Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Moskau (song)

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Released
  
1980

Length
  
4:30

Writer(s)
  
Ralph Siegel

Genre
  
Disco Schlager

Label
  
7 Records / Image (5)

B-side
  
Moskau (German Version)

"Moskau" is a German-language single by the German pop-act Dschinghis Khan (known as Genghis Khan in Australia and other countries) released in 1979. There was also an English-language version released in 1980 which was entitled "Moscow".

Contents

Moskau – the German-language version

"Moskau", the German-language version of the song, appears on their 1979 self-titled album Dschinghis Khan and their 1980 album Rom. The album version clocks six minutes, but the single version is four and a half minutes long.

Moscow – the English-language version

The song was released in an English-language version entitled "Moscow" in Australia in 1980, the year of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Australia's Channel 7 used the song as the theme to their television coverage of the Moscow Olympics, and the single was issued locally in a die-cut Channel 7 paper sleeve. The song became a big hit in Australia, staying at #1 for six weeks.

History

The song also achieved an enormous underground popularity in the Soviet Union. A 15-second clip of the song's performance was shown as a part of the New Year holiday lineup on the state-run TV, leading to the immediate dismissal of the network's director.

In 2006, the song made its video game debut as a playable song in Taiko no Tatsujin Portable 2. It is also a featured track in Just Dance 2014.

It was also played at the opening at Eurovision 2009 at Moscow, Russia for Semi Final 2.

Covers

  • The song has also been covered by German black metal band Black Messiah.
  • In Finland "Moskau" is very well known as "Volga" and it has been recorded numerous times by various artists like Juhamatti, Kari Tapio and Frederik.
  • An Estonian band Meie Mees covered the song as "Moskva".
  • This song was also covered by Hong Kong pop singer George Lam as "Olympics in Moscow" (Chinese:世運在莫斯科).
  • In China a version with altered lyrics called Fen Dou (奋斗) was made by Da Zhangwei (大张伟).
  • Georgie Dann made a Spanish version in 1980
  • John Carpenter covered the tune for his movie The Fog.
  • In live performances of their song "Sacrament of Wilderness," the symphonic metal band Nightwish plays a riff from Moskau at about the three-minute mark of the song.
  • In the Czech Republic, the parody band Los Rotopedos produced a cover of the song in 2012. Los Rotopedos subsequently qualified to the top ten in the Český slavík song competition.
  • Swedish group Vikingarna recorded a cover in Swedish, "Moskva", in 1980.
  • In 2011, an 8-bit version of Moskau with a clip from the game Star Fox where the character Peppy Hare tells the player to do a barrel roll became viral.
  • In 2013 song was covered by Dancing Bros. and used in the video game Just Dance 2014.
  • In 2014, the song was used in a viral video "Voldemort's Amazing laugh song" where a snippet of laughter from Voldemort, the villain in the well known Harry Potter series, was sampled and put on top of the Moskau melody.
  • Since 2008 or earlier, Russian Armed Forces military bands have occasionally played the song at public events in Russia.

    • References

    Moskau (song) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA