Songfacts®:

• The German Film Star referred to in the song is not Klaus Kinski, Rutger Hauer or any other leading German actor of the early 1980s. It was instead the very British Stephen 'Roadent' Conolly, one time roadie for The Clash. He was however, for a time in the late 1970s a TV actor on German television, notably playing the Joker in the 1979 miniseries Das Ding (The Heist).
• The unusual bass drum sound on the record was achieved by feeding the signal through a vocoder.
• On Passions web site, bass guitarist David Agar says of this song: "It was a song that almost seemed to write itself. We were 'rehearsing' at Clink studios in Southwark, which meant standing around holding instruments while sipping really bad tea. Clive (Timperley, guitarist) and I were jamming a three chord progression which Barbara (Gogan, vocalist) liked. She scribbled a few words. We stopped. 'I'm in love with a German film star' Barbara said. Richard (Williams, drummer) put his fag out and picked up his drumsticks. 'That's a hit single' he said."
• In 2005 Foo Fighters recorded a version of this, which is included on their 2005 Best Of You CD. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for all above