Jeanny (song)

"Jeanny" is a song by Austrian singer Falco, released in December 1985 as the third single from his third studio album, Falco 3 (1985).^[1] It was written and composed by Falco and Rob and Ferdi Bolland, who also produced the song.

"Jeanny"
Single by Falco
from the album Falco 3
Released	22 December 1985
Recorded	1985
Length	5:53
Label	GIG
Songwriters	Rob and Ferdi Bolland Falco
Producers	Rob and Ferdi Bolland
Falco singles chronology
"Vienna Calling" (1985) "Jeanny" (1985) "The Sound of Musik" (1986)
Music video
"Jeanny" on YouTube

Controversial due to its lyrics, the song nonetheless topped the charts in numerous European countries. The single re-entered the Austrian Singles Chart in 2008 at number 56 and in 2017 at number 47.^[2]

The part of the "news flash" in the track is spoken by German newsreader Wilhelm Wieben.

Boycott

Several feminist associations called for a boycott of the song. Some TV and radio stations in West Germany agreed and did not play the song "for ethical reasons", while others just played it on their charts shows. In East Germany, the song was not on air and playing it in dance clubs was prohibited.

There were also demands to prohibit the song in West Germany, but officials denied the application in April 1986. This angered news presenter Dieter Kronzucker, who presented the daily news magazine heute-journal for the West German public TV station ZDF. Following this, further radio stations followed the boycott. In the German federal state of Hesse, the song was aired accompanied by a warning. In the popular music show Formel Eins (de) cutscenes were aired, but only whilst the song was at the top of the charts.

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Jeanny Part I" Chart (1986) Peak position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[2] 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[3] 2 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[4] 21 France (SNEP)[5] 25 Italy (Musica e dischi)[6] 14 Japan (Oricon Top 200)[7] 5 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[8] 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[10] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[11] 7 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[12] 1 UK Singles (OCC)[13] 68 West Germany (GfK)[14] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Jeanny Part I" Chart (1986) Position Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[15] 4 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[16] 39 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[17] 31 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[18] 12 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[19] 6 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 4 West Germany (Official German Charts)[21] 1

Certifications

Certifications for "Jeanny Part I"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[22]	Gold	50,000*
Germany (BVMI)[23]	Gold	500,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[24]	Gold	75,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

"Coming Home (Jeanny Part II, One Year Later)"

"Coming Home (Jeanny Part II, One Year Later)"
Single by Falco
from the album Emotional
Released	12 October 1986
Recorded	1985–1986
Length	5:32
Label	Teldec
Songwriters	Bolland & Bolland Falco
Producers	Rob and Ferdi Bolland
Falco singles chronology
"The Sound of Musik" (1986) "Coming Home (Jeanny Part II, One Year Later)" (1986) "Emotional" (1986)

In 1986, Falco recorded a sequel to "Jeanny Part I", titled "Coming Home (Jeanny Part II, One Year Later)", for his fourth album, Emotional.^[25] The song was released as the album's single, reaching number 1 in Germany and the top five in Austria, Norway and Switzerland. The single's B-side, "Crime Time", also appears on Emotional.^[25]

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Coming Home (Jeanny Part II, One Year Later)"

Chart (1986–1987)	Peak position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[26]	4
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[27]	53
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[28]	27
Norway (VG-lista)[29]	4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[30]	11
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[31]	3
West Germany (GfK)[32]	1

Year-end chart performance for "Coming Home (Jeanny Part II, One Year Later)"

Chart (1986)	Position
West Germany (Official German Charts)[21]	36

"The Spirit Never Dies (Jeanny Final)"

The album The Spirit Never Dies was released posthumously in 2009 as a compilation of unpublished Falco songs. The title track, "The Spirit Never Dies (Jeanny Final)", was also released as a single. The track was found by chance after a water-pipe burst in the archives of the recording studio Mörfelden-Walldorf that was used by Falco's producer Gunther Mende in 1987. After the closing of the archives, the tapes were sent to Mende personally, who then had a look at the material, all of which had originally been rejected by Falco's recording label Teldec; this was explained by Horst Bork in an interview mentioning that Falco had tried to use a different style of music at the time that the label did not want to support.^[33] The single reached number 3 in Austria.

The video for the song is an assembly of cut scenes from earlier Falco music videos along with photos and video clips of Falco's girlfriend Caroline Perron.

TV movie

The plot of "Jeanny Part 1" is the basis for the German-Austrian TV movie "Jeanny - Das 5. Mädchen (de)" (Jeanny - The 5th girl), that was released on 30 January 2022 (the 65th birthday of Falco). The movie starred Manuel Rubey who in 2008 portrayed Falco in the biopic Falco: Damn, we're still alive!.

Music video

In "Part I", the Jeanny character is portrayed by 15-year-old Theresa Guggenberger, a student from the dance school associated with the Theater an der Wien. She was selected from those taking part in a formal job casting prior to the video shoot. Despite the public outcry, she never felt uneasy about her appearance and reprised the role in "Part II".^[34] The video for "Part I" contains a number of references to crime scenes both real and fictional. The "news break" portion refers obliquely to Jack Unterweger who was still in jail at the time. The "F" on Falco's trenchcoat in the video refers to the 1931 German film M by Fritz Lang in which a blind man marks the murderer with a chalk sign in the same way. The location in the underground canal is the same as in the 1949 film The Third Man. The main location in the video for "Part I" is the Opernpassage in Vienna. The main location in the video for "Part II" is the Gasometer in Vienna.