I had only been doing this thing for a month, but I guess I had already established my pattern of brief Sunday submissions when I first posted the After the Fire hit "Der Kommissar." That was lame. This is one of my absolute favorite tracks from the 80s. It deserved better.
This tune was, of course, originally performed and co-written by Austrian singer Falco. Yep, the guy who also did "Rock Me Amadeus." I f**king HATE "Rock Me Amadeus." If I ever do another week of songs I can't stand, that'll be a prime candidate. Seriously, that's one of those songs I can't hear for more than about three seconds. His 1981 version of "Kommissar", well, I don't harbor quite the vitriol for that one. Still, I find it to be plodding, sterile and dull.
Enter Britain's After the Fire, who wrote new English lyrics, fattened it up with some rockingly organic backing tracks and released a kickass cover version in 1982. I loved it then and still do. It's just one of those songs that doesn't seem to get old. It's generally considered some worn-out 80s staple, but it's more than that.
Get this - my Dad even liked it. He was playing a radio somewhere, then came up to me and said "Have you ever heard 'Don't Turn Around'?" Huh? Oh, I get it. I told him what it was really called and he said "That's a neat song." He was right.
Watch the video for "Der Kommissar" on YouTube.
Hear an extended version.
Wikipedia article
This is part of a week-long series on songs I am revisiting.
