Tom Waits used to be “Big in Japan.”
David Hasselhoff is and has always been “Big in Germany.”
Americans have long questioned the Germans’ inexplicable fascination with David Hasselhoff. Do Germans love David Hasselhoff because of his ability to rock a hairy chest as this blogger speculates? Or do the Germans love David Hasselhoff because he drove the world’s coolest talking car? It certainly can’t be David Hasselhoff’s musical ability or his penchant for getting drunk and rolling around on the floor.
Or are the rumors even true? Do Germans really love David Hasselhoff or is it just another Urban Legend?
I asked a couple of Germans about the supposed German obsession with Hasselhoff. One said that the rumor that Germans love David Hasselhoff was “worse than toothache” and asked “who the hell spreads that?” Another German said that Germans liked David Hasselhoff because Germans thought that Hasselhoff was the “typical American.” He added that he liked Hasselhoff for his “self-destructive lifestyle,” much the same way he thought Americans appreciated Charlie Sheen right now.
(The Germans I asked may have forgotten that David Hasselhoff performed in 1989 at the Berlin Wall, which probably added quite a bit to the “Legend of Hasselhoff” as well as his street cred with Germans. His two big music hits in Germany were “Looking for Freedom” and “Crazy for You.”)
To be fair to the Germans, Americans are not without a bit of Hasselhoff-love ourselves. If we didn’t love David Hasselhoff, why would Del Monte make a Hoffsicle for Americans to lick and enjoy on hot summer days? (Of course, licking a Hoffsicle can’t be any better than licking the real David Hasselhoff, not that I’ve had the pleasure personally.) Not many celebrities have popsicles made in their likeness, so this is quite an honor.
In addition to the Germans and Americans, the Brits now LOVE David Hasselhoff; according to THIS, David Hasselhoff was voted “Britain’s smoothest TV personality.” I don’t know about you, but this news makes me cringe at the thought of what the state of British TV must be like right now—I always that Brits were smooth in general, but maybe the word has a different connotation here than it does on the other side of the pond. In 2011, David Hasselhoff became a judge on “Britain’s Got Talent,” where he is now apparently much-beloved by his British fans.