Song · Falco
“Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco
From the album Falco 3 (1985)
“Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco appears on 11 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1986 and 2026. It was first released in 1985 on the album Falco 3. Its best result is #12 on the Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #40 alternative song of 1986, #3,341 alternative song of all time and #310 of the '80s.
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Video from YouTube (FalcoVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
Falco cut "Rock Me Amadeus" for Falco 3, his third album, in 1985, and it's as brash a novelty as the decade produced: a strutting, synth-slick stomp delivered in German with a showman's smirk. Dutch producers Ferdi and Rob Bolland wrote the music, shared the lyrics with Falco and produced it, giving it a glossy, marching pulse that sounds built for the dancefloor.
It came out first in German-speaking Europe, then crossed the Atlantic and kept going: on 29 March 1986 it went to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, still the only German-language song ever to get there, and it topped the UK chart as well. Falco, a star at home in Austria, never had another number 1 in either country.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 74 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986 | 107 |
| 1986 | 12 | Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium | Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1986 | 30 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 212 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) | 500 |
| 1996 | 453 | Q101 | Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) | 500 |
| 1998 | 254 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) | 488 |
| 1999 | 53 | Channel 104.9 | Channel 104.9 Top 101 Songs of the '80s (February 1999) | 104 |
| 1999 | 618 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 2002 | 1880 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1916 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2023 | 700 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s | 850 |
| 2026 | 423 | WFPK | WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s | 498 |
Also listed as: Rock the Amadeus.
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