Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I want you, 'cause I'm Mr. Wayne

So, fairly often you can watch a "Chart Show" on German TV.

They count down the best songs in some category.

They did one on "Disco Classics" music. The top 3?

3. Daddy Cool (1976)
2. What is Love? (1993)
1. Lady Bump (1975)

Then, as a lagniappe, a special performance of "Mr. Vain."

I had never heard of #3 or #1. And the "Mr. Vain" performance was explicitly "Mr. Wayne," so I didn't recognize it at first. Who is Mr. Wayne? Probably there is a whole series of these, including the Carly Simon hit, "You're So Wayne." On the other hand, Germans call the Mike Myers/Dana Carvey movie, "Vain's World," so go figure.

If you want to listen to "Lady Bump," I think this site is relatively free of adware. But the song involves screaming, wide open mouth screaming in every chorus. Amazing.

And here is a music video of "Daddy Cool," by Boney M. I have to admit, Daddy Cool is pretty catchy. But so is syphillis. You don't see that making top ten lists.

"What is Love?" I'll give you. It was irrestible, and you hate yourself for doing that head shake thing from SNL, but you can't help it. I don't know if "What is Love?" is top 5 without this video...but with the video, yes.

So, a question: Lady Bump? Really? #1 Dance Song of all time? I say no.

UPDATE: Martin questions whether the show is "German." I leave it to you to decide. Here is the show; now, click on "Disco Classics," and you will see the line-up, with "Daddy Cool" listed at the top, out of order.

A final note: It is sad to say I am leaving Erlangen this morning, early. But it is great to note that it is 6:30 in the morning, and I am in my office fussing with Martin about which 40 year old American disco songs Germans like (or hate, or have never heard.) Martin is my man. This is how it ought to be.

2 comments:

Martin said...

What TV station did you watch? You sure it was German? Or rather Gernan, whatever that word in your title means?

I am not a dancer, but German, and I have never heard Lady Bump before.

I have to admit though: Haddaways What is Love was pretty popular back then. Of course, I hated it, of course.

Mungowitz said...

Well, of course you hated it, of course. But it was worth hating.

Look, I understand that this show is not for anyone under 50. But *I* am over 50, and even I didn't know these songs.

And, of course, you may be right: All I know is that they were speaking a language I didn't understand. It could have been Schwäbisch-Deutsch, instead of REAL German, I suppose.

Further, to be fair, it turns out that the singer of Lady Bump is a native German speaker, and they had her on the show after to do the song live (it was worse, if anything, and the screaming was terrifying). But she then did an interview with the folks sitting around.

Anyway, here is the show:
http://www.i-und-u.tv/chartshow.php