OK, class, in today’s post we have a pop quiz.

1. True or False: Tübingen is a town located in a part of Germany called Schwabia.

True.

2. True or False: Chubby Checker was a famous American Rock and Roll singer, known for the popularizing the Twist.

True. Some video performances of that song are on this page.

3. True or False: One of Chubby Checker’s pop hit was based on a Schwabian folk song.  And he sang it almost entirely in German.

True and true. In fact, it’s Troola-Troola-Troola-la, which is the name of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo3fQXK9p8s

The song is based on the famous-in-Germany song, Auf der schwäb’schen Eisebahne (“on the Schwabian railway”). You can hear a man performing it in the following clip – there’s a brief introduction before he starts singing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlVZcaM8nPo

I’m not sure what to make of this. I certainly have no explanation for this. If anyone can find any more information about this in English, let me know. Chris, my master Internet researcher, came up empty when searching for an explanation of why the heck Chubby Checker is singing this song – and singing it in German to boot.

BTW, the “B” side of the original record was also in German, a song called Autobahn Baby:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS8YReO-fxk

I don’t think that one was based on a Schwabian folk song about the Autobahn highway. But then, until yesterday, when one of Chris’ students told him about the Troola-la song, I would not have answered question 3 above correctly.

It just goes to show, you never really know what odd fact we’ll run across here in Tübingen.

Truly.