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In 1983, German guitarist Carlo Kargas was attending a Rolling Stones concert in West Berlin. At one point, the Stones released a number of helium balloons, which slowly drifted over the Berlin Wall into East Berlin.
The idea struck Carlo that if radar picked up the balloons, and mistook them for enemy aircraft, nuclear war might result. (Such was the mind set of many West Germans in those days).
Carlo wrote some lyrics about it, and took them to his boss, Gabrielle Suzanne Turner, aka Nena, who liked the idea, Carlo then teamed up with keyboardist Uwe Fahenkrog-Peterson, and finished "99 Luft Balloons," which turned out to be a "Great Song of 1984!
The song was recorded in both German and English, but strangely, the English version was never a hit--even in the US. The German version, however, topped the charts in 9 countries (including West Germany, of course) and just missed the top in the US, reaching #2 on Billboard's Hot 100.
Although most Americans only had a vague idea of what the German lyrics were actually about, they could guess--and later on, the video added subtitles to help out.
Note #1: The song was intended to be a Cold War metaphor. Each balloon stood for the hopes and dreams of West Germans that could get "shot down and destroyed" if the communists of East Germany/Russia ever took over.
Note #2: In addition to the Rolling Stones' concert balloons, the story was, in part, influenced by a group of teens in Las Vegas who attached a flare to 99 Mylar helium balloons and caused a rash of UFO sightings.
Note #3: The only words in English in the German version are "Captain Kirk," which is also how the Star Trek captain is pronounced in Deutsch!
Note #4: "99 Luft Balloons" means 99 Air Balloons in English, but for some reason, it was translated into "99 Red Balloons."
"99 Luft/Red Balloons was a Great Song of 1984, making Nena a one-hit wonder in the US--but ONLY in the US. She and her band enjoyed a long and prosperous hit- making career in Germany and Europe. In fact, they're still out there performing in Europe! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY
Tomorrow: Chess, anyone?
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