While at a June 1982 concert by
the Rolling Stones in West Berlin, Nena's guitarist Carlo
Karges noticed that balloons were being released. As he
watched them move toward the horizon, he noticed them
shifting and changing shapes, where they looked like strange
spacecraft. He thought about what happen if they floated
over the Berlin Wall to the Soviet sector, that's how this
song came about. Originally released in January 1983 in the
German-speaking territories, "99 Luftballons" initially
reached number one in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. One
year later, the song surprisingly became a big smash in the
United States, where it peaked at no.2. At the same time it
topped the hitlists in United Kingdom, Canada, Australia,
New Zealand, and Ireland. US-American, Australian, and New
Zealand audiences preferred the original German version,
whereas an English translation of the song was released in
the other three countries. Furthermore it was another big
success in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway,
Finland, Spain, and even in Japan. "99 Luftballons" became
an anthem for the peace movement in the 1980s. |