Wedding Singer, which also stars Drew Barrymore, devotes considerable attention to its soundtrack of songs from the '80s. Early in the movie, we see a disheveled, curmudgeonly European cook at the wedding hall in which the characters work, with a ghetto-blaster style radio hanging over his cooking station. Visibly upset at the mindlessness of a new Coke commercial, he rushes through the radio's dial and lands on After The Fire's cover of Falco's "Der Kommissar". He quickly raises his fists in the air and cathartically announces "Yes!" before turning back to his work, while the song continues in the background.

In 2000, the musical Falco Meets Amadeus was produced and staged in Germany.

Also in 2000, the American comic rock group The Bloodhound Gang dedicated their song "Mope" to Falco. The spoken intro jokingly refers to Falco as "a gang bangin' thug" and a "money makin' playa." The beginning of the song uses samples from "Rock Me Amadeus." While the tribute may have been less than 100% sincere, there is no denying that Falco's combination of pop melodies and rap-styled vocal delivery have proven highly influential in recent years.

In February 2001, Nina Hagen dedicated a song "Poetenclub" to Falco.

In an episode of the short-lived 2001 live-action TV series The Tick, the character BatManuel is talking to someone on a cell phone, and says, "Falco, he is dead. Sí, Amadeus Amadeus, he is a dead person."

In 2004, Mexican metal band Molotov released a tribute song for Falco called "Amateur (Rock Me Amadeus)" (in the Molotov comic style). The album was called Con Todo Respeto (Spanish: With All Respect).

Austrian metal band Stahlhammer has covered several of Falco's songs, including "Der Mann mit dem Koks" and "Jeanny."

German rapper Fler quoted/copied the chorus melody of "Rock Me Amadeus" in his 2005 hit single "Neue Deutsche Welle 2005" (New German Wave 2005).

Klaus of American Dad refers to having taken cocaine with Falco in episode 11 of series 1, 'Con Heir': "Sounds like a disco I used to frequent in Berlin. I did lines with Falco in the men's room. Greedy, greedy Falco."

In 2007, Falco will be eligible for posthumous induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (per commission requirements).

There have also been numerous covers and parodies of "Rock Me Amadeus". Artists from V/Vm Test Records have released a number of debauched "remixes" of various Falco songs.

Discography

External links

 

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