Talk:Falco (musician)

Bio

There's not much biographical information here. This could be fleshed out, e.g., his struggles with substance abuse, his sexuality, etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 163.231.6.65 (talk) 17:40, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

German?

I'd like to point out that Falco was not a German musician. He was, however, if "German" refers to the German language, but this usage would be absolutely misleading. Can we do something about that categorization? <KF> 01:18, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

He's been added to the German-language singers, clarifying that he's not necessarily German--DerRichter (talk) 18:23, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

My Changes

I didn't want to expand this into a ten-page dissertation, but it needed a little more.

The third paragraph ("Other well-known international hits") was somewhat confusing. It seemed to make more sense to put "Vienna Calling" together with "Jeanny" rather than mention it in the middle of a long section on "Der Kommissar."

Also, if we need not only ATF's hit cover, but also Laura Branigan's forgotten cover, there should be some mention of Falco's own "Der Kommissar 2000" and the Jason Nevins and Club 69 remixes of the original (Falco's only successful releases in English-speaking countries in over a decade).

The line about "considering a comeback" is a bit strange, since he had already hired a new manager and image consultant, signed a label contract, and recorded more than an album's worth of material (most of which came out posthumously as Out of the Dark and Verdammt...). Also, the article made it seem as if he had disappeared in 1986, but the discography made it seem as if he had been making music continuously (and therefore had no need of a comeback). So, I added a paragraph that should put it in context. However, the wording of "comeback" (although it might annoy some fans) is no problem; he called 1990, 1992, and 1996 comebacks himself, and he was bitterly depressed about never recapturing his early success in America. For more detail, see the link I added, or the liner notes/booklets to the various posthumous albums.

The tributes section needed a mention of the Bolland Bros' tribute. And, since the "Thank you, Taco" line is included (wrong) on Taco's page, it should be here.

Bloodhound Gang's "less than 100% sincere" tribute

I think they were actually more sincere than most people thing.

After Falco died, some people tried to organize a festival to raise money for a star on the Walk of Fame, with shows in Hollywood and Vienna. Bloodhound Gang heard about this and contacted the organizers to volunteer for both shows.

Tributes

I removed some of the covers of "Rock Me Amadeus" from the Tributes section. They're not really tributes to Falco, at least no more so than any other cover songs, and they're already listed on the page for the song. Plus, there are literally dozens of covers and parodies of this song, and this page shouldn't become a list of them.

Instead, I just added "There have also been numerous covers and parodies of 'Rock Me Amadeus'" with a link to that page.

I'm still not sure everything in the Tributes section belongs here (does the Wedding Singer reference to the ATF cover really count?), but at least this trims it down a bit.

I also reorganized the tributes in chronological order (except that I'm not sure where to put Stahlhammer). They needed to be in some order....

If the Tributes section is going to be this long, it might be worth beefing up the other sections. I can do this if anyone's interested. The Disco Museum (linked) is a good starting place, if anyone else wants to take it up.

Also, the Discography section is a bit odd. Why include The Remix Hit Collection and not include all of the dozens of other best of, remix, and greatest hits collections (or at least the US ones).

Sorry for not signing this section and the preceding "My Changes" section. No, I'm not just taking credit now because of the flattery by Snowbound below (especially since there appear to be dozens of people who've worked on it, not just me), but that is how I noticed that I hadn't signed. So thanks. (I tried to find all the anonymous edits I made in February, but I somehow missed this one: Falco wasn't on my watchlist, but Talk:Falco was for some reason. P.S., Opera for PocketPC is pretty spiffy, but it's still too hard to edit Wikipedia on a PDA.)

Oh, and I lied; I did want to expand this into a ten-page dissertation, but I restrained myself (read: my Graffiti finger got tired). --Falcotron 06:44, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Excellent

A very informative, respectful and well written article. Thank you to the person who worked on it. Snowbound 20:10, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

== discovered this page had been extensively vandalized in a crude, juvenile way. Tried to repair as much as possible.

Thank you for repairing this item, the article is an excellend basis on which we can expand. Indeed the 50th birthday celebrations bring up a new compilation 'Hoch Wie Nie' in two formats as well as a new DVD. Wonder who will offer up the first reviews here?

Falco a "child prodigy"?

Was Falco a child prodigy? The word "prodigy" in the article is linked to "Child prodigy", but there is nothing in the article which suggests that he showed any precocious musical talent. Cheers, Jacklee 00:48, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Re: "Der Kommissar" charting in the US

No record of it on Billboard. Closenplay 19:19, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

That's the problem with leaning so heavily upon web links as reference material; it limits Wiki's content to whatever has made it onto the net. Quite a few things are notable enough for mention in an article as esoteric as an '80s pop artist (no offense intended, I adore '80s pop), yet not so notable as to have been resurrected from print or video sources into a properly sourced web article or free online database. The internet is not comprehensive, and the more comprehensive elements are not free elements.

Closenplay, you yourself linked to the Billboard page, yet apparently missed the part thereof which reads: "This search queries a limited selection of Billboard charts and is limited to 20 years worth of data. For more comprehensive chart data subscribe to Billboard.biz. For complete chart histories, contact Billboard Research." Vast amounts of information are not given freely there, yet it is assumed to be a comprehensive source, and so when a fact such as the U.S. charting of "Der Kommissar" is noted here, it is considered to be dubious and questioned. While it was a minor hit here, "Der Kommissar" was Falco's most successful international single and notable for being one of if not the earliest white hip hop singles, yet Billboard online doesn't list it. A check to Laura Branigan's chart history page finds it omitting her breakthrough "Gloria" and two other significant 1983 hits. Journey's Billboard page incorrectly attributes the year of two '70s singles to the '90s, while omitting other, more significant '70s and '80s hits. And so, what would be presumed to be a comprehensive database is shown (in this tiny forum) to be anything but, ignoring some of an act's biggest hits and most defining moments. Such a thing is not merely incomplete, it is misleading as it leaves a false impression that one has gotten an accurate and complete assessment from a respected and infallible source. I've seen Wiki editors claiming other online sites have comprehensive and complete listings when in fact a quick search of their databases shows them to be anything but. I have seen many incorrect (often inflated) chart position claims in other Wiki articles, usually the result of vandalism (one "editor's" sole activity was fabricating grandiose claims about the chart and award achievements of certain '80s pop artists), and so one cannot always rely on the information here to be accurate. However, given the way people have taken it upon themselves to yank all the fair-use photos, lists, and other reasonable and relevant content (regardless of whether or not the photos were fair use or the lists educational), I hope we don't start to see data such as this - which is more complete chart data than the Billboard site - dumbed down to mirror the young and the middle-aged swiss cheese available elsewhere. Abrazame 13:27, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

"Auf Der Flucht" charting in the U.S.?!

Having previously left the response to the "Der Kommissar" charting (where I hope my tone is understood to be critical of supposedly complete sites and Wiki's dependence on citing web material, not the person who queried the data), I totally missed what I think is a completely erroneous claim that "Auf der flucht" charted in the U.S. at all, much less as high as #30 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then an asterisk notes the song went to #9 on a chart called U.S. Hot Play? I've never heard of this chart. I personally recall hearing "DK" many times on the radio then; I don't believe I've never heard of "Auf der flucht," and I think I would have, had it gone as high as 30, while "DK" was only 78. And "Hot Play"? Anybody know where this chart is from? I know that a U.S. 12" single featuring "DK" on the A-side included "Helden Von Heute" AND "Auf Der Flucht" on the B-side. Is it possible that this three-track single peaked at #30 on the Billboard Dance/Disco chart at the time, and this is what is being confused here? If so, we should have some citable evidence that "Auf Der Flucht" was actually receiving as much as or more club play than "DK" in order to credit such a charting to "Auf". Can anybody help track down this info? Abrazame 17:58, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

"Auf Der Flucht" was released in the US as a 12" single entitled "On the Run (Auf Def Flucht)". I think it is unlikely that it reached #30 in the US charts but I have no evidence on its actual chart position. -MF, 8 Sep 2007 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.191.111.83 (talk) 20:30, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

"European Top Albums" chart is not a U.S. chart

Under U.S. Charts, a greatest hits album is listed as having peaked at #6, with an asterisk: *Number 6 in European Top Albums European Top 100 Albums: Feb 24 2007. After what I've already written about chartings here, I don't mean for it to come out like I'm harshing on Falco, but this is silly. U.S. albums charts would be Billboard or Cash Box albums charts, which indicate how a record is selling in the U.S. in comparison to other albums of all genres. (Unless it is a genre-specific chart, such as Rap or Latin or Country albums, in which case that needs to be noted, in a separate column, as it should not be compared to the overall albums chart performance Falco legitimately had in the U.S. with earlier releases.) The chart listed here, while printed in a U.S. magazine, is an amalgam of various European countries' charts. That Falco did so well on this chart certainly deserves mention; however, it should not be listed under "U.S. Charts". I love Falco, and hundreds of '80s artists. Sadly, no '80s artist's hits collection ever makes #6 in the U.S./Billboard. The U.S. doesn't respect and appreciate pop for what it is - they devour it like manna from heaven at the time, and distance themselves from it like excrement a couple years later. Abrazame 08:00, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Genre

I think the last genre of Pop-rock, Hip hop/Rap, Funk, and New Wave is better than the new change, New Wave and Pop by RattleandHum. If anyone wants to discuss, that would be great otherwise Ill change it back, because there was no reasoning given for the new change.--DerRichter (talk) 08:24, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

NTK

Would it be of value to add the fact that in 1998 the British satirical email newsletter NTK adopted the term "FALCO" as shorthand for something disappearing or going bust? The term gained some currency from that period until the present day in some circles: http://www.ntk.net/1998/02/13/#OPERATION_FALCO_ --Gilgongo (talk) 20:25, 9 January 2008 (UTC)