Line #47 Music/DschinghisKhan


1	[[quoteright:324:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dschinghiskhan01.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:324:The great thing about their cover art is that you know ''exactly'' what you're getting.]]
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4	Formed within just few months in 1979, Dschinghis Khan was the product of the disco boom and following on the heels of other German-produced bands such as Music/BoneyM, Arabesque, and Silver Convention. Their songs were based on historical people and places. The group was formed by music producer Ralph Siegel AKA Mr. Eurovision. Siegel was apparently obsessed with making the next Music/{{ABBA}}. Their name is the German spelling of "UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan," the name of the song they sang in their introductory performance in the Series/EurovisionSongContest. While they didn't win Eurovision, the group achieved great success in Europe, Russia, Israel, Australia, and Japan.
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6	The group broke up in the mid-1980s. After the break-up, lead dancer Louis Hendrick Potgieter (known to Youtube users as Dancing Santa Jesus) returned to his native South Africa to manage a hotel. He contracted HIV and died of AIDS in 1993. For this reason he's been considered gay, though evidence (photos of him and his ex-fiancee, pop/jazz/disco singer Madeleine Davis, as well as comments from his sister) disprove that.
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8	Wolfgang Heichel, the youngest member of Dschinghis Khan, introduced his wife Henriette Heichel to Siegel to help him completing the group cast. The two divorced in 1986, although both are taking part in modern incarnations of Dschinghis Khan.
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10	Steve Bender, "the bald one" that looks like [[Franchise/GIJoe Destro]], left the group in 1981 on the advice of his doctor and because of backpain, which made dancing hard for him; an unofficial version has it that he had some arguments with the producers. He returned for a reunion concert in 2005 (sans the baldness), but died six months later from cancer.
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12	Leslie Mandoki, the drummer, fled to Germany from his native Hungary, as the Commies wouldn't let him keep his mane and sing whatever he wanted. He is now an established jazz/rock session drummer, and [[BerserkButton it's better]] [[OldShame not to]] [[NeverLiveItDown mention]] his tenure in the Khan during interviews.
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14	Edina Pop is Hungarian too. She still works with the group in reunion concerts.
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16	In 2004 "Moskau" became a surprise hit on the Internet due to the sharing of a performance of the song from the group's glory days. Blogging viewers of the video commented that the wild disco dances, retro instrumentation, and happy German vocals are hilarious and oddly uplifting. The song and its video have become an [[MemeticMutation internet fad]]. Today, Dschinghis Khan is in the middle of the Cirque du Dschinghis Khan Tour, which includes the group in its current incarnation: "The Legacy of Dschinghis Khan" and acts from other artists including Mongolian circus acts.
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18	Their notable songs include:
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20	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzmI3vAIhbE "Dschinghis Khan"]] - Actually covered by Berryz Koubou, one of the bands of the Music/HelloProject.
21	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQAKRw6mToA "Moskau"]] - Their most famous song outside of Germany, which was used by Australia's Channel 7 for their 1980 Moscow Olympics coverage. [[BannedInChina But not approved by the Soviet government in Moscow]]. Due to it's popularity in Australia, the group eventually recorded an English version of the song.
22	* "Rocking Son of Dschinghis Khan" - a hybrid English/German song.
23	* "Hadschi Halef Omar" - A song that gets away with saying [[UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad Muhammad's]] name. (It's a homage to a fictional Muslim ''character'' -- namely, to Creator/KarlMay's probably most famous companion during his [[Literature/OrientCycle notional adventures in the Orient]].)
24	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUVUMBWhlgo "Klabautermann"]]
25	* [[http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=5443198 "Loreley"]]
26	* [[http://www.goear.com/listen.php?v=3e90e78 "What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor"]] - The only song of theirs that only exists as an English version.
27	----
28	!! ''Dschinghis Khan'' has examples of:
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30	* AnachronismStew: "Rocking Son of Dschinghis Khan", as can be discerned from the title. Among other things, it name-drops [[Music/TheBeatles Ringo Starr]].
31	* AncientAstronauts: "Die Fremden" (also in English as ''The Strangers'') is about them.
32	* BestServedCold: The protagonist of "Pistolero" sees [[YouKilledMyFather his parents get killed by three Mexicans as a boy]], and becomes TheGunslinger as an adult. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope But when he finally finds the men responsible, he realizes he's been too focused on his revenge and doesn't go through with it.]]]]
33	* BoisterousBruiser: Many have pointed out how cheery and energetic Wolfgang Heichler looks in the live shows. "THE GUY IN BLACK IS SO F*CKING HAPPY!", indeed.
34	* {{Camp}}: Most of their songs, very intentionally. While a small number of them are more serious than the rest the band will forever be remembered for the sheer amount of camp on display.
35	* CharacterTitle: Aside from the group's eponymous song there's deep breath "[[Literature/{{Aladdin}} Aladin]]", "UsefulNotes/BillyTheKid", "El Diablo" (a bull), "[[Literature/OrientCycle Hadschi Halef Omar]]", "Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}", "Franchise/JamesBond", "Juanita Elena", "[[Literature/TheBible Judas]]", "Käpt'n Kidd", "[[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea Käpt'n Nemo]]", "Kaspar Hauser", "Loreley", "UsefulNotes/MataHari", "Michael", "Creator/PabloPicasso", "[[Literature/RobinsonCrusoe Robinson]]", "Rocky Marciano", "Rübezahl", "Temudschin" (also about Genghis Khan), and "[[UsefulNotes/{{Tutankhamun}} Tut Ench Amun]]".
36	* TheComicallySerious: Steve Bender was completely hard-faced in the middle of the crazy. And that's why we loved him.
37	* CompositeCharacter: "Loreley" gives its title character the backstory of the Clemens Brentano version of [[Myth/{{Lorelei}} the story]] (about a beautiful woman who has many pursuers but despairs at her inability to be with the man she actually loves), but rather than committing suicide, she takes on the siren aspects of the Heinrich Heine version.
38	* ConceptAlbum: ''Corrida'', an album about the life of the orphan Miguel who dreams of becoming a bullfighter.
39	* CoversAlwaysLie: Averted, fans expect fun, silly music with the covers.
40	* CoverVersion: "What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor", "Michael Row the Boat Ashore". Dschinghis Khan has its own modern-day cover/tribute band, Rocking Son.
41	* EightiesHair:
42	** Lack thereof, in Bender's case. ''Facial hair'' for Potgieter and Mándoki, OTOH...
43	** See Heichler's hairstyle in the pic up there. Great chops, man.
44	* TheEighties: They may have started out in 1979, but they practically embodied the soul of 80s music.
45	* {{Europop}}: They are one of the more memorable European pop bands.
46	* EvilPrince: "Helden und Schurken" starts with the tale of a prince usurping his father's throne.
47	* FaceOfAThug: Mándoki
48	* GenkiGirl: Henriette Heichel is always all smiles as the group performs.
49	* GloriousMotherRussia (with some VodkaDrunkenski): "Moskau".
50	* GoodNeedsEvil: "Helden und Schurken" posits that where there is a hero, there must also be a villain.
51	* GratuitousSpanish: "Pistolero"- with more of it in the English version than the German. (There's also a version ''entirely'' in Spanish, that's not gratuitous.)
52	* LandmarkOfLore: "Loreley", "Machu Picchu"
53	* LegionOfLostSouls: "Die Fremdenlegion" (subtitled "Armee der Verlorenen Seelen," i.e. "Army of Lost Souls")
54	%%* {{Medley}}
55	* NamedAfterSomeoneFamous: The band is named after UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan.
56	* OriginsEpisode: "Temudschin" is this for Genghis Khan.
57	* OverlyLongName: Hadschi Halef Omar Ben Hadschi Abul Abbas Ibn Hadschi Dawuhd al Gossarah
58	%%* PerformanceVideo
59	* ThePlace: "Himalaya", "UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}", "[[UsefulNotes/{{Peru}} Machu Picchu]]", "UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}}", "[[UsefulNotes/{{Moscow}} Moskau]]", "[[UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}} Puszta]]", "[[UsefulNotes/{{Rome}} Rom]]", "Sahara", and "Sierra Nevada".
60	* PopculturalOsmosis: Popular Jewish singer Mordechai Ben David wrote Yiddish lyrics for ''Dschinghis Khan''. This version is called, ''Yidden'' and is extremely well known in the Orthodox Jewish community and is often played at Weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. Guests often perform a complicated choreographed dance to it. Very few people familiar with this version are aware of its origin. Some of those who are aware don't like this version due to being a reworked version of ''Dschinghis Khan''.
61	* RefugeInAudacity
62	** Think of it. Germans singing about a conqueror in Jerusalem. They somehow got away with all of it and came ''fourth''. [[note]] And the Israelis found it ActuallyPrettyFunny to the point where the band was '' very '' popular in Israel. [[/note]]
63	** See the notes on ''Hadschi Halef Omar'' for more crap that they got past the radar.
64	* TheRunnerUpTakesItAll: They didn't win the Eurovision, but they got a ''really'' sweet consolation prize with their international success.
65	* SaveThePrincess: "Samurai", with the Emperor's daughter.
66	* ShoutOut: The melody of "Judas" borrows from part of Judas's song "Heaven on Their Minds" from ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'' ("Nazareth, your famous son...").
67	* ThatRussianSquatDance: This trope is forever linked to Moskau. Though in a variant of BeamMeUpScotty, they never actually performed that move. (Probably because it's very hard on the legs.)
68	* ThirstyDesert: "Sahara".
69	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Henriette Heichel is the tomboy, Edina Pop is the girly girl.
70	%%* TruckDriversGearChange
71	* TheVillainSucksSong: [[Literature/TheBible "Judas"]].
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73	!!A list of things that they have songs about:
74	* ''Literature/{{Aladdin}}'' ("Aladin")
75	* AncientAstronauts ("Die Fremden")
76	* Literature/TheBible ("Judas")
77	* European folklore ("Loreley", "Rübezahl")
78	* [[LegionOfLostSouls French Foreign Legion]] ("Die Fremdenlegion")
79	* UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and UsefulNotes/{{Mongolia}} (The eponymous "Dschinghis Khan", "Temudschin", "Die Gold'ne Horde Dschinghis Khans", "Rocking Son of Dschinghis Khan", "In der Mongolei")
80	* UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfPiracy ("Käpt'n Kidd (Wir Sind Piraten)")
81	* UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}} ("Goodbye Hawaii")
82	* The Himalayas ("Himalaya")
83	* UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}} ("Puszta")
84	* UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} ("Israel")
85	* ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'' ("Ivanhoe")
86	* ''Franchise/JamesBond'' ("James Bond")
87	* Creator/KarlMay's Literature/OrientCycle ("Hadschi Halef Omar")
88	* [[WildChild Kaspar Hauser]] ("Kaspar Hauser")
89	* UsefulNotes/{{Kazakhstan}} ("Rote Sonne über Kasachstan")
90	* [[UsefulNotes/{{Peru}} Machu Picchu]] ("Machu Picchu")
91	* UsefulNotes/{{Madagascar}} ("Madagaskar")
92	* UsefulNotes/MataHari ("Mata Hari")
93	* UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} ("Mexico", "Pistolero")
94	* UsefulNotes/{{Moscow}} ("Moskau")
95	* Creator/PabloPicasso ("Pablo Picasso")
96	* ''Literature/RobinsonCrusoe'' ("Robinson")
97	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Marciano Rocky Marciano]] ("Rocky Marciano")
98	* UsefulNotes/{{Rome}} ("Rom")
99	* [[ThirstyDesert Sahara]] ("Sahara")
100	* {{Samurai}} ("Samurai")
101	* UsefulNotes/{{Spain}} (The entire Corrida album)
102	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl]] ("Kon-Tiki")
103	* UsefulNotes/{{Tutankhamun}} ("Tut Ench Amun")
104	* ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' ("Käpt'n Nemo")
105	* TheWildWest ("Billy the Kid", "Pistolero", "Sierra Nevada")

Context Music / DschinghisKhan