Saga 1

Some may argue that the following is slightly less than a case for trivia buffs, but even they will be in for a shock: the Teutonic contribution to recorded music is larger than most of us ever thought it to be… and that's a fact, not an opinion.

Sure enough, where world-wide recognition matters, there is a need to acquire some foreign manners. In the seventies and eighties, heavy rock band Scorpions broke into territories other than the West-German, yet their US success only came after lead singer Klaus Meine managed (in the studio, that is) to change his accent into something less scary… but other German acts were largely dismissed by the Yanks.

Unlike with the Scorpions, the "Eoropop" scene that emerged in the late seventies consisted of artists who sang in English but hardly spoke it… and the accent problem automatically ensured their lack of recognition, or merely suspicion from any English speaking audience.
On the other hand, the non-English speaking markets embraced them, and where the accent didn't matter so much, gold records materialized. Even the Israeli market, or at least a considerable chunk of it (they call them "Arsim" - ed), was sold on the scene. Many friends of mine report of junior-high school memories full of culturally-based debates between rock diggers and pop aficionados, with the latter simply adoring "Europop" and dismissing the Stones, Queen, Heart, Zeppelin and anything that smells of quality. Those were the days… or so I've been told.

As the market for these records finally found its niche, the producers adored American technology but simply turned their back on American success... and this collection of circumstances spawned a new breed of Euro-dominated hit records, and a very funny one… with the following being only one example.
In 1986, Frankfurt-based producersMichael Münzing and Luca Anzilotti joined forces with singer/DJ Sven Väth. No, please don't try to pronounce the latter's name correctly unless your jaws are insured. Anyway, under the pseudo-band name "Off", they created a moment in pop history that yours truly can pigeonhole "impossible to eschew a giggle by". 



Looking back, it was perhaps the producers' inconsideration of "certain" world-wide selling points that, indeed, secured the record's European success but failed to score it any UK/US/Canadian/Australian chart entries. However, once they swapped the frontman with an American serviceman, they managed to break into the above named territories with their new project "Snap!" in the 90s… but that's a different story.

 Love you all!

Matt