rock Me Amadeus

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rock Me Amadeus
Falco
publication May 1985 (Germany)
March 28, 1986 (worldwide)
length 3:11
Genre (s) Pop rap
Author (s) Falco, Bolland & Bolland
Label A&M Records
album Falco 3

Rock Me Amadeus is a pop-rap song by the Austrian musician Falco from 1985. It was the first single from the studio album Falco 3 and the first and so far only German-language song to appear in the US Billboard charts as well as in the British UK Top 40 was able to achieve the top ranking.

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The piece Rock Me Amadeus is a fictional interpretation of the career of the Salzburg musician and composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . Falco describes the protagonist Amadeus as a supporter of the punk scene in Vienna and thus addresses how Mozart would have been received in Viennese society in the 1980s. The stanzas deal with Amadeus' life as a punk in Vienna around 1780, he is described as a “virtuoso” and a “rock idol”. Falco also goes into his debts with banks: "No plastic money anymore, the banks against him". The “plastic money” is used here as a metaphor for credit cards , because Amadeus is a “man of women” and has amassed debts through the wishes he fulfills for women.

Background and success

The music was composed by the Dutch producer duo Rob and Ferdie Bolland , who wrote the lyrics together with Falco. After the great success in the German-speaking market, the album was also sold abroad. In March 1986, Rock Me Amadeus was number one on the Billboard charts (which Falco led as the second Austrian musician after Anton Karas ) and the cash box charts in the United States, as well as in the United Kingdom and in some Asian countries.

This success was also special, as Falco was the first white man to achieve a top position with a rap song in the Billboard R&B singles charts (which were then called the Black singles charts) at number 6. It wasn't until 2002 that Eminem , who was also white, reached a higher position with a rap song (4th place). The successful film Amadeus from 1984 served as a model for the play .

Music video

In the music video , Falco is shown several times as " Mozart punk" with dyed hair, but also in a dinner jacket . He is surrounded by actors in rococo clothing , later also by members of the Viennese motorcycle rockers "Outsider Austria" in their robes (some of the rockers carried his coffin at Falco's funeral in 1998).

Selection of cover versions

Lush-Sux-Graffito to Falco / Mozart as an homage to his hit Amadeus on the Falcostiege Kettenbrückengasse

Trivia

Chart placements

Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 1 (23 weeks) 23
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 1 (24 weeks) 24
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 2 (20 weeks) 20th
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 1 (15 weeks) 15th
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 1 (17 weeks) 17th

Awards for music sales

Country / Region Award Sales
Awards for music sales
(country / region, Award, Sales)
Germany (BVMI) Germany (BVMI) Gold record icon.svg gold 250,000
Canada (MC) Canada (MC) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 100,000
New Zealand (RMNZ) New Zealand (RMNZ) Gold record icon.svg gold 7,500
United Kingdom (BPI) United Kingdom (BPI) Gold record icon.svg gold 500,000
United States (RIAA) United States (RIAA) Platinum record icon.svg platinum 2,000,000
All in all Gold record icon.svg3 × gold,
Platinum record icon.svg2 × platinum
2,857,500

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Award in Germany
  2. Award in Canada
  3. Award in New Zealand
  4. Award in the United Kingdom
  5. ^ The Music Capitol Of Europe. Music & Media, December 27, 1986, accessed August 20, 2020 .