There is something that has always fascinated me about the differences in musical taste throughout the world. I remember back in the 90s finding out that David Hasselhoff – who Americans think of as just the actor from Knight Rider and Baywatch – was a hugely popular singer in Germany. That fact is still treated as a punchline today.
Sometimes a singer or band will get popular in a different country first and then become successful everywhere; Jimi Hendrix for example famously broke in England first. But more often than not when someone makes it outside of their native country it just seems weird to people at home. That’s the music you like? Don’t you realize we’ve got better to offer than that?
But sometimes everything lines up for success to happen that way. Hasselhoff’s German success can be largely attributed to him being in the right place at the right time, releasing a cover of a German song about freedom just as the Berlin wall was collapsing. And it was a similar story for the subject of today’s video.
This is the first video in my new series for the month - all about artists who made it but made it miles from home. Today’s video is available for everyone but to get the whole series make sure you are a paid subscriber.
Thank you for watching!
Patrick
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