"Rock Me Amadeus" is a 1986 song by the Austrian pop
musician Falco from his album
Falco 3. It topped the singles charts on both sides of
the Atlantic. It was Falco's only major hit in the United
States and one of only two singles to make the Top Ten in the
United Kingdom, despite his popularity in Germany, his native
Austria, and much of Europe. The song was written by Dutch
music producers Bolland & Bolland.
With "Rock Me Amadeus", Falco became the first
German-speaking artist to be credited with a #1 single in all
mainstream U.S. pop singles charts: the Billboard Hot 100 and
Cashbox Top 100 Singles. The single hit number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 on 29 March 1986. Falco is erroneously often
considered a one-hit wonder for this song in the United States.
However, Falco had already had a minor U.S. hit in 1982 with
"Der Kommissar" (a hit the following year there for After the
Fire), and his follow-up single from
Falco 3, "Vienna Calling", reached #18 on the Hot
100.
In the United Kingdom, the song hit number one on 10 May
1986, becoming the first single by an Austrian act to achieve
this distinction. In the UK, where his "Der Kommissar" failed
to make the charts, Falco is also often regarded as a one-hit
wonder, despite the fact that "Vienna Calling" hit number ten
and three subsequent singles briefly charted.
In Canada, the song reached #2 in March 1986. (There, "Der
Kommissar" had reached #11 in January 1983, and "Vienna
Calling" would hit #8 in April 1986.)
"Rock Me Amadeus" would later be ranked #87 in VH1's 100
Greatest Songs of the 80s and #44 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit
Wonders.
The song, recorded in German and about Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart, talks about his popularity and his debts. A longer
version (eight minutes), named the "Salieri Mix", appeared on
the initial U.S. release of the album
Falco 3. The song was inspired by the movie
Amadeus. For the U.S. release, the song was remixed with
an English background overlay by L.A. DJ Chris Modig. There was
never a full English version.
The song's music video mixed elements of Mozart's time with
modern times; early on, Falco is shown in a modern dinner
jacket walking past people in eighteenth-century formal wear.
Later, he is shown dressed as Mozart, with wild colored hair,
being held on the shoulders of men dressed in modern
motorcycle-riding gear. At the end, the two crowds mix
together.
The song has been lampooned and paid tribute to by many: