The Final Countdown (song)
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The Final Countdown ( German "The final countdown" ) is a song by the Swedish hard rock - band Europe , that of Joey Tempest was written and produced by Kevin Elson. It appeared in 1986 on the album of the same name and was its first single release. The song is the best known and most successful in Europe.
Emergence
The song is based on a keyboard - reef , the Joey Tempest between 1981 and 1982 on a KORG had written Polysix. He borrowed the keyboard from Mic Michaeli . In 1985 bassist John Levén convinced Tempest to tinker a song around the riff. Tempest first recorded a demo that he played to his bandmates.
At first the reactions were mixed:
“When I first heard the synth intro to 'The Final Countdown', my reaction was: No, this is nuts. We just can't use this. Thank God they didn't listen to me. "
“When I first heard the synthesizer intro to 'Final Countdown', my reaction was: No, that's crazy. We can't use that. Fortunately, they didn't listen to me. "
Joey Tempest later confirmed that the resistance was very high, but that he was able to prevail in the end.
The text of the David Bowie classic Space Oddity from 1969 served as inspiration . Michaeli used a Yamaha DX7 , which played a rather tinny sound, and a Roland JX-8P standard sound as a synthesizer . The two sounds were mixed and played simultaneously through different tracks.
When the album was finished, Tempest suggested releasing the song as the first single. In fact, the other members never wanted to decouple The Final Countdown and had Rock the Night planned as their first single. The Final Countdown was originally intended to be the opening song for concerts, because the band didn't expect it to be a hit. Eventually, the Epic Records label suggested The Final Countdown as the first single and the band finally gave in.
publication
The Final Countdown was released on February 14, 1986 and remains the band's biggest hit to date. In the Billboard charts , the single was in the top 10 of the Hot 100 . In the mainstream rock tracks it only reached the top 20 and was topped by the next single Superstitious . Outside of the United States, however, the song became a huge hit. It was able to reach the top positions in 25 different countries, including Germany , the United Kingdom , France , Sweden and Italy .
1999 appeared Dance - Remix of the song under the title The Final Countdown 2000 . Producer was Brian Rawling , who was with Believe by Cher had a big hit. A little controversy arose when the first O in Countdown was forgotten at the first presses . The English word cunt is a slang expression that can be translated as ' cunt ' in German . The single became a top 40 hit in some countries, such as Germany and Sweden. The band rejected this version of their song.
Music video
The music video was filmed by Nick Morris between May 26th and 27th 1986 at a concert in the Solnahallen in Solna . It also contains some scenes from the band's soundcheck .
Live versions
The Final Countdown has been part of a Europe standard since April 1986 and is present in every set of the group. One of the most important live performances took place on December 31, 1999 in Stockholm as part of the 1999/2000 millennium celebrations , when the group performed for the first time with two lead guitarists: John Norum and his short-term successor Kee Marcello shared the guitar parts.
Cover versions
Laibach
In 1994 the Slovenian band Laibach, originally from the post-industrial environment, released a cover version entitled Final Countdown on the album NATO , on which they “tried to establish a connection between the North Atlantic Pact and the capitalist cultural industry”, this “[v] or especially in relation to the new global political situation and dealing with the East ”, and a single that, depending on the version, contained remixes by Juno Reactor , Mark Stent and Fortran 5 . The band appeared more aggressive and militaristic than NATO itself, indicating that NATO wanted to establish the Western system in the Balkans and beyond. The music on the album, which emphasizes the military aspect of the covered songs "apparently always has always been inherent", can therefore be seen as "background music to the reality in the NATO countries". In the digitally created music video for Laibach's version of Final Countdown "NATO is counterbalanced by the virtual state NSK : NSK as a state that is not limited to the earth, but expands into the entire universe" and the animated Laibach members "Go [...] here [...] as androids in total depersonalization ". They are part of a machine that they control over a chessboard , whereby "only the singer has the competence to act" and has been given a face, the other three musicians are indistinguishable from one another "and are drawn as metal statues". Inspired by the record covers to Europe's Album, "on which cards with pictures of the band members from Earth, to all fly," is in Laibach music video Jože Plečnik shown Parliament design with NSK inscription; NSK passports are printed there and then shot through a lock into space, where they fly in the direction of Mars , “where the same parliament can be found with the inscription NSK Embassy Mars . The impression is given as if the parliaments were 'communicating' with one another or exchanging ideas, or as if it were moving from one place to another, like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey . "
Further
- 1987: London Symphony Orchestra
- 1989: Depp Jones
- 1994: Eläkeläiset ( Jääkärihumppa )
- 1998: Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers ( Rock the Party )
- 1999: Vision Divine
- 1999: Tocotronic ( Let There Be Rock )
- 2000: Wisecracker
- 2000: Dispatched
- 2001: Kirill Vsevolodowitsch Nemoljajew
- 2001: Excrementory Grindfuckers ( The Final Grinddown )
- 2002: Norther
- 2004: The Lollies (Live Version)
- 2006: Manny Marc , DJ Reckless & Corus 86 feat. Gynecologist ( Germany is world champion )
- 2006: Fler ( Intro )
- 2006: Crazy Frog
- 2006: Gigi D'Agostino
- 2007: The Rockys ( The Last Plum Tree )
- 2007: Chamillionaire
- 2009: The Popolski Show (live version)
- 2009: Kirlian Camera
- 2012: Affiance
- 2012: Turetsky Choir (live version)
- 2014: Van Canto
- 2015: Silent Knight
- 2017: Leo Moracchioli
- 2020: The Luckiest Man On Earth?
reception
The song, sometimes just the riff, is still played today on various occasions, especially in the athletic field, and is a standard song for many up-and-coming young bands. It can also be heard again and again on television, especially in the television series Arrested Development , and is used, not least on New Year's Eve in Germany, to introduce the last minutes before the New Year on radio and television.
The song was also used in the action comedy Manta - The Film and in the first game of the 100,000 mark show .
Awards for music sales
The final countdown
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Denmark (IFPI)
|
 gold
|
45,000 |
 France (SNEP)
|
 platinum
|
1,000,000 |
 Italy (FIMI)
|
gold
|
15,000 |
 Canada (MC)
|
gold
|
50,000 |
 Netherlands (NVPI)
|
platinum
|
100,000 |
 Portugal (AFP)
|
platinum
|
60,000 |
 United Kingdom (BPI)
|
gold
|
500,000 |
| All in all |
4 × gold 3 × platinum |
1,770,000 |
The Final Countdown 2000
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Sweden (IFPI)
|
gold
|
15,000 |
| All in all |
1 × gold |
15,000 |
Web links
- Europe - The Final Countdown on YouTube (music video).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sources chart placements: DE AT CH UK US SE
- ↑ a b Epic Records (ed.): Booklet of the album 1982–1992 . 1993.
- ↑ Anders Tengner and Michael Johansson: Europe - den stora rockdrömmen . 1987, ISBN 91-7024-408-1 .
- ↑ Europe: Live from the Dark DVD, Warner Bros. , 2005
- ↑ a b Europe: The Final Countdown Tour 1986: Live in Sweden - 20th Anniversary Edition , DVD, Warner Bros. , 2006
- ↑ a b quoted from David Ling: Counting Down Again . In: Classic Rock . No. 75 , p. 60-67 .
- ↑ Alex Gernandt: "The Final Countdown": Singer Joey Tempest on the Europe-wide hit. Spiegel Online , December 31, 2016, accessed November 5, 2019 .
- ↑ MusicPlayers.com: Features> Bands> Europe. MusicPlayers.com, accessed December 23, 2007 .
- ↑ Erik Thompson: Hårdrockens Historia 1986 . In: Sweden Rock Magazine . No. 31 (October / November), 2005, pp. 106 .
- ↑ Rock group Europe plan comeback. BBC, October 3, 2003, accessed May 25, 2010 .
- ↑ Audio interview . In: The Tour Bus . Archived from the original on February 20, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2008.
- ↑ Classic Track - The Final Countdown. Rhythm, February 2010.
- ↑ Music video in Dailymotion.com
- ↑ RATHOLE.com - Fireworks Magazine: Issue 17 . In: RATHOLE.com . Archived from the original on November 20, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2008.
- ↑ RATHOLE.com - Fireworks Magazine: Issue 18 . In: RATHOLE.com . Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2008.
- ^ Eva-Maria Hanser: Ideotopie . Playing with the ideology and utopia of 'Laibach art'. Vienna 2010, p. 37 f . ( univie.ac.at [PDF; accessed on September 12, 2011]).
- ↑ "The Final Countdown". (No longer available online.) Wiesbadener Tagblatt , December 29, 2010, formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 15, 2011 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Award in Denmark
- ^ Award in France
- ↑ Award in Italy
- ↑ Award in Canada
- ↑ Award in the Netherlands
- ↑ Award in Portugal
- ↑ Award in the United Kingdom
- ↑ Award in Sweden
