Rock Me Amadeus

"Rock Me Amadeus"
Single by Falco
from the album Falco 3
Released	16 June 1985 (Germany) 28 March 1986 (Worldwide)
Format	7"
Recorded	1985
Genre	Neue Deutsche Welle[1]
Length	3:21
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 both the United States and 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.^[2] 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" which reached No. 13, and his follow-up single from Falco 3, "Vienna Calling", which reached No. 18 on the Hot 100.

In the United Kingdom, where his "Der Kommissar" failed to make the charts, the song hit number one on 10 May 1986, becoming the first single by an Austrian act to achieve this distinction. "Vienna Calling" hit No. 10 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.

Chart performance

Original version

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. For the US release, the song was remixed with an English background overlay. 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 solely an English-language version, but the international single versions reduced the German lyrics. However, the video, which featured the original European version, was used worldwide.

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. American Edit (3:10)
7. Canadian Edit (4:02)
8. Canadian/American Edit (3:59)
9. Extended American Edit (6:10)
10. Club Mix 1991 (6:47)
11. Radio Remix 1991 (4:30)
12. Instrumental Remix 1991 (1:29)
13. Live Version 1986 from the album Live Forever (6:04)
14. Symphonic Remix 2008 from the album Symphonic (4:52)
15. Live Symphonic Version 1994 from the DVD Symphonic (4:12)
16. 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.

There is a minute longer much more sexualized version, starting with the refrain 'sugar sweet', with extra footage spliced throughout including of a similar black carriage riding at night with the driver covered in lights, escorted by police motorcycles, scantily clad girls; in black pleather riding outside it, and modernized bright neon fashions inside, resembling the earlier century formal wear. A different crowd in the more classic Mozart formal wear excessively fraternizing at a party. This version also contains red line art of Falco, guitar riff clips, and a long car scene driving away at the end, to a saxophone solo over the added refrain.

Covers and samples

• The song was covered in 1998 by German industrial metal rock band Megaherz. They released "Rock Me Amadeus" in 1998 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.
• 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.
• German punk rock band Die Toten Hosen released a cover of the song on their 2012 bonus CD Die Geister, die wir riefen.

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 oh's.
• 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/Mid West/crunk style beat.^[13]
• The Bloodhound Gang sampled "Rock Me Amadeus" throughout their song "Mope" on the 1999 album, Hooray for Boobies.^[14]
• 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", as did Robbie Williams at his Vienna concert a few years ago.

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.^[15]
• A Muppet Babies episode used a parody of the song called "Amadogus", based on one of the character's ancestors.
• The WMMS "Buzzard Morning Zoo Crew" created a parody of the song called "Rock Me, Mr. Leonard", a reference to a frequent call-in character.^[16]
• In 1986, an instrumental rendition of the song is heard in the 2nd act of the Ancient Rome stage of Konami's Rock 'N Rage released for arcades.
• LaTour, under the name Bud Latour, along with fellow Phoenix, Arizona disc jockey Mike Elliot, did a parody version called "Rock Me Jerry Lewis" in 1986.
• A parody version of this song titled "Amateur" was released in 2004 by Mexican 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.^[17]
• A pastiche of 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".^[18]
• Jewish parody band Shlock Rock parodied the song as "Achashverosh".
• Louisiana band Atchafalaya recorded a parody in 1986 called "Watch Out Armadillos".
• 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.
• Selina Griffiths performed a portion of the song in 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.
• Robbie Williams screams "Rock me, Amadeus!" during the instrumental of his 1999 hit "It's Only Us".

References

External links

• "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco at songfacts.com
• Music video for Rock Me Amadeus
• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics