Bullz-Eye recently had a chance to sit down with The Hoff and talk about his upcoming A&E show, The Hasselhoffs, which stars David Hasselhoff and his two daughters. Of course you know The Hoff as more than that. He was Knight Rider, the star of Baywatch, and he has a crazy successful music career over in Germany and beyond. He’s among the most legendary and iconic figures in television and pop culture, and, as he tells it, it all happened because he just learned to go with the flow.
Here’s a quick excerpt from the Bullz-Eye interview with The Hoff:
BE: To talk about Germany for a moment, Norm MacDonald obviously had fun with his punchline, “Germans love David Hasselhoff,” but for many years, Americans didn’t even know that you had a musical career. Are you surprised that your music never really crossed over to the States on the same level?
DH: Not surprised, because…I kind of, like, go with the flow. It was so big over there, and it was because I was doing the whole “American sings German music” thing. It wasn’t in German, it was in English, but it worked so well that it was…it’s difficult for an actor to break through as a singer in America. I was the “Knight Rider” guy, I was the “Baywatch” guy, and nobody was interested in doing my musical career. And I said, “Well, I don’t care!” (Laughs) So I got on an airplane and flew to Germany and sold millions of records! I was playing to 10,000 people a night! When I was on the bow of the boat on “Baywatch,” it was with a brand new telephone, booking corporate gigs for the weekend. I was flying over and doing corporate gigs or concerts on the weekends, then coming back to “Baywatch,” which was the #1 syndicated show on the planet for a minute. It lasted 11 years, we owned it, and I was part of that whole business thing. I was traveling the world, and I saw what was happening. I saw television changing from government-owned TV to privately-owned cable, channels popping up everywhere. We got in on the ground floor, and a lot of that had to do with the fact that “Knight Rider” was canceled and I couldn’t get a job! (Laughs) So I said, “You know what? Let’s take a couple of cars and ship ‘em over to Germany, and if they don’t come to see me, they’ll come and see the car!” And now I’ve got nine million records sold, about 40 gold or platinum records on my walls from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Holland. And it all happened because…well, it just happened! I just said, “Well, shit, I’m out of work. Let’s go here!” And the next thing you know… (Laughs) I knew I could sing!
For more of David Hasselhoff’s story (and there’s a lot more – that man can talk!), head over to Bullz-Eye.com.
