Genghis Khan would have these guys executed

Can you imagine a crazy version of the Village People dressed like Klingons, singing songs in German to a beat suspiciously similar to yodel?

No???

Then you must check out...Dschinghis Khan!

This extremely corny band was very popular (no kidding) in Europe, Australia and other places around 1979-83. One of the band members looked like Yul Brynner. Their first song, also called "Dschinghis Khan" is still something of a classic. As is the dance act, which you can check out on Youtube. Other somewhat tolerable songs on this greatest hits album are "Pistolero", "Moskau" , "Hadschi Halef Omar" and "Samurai". There are also less tolerable songs about Aladdin, Ivanhoe, king Tut and Madagascar (!).

Apparently, the point of Dschinghis Khan was to mimic Boney M, another German band known for its curious lyrics. I can't say Ralph Siegel (the man behind Dschinghis Khan) was very successful in this. Boney M were better, had a more modern sound, and performed their songs in English. Dschinghis Khan were very much children of their times. But yes, many Germans actually *liked* this kind of music 30 years ago. In my opinion, Dschinghis Khan don't really work on CD. Half of the fun with these songs are the unimitable performances with "Brynner" and the Santa Claus character, not to mention the weird costumes (even gay men in Frisco would think twice before dressing like this!). By all means, buy this album, but you might want to browse Youtube once and in a while, just to get attuned to the vibes...

If you have the right sense of humour, you might actually like this band. But one thing is certain. Genghis Khan (the real one) would probably have them thrown to the Siberian tigers!