#1: Major Tom by Peter Schilling
Peak Month: November 1983
Peak Position #1
19 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG Chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
YouTube.com: “Major Tom”
Lyrics: “Major Tom”
Pierre Michael Schilling was born in 1956 in Stuttgart, West Germany. As a teen, Schilling couldn’t decide on whether to be a soccer player or a singer. But at the age of twenty, in 1976, Schilling released his first single in West Germany titled “Träume sind mehr als nur Illusionen”. A second single was released in West Germany in 1979 titled “Gib her das Ding/Frei sein ist schön”. A third single in 1980 was released as well in West Germany titled “Heut ist was los auf der Autobahn”. A fifth German language release was in late 1982 titled “Major Tom (völlig losgelöst)”. The German-language version climbed to #1 in West Germany on January 31, 1983. It remained in the number-one spot for eight weeks through March 21st. The German-language version by Schilling also topped the pop charts in both Austria and Switzerland in February 1983.