A to Z Anthology Fun Facts & Music Video- Europe- The Final Countdown
The A to Z Anthology continues today. Currently we are spotlighting the letter "T". Here's a blast from the past, Europe- "The Final Countdown" (taking hairspray to a new level)
Enjoy these fun facts, and the music video as well:
- On VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders, Joey Tempest said: "It was quite a surprise that the song 'The Final Countdown' became such a big hit because it was written for the band, it was written for our concert, it was written to be the opening song in our concert. It was almost 6 minutes long, it was never intended to be a short Pop hit or anything, it was very much a surprise and its been used for all kinds of events, anything from Formula 1 to boxing. It's been used for a lot, sort of like an anthem. I know there's been some cover versions of it as well and I know when the Berlin Wall (fell), at the same time that all thing happened I know a lot of other people from that area saw the song as an anthem. I get a lot of letters about that. So its been interpreted in many ways."
- Tempest: "We were putting out our third album and we wanted a really 'grand' opening for the show. So, I had that riff tucked away in a drawer since my college years and I took it out, found a tempo for it, wrote lyrics and it turned out to be a great opening for that album and for the show as well."
- The song is used as the introduction theme at the UK soccer team Blackburn Rovers and its the theme song for the NBA team Detroit Pistons.
- This was #1 in 26 countries including Germany and over 8 million singles were sold worldwide.
- This was voted #1 on VH1's 40 Most Awesomely Bad Metal Songs.