As with the majority of his songs, the track features slick German rap and samples. The tempo is faster than his previous single, and for this single, the infectious chorus is sang in English. I can't help wondering whether this single would have performed even better in the charts had he also rapped the verses in English. Nonetheless, the musician managed to chart in the UK top 10 twice with his German rap songs.
It's not as rare as you might believe for a foreign language song to chart highly in the UK - nine such songs have reached No.1 in the UK, including Falco's previous single. In the 80s, "La Bamba" by Los Lobos and "Begin the Beguine" by Julio Iglesias were both chart toppers.
"Vienna Calling" is one of the forgotten hits of the 80s, and is very rarely played on the radio or TV these days, which is a shame. Falco's third single from Falco 3, "Jeanny", stalled at #68 in the UK singles chart, but was a chart-topper in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and The Netherlands.
The official video opens with Falco in a telephone booth of an empty Austrian bar. He then joins four dancing girls, swaggering towards them and raising his eyebrows - Roger Moore would be proud! The room eventually fills up with people dancing. The Austrian actress Brigitta Cimarolli stars in the video.
The lyrics are a mix of English (chorus) and German (verses). Vienna is actually Falco's home town, and the lyrics are about its international lifestyle and development. The musician was very much part of the Viennese nightlife during the 1970s, including the underground club scene.
Simplyeighties.com
