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To many in the US, today’s international artist is simply known as the “balloon chick.” That’s in no small part thanks to her #2 US hit about lighter-than-air party favors. And though this song is only a small part of Nena's career, she doesn’t mind the label One Hit Wonder. Because believe it or not, 99 Luftballoons is a masterful anthem speaking out against Cold War fear and paranoia. It’s the ultimate pop contradiction song, a light-hearted ditty with a heavyweight message.and Nena took it all the way to the top of the charts in 1984 and decades later it still resonates
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Hey music junkies and vinyl junkies Professor of Rock always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest 80s songs of all time for the music community and vinyl community with music history video essay's including today's Nena Reaction and 99 Lufballoons Story. If you’ve ever owned records, cassettes and CD’s at different times in you life or still do this is your place Subscribe below right now to be a part of our daily celebration of the rock era with exclusive stories from straight from the artists and click on our patreon link in the description to become an Honorary Producer.
It’s time for another for another edition of our series Bottled Lightening where we break down the history of a beloved one hit wonder that still resonates in our culture. Here we honor artists and bands and that one glorious hit they had that rocketed up the charts…and for reasons unknown didn’t have another commercial hit. On previous episodes we have covered My Sharona by The Knack, Melt with You by Modern English, and The Promise by When in Rome.
Today we are breaking down the German New Wave world-wide smash ‘99 Luftballons’ by Nena. After playing for years in an ill-fated band called The Stripes in Hagen, Germany; Gabriele Susanne “Nena” Kerner decided it was time to move on. So, she left the band and relocated to Berlin. There Kerner formed a new outfit called Nena in 1980 with her boyfriend Rolf Brendel on drums, Uwe Fahrenkrog-Peterson on keyboards, Jurgen Demel on bass and Carlos Karges on guitars. The name Nena was actually Kerner’s childhood nickname. It was given to her by her family while they were on holiday in Spain. In Spanish it means ‘little girl.’As the band started playing shows along the German club circuit, they quickly started garnering success. Their debut single ‘Nur Geträumt,’ or ‘Just a Dream’ in English, became a #1 hit in Germany and some other German-speaking countries.
Their first album, 1983’s self-titled Nena in also went to #1 in Germany. And much of the credit for that has to go to their follow-up single ‘99 Luftballoons.’ 99 Luftballoons’ literal translation is ‘99 Air Balloons,’ but is more accurately rendered simply as 99 Balloons. In 1983 it was released as Nena’s second single in Germany... This, even though their record company was against it. Apparently, there was some concern because the song didn’t have a chorus. And they just didn’t think it seemed commercial enough. But the band felt strongly about its message and pushed to get it out there. More on that in a minute.