Reykjavík Grapevine - 24.09.2010, Blaðsíða 30

18
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 15 — 2010
Dr. Gunni's History Of Icelandic Rock | Part 23
By Dr. Gunni (Based on his book Eru ekki allir í stuði from 2001)
Bubbi Morthens and Utangarðsmenn
hit the dull sugarcoated Icelandic pop
scene in 1980, spreading raw excite-
ment in their wake. Almost overnight all
the seventies pop stars seemed passé.
In 1981, the new rock scene exploded
with bands such as Þeyr, Purrkur Pill-
nikk, Tappi Tíkarrass, Fræbbblarnir and
Jonee Jonee doing their best stuff. The
wave was perfectly captured in the doc-
umentary film 'Rokk í Reykjavík,' which
was premiered in April of 1982. After
that, things started to fade out. The rise
and demise of Kukl has already been
documented in these pages, and next
time I plan to tell the story of my own
band, S. H. Draumur, which struggled on
in 1982–1986 to little fanfare.
THE ‘MAINSTREAM’ RETuRNS -
DISAPPOINTMENT
Things were getting seriously "main-
stream" all over again. Rás 2, a “pop"
branch of Icelandic State Radio, com-
menced broadcasting in December
1983. Up to that point, "pop music" had
not been a priority on the only radio sta-
tion in Iceland, ‘The Steam,’ as it was
nicknamed. Some people thought the
new station would tend to fresh sounds,
but soon it was obvious that it mainly
took care of what was already popular.
The seventies fun rockers Stuðmenn—
who had been dormant since 1976—had
a massive comeback with their musi-
cal comedy ‘Með allt á hreinu’ (aka ‘On
Top’). It premiered before Christmas in
1982 and more than half the island’s
population would eventually go see it
at the cinemas. Stuðmenn would go on
to be the nation’s darlings during the
eighties and nineties—often referred to
as "The band of the people". Stuðmenn
lay the foundation for the "Icelandic pop
sound," a well that many bands have
drunk from ever since.
Vonbrigði (“Disappointment”) were
four young guys that came from the
Breiðholt suburbs. Brothers Tóti and
Árni on drums and guitar, bassist Gunni
and cocky singer Jói. They had gained
some fame belting out the opening tune
of Rokk í Reykjavík—the anthem "Ó
Reykjavík," with lyrics by poet Didda,
who wrote many of the band's lyrics.
Vonbrigði leaned towards the Gang of
Four/Killing Joke-school of hard post
punk and were furiously excellent. The
band released two records during their
eighties life span, a 4 track 7" EP in 1982
and the seven track ‘Kakófónía’ EP in
1983. Neither managed to capture the
true essence of the band as they record-
ed the newest songs in their repertoire
and were too in awe of the studio effect
possibilities to just keep it real. Vonbrigði
split up in 1985 but reformed in the ‘00s.
The band has released two CDs of new
music and new, almost heavy metal ver-
sions of their old songs.
THE RISE Of ‘KILLEMBILLy’
Oxsmá was about the most exciting
thing in Iceland from 1982–1985. The
group had formed in the Reykjavík Art
School in 1980, but didn't start to play
live until 1982. Hrafnkell "Keli" Sig-
urðsson sang, Axel "Seli" Jóhannes-
son played guitar, and Óskar "Skari"
Jónasson occasionally blew a sax and
behaved like an idiot. When drummer
Kormákur "Kommi" Geirharðsson was
added to the equation the band finally
clicked. Kommi had played with a cool
new wave group, Taugadeildin (“The
Neurotic Ward” – one fine EP released
in 1981), and punk group turned new
romantic band Q4U. Lead by singer Ellý
this fine group released a 12" EP in 1983
and is in the midst of a comeback right
now.
Oxsmá took their cue from The
Cramps and the other punk rockabilly
acts of the early eighties and at first
tended more to their looks than to their
music. After doing ultra slow versions
of "Fire" and other rockabilly classics,
original material started to pop up in
Oxsmá's program. They called their mu-
sic "Killembilly," and tellingly their lyrics
(written by Keli) were tongue in cheek
funny, often about horrible stuff and
sex with titles (in Icelandic) like "Bibi's
Tits" and "Bits of Elsa." More members
joined, Danny Pollock fresh from his
Utangarðsmenn stint played guitar for
a while, and bassist Jón Skuggi and
Hörður "Popcorn" Bragason on Ham-
mond organ became steady members.
“CLEVER KITTy, DRuNK IN A BATH
TuB”
The Oxsmá guys were multi talents.
They made two films, first the sci-fi hor-
ror short ‘The Oxsmá Planet,’ followed
by the ambitious feature ‘Suck Me Nina,’
a drama comedy that was set in the Ice-
landic hippie years. The "feel" of this film
would some years later be repeated in
Óskar Jónasson's much loved Sódóma
Reykjavík comedy. Besides "normal"
concerts Oxsmá would stage arty the-
atre shows and make environmental
sculptures.
Oxsmá released a cassette in 1983
entitled ‘Bible For The Blind.’ It had sixty
minutes of exciting lo-fi killembilly, in-
cluding a song sung by an uncredited
Bubbi Morthens, who just happened to
come by the rehearsal space. A cassette
of the ‘Suck Me Nina’ soundtrack was
also released (Oxsmá doing their own
take on Icelandic hippie rock). 1985
saw the band's only record, a 3 track
EP called ‘Rip Rap Rup.’ On the A side
Keli sang once more about a girl, this
time she was called Kittý (in Icelandic,
of course): "Thirteen years old / kinky
costume / what a perfume / clever Kitty
/ drunk in a bath tub / chocolate."
Oxsmá's final concert was at Hó-
tel Borg in July 1985. Soon afterwards,
Keli and Skari went to London to attend
art and film schools. The coolest look-
ing Icelandic band ever hasn't returned
since, and unfortunately none of their
music or films are available to the gen-
eral public. You can hear some of it on
YouTube, though.
Life Outside The Mainstream (1982–1985)
Top Vonbrigði on a rare occasion outside of
Reykjavík. From left: Gunni, Jói, Árni (squat-
ting) and Tóti.
Left Oxsmá at Laugavegur in 1985. They of-
ten busked in Reykjavík. From left: Hörður,
Kommi, Jón, Seli, Skari and Keli. Surrealistic
poet Sjón – a big fan – stands wearing cool
shades between Seli and Skari.
“Oxsmá was about the most exciting thing in
Iceland from 1982–1985”Licensing and
registration of travel-
related services
The Icelandic Tourist Board issues licences to tour operators and travel agents,
as well as issuing registration to booking services and information centres.
Tour operators and travel agents are required to use a special logo approved
by the Icelandic Tourist Board on all their advertisements and on their Internet
website.
Booking services and information centres are entitled to use a Tourist
Board logo on all their material. The logos below are recognised by the
Icelandic Tourist Board.
List of licenced Tour
Operators and Travel
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visiticeland.com
www.yummiyummi.net
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5544-633
and
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# 123
588-2121
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