FALCO with BRIGITTE NIELSEN Body next to Body

I often look back to the days when we had record shops in London. I was always fond of our main shop "Tune in to 296" based at 296, Chiswick High Road West London. It holds many memories for me

The other day someone remarked that it reminded him of the shop featured in High Fidelity, the  Nick Hornby best-seller. Not sure who I was supposed to represent but it was all good fun. Running a record shop when there was a lot of good music around was exciting to say the least.

One artist I remember particularly was the Austrian electro-pop star called Falco. Here I mention his duet with Brigitte Nielsen then known for being as the wife of Sylvester Stallone. the single was  Body Next to Body  where  Falco meets Brigitte Nielsen from 1987

It went to #6 Austria, #22 Germany and  #1 Japan   Released in the UK the 12 inch single vinyl from 1987 UK contains the following

1. Dance mix 6 mins 18
2. Rock Mix 6 mins 30
3. The other version 6 mins 22

All in an attractive picture sleeve U8100T WEA Records UK licensed from Teldec Germany Produced by Giorgio Moroder (known for Electric Dreams &  The Chase soundtrack and Donna Summer records.

We never did much with any Falco records in the shop. I seem to recall that Vienna Calling, a big hit in Europe, had to released more than once before it was a hit in the UK. All of this now seems strange as now whenever I list a Falco piece of vinyl on eBay then there is a lot of interest. I wonder who gets all the money from his royalties now?

Falco, the best selling Austrian singer of all time, even studied classical music at the  Vienna Music Conservatory but pop beckoned him away from serious music.  He  left after one semester to "become a real musician".

It doesn't seem to have harmed his progress 

He chose to live in West Berlin whilst singing in a jazz-rock band and exploring the club scene. When he returned to Vienna he was calling himself "Falco", reportedly in tribute to the East German ski jumper Falko Weißpflog (he changed one letter to make the name more international), and playing in the Austrian bands Spinning Wheel and Hallucination Company.

But let's go back to the beginning.   Johann (Hans) Hölzel lived from 19 February 1957 – 6 February 1998) he was  better known by his stage name  Falco and was an Austrian pop and rock musician and rapper. He had several international hits: "Der Kommissar", "Rock Me Amadeus", "Vienna Calling", "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home (Jeanny Part 2)" and posthumously, "Out of the Dark". "Rock Me Amadeus" reached #1 on the Billboard charts, making him the only artist whose principal language was German to score a number-one hit in the U S A. Seems he sold 20 million albums and 15 million singles, which makes him the best selling Austrian singer of all time.

Sadly Falco died of severe injuries received when his Mitsubishi Pajero collided with a bus on the road linking the towns of Villa Montellano and Puerto Plata  in the Dominican Republic on 6 February 1998, just two weeks before his 41st birthday.

Brigitte Nielsen (born 15 July 1963) is a Danish actress, musician and reality tv personality, who began her career with appearances in the 1985 films Red Sonja and Rocky IV and is also known for her marriage to Sylvester Stallone. She subsequently appeared with him in the 1986 film Cobra, and was noted for her widely publicised breakup with Stallone in 1987, and her relationship with New York Jets Mark Gastineau in 1988.

She was often in the entertainment media in the '80s, and people started referring to her as an "Amazon"  because of her tall stature (verified by the Guinness Book of World Records at six feet, or 1.82 meters). She first commented on her stature and used the term "Amazonian" to describe herself in 1985.

She later built a career appearing in B-movies, and in the 2000s, for appearing on reality shows such as The Surreal Life where she began a relationship with rapper Flavor Flav. In 2008, she appeared on the reality show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which depicted her and several other celebrities dealing with recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. She was also on British TV's - Big Brother