Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.04.2010, Side 31

19
Viking hotel
Viking restaurants
Viking live entertainment
Viking Souveniers
For booking and further information:
Tel.: (+354) 565-1213
vikings@vikingvillage.is - www.vikingvillage.is
Strandgata 55 Hafnarfjordur
C Experienced teachers
C Morning and
evening classes
C Downtown location
C 3 levels
CModest-sized groups,
max. 12
Ingólfsstræti 8, 101 Reykjavík, simi: 692 8818
islenska@multi-kulti.org www.multi-kulti.org
NEXT COURSES STARTING:
MARCH 8th.
ICELANDIC 1
Mon. Wed. and Thu.
19:00-20:30
ICELANDIC 2
Mon. Wed. and Thu.
11:30-13:30
ICELANDIC 3
Mon. Wed. and Thu.
09:00-11:00
Icelandic
for foreigners
INFORMATION
& REGISTRATION:
islenska@multi-kulti.org Tel.: 692 8818
PRICE:
60 CLASS HOURS
24.000 ÍSKR.
APRIL 4th.
ICELANDIC 2
Mon. Wed. and Thu.
17:15-18:45
APRIL 29th.
ICELANDIC 1
Mon. Wed. and Thu.
09:00-11:00
RESTAURANT- BAR
Vesturgata 3B | 101 Reykjavík
Tel: 551 2344 | www.tapas.is
Taste the
best of
Iceland ...
Icelandic
Gourmet Fiest
Starts with a shot of the infamous
Icelandic spirit Brennívín
Smoked puffin with blueberry
“brennivín” sauce
Icelandic sea-trout with peppers-salsa
Lobster tails baked in garlic
Pan-fried monkfish with lobster sauce
Grilled Icelandic lamb Samfaina
Minke Whale with cranberry-sauce
Chocolate cake with berry compoté
and whipped cream
Our kitchen is open
to 23:30 on weekdays
and 01:00 on weekends
Tannvernd barna
dr. Gunni’s history of icelandic Rock | Part 17
The rhythm sec-
tion of Utan-
g a r ð s m e n n —
Magnús and
R ú n a r — c a m e
from the tiny vil-
lage of Raufar-
höfn. Brothers
Mike and Danny Pollock were the gui-
tar players, two dudes with an Icelandic
mother and an American father. They and
Bubbi had met at the box factory Kas-
sagerðin, where they all worked, and an
electric friendship had developed.
Bubbi Morthens had been writing
music since 1974, when he was 17 years
old. He was a migrant worker, going from
village to village, working in fish factories,
getting drunk and banging out original
radical folk songs under the influence of
Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. He played
his stuff for co-workers on his acoustic
guitar, and had sometimes played gigs,
including ones for the Icelandic Folk Mu-
sic Society. When Bubbi started working
on his debut solo album in a small 8-track
studio, the original idea was to make an
acoustic Dylan-inspired album. He paid
for the studio out of his own pocket, so
the album processed slowly. After meet-
ing the Pollocks, Bubbi traded out Dylan
for punk rock, or as he called it, “guano
rock”.
Bubbi’s debut album, Ísbjarnarblús
(“Polar bear blues,” named after a noto-
rious Reykjavík fish factory, Ísbjörninn)
was released on June 17, 1980. By that
time, Utangarðsmenn had played a lot all
over Iceland and more and more people
had started taking notice. In June, Utan-
garðsmenn supported none other than
The Clash in Reykjavík. Of course, this
was an awesome show and there was
definitely something in the air, some wave
of freshness hitting the Icelandic music
scene.
Up to that time, all the main players
on the Icelandic pop scene had roots in
the sixties, like Björgvin Halldórsson, who
had been the main pop star in Iceland for
most of the seventies, both with his solo
albums, his Eagles-inspired band Brimkló
and his 50s rock (a la Grease, Ameri-
can Graffiti, et al) inspired trio HLH-
flokkurinn. There was stagnation and an
urgent need for a younger generation to
make a difference. Bubbi went straight
for the jugular on Utangarðsmenn’s first
four track EP, released Oct 1st, 1980: “I’m
a certified invalid / I listen to HLH and
Brimkló / I’m a certified idiot / allow my-
self to be ridiculed / support the market”
he sung on “Ha Ha Ha,” a reggae track,
subtitled “Shrimp-reggae.” The old guard
tried to be cool about the insult, but of
course many were deeply offended.
Utangarðsmenn were in a hurry. The
band’s only studio LP, Geislavirkir (Radio-
active), was released that November, and
has since become a classic. On it the band
runs through guano rock ditties such as
“Hiroshima”, with its catchy chorus: “You
will all… You will all… You will all... DIE!!!”
(This was during the heights of cold war,
you see), but occasionally slows down to
chillier reggae tunes. Bubbi was all over
the media, commenting on various issues
and ridiculing the old stiffs. In 1980 he
became the biggest rock star Iceland had
seen since, well, since Björgvin Halldórs-
son eleven years earlier. All the attention
he got, his fierceness and coolness, it was
impossible not to be fascinated. He was
the horse that hauled the rock wagon.
All over the place, new bands were be-
ing forming and would come out of the
woodworks in the following months. The
year 1981 was to become the freshest in
Icelandic rock history. More of that next
time.
- dR. Gunni
By Dr. Gunni, based on his 2000 book Eru ekki
allir í stuði? (Rock in Iceland). A revised update
of the book is forthcoming in 2010.1. Bubbi & utangarðsmenn doing
their guano rock thing in 1980
2. Geislavirkir lp
Utangarðsmenn
Dominate Iceland
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 04 — 2010
Fancy learning more about the Icelandic
punk revolution? Seek out Friðrik's Þór
feature length documentary on the subject,
Rokk í Reykjavík.