Falco

Falco (Feb. 19, 1957 — Feb. 6, 1998) was an Austrian new wave singer and songwriter who landed a national No. 1 with the 1982 NDW single “Der Kommissar,” popularized in the Anglosphere by After the Fire. In 1985, he scored a global hit with the rap-dance novelty “Rock Me Amadeus” from his third album Falco 3, which also spawned the upbeat “Vienna Calling” and the haunting saga “Jeanny,” a controversial continental chart-topper.

Background

Falco was born Johann Hölzel on February 19, 1957, in Vienna, Austria. His father Alois Hölzel was a machine-factory foreman. Maria Hölzel managed a laundry branch and later a grocer in Vienna-Margareten. After Alois left the household in 1968, Hölzel grew up with his mother and maternal grandmother.

Hölzel began piano lessons at age four with music teacher Dr. Bodem in the Fillgradergasse. He could reproduce dozens of popular songs by ear on the piano. The Vienna Music Academy identified absolute pitch at a childhood audition. Hölzel left the Rainergymnasium in Margareten in 1973 and took a clerical position at the Austrian pension-insurance agency.

Hölzel joined Umspannwerk as bassist at age seventeen and rehearsed with the group in Kaltenleutgeben. He quit the pension-insurance post and volunteered for the Austrian Bundesheer, where he concentrated on electric bass, which he studied in 1975 at the Wiener Jazz-Konservatorium.

Early Groups

In 1977, Hölzel went to West Berlin and played bass with local jazz-rock groups. He then returned to Austria and played a street set in Mödling, where Ludwig “Wickerl” Adam heard the performance. Adam recruited Hölzel as bassist for the 1. Wiener Musiktheater, later Hallucination Company. The Hallucination Company did a 1978 stint in Munich, where Hölzel asked Adam to introduce him as Falco, adapted from the forename of East German ski jumper Falko Weißpflog.

In late 1978, Drahdiwaberl founder Stefan Weber brought Falco into the Vienna rock-theater group. Weber, a Vienna artist and teacher, formed Drahdiwaberl in 1969 and built the group around theatrical stage actions and a shifting cast of musicians. 

Falco also joined Spinning Wheel, a cover band that shared several players with Drahdiwaberl. Spinning Wheel gave him regular club and hotel-bar dates and a larger vocal role. In May 1979, Falco recorded “Chance to Dance” and “Summer” with Spinning Wheel at Cloud One studio in Vienna, but withheld both recordings. Drahdiwaberl later recorded two titles with Falco for the Wiener Blutrausch sampler at Schmetter Sound Studio in Bisamberg.

Solo Start

Falco brought the self-written “Ganz Wien” to a 1980 Drahdiwaberl rehearsal with lyrics centered on the Vienna hard-drug scene. Drahdiwaberl used the number as a Falco solo interlude in concert. Audience response turned the number into a recurring feature. GiG Records founder Markus Spiegel saw Falco sing “Ganz Wien” at a winter 1980 Drahdiwaberl concert in the Sofiensäle.

Spiegel signed Falco to a three-album solo contract and introduced him to producer Robert Ponger. Drahdiwaberl included “Ganz Wien” on the 1981 album Psychoterror. GiG issued the English-language “That Scene (Ganz Wien)” as the first Falco solo single on September 15, 1981, with an instrumental version on the B-side.

Ponger next offered Falco a track originally written for labelmate Reinhold Bilgeri, who declined the piece. Falco wrote the German text and recorded “Der Kommissar.” GiG issued “Der Kommissar” (b/w “Helden von heute”) on December 11, 1981, in Austria. The single reached No. 1 on the Austrian chart on January 15, 1982, and gave GiG a successful lead record for the album. Falco and Ponger recorded the remaining Einzelhaft material in March 1982 at Stereo West Studio in Vienna and Arco Studios in Munich. The sessions completed the material for the Falco debut LP, Einzelhaft.

Discography:

• Einzelhaft (1982)
• Junge Roemer (1984)
• Falco 3 (1985)
• Emotional (1986)
• Wiener Blut (1988)

Sources

• Falco Privatstiftung — “Kindheit und Jugend” / “Die Weichen werden gestellt.” Birth and family information, early piano lessons, Umspannwerk, Bundesheer, jazz-conservatory study, Berlin activity, and recruitment by Wickerl Adam. (Falco)
• Falco Privatstiftung — “Aus Hans Hölzel wird Falco” / “Der Aufstieg zum Popstar.” Munich stage-name adoption, Drahdiwaberl overlap, Spinning Wheel, Cloud One recordings, “Ganz Wien,” Markus Spiegel, Robert Ponger, and the GiG contract. (Falco)
• Wienbibliothek im Rathaus — Drahdiwaberl chronology. Supports the 1978 Drahdiwaberl connection, the Wiener Blutrausch period, and the early live role of “Ganz Wien.” (Wienbibliothek im Rathaus)
• Thomas Rabitsch — Falco. Firsthand chronology from a contemporary who met Hölzel at the jazz conservatory and played beside him in Hallucination Company and Drahdiwaberl. (Thomas Rabitsch | music production)
• Wiener — Markus Spiegel/Thomas Rabitsch interview. Spiegel places the decisive Drahdiwaberl encounter at the Sofiensäle in winter 1980 and describes seeing Falco perform “Ganz Wien.” (Wiener Online)
• Red Bull Music Academy — “The Beginnings of Falco.” Detailed Vienna-scene account with the 1979 Schmetter Sound Studio session for Wiener Blutrausch and Falco activity across Drahdiwaberl, Hallucination Company, and Spinning Wheel. (Red Bull Music Academy Daily)
• Songlexikon, Zentrum für Populäre Kultur und Musik. Confirms that Robert Ponger first intended the “Der Kommissar” music for Reinhold Bilgeri and that Spiegel signed Falco through the GiG connection. (Songlexikon. Encyclopedia of Songs)
• Austriancharts.at. Gives the September 15 release date for “That Scene (Ganz Wien),” the December 11 release date for “Der Kommissar,” and the Austrian chart chronology. (Austrian Charts)
• Falco-Compendium — Einzelhaft. Gives the March 1982 album sessions at Stereo West Studio in Vienna and Arco Studios in Munich. (Falco-Compendium)