#21 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown: '99 Red Balloons' by Nena (1983)

Now presenting #21 of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown, and the song is 99 Red Balloons, by German synth-pop/new-wave band Nena. Nena (aka lead vocalist/song-writer/actress Gabriele Susanne Kerner) originally comes from Hagen, Germany where she started her music career back in 1981 with the band of the same name. This song was originally released in 1983 in German titled 99 Luft Balloons, but it was also translated into an English version, which is the version I am featuring here, although personally I like it better in German. Either way, this is the song that per her on the map, and I must add that there are quite a few other very worth-while songs to check out by this band that aren't as well known. 99 Red Balloons would hit the #1 spot in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the UK, and #2 in the USA. The band Nena went splitsville in 1987 and Nena started her solo-career at that point. According to wikipedia the song tells the story of 99 Red Balloons floating over the Berlin Wall into the Soviet sector and causing an apocalyptic reaction which was inspired by Nena's guitarist Carlo Karges when he was at a 1982 Rolling Stones concert.  So there is #21, and here we go into the Top 20!