DJ Haz Falco And Talk Talk Mix
DJ Haz Falco And Talk Talk Mix
DJHazElCubano
7 min 29 sec - Jul 11, 2007
DJ Haz - Falco And Talk Talk Mix (2002)
1.Falco - Der Kommissar (1982)
2.Talk Talk - It's My Life (1984)
Johann (Hans) Hölzel (February 19, 1957 — February 6, 1998), better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian classical music prodigy turned hip hop, pop and rock star. His albums and singles have sold about 60 million copies worldwide.
Early Years
Born in Vienna, the only survivor of a triplets birth, Falco was recognized as a child prodigy and schooled in classical music. Graduating from the Vienna Music Conservatory in 1977, he lived for a short time in Berlin, West Germany, singing in a jazz-rock band. When he returned to Vienna he was calling himself "Falco," reportedly in tribute to the German skier Falko Weissflog, 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 Christian rock band After The Fire recorded an English cover version, loosely based on Falco's lyrics and also called "Der Kommissar" (with "uh-oh," the only other lyric 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. Ironically, 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 Römer, 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., 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, George Michael, would momentarily break the reverse-color barrier to top that chart, and it would be a feat not repeated until Robin Thicke in 2007. (Both men 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 Russia 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 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.
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, 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 resort of Puerto Plata, in the Dominican Republic on February 6, 1998, just two weeks shy of his 41st birthday. 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.
Legacy
Perhaps due to the perception of his style's appeal as novelty, Falco is often considered a one-hit wonder in the U.S. and UK, despite having two Top 20 songs and two Top 10 songs in those territories respectively, as well as other, lesser chart hits. In fact, from "Der Kommissar" in 1982 through posthumous releases in 1999, there are only seven years that Falco did not notch a top 10 hit in his native Austria, a total of twenty-three Top 40 hits spanning twenty-seven years, most of those releases also becoming hits in neighboring Germany. Sixteen years after he debuted the song, "Der Kommissar 2000" brought two new remixes of Falco's original back to the charts, and to dancefloors around the world. Co-opting an African-American genre but giving it an entirely German sound, he blazed a trail that few have followed, and none so uniquely with such success. At a time when most chart-topping black rappers were fairly mainstream lyrically, "Der Kommissar" and "Jeanny" were dark and daring—and massive international hits—before his American counterparts made such avant garde doings de rigeur.
Tributes to Falco
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 2004, Mexican metal band Molotov released a tribute song for Falco called "Amateur (Rock Me Amadeus)" (in the Molotov comic style). Austrian metal band Stahlhammer has covered several of Falco's songs, including "Der Mann mit dem Koks" and "Jeanny." German rapper Fler quoted/copied the chorus melody of "Rock Me Amadeus" in his 2005 hit single "Neue Deutsche Welle 2005" (New German Wave 2005). Rapper Tech N9ne did a rendition of the song called "I'm a playa." The chorus line is the same as "Rock me Amadeus" but replaced with "I'm a Playa, I'm a playa." The rap-rock formation of the Bloodhound Gang have a song called "Mope" which is a tribute to Falco.
There have also been numerous covers and parodies of "Rock Me Amadeus", including a cover by NDH band Megaherz. Artists from V/Vm Test Records have released a number of debauched "remixes" of various Falco songs.
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.
In Family Guy episode Petarded the song that Lois's tumor sings is to the tune of "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco with all the words replaced simply with "I'm a tumor, I'm a tumor".
Talk Talk was a popular English music group that was active from 1981 to 1991. In mainstream circles, the group is most well known for their early synthpop/New Wave singles, including the international hits "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame", "Dum Dum Girl", "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World". However, in the music community they are recognised more for the artistic achievements of their later experimental albums, recognised as forerunners to the post-rock genre.
Beginnings
Talk Talk began as a quartet consisting of Mark Hollis (vocals), Simon Brenner (keyboards), Lee Harris (drums) and Paul Webb (bass). They were generally associated with the New Wave movement, and bands such as EMI stable-mates Duran Duran. This line-up released a self-titled debut EP in 1982 which was quickly expanded into a full-length album entitled The Party's Over. The band charted in the UK with the singles "Talk Talk" and "Today", both produced by Colin Thurston (who had also produced hits for Duran Duran and Howard Jones).
Brenner left after the 1983 non-LP single "My Foolish Friend", which was produced by frequent Roxy Music collaborator Rhett Davies. At this point, the band added unofficial fourth member Tim Friese-Greene, who became Talk Talk's keyboard player, producer, and Hollis' frequent writing partner. Friese-Greene did not generally play with the band during live shows; Talk Talk stopped playing live in 1986.
Success
Talk Talk had a huge success in 1984/85 in continental Europe with the album It's My Life. While still accessible, this LP slowly moved the band away from "New Wave" towards a more experimental sound. The accompanying single "Such a Shame" (a song inspired by the book The Dice Man) became a major hit and a number one in several countries during this period, and an icon for many New Wave European listeners. The aforementioned title cut was also a big hit. But, strangely, this album and its singles were relatively ignored in their native UK, even though they maintained a substantial cult following.
They eventually abandoned the New Wave style completely with the minor classic The Colour of Spring in 1986. This became their biggest studio album success in the UK, partly thanks to the Top 20 single "Life's What You Make It", and was again a hit album in Europe, featuring another Top 40 single: "Living in Another World". By this time, all Talk Talk songs were being written by Hollis and Friese-Greene. Guests on the album included Steve Winwood.
Later period
The success of The Colour of Spring afforded the band an open budget and schedule for the recording of their next album. About a year in the making, and featuring contributions from many outside musicians, Spirit of Eden was released in 1988. The album was assembled from many hours of improvised instrumentation that Hollis and Friese-Greene had edited and arranged using digital equipment. The result was a mix of rock, jazz, classical, and ambient music. While critically praised, the album was not as commercially viable as its predecessors, and the band declared they would not tour in support of it.
During the making of Spirit of Eden, Talk Talk manager Keith Aspden had attempted to free the band from their recording contract with EMI. "I knew by that time that EMI was not the company this band should be with," Aspden said. "I was fearful that the money wouldn't be there to record another album."[1] EMI, however, wished to keep the band on their roster.[2] After many months of litigation, the band ultimately succeeded in extracting themselves from the contract. EMI then sued the band, claiming that Spirit of Eden was not "commercially satisfactory," but the case was thrown out of court.[3]
In 1990, Talk Talk agreed to a two-album contract with Polydor. They released Laughing Stock on the Verve Records imprint in 1991. By this time, Webb had left the group. Talk Talk had by then morphed into what was essentially a brand name for the studio recordings of Hollis and Friese-Greene, along with a bevy of session studio players (including long-term Talk Talk drummer Harris). Laughing Stock crystallised the experimental sound the band started with Spirit of Eden (which has been retroactively categorised as "post-rock" by some critics). Laughing Stock adopted an even more minimalist style than its predecessor, but this did not stop it achieving a respectable Top 30 showing in the UK Albums Chart.
With the band now released from EMI, the label released the retrospective compilation Natural History in 1990. Surprisingly, it went on to sell over one million copies in Britain alone and rose to number 3 in the UK album chart. The 1984 single "It's My Life" was also re-released, and this time became the band's biggest success in their native country, making number 13 in the UK Singles Chart. Following up on this renewed popular interest in the band, the label released History Revisited in 1991, a compilation of 12 inch singles and alternative versions which made the Top 40, an unusually high showing for a remix album. The band sued EMI for remixing their material without permission.
Breakup and aftermath
After Laughing Stock, Talk Talk disbanded. Paul Webb rejoined Lee Harris, and the two went on to form the band .O.rang, while Tim Friese-Greene started recording under the name Heligoland. In 1998, Mark Hollis released his self-titled solo début Mark Hollis, which was very much in keeping with the minimalist post-rock sound of Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock.
Webb also collaborated under the name of Rustin Man with Beth Gibbons and released Out of Season in 2002, while Harris featured on the Bark Psychosis 2004 album, ///Codename: Dustsucker.
In 2002, German 80s pop sensation Sandra released a cover version of "Such a Shame" which became a minor hit in Germany but reached the Top 20 and Top 30 in Hungary and Czech Republic respectively.
In 2003, No Doubt released a cover version of "It's My Life" which became a major international hit.
• 1982
