"Eins, Zwei, Polizei" (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: "One, Two, Police") is a song co-written and recorded by Italian

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

musician

Mo-Do Fabio Frittelli (24 July 1966 – 6 February 2013), better known by his pseudonym Mo-Do, was an Italian musician. Mo-Do appeared in the 1990s as an Italian electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ ele ...

(a.k.a. Fabio Frittelli) and released in 1994 by label Expanded Music as the debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from his first and only album, ''Was Ist Das?'' (1995). The song got its inspiration from " Der Kommissar" by Austrian singer Falco and "

Da Da Da "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha" (usually shortened to "Da Da Da") is a song by the German band Trio. Trio was formed in 1980 by Stephan Remmler, Gert "Kralle" Krawinkel and Peter Behrens. Released as a single in 198 ...

" by German band

Trio Trio may refer to: Music Groups * Trio (music), an ensemble of three performers, or a composition for such an ensemble ** Jazz trio, pianist, double bassist, drummer ** Minuet and trio, a form in classical music ** String trio, a group of three ...

, both released in the early 1980s. It was co-produced by Claudio Zennaro and Fulvio Zafret, and achieved great success in many European countries. "Eins, Zwei, Polizei" reached the number-one position in Austria, Germany and Italy.

Giuseppe Capotondi Giuseppe Capotondi (born 1 January 1968) is an Italian director of feature films, music videos and commercials signed to Oil Factory in the United States and Factory Films in the United Kingdom. Before signing with Factory Films, he worked with ...

directed the accompanying music video. The song has been remixed and re-released several times. In 1995, it was remixed by DJ XTC of Chile, in 2000, it was re-released in a remix by Maurizio Ferrara, in 2008 with remixes by German DJ

Blutonium Boy Dirk Adamiak (born 1970), better known by his stage name Blutonium Boy, is a hardstyle producer and DJ from Germany. He started playing as a DJ in 1988. Career In 1986, Blutonium Boy began his DJ career in a small club in southern Germany. In ...

and Floorfilla, and in 2019, the song was reworked by Dutch-Turkish DJ

Ummet Ozcan Ummet Ozcan (born 16 August 1982) is a Dutch DJ and producer of Turkish origin, specializing in the techno genre. Life and career Ummet Ozcan is the son of Turkish parents; he was born and grew up in the Netherlands. He says that his Turkish ...

Background and release

The song was born out of a chance meeting of Italian

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance musi ...

producer Einstein Dr. DJ and German model and musician Fabio Frittelli (Mo-Do) at a rave party in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany. The lyrics ''Eins, Zwei, Polizei'' come from a

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fr ...

Einstein's Austrian grandmother used to sing to him. The track's sound epitomized European dance trends at the time and managed to break big without English lyrics, but was not a big hit in the UK. According to ZYX UK manager John Richards, "Eins, Zwei, Polizei" got little response in the UK "mainly because of the German vocal". However, it became a European-wide success and was also released in the US on 15 August 1994. Mark Dezzani from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine described the song as a "

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

-lullaby".

Chart performance

"Eins, Zwei, Polizei" was a commercial success across Europe, remaining Fabio Frittelli's biggest hit. It peaked at number-one in Austria (7 weeks), Germany (4 weeks) and Italy (2 weeks), with a total of 18, 22 and 23 weeks inside the singles charts. In Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands, it peaked at number two, being kept off the number-one position by

Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish soft rock band formed in 1982. They scored a number of hits on the UK charts and around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. They are best known for their 1994 cover of the Troggs' 1960s hit " Love Is All Around", which ...

's "

Love Is All Around "Love Is All Around" is a song recorded by English rock band the Troggs. Released as a single in October 1967, it was a top-ten hit in both the UK and US. "Love Is All Around" has been covered by numerous artists, including R.E.M., with w ...

Rednex Rednex is a Swedish musical group whose style is a mix of American country music and modern eurodance, with their appearance and stage names taking inspiration from the American redneck stereotypes. The band originally consisted of the lead s ...

' "

Cotton Eye Joe "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (also known as "Cotton-Eye Joe") ( Roud 942) is a traditional American country folk song popular at various times throughout the United States and Canada. It has historical associations with slavery in the American South. The ...

" and

Marco Borsato Marco Roberto Borsato (, ; born 21 December 1966) is a Dutch people, Dutch singer. Born in Alkmaar, North Holland, he started performing in Italian language, Italian before switching to Dutch language, Dutch in 1994. He has consistently been one o ...

's " Dromen Zijn Bedrog". The single was a top-10 hit also in Finland (3), France (8), Spain (3), Sweden (9) and Switzerland (5),Finnish peak for "Eins, Zwei, Polizei"
/ref> as well as on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, where it reached number four in September 1994, after 16 weeks on the chart. In the United Kingdom and Scotland, "Eins, Zwei, Polizei" reached numbers 81 and 76 in its first week at the UK Singles Chart and the

Scottish Singles Chart The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, ...

on 9 October 1994. In Austria and Belgium, it ended up at numbers six and 18 on the countries' year-end chart. The single earned a

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in both Austria and Germany, with a sale of 25,000 and 250,000 units.

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Eins, Zwei, Polizei" was directed by

, an Italian director of feature films, music videos and commercials. It features Mo-Do performing at a crowded party in a hotelroom. The video was A-listed on Germany's VIVA in September 1994, and later made available on Expanded Music's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel in 2015. As of April 2025, the video had generated more than 64 million views.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1994 debut singles 1994 songs Songs in German Mo-Do songs Music videos directed by Giuseppe Capotondi Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Italy Ultratop 50 Singles (Wallonia) number-one singles