Cover Tunes- Focus on "Der Kommissar"

One of my favorite songs of youth was Der Kommisar by After the Fire. That song was a cover of a song by Falco. As much as I love that song and as long as a career the band had (four albums), it it odd that i don’t think I have ever heard another song the band did I vaguely remember radio stations playing both versions, though I could be misremembering somewhat since Falco would have an American hit or two of his own later and there were other NDW artists who had English and German hits (Nena, Peter Schilling). While I prefer the After the Fire version as an English speaker and they add some variety to it, I definitely love Falco. Plus while I consider the After the Fire video one of the iconic ones of the time (among many of that time), credit to Falco for basically pulling it off with just a bluescreen What’s interesting is this little video which is, I think, an Australian countdown show where they play all the versions. I would not be surprised if radio statins did play the two back to back. But what people might not know, is with Faldo’s success and a rush to make it a hit internationally, not only did After the Fire do a version, but Laura Branigan performed a song that layered new lyrics over the same melody and gave us “Deep in the Dark”. I know I’m not a huge Branigan fan, but I can’t help but think how multi faceted she was. I can’t think of too many pop stars in recent years that would compare. I appreciate that “Gloria” is now at a classic level few songs reach. It is another case where artists are distilled to one or two songs. I mean she’s not in a genre I listen to much, but hey she had a voice. “Self Control” is on the short list of best songs of the 80s Anyway, I get a kick out of looking back at the days of Der Kommisar Fever.