The original version was recorded in German by the Austrian singer Falco, who had a #1 hit in the US in 1986 with "Rock Me Amadeus." His version of "Der Kommissar" was a dance-floor favorite in Europe, but unlikely to crack the American charts, so Falco encouraged English-speaking bands to record this song so he could make inroads in the States. After The Fire was a British foursome formed by synth-man Peter Banks (not the guitarist from Yes). They released three fairly successful albums in the UK before their label, CBS Records, issued the Der Kommissar album in America. The title track became the group's only hit - their follow up was a song called "Dancing In The Shadows," which topped out at #85 in the US.
"Kommissar" is German for "Government Official." The song is about a couple on the run from the law. Every time they happen to be in public, "Der Kommissar" shows up. Hence the phrase, "Alles klar? Der Kommissar," which means "Everything OK, officer?
Laura Branigan put out an English language variant, "Deep in the Dark" on her album Branigan. Bill Bowersock wrote the lyrics to her version. After The Fire's take on the song used lyrics that were basically a translation of Falco's original words.
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.