"Kriminaltango" (''Criminal tango'') is a

traditional pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western culture, Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known ...

song released in 1959. The Italian original by Piero Trombetta only achieved a modest success, whereas the German version performed by

Hazy Osterwald Rolf Osterwald, better known as Hazy Osterwald (February 18, 1922 in Bern – February 26, 2012 in Lucerne) was a Swiss jazz bandleader, trumpeter, and vibraphonist. Osterwald began his career as a pianist. He arranged for Fred Böhler in the ...

became a big hit in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Describing scenes from tavern, the Osterwald version juxtaposes the appearance of shady figures ("dunkle Gestalten") and their mysterious dealings with dancing tango ("Und sie tanzen einen Tango"). The song culminates with a shot in the dark and the arrival of the police, unable to assemble any evidence. The song was covered by

Die Toten Hosen Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Trousers", figuratively "The Deadbeats") is a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf. History The current members of Die Toten Hosen are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephe ...

, featuring

Kurt Raab Kurt Raab (20 July 1941 – 28 June 1988) was a West German stage and film actor, as well as a screenwriter and playwright. Raab is best remembered for his work with German film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with whom he collaborated on 31 ...

, in a non-album single in 1984. It was also covered by

The Deadfly Ensemble ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

, appearing as a bonus track on their album "

An Entire Wardrobe of Doubt and Uncertainty An, AN, aN, or an may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Airlinair (IATA airline code AN) * Alleanza Nazionale, a former political party in Italy * AnimeNEXT, an annual anime convention located in New Jersey * Anime North, a Canadian an ...

Die Toten Hosen cover

Track listing

# "Kriminaltango" (Trombetta/Feltz) − 3:32 # "Allein vor deinem Haus" (''Alone in front of your house'') (von Holst, Frege/Frege, Meurer, Trimpop) − 2:26 # "Es ist vorbei...." (''It's over....'') (Frege, von Holst/Frege, Meurer, Trimpop) − 3:09

References

''Eskapaden um den Kriminaltango''
- article about on the song at SWR (German, retrieved 2010-4-2) {{authority control 1984 singles 1959 songs Die Toten Hosen songs Songs with lyrics by Kurt Feltz