Falco is available on iTunes.

by Walter Price

Back in the year 1985, you had it goin’ on. For real, you were rocking Tears for Fears, Corey Hart, ZZ Top, and A-ha. Just kidding, kind of. But back in the mid-eighties, you were a cool person. I swear, I remember the year well. And I remember there was one song, a possible novelty, a pure guilty pleasure. That song was “Rock Me Amadeus” from renowned Austrian mega-star, Falco.

How in God’s name did an ode to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart make such an impact? Never you mind, it was and is one of the best and everlasting pop songs to hit the world. Seriously. Quirky, rocking, and totally intriguing. And in German?!

He was the first punk ever to set foot on this earth
He was a genius from the day of his birth
He could play the piano like a ring and a bell
And everybody screamed: Come on, rock me Amadeus

With a bottle of wine in one hand and a woman in the other
His mind was on rock and roll and having fun
Because he lived so fast he had to die so young
But he made his mark in history
Still everybody says: Rock me Amadeus

Mozart, a punk? Yeah, I totally get it. It is true. He was an oddball doing things his own way. Hard and heavy and dying young. True rock n’ roll.

But this song hasn’t just played a roll in our lives. The song or parts of this classic 80’s staple has found ways to be reworked or reimagined over the decades. And I, as I do, have assembled three interesting ways “Rock Me Amadeus” has landed in various concoctions.

Unfortunately, Falco (Johann Hölzel), died in 1998 in an auto accident in the Dominican Republic…his music legacy will live on…

FALCO

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