Today's theme: European Favorites.
I pondered this theme for a while. Should I include or exclude musicians from Great Britain? Should I only include songs sung in the singers' native language?
I decided to feature only singers from Mainland Europe, and a mix of songs sung in English and songs sung in other languages that became hits in the United States.
Scorpions are a German rock band first formed in 1965 - over 50 years ago. They have had a number of hits in the United States, including The Zoo and Rock You Like a Hurricane. I decided, instead, to feature a song written in 1990 and released in 1991 about the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall - Winds of Change. This song is the all time best selling song in Germany.
You would never believe this next song was anything but an all-American song.
But Rednex, here singing "Cotton-Eyed Joe", is a Swedish music group. This cover of an American folk song dating from before the Civil War used to be played at all of the ball games of Binghamton's minor league baseball team. OK, maybe I am stretching "European Favorite" slightly, but now, let's dance!
Volbeat is a Danish rock band. The song I've selected is Lola Montez, the stage name of an Irish "dancer" (actually, a courtesan) of the 19th century.
Now, I turn to some songs sung in native European languages.
Nena, a (then) West German band fronted by a singer of the same name, sings a song called (in German) 99 Luftballoons. The year after its 1983 release, Nena rerecorded the song in English.
Next, is a German electronic group called Kraftwerk. Autobahn (the original, single version) from 1974, was an instant personal favorite. True, there isn't much singing in this song, but it is in German.
Last, but certainly not least. Austrian singer Johann Hölzel, better known as Falco, recorded a song in German about Mozart called "Rock me Amadeus", which became a big hit in our country in 1986. Tragically, Falco died in a car crash in 1998, at the age of 40.
So, what are some of your European favorites?
Come join this blog hop every Monday - here are the people responsible for it:
X mas Dolly is the Conductor of this trip, and the other Conductors are her fellow bloggers Callie of JAmerican Spice, ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥ and Cathy from Curious as a Cathy.
Also, it is day 17 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.
Get aboard the train and LET'S ROCK!
Love the songs by Nena and Falco. I know Rock You like a hurricane but never heard the other scorpion song. Cotton Eye Joe has been a staple of weddings and bar mitzvahs around here, no idea that it wasn't all American.
ReplyDeleteI never heard of most of these folks. (Sure, I know Cotton Eyed Joe). Thanks for the introduction.
ReplyDeleteGreat European Favorites! Nearly all of your song selections are new to me. Scorpions "Wind of Change" is my favorite of your choices. I recall "Rock Me Amadeus" by name only but honestly I don't remember hearing it play across the airwave in its day. That's really sad to read that Falco died so young. How tragic! Thanks for hitting the dance floor with the 4M gang today. Have a songtastic week!
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I never heard any of these and they just were a hoot to give a listen this morning.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds, think alike. We picked two of the same songs. Nena and Falco. They must be great songs. LOL.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week.
I LOVE Falco so much. I get teased for it, but I do not care. I love music posts so much.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! Who would have thought that Rednex were not American? And Volbeat - I had forgotten about them. My favorite Volbeat song is A Warrior's Call. Excellent choices today!
ReplyDelete~Mary
Great choices! I had a couple of these, but that's all right: we don't typically get a glimpse at the surveys from other countries besides the US, Canada and the UK. Have to find a place where I can get to them, especially the older ones. That would be a real trip...
ReplyDeleteAwesome songs here Alana! LOVE Rock Me Amadeus! Of course I never heard it in German but it rocks in that language too.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, I recognized 99 Luftballoons right away from their English version. I was curious about it and looked it up. Didn't realize it was an anti-war song and that the English version has different lyrics than the German version. I'm going to check into the translation of the German version.
Kraftwerk's Autobahn sure brings back memories! I remember when it first came out. It got a ton of airplay. I am doing a post on One-Hit Wonders from the 70s and have included this song.
I liked the Danish band Volbeat's song. They have a good sound.
Cotton Eye Joe was a trip! That song just reminded me of square-dancing in grade school! :)
I love the Scorpions' Winds of Change. However I didn't know what the song was about. Sometimes I just like a song for the music and don't really pay attention to the lyrics and this is the case with this song. Knowing what it's about, I can see why it was an all-time best seller in Germany.
Excellent post! I really enjoyed it.
I guess I'm the only one who didn't get the memo about the theme change! Too bad because I think I would've really had fun putting together a European focused post. Oh well...
Have a great week,
Michele at Angels Bark
Girlfriend, you have done an absolutely fantastic job! I hope you enjoyed the change also. This theme was changed about 5 days ago & I truly hope you didn't have to change your post... if so, I do apologize for that. it won't happen again. Many of the ladies were upset over that, but hey I thought this was supposed to be a fun day. I'm sorry.. I'm just so upset that people are so mad over this & I've been crying all afternoon. This is my baby I've had this for 7 yrs. & always had fun... until today. I'm sorry didn't mean to dump on you about this. Love your Post and tunes. BIG HUGS out to you for being so wonderful!!!!! hugs
ReplyDeleteThis is such a fun theme. Thanks for sharing these. ALoha
ReplyDelete