Dschinghis Khan (song)
Encyclopedia
Dschinghis Khan was the West German
entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979
, performed in German
by Dschinghis Khan
. Cover versions by a number of other artists were subsequently released as singles and album tracks.
's Peter, Sue & Marc & Pfuri, Gorps & Kniri with "Trödler und Co
" and preceding Israel
's Gali Atari
& Milk & Honey
with "Hallelujah
"). At the close of voting it had received 86 points, coming fourth in a field of nineteen.
The song was written and composed by the prolific duo of Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger
, and owes a considerable debt to disco
music, specifically of the Boney M
tradition. As the name suggests, it is in praise of the titular Mongol warrior, with verses extolling his military ("And about his enemies he only laughed/Because nobody could resist his strength") and sexual ("And each woman, that he liked/He took into his tent/They said, a woman who did not love him/Did not exist anywhere in the world/He fathered seven children in one night") prowess. Indeed, the entirety of his band are the subjects of this paean, being described as exceptional drinkers with a devil-may-care attitude to life ("And the devil gets us early enough").
The performance is in a similarly flamboyant style, with one member of the band (Louis Hendrik Potgieter) dressed as a caricature of the warlord himself and capering about the stage, seducing the female members of the band and laughing as appropriate.
The song makes many appearances in medleys and best-of collections of the Contest. As an example of the latter, it was featured prominently on the commemorative CDs produced to coincide with the "Congratulations
" special in late 2005. Prior to the 2006 Contest
, it was performed as part of a medley — one of only two non-winning songs to earn this honour.
It was succeeded as German representative
at the 1980 Contest
by Katja Ebstein
with "Theater
".
The song was also used at the end of Peelander-Z
's live shows. The band would dance to it before going offstage. It has since been replaced in their routine. On a live DVD of one of their shows, the song was replaced with an original track, presumably for copyright reasons.
The song was played at Madison Square Garden
for New York Rangers
winger Petr Průcha
during his tenure with the New York Rangers. The crowd would chant PRU-CHA in reference to the song.
The song was a show-stopping number in the middle of a 1979 German sex comedy film called Sunnyboy und Sugarbaby, a film which received a lot of late-night airplay in the early days of HBO under its English-language title, She's 19 and Ready
. The film's characters go to a disco club, dancing to what is presented to be a live performance by the band, although the band and the actors are not seen together in the clips.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRlKJ3PXRMM&feature=related
covered the song as "Tsingis Khan" in his 1979 album Tsingis Khan. The Finnish
lyrics were made by Juha Vainio
. According to the website of Frederik, the composer of the original song, Ralph Siegel, considered the Frederik version to be even better than the original. Siegel offered Frederik to cover also the song "Hadschi Halef Omar". It was covered as "Sheikki Ali Hassan" in Frederik's 1980 single.
Frederik version of the song is also used as ring entry theme by Russian boxer Denis ”Tsingis
Khan” Shafikov.
This single release marks the groups first cover song to be slotted as an a-side in a single. There are two versions to this single, a limited edition with a DVD (PKCP-5112~3) and a regular edition (PKCP-5114 – first pressing containing a photo card and a ticket for a raffle to attend an event promoting the single).
The song was used as the main song to the group's musical
, , running through January 2008.
It is also Berryz' highest selling single to date.
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979
Eurovision Song Contest 1979
The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 31 March 1979 in Jerusalem, Israel. The presenters were Daniel Pe'er and Yardena Arazi, and the event was staged at the International Convention Center. Representing Israel, Gali Atari and Milk and Honey were the...
, performed in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
by Dschinghis Khan
Dschinghis Khan
Dschinghis Khan was a West German pop band, created in 1979 to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. The name of the band was chosen to fit the song of the same name, written and produced by Ralph Siegel with lyrics by Bernd Meinunger....
. Cover versions by a number of other artists were subsequently released as singles and album tracks.
Dschinghis Khan version
The song was performed ninth on the night (following SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
's Peter, Sue & Marc & Pfuri, Gorps & Kniri with "Trödler und Co
Trödler und Co
"Trödler und Co" was the Swiss entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed by Peter, Sue, Marc, Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri. The song was written by Peter Reber of Peter, Sue and Marc in the German language...
" and preceding Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's Gali Atari
Gali Atari
Avigail "Gali" Atari is an Israeli actress and singer.-Career:She first appeared on the international scene in 1971, when she represented Israel at the World Popular Song Festival in Japan with the songs "All free" and "Give love away"...
& Milk & Honey
Milk and Honey (group)
Milk and Honey was an Israeli singing group consisting of Re'uven Gvitrz, Shmulik Bilu and Yehuda Tamir. The group performed with Gali Atari at the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, where they won with the song, "Hallelujah". Their track peaked in the UK Singles Chart at #5 in April 1979. They made...
with "Hallelujah
Hallelujah (Eurovision song)
"Hallelujah" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in Hebrew by Gali Atari and Milk & Honey for Israel....
"). At the close of voting it had received 86 points, coming fourth in a field of nineteen.
The song was written and composed by the prolific duo of Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger
Bernd Meinunger
Bernd Meinunger is a German lyricist and record producer who frequently works with Ralph Siegel and David Brandes...
, and owes a considerable debt to disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
music, specifically of the Boney M
Boney M
Boney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba...
tradition. As the name suggests, it is in praise of the titular Mongol warrior, with verses extolling his military ("And about his enemies he only laughed/Because nobody could resist his strength") and sexual ("And each woman, that he liked/He took into his tent/They said, a woman who did not love him/Did not exist anywhere in the world/He fathered seven children in one night") prowess. Indeed, the entirety of his band are the subjects of this paean, being described as exceptional drinkers with a devil-may-care attitude to life ("And the devil gets us early enough").
The performance is in a similarly flamboyant style, with one member of the band (Louis Hendrik Potgieter) dressed as a caricature of the warlord himself and capering about the stage, seducing the female members of the band and laughing as appropriate.
The song makes many appearances in medleys and best-of collections of the Contest. As an example of the latter, it was featured prominently on the commemorative CDs produced to coincide with the "Congratulations
Congratulations (Eurovision)
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the Contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. It took place at Forum,...
" special in late 2005. Prior to the 2006 Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 2006
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May and 20 May 2006 . The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi . The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock...
, it was performed as part of a medley — one of only two non-winning songs to earn this honour.
It was succeeded as German representative
Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest
Germany has participated in every Eurovision Song Contest since its beginning in 1956, although its entry in 1996 did not qualify past the pre‐selection round, and therefore was not seen in the broadcast final. No other country has been represented as often. France and the United Kingdom come in a...
at the 1980 Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1980
The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the 25th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 19 April 1980 in The Hague. The presenter was Marlous Fluitsma, although each song was introduced by a presenter from the nation represented...
by Katja Ebstein
Katja Ebstein
Karin Witkiewicz, also known as Katja Ebstein, is a German singer. She was born in Girlachsdorf . She achieved success with songs such as Theater or Es war einmal ein Jäger. She was married to Christian Bruhn, who wrote many of her songs. She represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest...
with "Theater
Theater (song)
"Theater" was the German entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980, performed in German by Katja Ebstein. This was Ebstein's third Eurovision entry, she had represented Germany in 1970 and 1971, with "Wunder gibt es immer wieder" and "Diese Welt" respectively, both times finishing in 3rd...
".
The song was also used at the end of Peelander-Z
Peelander-Z
Peelander-Z is a Japanese punk band based in New York City. They bill themselves as a "Japanese Action Comic Punk band hailing from the Z area of Planet Peelander"...
's live shows. The band would dance to it before going offstage. It has since been replaced in their routine. On a live DVD of one of their shows, the song was replaced with an original track, presumably for copyright reasons.
The song was played at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
for New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
winger Petr Průcha
Petr Prucha
Petr Průcha is a Czech professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League.-Playing career:...
during his tenure with the New York Rangers. The crowd would chant PRU-CHA in reference to the song.
The song was a show-stopping number in the middle of a 1979 German sex comedy film called Sunnyboy und Sugarbaby, a film which received a lot of late-night airplay in the early days of HBO under its English-language title, She's 19 and Ready
She's 19 and Ready
She's 19 and Ready is a 1979 German sex comedy film.-Plot:The story centers on a rather uninhibited young woman named Eva and her two boyfriends - Stefan and Claus . Eva needs to decide which of the two is to be her "steady"...
. The film's characters go to a disco club, dancing to what is presented to be a live performance by the band, although the band and the actors are not seen together in the clips.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRlKJ3PXRMM&feature=related
Frederik version
Finnish singer FrederikFrederik
Frederik is a Finnish singer. He is known by his nickname Reetu. During his lengthy career, he has been awarded five gold and three diamond records...
covered the song as "Tsingis Khan" in his 1979 album Tsingis Khan. The Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
lyrics were made by Juha Vainio
Juha Vainio
Juha Harri "Junnu" Vainio, also known as Juha "Watt" Vainio was a Finnish lyricist, singer, composer and teacher. With the lyrics or music to over 2,400 songs to his name, Vainio is as one of Finland's most prolific lyricists along with Reino Helismaa and Vexi Salmi...
. According to the website of Frederik, the composer of the original song, Ralph Siegel, considered the Frederik version to be even better than the original. Siegel offered Frederik to cover also the song "Hadschi Halef Omar". It was covered as "Sheikki Ali Hassan" in Frederik's 1980 single.
Frederik version of the song is also used as ring entry theme by Russian boxer Denis ”Tsingis
Khan” Shafikov.
Berryz Kobo version
Japanese idol unit Berryz Kobo has also released a cover of the song, albeit with toned-down lyrics, which do not make mention to the more explicit details pertaining to war, rape or the consumption of alcoholic beverages found in the 1979 original.This single release marks the groups first cover song to be slotted as an a-side in a single. There are two versions to this single, a limited edition with a DVD (PKCP-5112~3) and a regular edition (PKCP-5114 – first pressing containing a photo card and a ticket for a raffle to attend an event promoting the single).
The song was used as the main song to the group's musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, , running through January 2008.
It is also Berryz' highest selling single to date.
CD track listing
- ジンギスカン (Instrumental)
Single V track listing
- ジンギスカン (Video Clip)
- ジンギスカン (Close-up Ver.)
Other covers
- Swedish dansbandDansbandDansband is a Swedish term for a band that plays dansbandsmusik . Dansbandsmusik is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired by swing, schlager, country, jazz, and rock...
VikingarnaVikingarnaVikingarna is a Swedish dansband, formed in 1958. The band originally disbanded in 2004 after an extensive farewell tour, but announced their comeback in March 2011, however, with only two original members remaining...
released a Swedish version of the song, "Djingis Khan", as a single in 1979. The B-side was "Annie's sång". - Another version of this song was performed by ThaiThailandThailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
band called Royal Sprite. The song was released in the 1980s in Thailand. - Spanish singer IvánIvánIván is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.- External links :*...
published a version under the title "Sin Amor". - The Korean dance/hip-hop group "Koyote" (코요태) have also made a cover of the song, "아자! 아자!", which appears on their Dance Best album, "vol. 9.5".
- Another version of this song was performed by Die Apokalyptischen ReiterDie Apokalyptischen ReiterDie Apokalyptischen Reiter is a Weimar, Germany based heavy metal band signed to Nuclear Blast in Europe and The End Records in North America...
on the Dschinghis Khan EP this EP was bonus Allegro BarbaroAllegro barbaroAllegro barbaro, BB 63 , composed in 1911, is one of Béla Bartók's most famous and frequently performed solo piano pieces. The composition is typical of Bartók's style, utilizing folk elements...
Re-Release.