WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #47: Peter Schilling - Major Tom (Coming Home)

Guten Tag, Damen und Herren!  This week’s Awesome Song arrives during a very German week!  Right in between Von Steuben Day (German-American bonding celebration often involving parades — the Chicago parade was famously featured in 80s classic film “Ferris Beuller's Day Off”) — and the opening of Oktoberfest in Munich this coming weekend!   As a result, we will delve into German New Wave in all it’s awesomeness!  

Although their country of origin is not always obvious, many New Wave bands from Germany have already appeared high in the Top 200.  Propaganda (#16), Cetu Javu (#26), Camouflage (#41), Alphaville(#34, #112, #182), Falco (#61* with an asterisk as he was from German-speaking neighbor Austria) are all from various parts of der Fatherland. Fellow Austrians Edelweiss landed Awesome Song #11 with their self-titled cuckoo song.  And new wave Grand-Opas Kraftwerk landed Awesome Song #7 - their impact on New Wave & Synthpop was nothing less than GROSSE!  (Huge!)

Other New Wave artists with a germanic pedigree include minimalists Trio (Da,Da,Da), poppy one-hit wonder Nena (99 Luftballoons), and that cutting edge looney songstress Nina Hagen.

And finally, for today’s Awesome Song, we go to the person whose first hit was not just a New Wave synthpop song FROM Germany … it was originally sung IN GERMAN… and became a big hit anyway!   “Major Tom (Coming Home)” from Peter Schilling hit it big in 1983 as it retold and updated David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”.  As it grew in popularity an English version was made that soared even higher, but I always preferred the original German one.  It set the tone for artists like Nena and Falco to release German language songs in their original form internationally - a watershed moment in New Wave!

BONUSES!

Peter Schilling didn't stop there … late in the 80s (1989) he hit again with “The Different Story (World of Lust & Crime)”, a collaboration with Michael Cretu best known for his German electronica band Enigma.  The late 80s had a lot of songs with a similar (overly dramatic) sound & structure - “The Great Commandment” (Camouflage again!) and “The Promise” from When in Rome come to mind.  “The Different Story” was a dance hit but other than that the album tanked, and was Schilling’s last English language album, after that he went back to making them in German again.  

… and how can we not mention one of the finest sythpop songs to ever come out of Germany?  Cetu Javu’s “Have in Mind” is simply a timeless classic!  The extended version (my preferred one) is included here.  Enjoy!  And Happy Oktoberfest!