Dschinghis Khan (song)

Dschinghis Khan (English translation: "Genghis 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.

"Dschinghis Khan"
Standard artwork (Jupiter release pictured)
Single by Dschinghis Khan
from the album Dschinghis Khan
Released1979 (1979)
Recorded1979
GenreDisco
LabelJupiter Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Bernd Meinunger
Eurovision Song Contest 1979 entry
Country
Artist(s)
  • Louis Hendrik Potgieter
  • Wolfgang Heichel
  • Henriette Heichel-Strobel
  • Edina Pop
  • Steve Bender
  • Leslie Mándoki
As
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Conductor
Finals performance
Final result
4th
Final points
86
Entry chronology
◄ "Feuer" (1978)   
"Theater" (1980) ►

Dschinghis Khan version

The song was performed ninth on the night (following Switzerland's Peter, Sue & Marc and Pfuri, Gorps & Kniri with "Trödler und Co" and preceding Israel's Milk and 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").[1]

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.[2]

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. Video on YouTube. It was covered by Grup Vitamin, Turkish parody music group as "Hayriye" in "Aşkın Gözyaşları" (Tears of Love), which was their 1994 album.

The song was also the entrance music of professional wrestler Uhaa Nation.

The song had a lasting success in Japan. In 2014 it was certified gold for 100,000 digital downloads, after first being released digitally in 2006.[3]

Frederik version

Finnish singer Frederik 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.[4] 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
"Dschinghis Khan"
Regular Edition cover
Single by Berryz Kobo
from the album 5 (Five)
B-side"Darling I LOVE YOU" (Berryz Kobo ver.)
ReleasedMarch 12, 2008[5]
Recorded2008
GenreJ-pop
LabelPiccolo Town
Songwriter(s)Bernd Meinunger, Iori Yamamoto
Producer(s)Tsunku
Berryz Kobo singles chronology
"Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi"
(2007)		 "Dschinghis Khan"
(2008)		 "Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance"
(2008)
Music videos
"Dschinghis Khan" on YouTube

The Japanese girl idol group Berryz Kobo 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 group's 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).[6]

The song was used as the main song to the group's musical, Dschinghis Khan ~Wa ga Tsurugi, Netsu Suna wo Some yo~ (ジンギスカン～わが剣、熱砂を染めよ～), running through January 2008.[7]

The single debuted at number 4 in the Oricon Daily Singles Chart and ranked 5th for the week.[8]

It was Berryz' highest selling single until the release of Motto Zutto Issho ni Itakatta / ROCK Erotic in 2013.

In 2009, the single was released in Thailand. It became one of the top songs of the year, ranking 26th in the Channel V Thailand's Asian Top 50 Year-End Chart of 2009.

Track listings

CD single
CD[6]
  1. Dschinghis Khan (ジンギスカン, Jingisukan)
  2. Darling I LOVE YOU (Berryz Kobo ver.) (ダーリン I LOVE YOU (Berryz工房 ver.), Dārin I LOVE YOU (Berryz Kōbō ver.))
  3. ジンギスカン (Instrumental)
Limited Edition DVD[9]
  1. ジンギスカン (Dance Shot Ver.)

Single V[10]
  1. ジンギスカン (Video Clip)
  2. ジンギスカン (Close-up Ver.)
  3. Making-of Video (メイキング映像, Meikingu Eizō)

Charts
Chart (2008) Peak
position		 Weeks
on chart		 Sales
First
week		 Total
Japan (Oricon Daily Singles Chart) 4
Japan (Oricon Weekly Singles Chart) 5 8[11] 30,667[8] 37,096

Awards

Japan Cable Awards

The Japan Cable Awards are sponsored by the National Cable Music Broadcasters Association (全国有線音楽放送協会).

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2008 "Dschinghis Khan" by Berryz Kobo Cable Music Award[11] Won
Grand Prix* Nominated

* awarded to the most requested song of the year on the cable radio

Dschinghis Khan × Berryz Kobo single
"Dschinghis Khan Tartar Mix"
CD single cover
Single by Dschinghis Khan×Berryz Kobo
ReleasedSeptember 17, 2008 (2008-09-17) (CD single) November 25, 2008 (2008-11-25) (Single V) (Japan)
GenreJ-pop, pop
LabelPiccolo Town
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Tsunku
Music videos
"Dschinghis Khan Tartar Mix" on YouTube "Dschinghis Khan Tartar Mix (Beta Ver.)" on YouTube

"Dschinghis Khan Tartar Mix" (ジンギスカン　タルタルミックス) is a single by the collaboration unit Dschinghis Khan×Berryz Kobo (ジンギスカン×Berryz工房). It was released on September 17, 2008, following the success of the single "Dschinghis Khan" by Berryz Kobo. The title track "Dschinghis Khan Tartar Mix" featured a mix of Berryz Kobo's and the original Dschinghis Khan's vocal tracks. The music video for the new song had Berryz Kobo digitally put into a video of an old Dschinghis Khan's performance, so that the two groups seemed to appear together at the ZDF-Hitparade television show.

The single debuted in the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart at number 35, staying in the list for 3 weeks.[12]

Charts
Chart (2008) Peak
position		 Weeks
on chart		 Sales
First
week		 Total
Japan (Oricon Weekly Singles Chart) 35 3[13] 2,847[12]

Track Listings

CD single
  1. Dschinghis Khan Tartar Mix (ジンギスカン タルタルミックス)
  2. Dschinghis Khan (Berryz Kobo Ver.) (ジンギスカン (Berryz工房 Ver.))
  3. Dschinghis Khan (Dschinghis Khan Original Ver.) (ジンギスカン (ジンギスカン オリジナル Ver.))

Single V
  1. Dschinghis Khan Tartar Mix (ジンギスカン タルタルミックス)
  2. Dschinghis Khan Tartar Mix (β Ver.) (ジンギスカン タルタルミックス(β Ver.))
  3. Making Eizō (メイキング映像, "Making-of")
gollark: Also, are you interested in these things at all?
gollark: Excellent.
gollark: Can they be nested?
gollark: I have to admit that this would have advantages.
gollark: Like those conspiracy theory things? Interesting.

Other covers
  • Swedish dansband Vikingarna released a Swedish-language version of the song, "Djingis Khan", on the 1979 album Kramgoa låtar 7[14] and as a 1979 single with "Annie's sång" acting as B-side. They also scored a Svensktoppen hit with the song for 10 weeks between 24 June-26 August 1979, including topping the chart.[15]
  • Another version of this song was performed by Thai band called Royal Sprite. The song was released in the 1980s in Thailand.[16]
  • In Chile, the musical group Malibú published a version in Spanish, called "Genghis Khan", whose lyrics practically is of the same argument that the original song.
  • Spanish singer Iván published a version under the title "Sin Amor".
  • Hong Kong Cantopop singer George Lam released a Cantonese cover of the song "Cheng Ji Si Han (成吉思汗)[17]", which is included in his 1979 album "Choice" (抉擇).
  • 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 Reiter on the Dschinghis Khan EP this EP was bonus Allegro Barbaro Re-Release.
  • A spoof version of this song is routinely performed by the comedy group Blondon Boys, in the Chilean variety late show "Morandé con Compañía". It's called "Somos heterosexuales por opción" ("We are heterosexual by choice")
  • A Yiddish song by Mordechai Ben David "Yidden" using the same tune seen here.

Notes
  1. "Dschinghis Khan" lyrics, Diggiloo.net
  2. "Dschinghis Khan" music video, Google Videos
  3. レコード協会調べ　4月度有料音楽配信認定 [Record Association Investigation: April Digital Music Download Certifications]. RIAJ (in Japanese). May 20, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  4. And it has stayed as an ever green hit in Finland. Bio, Frederik official website(in Finnish)
  5. "Berryz工房『写真満載★タイ・バンコクの初ライブを密着レポート！』-ORICON STYLE ミュージック" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2010-04-29. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  6. ジンギスカン, Berryz工房 Archived February 26, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Piccolotown
  7. "Berryz工房、モンゴル菓子を手土産に舞台応援！" (in Japanese). Oricon. 2007-12-26. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  8. "Oricon CD single Weekly Ranking - ORICON STYLE Ranking (2008-03-24)" (in Japanese). Oricon Inc. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
  9. ジンギスカン, Berryz工房, HMV Japan
  10. [ジンギスカン], Berryz工房, Piccolotown
  11. "ジンギスカン Ｂｅｒｒｙｚ工房のプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" [Berryz Kobo's Oricon profile] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
  12. "Oricon CD Single Weekly Ranking - ORICON STYLE Ranking (2008-09-29)" (in Japanese). Oricon Inc. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
  13. "ジンギスカン　タルタルミックス ジンギスカン×Ｂｅｒｒｙｚ工房のプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
  14. "Kramgoa låtar 7" (in Swedish). Svensk mediedatabas. 1979. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  15. "Svensktoppen". Sveriges Radio. 1979. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
  16. Browse by Label: ZUDRANGMA (THAILAND)
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