Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.10.2013, Qupperneq 23

Reykjavík Grapevine - 11.10.2013, Qupperneq 23
nuhljómplötur (“Star Records”), a short-lived branch of Íslenskir tónar that specialised in singles by young singers, some of them sea- soned from singing with the dance bands. As the ‘50s turned into the ‘60s, a new generation of musicians and listeners start- ed gaining ground. The older jazzists gave way to younger dudes who “understood” rock ‘n’ roll. During the summer of 1960, new bands featuring rock-thirsty teenaged boys mushroomed. Rocking dance bands such as Junior, Eron, Uranus and Falcon played wherever and whenever they could, but Plúdó soon became the premier band. The band had to change its name when a silver making company, also named Plúdó, complained. The band chose Lúdó instead, and added “og Stefán,” probably echoing Cliff Richards and the Shadows, who were all the rage at that time. Stefán Jónsson sang for Lúdó og Stefán, and in the early ‘60s they were Iceland’s hottest band. The band could in part thank their man- ager Gu!laugur Bergmann for its popular- ity. He had been one of the main rockers in town and would later become a big shot in the Icelandic fashion world when he opened his breakthrough fashion store Karnabær (named after London’s Carnaby Street). As a band manager, Gu!laugur was very inno- vative. For instance, he advertised that Lúdó og Stefán would play “Gagarin-rock” (in honour of the Soviet astronaut) and “Horror- rock.” The band had no clue when they read those ads in the papers. When they asked, Gu!laugur answered: “Just try to jam some outer space kind of music!” As for “Horror- rock”— “You just put nylon socks on your heads!” Gu!laugur also took the band into the fashion business by manufacturing special “Plúdó sweaters.” The sweaters (just simple white sweaters with a big black P on the chest) were popular and shifted 2,500 copies in the summer of 1960. Lúdó og Stefán crossed paths with the hottest new comedy talent in town, Ómar Ragnarsson. He was only eighteen when he started regularly performing shows with an original programme, a unique mix of sketches, impersonations and rock ‘n’ roll. “I had no role models, Icelandic or for- eign,” he says. “Up to then, Danish revue- songs and outdated American songs had been the main features in comedy routines here—it was almost always the same song with different joke-lyrics each time. My pro- gramme was based on the latest rock songs, the most popular songs at the time. This was a breakthrough. This was new and fresh. I was the right man at the right time. I was and I am a rocker. “I am a fan of Chuck Berry and Little Richard. I never thought Elvis was complete- ly true, however.” Lúdó supplied the music to a few early ‘60s singles featuring Ómar Ragnarsson’s tunes, as well as releasing few hits of their own. As the beat bands came crashing in, Lúdó og Stefán quickly became obsolete and eventually split up. They would reform in the ‘70s and release two popular albums of old foreign rock songs with new Icelandic lyrics, most of them written by "orsteinn Eggertsson. The band kept going far into the 21st century, playing alongside Sigur Rós on a few occasions as well as per- forming at Sigur Rós’ end of tour party in 2008, where they totally lifted the roof off the house with their eternally cool rock ‘n’ roll music. Lúdó og Stefán pose on the covver of Fálkinn in 1965. 23 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 16 — 2013 Words Haukur S. Magnússon Over 100 Years Of Musicians Trying To Escape The Island Dr. Gunni On His History Of Popular Music In Iceland Hi Dr. Gunni! Congratula- tions on your new book, 'Blue Eyed Pop - The His- tory of Popular Music in Iceland'! The title is mostly explanatory, but perhaps you'd be willing to tell us what it's about, in broad terms? Oh thank you. Yes, the “History of popular music in Iceland” subtitle explains a lot. This is just the story—as I see it—from Icelanders’ earliest cornball attempts of making “pop” in the 19th century to the crazy growth and prosperity of today, having fostered a variety of big interna- tional acts. This is quite the feat for such a dwarfish nation. My take slants more towards entertain- ment than academia, and I try to explain the various and changing zeitgeists of the pop scene as we move along. The history of Icelandic pop is full of short stories about people and bands, and they often have a similar storyline that involves folks trying to escape the sameness of the tiny Icelandic scene. Icelandic musicians had been trying this for decades before finally someone succeeded in the ‘80s. The book is full of pictures too, many of which are previously unseen, silly stuff like Björk working at a farm in the early ‘80s—I'd say this is a coffee table book, as well as the first book of this kind—ever! By popular music, do mean chart-topping music, only? Is there a decided lack of Andhéri and Cranium in the book— or does it also cover less popular, yet rather influen- tial, music? The chart topping stuff gets its fair share, but we also have lots of what was once called “underground” music. I released a version of this book in Icelandic last year that was three times the size, the “inter- national version” had to be much more explanatory and I focus much more on stuff that is known outside of Iceland. Local he- roes like Bubbi Morthens are mentioned of course, but they do not get three chapters here, like they did in the Icelandic version. Naïve Icelanders Indeed, you've published two Icelandic language books on the history of Icelandic pop, one in the early '00s and then the one that came out a year ago. What's the differ- ence between those two books? The first one was only about “rock” and with that I could skip all kinds of stuff. The last one was about “pop” so then I had to include everything, as “pop” for me means all “popular music,” whatever that means. You know, both some accordion playing dudes in the early 20th century, the jazz scene in the ‘50s, etc. What about the book’s title, the Sugarcubes-ref- erencing 'Blue Eyed Pop'? What's the story there? Is it just a cool phrase, or is it some sort of statement on your subject matter, Icelandic pop music? It's both a cool title and also descriptively of the Icelandic mindset in pop music and what have you. Icelanders are pretty naive in thinking that the world revolves around us and that everybody is interested in us. In Icelandic, the phrase “blue-eyed” means being gullible. And through the decades, pop musicians have been very “blue-eyed” about their possibilities of breaking through to the greater world. Fortunately, we always have more and more artists that manage just that and reinforce our collective belief, thus keeping the passion alive. Am I starting to sound like a tourist brochure here? Sorry, that was not my intention, but unfortunately I often do! History Repeating Having immersed yourself in the history so much, you must have drawn some conclusions... Yes, through the history of Icelandic pop, the same story keeps repeating over and over, perhaps with a few minor differences. For instance, the jazz snobs of the ‘50s arguing about music in "The Jazz Paper" are the same types as the Pitchfork-reading indie snobs of today arguing about music on-line. And always, the vast majority of people just want something they can hum to, something that gets them moving on the dancefloor. What do you believe to be some of the most pivotal moments for Icelandic pop? Those moments are measured by the re- lease of great records and when Icelandic artists enjoy success abroad. It's all in the book of course, but for me the five best bands of all times in Iceland are Hljómar (AKA Thor's Hammer), Fræbbblarnir, Purrkur Pillnikk, The Sugarcubes and Sigur Rós. Its greatest triumph? I don't want to pick one special moment for this, but I guess after our bank collapse a lot of people saw that our success in pop was for real, not some fickle bubble. And its most sadly lost op- portunity? Songwriter Gunnar "ór!arson (of Hljómar, etc.) should be world famous by now for all of his great songs. The Finnur Eydal Band with Helena Eyjólfs. Photo: Unknown. KK Sextet with singer "órunn Pálsdóttir play rock in 1956. The ultra hip Reykjavík youth stays cool. Photo: Unknown
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