FOX411 called Europe singer Joey Tempest  during a tour stop in Munich, Germany to discuss how the band got its name, why “The Final Countdown” continues to connect with so many people, and what they might do if they got to play in space. An excerpt follows:

FOX411: What was the very first record that you got into as a kid, growing up in Sweden?

Tempest: “I’m pretty sure it was “Space Oddity” by David Bowie, the single (released in 1969). We had to travel 20-30 minutes on a train just to get to a good record store. I remember my friends talking about it, and when I heard it, I thought, ‘I have to get that’.”

FOX411: That song had a lot of impact on you, because it also inspired one of your biggest songs, “The Final Countdown”.

Tempest: “Yeah, it’s true. He was really fascinated with space, which fascinated me. David Bowie, talking about “floating in a tin can” — I was very taken by that. That was in my mind when I started working on the lyrics for “The Final Countdown”. I had the music first, and I played it over and over and over again, in my basement. I sang different things until I got to “the final countdown,” which fitted it really well. My thought was, the world is expanding and we’re leaving; we’re going up there in space. So the “Space Oddity” lyric really sparked that idea.”

FOX411: It’s become such a tremendously iconic song worldwide, right when it was released in 1986. It hit #1 in 25 countries at least, maybe more.

Tempest: (chuckles) “Yeah, we never really expected that, especially because it was over 6 minutes long. As a band, we thought it was an interesting song, and it would be a great opener for our show; something to capture people’s attention. We kept it as an opening track for a while, but then everybody started telling me, “You gotta switch it and put it at the end.” Then we started using it as an encore.”

Read more of the interview at FOX411.

Billboard.com recently reported that Europe’s appearance in a GEICO ad continues to pay dividends for the band, as "The Final Countdown" hit No. 1 on Billboard and Clio Music's Top Commercials Chart, powered by Shazam, for the month of October.

Using tagging data from Shazam, as well as sales and streaming information tracked by Nielsen Music, Billboard partners with Clio Music each month to present a chart ranking the top songs in commercials. Rankings exclude any song that has recently charted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.

“The Final Countdown" leaps 4-1 on the October Top Commercials chart as the rock band's ad in the insurance company's "It's What You Do" campaign managed 12,000 Shazam tags, up from 11,000 last month. It rises with 28,000 in digital sales and 5.8 million US streams, up from 20,000 and 3.7 million, respectively, in September. The song spent four weeks atop Billboard's Hard Rock Digital Songs chart, sparked by its newfound attention, marking the band's first #1 on a Billboard chart. The anthem reached #8 on the Hot 100 in 1987.

Read more at Billboard.com.

Europe have revealed their plans for 2016, which include work on a brand new studio album, and some special events to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their breakthrough album, The Final Countdown.

Speaking exclusively to Gigs And Festivals, singer Joey Tempest discussed planning a new release in 2017 - “we’re looking at booking some studio time in September next year” – and plans to celebrate the three-decade milestone of The Final Countdown in a suitably epic way.

Speaking about the anniversary, Tempest revealed that Europe will be playing the album in its entirety at a few select shows: “There’ll be a few shows regarding the anniversary of the The Final Countdown [in 2016]”.

Read more at Gigs And Festivals.

Europe’s place as a legendary hard rock band was platinum-stamped early in their career. Having enjoyed an explosive period of worldwide success in the ‘80s (under-pinned by their hit album and single The Final Countdown), 2015’s War Of Kings has seen them take full advantage of the global groundwork Europe have keenly re-established over the last few years.

Recently, it was decided that Europe’s momentous live appearance at Wacken 2015 should not only be filmed and recorded, but released as a DVD & BluRay. Europe’s War Of Kings Special Edition includes the original War Of Kings CD plus said Wacken 2015 DVD & BluRay, and will hit stores in North America on December 4th via Hell & Back Recordings/UDR Music.

Check out the first taste from the release - “Nothin’ To Ya” - below:

The set will come in three formats (2-disc Ecolbook CD+DVD, 2-disc Ecolbook CD+ BluRay, Limited Edition Deluxe Package with War Of Kings CD + DVD + BluRay and Photobook), and an audio-only edition of the Wacken 2015 performance will also be available via digital format.

Joey Tempest states, “Very excited to have the War Of Kings Special Edition coming out with our Wacken Festival performance as bonus disc and so great to soon be back in the USA after our very successful east coast shows earlier this year – covering a lot more States this time.. The War Of Kings tour continues!”

CD tracklisting:

“War Of Kings”
“Hole In My Pocket”
“The Second Day”
“Praise You”
“Nothin’ To Ya”
“California 405”
“Days Of Rock ‘N’ Roll”
“Children Of The Mind”
“Rainbow Bridge”
“Angels (With Broken Hearts)”
“Light It Up”
“Vasastan” (Instrumental)
    
DVD & BluRay tracklisting:

“War Of Kings”
“Hole In My Pocket”
“Superstitious”
“Scream Of Anger”
“Last Look At Eden”
“Second Day”
“Firebox”
“Sign Of The Times”
“Praise You”
“The Beast”
“Ready Or Not”
“Girl From Lebanon”
“Nothin’ To Ya”
“Let The Good Times Rock”
“Rock The Night”
“Days Of Rock ‘N’ Roll”
“The Final Countdown”

In celebration of this release, Europe is announcing the War Of Kings US Tour 2016. The tour begins in San Jose, CA on January 19th, and hits 16 cities before coming to a close in Atlanta, GA on February 6th. General on-sale begins next Friday, October 23rd at 9 AM, PT/12 PM, ET via all major ticketing sites or Europetheband.com.

Tour dates:

January
19 - San Jose, CA - Rockbar Theater
20 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove
22 - Los Angeles, CA - Saban Theater
23 - Las Vegas, NV - Hard Rock Live
24 - San Diego, CA - Music Box Theater
25 - Chandler, AZ - Wild Horse Pass Casino
27 - Lawrence, KS - The Granada Theater
28 - Sioux Falls, SD - Badlands Pawn
29 - Shawnee, OK - The Grand Events Ctr
30 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
31 - Houston, TX - House of Blues

February
2 - Fort Lauderdale, IL - Revolution
3 - St. Petersburg, FL - The Concert Courtyard - Ferg’s
4 - Lake Buena Vista, FL - House of Blues
5 - Biloxi, MS - Hard Rock Casino
6 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade