Rock Me Amadeus - Falco sung in German?
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Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8508
Printed Date: 02 September 2025 at 8:19pm
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Topic: Rock Me Amadeus - Falco sung in German?
Posted By: Chatfan MA
Subject: Rock Me Amadeus - Falco sung in German?
Date Posted: 29 February 2016 at 3:13pm
There are some doubts about the "American Edit" of "Rock Me
Amadeus" from the Austrian artist Falco that reached #1 in
1986 (3 wks.), A&M 2821, released in 1985.
I own a reissue from 1986, A&M 8668, with a running time of
3:10 sung in German (in the first half of the song).
Who knows if the #1 hit version A&M 2821 was really the
same with German lyrics?
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Replies:
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 29 February 2016 at 3:20pm
Chatfan, there is another thread on the forum that has a lengthy discussion about "Rock Me Amadeus." I'll bump it up for you.
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Aaron Kannowski
http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound
http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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Posted By: Chatfan MA
Date Posted: 29 February 2016 at 3:32pm
Thnx, however I could not find any information about the
languagen therein. By the way, I was wondering because e.g.
in Joel Whitburn's compilations "Rock Me Amadeus" is not
indicated with an F (foreign language record).
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Posted By: Plastic Steel
Date Posted: 29 February 2016 at 3:53pm
I may be misunderstanding the question, but virtually all of the U.S. edit of "Rock Me Amadeus" is in German. The notable exception is when both Falco and a men's chorus sing "rock me Amadeus" (in addition to a female singing "baby, baby do, do me rock me" or whatever it is multiple times. Maybe Whitburn thought this was "Germlish," I dunno.
The Canadian edit, which is on the flipside of the original A&M stock 45, is the one that has a variety of factoids about Mozart's life in English starting at about the 1:00 mark or thereabouts.
As noted in the other threads, the "hit" version that was played on the radio is bit harder to pin down, as some stations went U.S. and some went Canadian, eh.
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Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 29 February 2016 at 4:46pm
Agreed. If your market played the "American Edit," the verses are all sung in German, while the chorus and bridge ("baby, baby, do it to me, rock me") are sung in English. This version runs 3:11 on the US 45, although some CDs have it running too slow (around 3:19).
If your market played the "Canadian Edit," Falco's verses have been replaced with the spoken parts about Mozart's life, as well as Falco's repeated phrases ("sup-sup-sup-sup-superstar"). This version runs 4:07, and has only rarely shown up on CD.
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Aaron Kannowski
http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound
http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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Posted By: Plastic Steel
Date Posted: 29 February 2016 at 5:21pm
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I've always wondered if "superstar" is the German word for "superstar" in English. It definitely sticks out in amongst all the German Falco is rapping with in the verses. It reminds me of hearing "Captain Kirk" right in the middle of "99 Luftballons" by Nena.
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Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 29 February 2016 at 5:34pm
I just Googled it. "Superstar" is the same in English and German.
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Aaron Kannowski
http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound
http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop
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Posted By: Plastic Steel
Date Posted: 29 February 2016 at 6:57pm
Posted By: Chatfan MA
Date Posted: 01 March 2016 at 7:59am
Great! Guys, that helps.
Now it is clear that both the A&M 2821 and 8668 "American
Edit" releases must have the same master matrix and are
sung in German at the beginning.
I do count it then as the real hit version for the US
charts. Thnx.
By the way (I am German), "Superstar" is no pure German
word. It was adapted during the times into German language.
The pure German word would be "überragender Stern" ... but
nobody says this to someone who is famous in music or at
the movies, etc.
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Posted By: Paul Haney
Date Posted: 01 March 2016 at 12:14pm
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FWIW, I use the Canadian edit as my "go-to" version. It's the version I heard most often on the radio in 1986 and I love the little spoken factoids.
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Posted By: Plastic Steel
Date Posted: 01 March 2016 at 3:19pm
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I'd prefer the American edit at the Canadian edit's slower speed, but since we (justifiably) don't change history here, I refuse to choose and thus listen to both.
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