Superstar duets and co-ops are trending right now. Not only in the globally booming Latin music scene, such as Manuel Torizo and Marshmellow with “El Merengue”. In other genres, too, big names climb into the comfortably warm community pool with songs they share, hoping to get a place in the global charts.
Projects by German-speaking musicians with international superstars have been few and far between. Especially when German songwriting is trimmed “ready for the world market” via interpretations from Great Britain or the USA. The co-op between US singer Anastacia and Die Toten Hosen from Düsseldorf is all the more remarkable.
According to a press release, the US singer will serve German songs as cover versions for her new album. It starts with a single coupling of the great feeling anthem “Days Like This”, which comes from the 2012 album “Ballast Der Republik” – and was initially considered rather controversial in Hosen-internal circles. Ultimately, the song ended up on the record – and became a key track of the advanced Hosen career.
Anastacia sees “Days Like These” from a completely different perspective: “It’s a party song. And I feel that too when I sing it. I’m happy to share that: with Italians, Brits, Australians. There are so many people who don’t even know how great this song is.”
By the way, a quick look at the singer’s biography reveals no special connection to German pop. Anastasia is from Chicago, but her father Robert Newkirk has an ancestral connection to the German Empire, and her mother and Broadway actress Diane Hurley is of Irish descent.
On Anastacia’s website you can listen and watch a cute power rock version of the Hosen originals. Memories of Tina Turner classics like “Simply The Best” come to life.
The corresponding video is a heart/pain story shot in Lisbon, Portugal. Anastacia explains through her management that the English translation was sung as a demo by Campino himself. He was said to be “enthusiastic” about the project. Perhaps also in view of the additional income to be expected from the international recycling systems. “Luckily he likes the version. He’s proud and approved of it,” said the 54-year-old.
For autumn 2023, the US singer has announced a whole album with German classics under the title “Our Songs”. “Through this project, I discovered a love for German music that I knew nothing about before. It brought me closer to the German culture and language.”
Anastacia celebrated great success in Europe and especially Germany in the 2000s, with hit singles like “I’m Outta Love”, “Paid My Dues” or “Sick And Tired”.