Falco (musician)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Falco
Img_capt = Falco (Johann Hölzel)
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Johann (Hans) Hölzel
Alias =
Born = birth date|1957|2|19|mf=y
Vienna, Austria
Died = Death date and age|1998|2|6|1957|2|19
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Instrument = Vocals
Piano
Bass guitar,electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Genre = New Wave
Pop rap
Occupation = Singer, songwriter
Years_active = 1974 - 1998
Label = A&M Records (North America)
Mega Records
Teldec Records
GiG Records
Sire Records
WEA Records
EMI
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.falco.at Falco the official site]

Johann (Hans) Hölzel (February 19, 1957 – February 6, 1998), better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian hip hop, pop and rock musician. His albums and singles have sold about 60 million copies worldwide.Fact|date=September 2008

Early years

Born in Vienna, graduating from the Vienna Music Conservatory in 1977, he lived for a short time in West Berlin, singing in a jazz-rock band. When he returned to Vienna he was calling himself "Falco," reportedly in tribute to the East German skier Falko Weißpflog, and playing in the Austrian bands "Spinning Wheel" and "Hallucination Company". En route to becoming an international rock star in his own right, he was bass player in the Austrian hard rock-punk rock band "Drahdiwaberl" (from 1978 until 1983). With Drahdiwaberl he wrote and performed the song "Ganz Wien," which he would also include on his debut solo album, "Einzelhaft."

Individual success

Falco's first hit was "Der Kommissar", from the 1982 album "Einzelhaft". A German language song about drug consumption that combines rap verses with a sung chorus, Falco's record was a number-one success in many countries but failed to break big in the U.S. The song, however, would prove to have a life of its own in two English-language versions. British Rock band After the Fire recorded an English cover version, loosely based on Falco's lyrics and also called "Der Kommissar" (with "uh-oh" and "alles klar Herr Kommissar" the only other lyrics held over from the original). This time, the song shot to number three in the United States (their only major hit there) in 1983, though it failed to crack the UK Top 40. The band—who had been together more than a decade—broke up almost immediately thereafter. That same year, American singer Laura Branigan recorded a version of the song with new English lyrics, under the title "Deep In The Dark", on her album "Branigan 2".

After a second album, "Junge Roemer," failed to provide a repeat to his debut single's success (outside of Austria and Germany, where the album topped the charts), Falco began to experiment with English lyrics in an effort to broaden his appeal, and chose a new production team. The result would be the most popular album and single of his career.

Falco recorded "Rock Me Amadeus" inspired in part by the Oscar-winning film "Amadeus", and the song became a worldwide hit in 1986. This time, his record reached #1 in the U.S. and UK, bringing him the success that had eluded him in that major market a few years earlier. The song remained in the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and his album, "Falco 3", fittingly peaked at the number three position on the Billboard album charts. Unheard of at the time for a white performer, much less a European one, the Austrian rapper's single climbed to the upper reaches of the Billboard Top R&B Singles Chart (only a few years earlier called the "Black Singles" chart), peaking at number 6. It would be two more years before a white artist, Teena Marie, would momentarily break the colour barrier to top that chart, with George Michael topping it later in that year. While several white women would top the chart in later years (for example, Lisa Stansfield would do so three times), no other white man would top the US R&B chart until Robin Thicke in 2007. (Both Michael and Thicke did it with blue-eyed soul ballads; only Eminem has peaked higher on that chart with a rap song, and only once, reaching number four in 2002.) "Falco 3" peaked at number 18 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. Ultimately, "Rock Me Amadeus" went to the #1 spot in over a dozen countries including the Soviet Union and Japan. Follow-up single "Vienna Calling" was another international pop hit, peaking at #18 of the Billboard Charts and #17 on the U.S. Cash Box Charts in 1986. A double A-side 12" single featuring remixes of those two hits peaked at #4 on the U.S. Dance/Disco charts.

"Jeanny," the third release from the album "Falco 3", brought the performer back to the top of the charts across Europe. Highly controversial when it was released in Germany and the Netherlands, the story of "Jeanny" was told from the point of view of a rapist and possible murderer. Several DJs and radio stations refused to play the ballad, which was ignored in the U.S., although it became a huge hit in many European countries, and inspired two sequels on later albums.

In 1986, the album "Emotional" was released, produced by Rob and Ferdi Bolland (Bolland & Bolland). On the Album were "Coming Home (Jeanny Part 2)," and songs about Kathleen Turner and the song "Kamikaze Cappa" which written as a tribute to the late photojournalist Robert Capa. "The Sound of Musik" was another international success, and a Top 20 U.S. Dance hit, though he failed to make the U.S. pop charts.He also went on "Emotional-Tour" which was a world tour were he ended up in Japan at 1987.In 1987, he sang a duet with Brigitte Nielsen "Body Next to Body" and the single was a Top 10 hit in the Germanic countries. The Album "Wiener Blut" was released in 1988 but it did not get much publicity outside Germany and Austria.

In 1990, he made a song for Cindy Crawford and Tatjana Patitz, "Tanja P. not Cindy C.," which appeared on the Album "Data de Groove."

After "Jeanny," there were a number of European hits, but Falco was rarely heard in the U.S. and the UK. His 1992 U.S. comeback attempt, the album Nachtflug with the song "Titanic," won a number of awards, but failed to chart in America.

Death

Falco died of severe injuries received following his collision with a bus in his Mitsubishi Pajero near the city of Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic on February 6, 1998, just two weeks before his 41st birthday. While it was initially reported that the autopsy showed high blood levels of alcohol and cocaine, this was disputed. At the time of his death, he was working on a comeback into the music world.

He was buried in the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Vienna, Austria.

Tributes to Falco

In 1986, Weird Al featured the song "Rock Me Amadeus" in his polka song "Polka Party".

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."

In 1999, the Bloodhound Gang sampled "Rock Me Amadeus" in their song "Mope", referring to Falco as "that money making playa that ain't with us no mo", and a "gang bangin' thug that never seen it comin'."

In 2004, Mexican metal band Molotov released a tribute song for Falco called "Amateur (Rock Me Amadeus)" (in the Molotov comedy style).

In The Simpsons episode 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". A later episode, "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.

A movie, Falco - Verdammt, wir leben noch!, was released in Austria on February 7, 2008, ten years and one day after Falco's death. This title is also the name of a posthumously-published album by Falco and roughly translates to "Damn it, we're still alive!" Written and directed by Thomas Roth, the movie features Manuel Rubey, who is a musician himself, as adult Johann 'Falco' Hölzel [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0915457/ Falco - Verdammt, wir leben noch! IMDb Page] ] .

Falco's good friend Niki Lauda named one of the Boeing airplanes in his Lauda Air fleet "Falco" Fact|date=May 2008.

In Family Guy season 4 episode 6,"Rock Me Amadeus" was featured when a closeup of a tumor on Lois' brain was shown singing the words "I'm a tumor" to the tune of "Rock Me Amadeus".

Discography

Albums

Singles

**#9 in U.S. Hot 100 Airplay
***#19 in U.S. Hot Dance Club Play
*¹ The Sound of Musik was placed #17 on the Dutch Tipparade (Bubbling under Top 50)
* - indicates the song did not chart.
* a blank box indicates that the song was not released.

References

External links

* [http://www.falco.at/index1.htm Falco.at] - Official site
* [http://www.officialfalco.com/ Official Falco] - Promotional site by Sony BMG
* [http://falco.tmbsoft.com/ FALCO - Der Kommissar 2000] - Info site with RealAudio previews
* [http://www.falcofinder.com/ Falcofinder] - Falco Search Engine.
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jifwxqe5ldje~T51 Falco Billboard Single Charts Discography]
* [http://infodisc.siteinternet.com/Artistes.php Falco-Singles in the French Charts]
* [http://www.discomuseum.com/Falco.html Disco Museum] - History of Falco's life and career
* [http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lista_över_ettor_på_Tracks Nummer 1 Hits in Schweden (Falcos 3x represented)]
* [http://www.webwideworlds.com/einzelhaft Remixography] - Detailed discography, including remixes and tributes
*MusicBrainz artist|id=dcd95aa4-f3ff-492d-a621-8518ada0f58b|name=Falco
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cKNR3yLM0A Subaru commercial featuring "Rock Me Amadeus"]
* [http://www.evolver.at/reloaded/movie_review_Falco_Verdammt_wir_leben_noch Review of Falco's biopic]
*imdb name|id=0265920|name=Falco

Persondata
NAME = Falco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Johann (Hans) Hölzel; T>>MA/T>>MB
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Austrian singer and songwriter who was popular worldwide.
DATE OF BIRTH = February 19, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH = Vienna, Austria
DATE OF DEATH = February 6, 1998
PLACE OF DEATH = Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic