"Das Boot" (released in the UK and US as "The Boat") is the title theme to the film and TV series ''

Das Boot ''Das Boot'' (, English: "The Boat") is a 1981 West German war film written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, produced by Günter Rohrbach, and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann. It has been exhibited both ...

'', composed and produced by

Klaus Doldinger Klaus Doldinger (born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of 1997's Bavarian Film Awards. Life and work Doldinger was born in Berlin, Germany, and entered a Düsse ...

, and released as a single in 1981. In 1991, the song was covered by Alex Christensen and his dance music project

U96 U96 is a German musical project formed by DJ and producer Alex Christensen, and a team of producers named Matiz ( Ingo Hauss, Helmut Hoinkis, and Hayo Lewerentz). After a decade-long hiatus, the band returned in 2018 without Christensen and Ho ...

. This

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

version was U96's debut single from the album of the same name. On the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

, the U96 version of "Das Boot" spent 13 weeks at number one in early 1992. It also became a number-one hit in Austria, Israel, Norway and Switzerland and entered the top 10 in Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. In the UK, it peaked at number 18 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The song was the subject of many remixes throughout the years.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' noted that "with no significant airplay, this

version of the theme to the movie "

" is number one for the second consecutive week in Germany. It's like

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize t ...

on acid, or plain

Front 242 Front 242 is a Belgian electronic music group that came into prominence during the 1980s. Pioneering the style they called electronic body music, they are a profound influence on the electronic and industrial music genres. History Formation ...

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland * James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman * James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), S ...

from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

s ''RM'' Dance Update wrote that "this

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

based DJ's vocoder produced and Asdic pinged techno treatment of

's original theme is in basic chugging 0-122.9bpm Techno (with beat losing edits midway), far fiercer smoothly thrumming electro 0-127.1bpm Strings 127, Accordian, Echo Mix, 127 BPM and — fiercest of all — 0-130.9bpm 131 BPM Versions. Dive! Dive! Dive!"

Chart performance

"Das Boot" peaked at number one in Germany, Norway and Switzerland. In Germany, it spent 13 weeks atop the chart. The single also made it to the top 10 in Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands and Sweden, as well as on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by '' Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately ...

, where it reached number three. Additionally, "Das Boot" peaked within the Top 20 in Belgium, Ireland and the United Kingdom. In the latter, it debuted at number 37, and peaked at number 18 in its third week on the

, on 6 September 1992. Outside Europe, the single was a huge hit in Israel, where it peaked at number-one in April 1992. It was also awarded with a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

in Austria, with a sale of 15,000 singles.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for "Das Boot" was directed by Peter Claridge. It used footage from the 1981 German submarine film

, directed by

Wolfgang Petersen Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the World War II submarine warfare film '' Das Boot'' (1981). His other films include '' The ...

. When the song peaked at number one in Germany, the video had not yet been produced.Spahr, Wolfgang; Pride, Dominic (4 December 1993). "After three decades, German dance music still floors the world". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''. Vol. 105. Issue 49.

Track listings

* 7-inch single # "Das Boot" # "Das Boot" (Mickey Finn full version) * 12-inch maxi # "Das Boot" (techno version) – 5:14 # "Tiefenrausch" – 4:18 * CD maxi # "Das Boot" (techno version) – 5:14 # "Tiefenrausch" – 4:18 # "Das Boot" (trigger version) – 5:14 * Cassette # "Das Boot" (techno version) – 5:14 # "Das Boot" (trigger version) – 5:14 * CD maxi – Remixes # "Das Boot / Kennedy" (Megamix – I Wanna Be a Kennedy) – 6:14 # "Sonar Sequences – 6:13 # "Das Boot" – 3:25 * CD maxi – 2001 remixes # "Das Boot 2001" (radio edit) – 3:41 # "Das Boot 2001" (DJ Mellow-D remix) – 8:22 # "Das Boot 2001" (Cosmic Gate remix) – 7:41 # "Anthem 2001" – 3:19 * 12-inch maxi – 2001 remixes # "Das Boot 2001" (Cosmic Gate remix) – 7:41 # "Das Boot 2001" (DJ Errik remix) – 8:05 # "Das Boot 2001" (Schiller remix) – 8:23 # "Das Boot 2001" (Avancada remix) – 8:12

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

"Das Boot"

"Boot II"

"Das Boot 2001"

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boot, Das 1981 songs 1981 singles 1991 debut singles 1995 singles 2001 singles Film theme songs Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Israel Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Switzerland Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Alex Christensen Songs about boats Songs written for films U96 songs