New German Wave – My (life in) music lists

Eighties’ best 100 redux: #84 Peter Schilling “Major Tom (Coming home)” (1982, 1983)

At song #84, we have Peter Schilling’s “Major Tom (Coming home)”, the New German Wave re-telling of David Bowie’s classic tune, “Space oddity”.

Of course, when listening to the song at the time, I was too young to have been at all familiar with “Space oddity” so I never could have made the connection between “Major Tom” and the ‘weird’ singer of “Blue Jean”. It was only perhaps a decade later, when, having completely forgotten this track, I rediscovered it while dancing at an 80s night at some dance club whose name I no longer remember in Oshawa, and having further explored Bowie’s music and becoming a fan in the intervening years, that I made the connection.

To this day, I know very little about Peter Schilling and have never heard anything else by him. In fact, I only learned that he was part of the New German Wave scene and that this song was originally recorded in his native German language, while reading up on Nena for the post I wrote about her famous track quite some time ago.

“Major Tom (Coming home)” was originally released in German in 1982 as part of his album “Fehler im system” (the English version of the same album is called “Error in the system”) and was released in English the following year, when it became an international hit. The English version is part of my Apple Music library courtesy of an eighties compilation CD called “Retro night” that was released and purchased by yours truly in 1996 during the time that ‘retro’ music was making a comeback. The song is often lumped in with the synth pop music scene that was on the rise at the time but while it certainly does include synthesizers, I feel that they are used mostly to complement the sound created by using more traditional instruments (especially that wicked bass line).

If you are completely unfamiliar with the story of Major Tom, I would definitely recommend starting with David Bowie’s “Space oddity” but Peter Schilling’s tune makes an excellent companion to the original telling and has a better beat to dance to.

Here is the version I grew up listening to:

And here is the original German version from 1982 for you purists out there:

Original Eighties best 100 position: #87

Favourite lyric: “Across the stratosphere, a final message: ‘Give my wife my love.’ Then nothing more.” And the way he sings it is so ominous and haunting.

Where are they now?: At 69 years of age, Peter Schilling seems to be still very much active in music in his native Germany. For many years, he kept to German language releases but in the last four or five years, he’s seen something of a resurgence due to tracks from his early days, especially this very one.

For the rest of the Eighties’ best 100 redux list, click here.

Eighties’ best 100 redux: #98 Nena “99 luftballons” (1983, 1984)

<< #99 | #97 >>

Back when I counted down my Eighties’ best 100 the first time, “99 luftballons” came in at #99. Honest to god. And I didn’t even plan it that way.

In fact, I hadn’t even realize what I had done until I was discussing the list with my friend and colleague Ian and let slip the song at #99 on said list. I actually considered switching the list order right there and then, so that the readers on my old blog didn’t think I was trying to be clever. In the end, I decided it was too early in the game to be making changes to the list and in spite of those original worries, I decided to let the list grow organically this time around as well, and the let proverbial chips fall where they may. So it is merely incidental (I assure you) that for this redux, the song moves up one spot to number 98.

Of the now three songs into my top 100 songs of the eighties, “99 luftballons” is the first but most likely not that last song by a so-called “one hit wonder” to grace the list. I think it would be near impossible to discuss the best tracks of the nineteen-eighties without one or two of them rearing their ugly noggins because the decade was full of them.

Unlike the previous two songs, I distinctly remember listening to this one when it was popular back in 1984. I used to watch the Chum FM 30 video countdown every week on CityTV and wait for the video to come on, typically near the top of the list. What I didn’t know back then though was that the version I was listening to (and watching) was translated and re-recorded into English from the original German to be more palatable for international audiences (hey, I was still a kid). I didn’t actually hear the original German version until almost a decade later when a friend in university put it on a mixed tape of retro tunes that she made for me.

Nena (named for the lead singer Gabriele Kerner, whose stage name was Nena) came from the very German school of New German Wave music. It originated as an underground scene that was heavily influenced by British Punk and New Wave. As the sound gained popularity, more commercially viable bands based on this sound came out of the woodwork, incorporating English instead of German lyrics, among these were Nena and other acts you might recognize (like Alphaville, Peter Schilling, and Falco).

Most people I encounter prefer the German version of the song but I can appreciate both (and I have included both for your listening pleasure below). The German version because it is as was initially intended and the English because I likely would have never truly understood the song in the first place and it really is worth understanding. It’s not just a good beat that you can dance to. In fact, its Cold War protest implications landed itself a place in an exhibit I once took in at the Canadian War Museum on the impacts of the Cold War on music and music videos, along with Alphaville’s “Forever Young.” I don’t think that particular exhibit is still there but the museum is very cool and if you’re ever in Ottawa, I highly recommend checking it out.

I’m sure you’re familiar with one of these two versions but here they are for your enjoyment nonetheless.

First, here’s the German version:

Now, the English version:

Original Eighties best 100 position: #99

Favourite lyric:
In German:
“Hab’ nen Luftballon gefunden / Denk’ an Dich und lass’ ihn fliegen” I don’t know what she’s saying – it’s just the way she sings it.

In English:
“This is what we’ve waited for / This is it boys, this is war” Again, it’s the way she sings it.

Where are they now?: Nena (the band) broke up long ago but Nena (the solo artist) had a resurgence in popularity in the early 2000s and was rather prolific up until 2015. She most recently released a new album called “Licht” in 2020.

For the rest of the Eighties’ best 100 redux list, click here.