The Final Countdown (song)

Last updated

"The Final Countdown"
The Final Countdown single.png
Single by Europe
from the album The Final Countdown
B-side "On Broken Wings"
Released
  • 19 May 1986 (US) [1]
  • 6 October 1986 (UK) [2]
Recorded1985
Genre
Length
  • 5:09 (album version)
  • 4:56 (video version)
  • 4:03 (radio edit)
Label Epic
Songwriter(s) Joey Tempest
Producer(s) Kevin Elson
Europe singles chronology
"Rock the Night"
(1985)
"The Final Countdown"
(1986)
"Love Chaser"
(1986)
Music video
"The Final Countdown" on YouTube

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for "The Final Countdown"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [63] Gold50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [64] Platinum90,000
France (SNEP) [65] Platinum1,000,000 [65]
Germany (BVMI) [66] Gold250,000
Italy (FIMI) [67]
sales since 2009
Platinum70,000
Japan (RIAJ) [68]
2003 digital release
Gold100,000*
Netherlands (NVPI) [69] Platinum100,000^
Portugal (AFP) [65] Platinum60,000 [65]
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [70] Platinum20,000*
United Kingdom (BPI) [22]
Physical and digital combined sales
Platinum600,000

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

"The Final Countdown 2000"

"The Final Countdown 2000"
Europe The Final Countdown 2000.JPG
Single by Europe
from the album 1982–2000
B-side "The Final Countdown" (Original Radio Edit)
Released7 December 1999 [71]
Length3:47
Label Epic
Songwriter(s) Joey Tempest
Producer(s)
Europe singles chronology
"Sweet Love Child"
(1993)
"The Final Countdown 2000"
(1999)
"Got to Have Faith"
(2004)

In 1999, the dance remix "The Final Countdown 2000" was released. It was produced by Brian Rawling, who had previously had success with "Believe" by Cher. The band's reaction to the remix was less than enthusiastic. "That remix was a disaster", drummer Ian Haugland said, "I wouldn't pass water on it if it was on fire!" [72] In a 2013 interview with The National , Joey Tempest commented on the remix, saying, "The band were not happy with it. We were trying to get some other people to do the remix and it just didn't pan out, so it ended up becoming a last-minute thing." [73]

Chart positions

Chart (1999–2000)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [71] 33
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) [74] 12
Germany (GfK) [75] 35
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [76] 60
Norway (VG-lista) [77] 12
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [78] 6
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [40] 33
UK Singles (OCC) [79] 36

Year-end charts

Chart (1999)Position
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [80] 99

Industry awards

YouTube Billion Views Award

YearNominee/WorkAwardRef.
2022The Final CountdownWon [81]

Legacy

The song is a favourite at sporting events; it is also often being played to sports championship events and victory parades for winning teams at professional sports leagues and college tournaments in front of the rally crowds while singing along. It has also become a staple of high school and college pep musical bands for the same purpose. [13]

On 26 December 1987, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ΕΡΤ), used the song as the theme for the documentary "The Road to Glory" about EuroBasket 1987, which was won by the Greece men's national basketball team. Since then, the song is considered by fans as the unofficial anthem of the team. [82]

The song was used as entrance music for professional wrestler Bryan Danielson on the independent circuit and in Ring of Honor (ROH) until September 2010, and again occasionally in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since 2023. [83]

On 2 October 1990, just a few hours before the German reunification, the English segment of international radio broadcaster of former East Germany RBI , played the intro of the song while the female radio announcer says: "Our broadcast came to you from Radio Berlin International, the voice of the disappearing German Democratic Republic". [84]

The most popular radio station in Israel, Galei Tzahal, had a daily program between 2009 and 2015 that one of its regular sections was dubbed: "People who think that 'The final countdown' is the best song ever choose the best song ever in their opinion". In which a random fan of the show would have come on air for a short interview about themselves and their relation to the song before they would have been asked what is the best song ever in their opinion - and then 'The final countdown' would have been played in its entirety to seal the interview. [85]

The song and band Europe appeared in a 2015 USA television commercial for GEICO insurance, playing in a lunchroom as a microwave oven's timer is counting down toward zero seconds, saying if you're Europe, "you love a final countdown: it's what you do." [44]

The song became the unofficial theme song for the Arrested Development television series character, George Oscar "Gob" Bluth II, who used it as an opening to his magic act. [86]

The song was featured in the teaser trailer for the fourth season of The Umbrella Academy. [87]

Cover versions

"The Final Countdown" is a particular favourite of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who incorporated elements of it into "Gone with the Wind", his 1999 reimagining of Lev Knipper's "Polyushko-polye". [88] [89]

American husband-and-wife banjo-players Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn performed an interpretation of the song in May 2015 for The A.V. Club 's A.V. Undercover series. [90] Time magazine called out the cover as "really, really lovely." [91]

See also

References

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