Moving is becoming an annual ordeal for my husband and me. Less than a year after our move to Texas, we’re moving to Germany!

And since we’re moving to Germany, I thought today’s post should focus on music associated with that awesome country. I am actually quite delighted that my husband Bill got a job offer in Germany. We’ve lived there before and we loved it, even though the whole process of moving– especially internationally and with pets– is an enormous pain in the ass. Besides the fact that we love Germany, Germany seems to be the only place that wants Bill. He has had just one job interview in over two months of sending out resumes and applications. He had another one scheduled for next week, but it was for a job he wasn’t terribly interested in doing and it was in a different city. So this is a great thing and the timing is perfect, except that we have to move our dogs, which will be more of a challenge during the summer months.

The last time Bill and I moved to Germany, it was 2007. I distinctly remember landing in Frankfurt, picking up our dogs (different ones than we have now), and driving a rental car to Stuttgart. I turned on the radio and could only find German pop music. In my exhausted, sleep deprived state, it was kind of like this.


Seriously, every song I heard on the radio reminded me of a 90s era Mentos ad…

I would have been happy if I’d heard this classic hit by German singer and actress, Nena.


I could at least dance to this and maybe keep my eyes open as we cruised down the autobahn.

British band After The Fire recorded another 80s anthem called “Der Kommissar”. Anyone my age remembers this song because it was a huge hit in the United States. Here’s a bit of trivia I just learned this morning; “Der Kommissar” was reworked by the late Laura Branigan, of all people, in 1983. This song was originally written and recorded by Falco, an Austrian man whose real name was Johannes (Hans) Hölzel. Falco was also responsible for the 80s hit, “Rock Me Amadeus”. Sadly, he died on February 6, 1998, having sustained catastrophic injuries in a car accident in the Dominican Republic. He was only 41 years old. Yes, I know he was Austrian, not German… but I still think of Germany when I hear his tunes.


After The Fire’s version of “Der Kommissar”.


Falco’s version of “Der Kommissar”. I think I like his version better than After The Fire’s.


“Rock Me Amadeus” performed by Falco. Music starts after 26 seconds.

When we were in Germany last time, I relied a lot on iTunes for new music. This time, maybe I will attempt to broaden my horizons a bit. A friend of mine who is European says I should listen to Herbert Grönemeyer. He actually says it in a derisive way, but in the interest of expanding my musical repertoire, I’m going to listen to a song by him right now…


Not too bad… may be a bit of an acquired taste?

There’s always Wolfsheim, a synth pop band from Hamburg. They haven’t been active since the mid 2000s, though they never officially disbanded. I kind of like this track I found on YouTube, though…


I could get into Wolfsheim…

There’s also Rammstein, a band that has been around since 1994 and still continues to make music today.


Kind of a somber sound to this pop song… I might need to learn German so I can sing along.

Frankly, the one thing I’m really looking forward to is Eurovision, the annual European pop contest that takes place every May. I like it because the acts are often very silly, which makes them equally entertaining. I like to see the different songs put out by countries in Europe. Oddly enough, a lot of the songs are sung in English, even when the contestants hail from a country where English is not the official language.


Here’s Germany’s entry in the 2014 Eurovision Contest.

If I have to choose the most impressive German music I’ve discovered recently, it’s Salut Salon, a quartet of German women who have a most amazing knack for performing great music while contorting themselves.


These women are incredible! And they hail from Deutschland!

I just have to keep my mind on all the awesomeness about to come my way by Europe… and not the pain in the ass of moving! Germany, here we come!