65° - 01.11.1969, Page 18

“We are the only place offering entertainment
all year round, and were the first place to have
foreign artists. Our entertainers have been happy
here, usually surprised at the luxury of the hotel
and the swimming pool. All our shows have been
picked up by Icelandic TV, though they don’t
give us any advertising credit for it, and we book
our artists into spots in other towns on Mondays,
Tuesdays and Wednesdays when our house com-
bos take over the nightly dancing which, inciden-
tally is not all twist, since our clientele is of all
ages and wants to dance. Aside from tourists,
patrons are 20 to 40. Those older than that are
probably not of the club^going generation or
perhaps they don’t have the money to spend.
Television hasn’t hurt us, but devaluation has.”
RoSull’s Ragnar Magnusson finds it costly to
have foreign entertainers but finds them worth
the expense.
“We get our entertainers now from our English
agent, although we used to have one in Denmark.
The artists usually belong to artists equity so
that their salaries are fixed. Two-thirds of the
salary must be paid in advance, then there is the
air fare, hotel accomodations, food, and income
tax for the money earned in Iceland, usually
£75—125 weekly.
RoSull has had foreign entertainment on and
off since 1960, beginning with Spanish dancers.
“They are all alike,” says Ragnar, “with the tap-
ping heels and swishing skirts, but occasionally
a very good couple come. Otherwise we’ve had
all kinds of entertainers from many countries.
The colored artists have the most drawing power;
they can nearly always produce an attentive
audience, but they are suspicious and unusually
sensitive. They have the feeling they are going
to be oheated. Maybe that’s happened to them
before in other countries, but all artists are treat-
ed well in Iceland. They enjoy their stay, like
the food and want to return. Next most popular
are belly dancers, usually from Turkey, the Ba-
hamas or the Pacific islands. Our next is from
England, Corrinne Long, and she will be here
till December 22nd. She is both a fire eater and
belly dancer. We never have had and never will
have stripteasers at RoSull. Moral considerations
have nothing to do with it. Stripteasers can only
be shown on a stage at a distance. Here we have
only the dance floor among the tables for our
shows and that’s too dose. We have not lost
business as a result of TV. Our patrons are
21—30 years old and we are open every night
16
but Wednesday. We have few Icelandic enter-
tainers except for one night stands, but we have
our own house orchestra, one of the best in Ice-
land.”
Long-haired music in Iceland has come to mean
the pop-rockers and there are at least half a dozen
who do one-night stands, usually on Saturdays,
since they and their fans are still in school.
Templarahbllin, run by the Good Templar society
specializes in Icelandic folk dancing as do many
of the smaller halls, catering to young and old
alike, the difference being that some of the other
halls have wine licenses, and tempers can get as
heated as the air. Las Vegas diskotek has recorded
music for teenagers. Pop agent Petur Gudjonsson
cautiously says each pop group has its attractions,
but only Bjorgvin of /Evintyri can boast two
fans who have had their front teeth broken to
imitate their idol.
The biggest frustration to the reporter in
gathering information about entertainers, foreign
and local, is that there is no central booking
agency in Iceland. As with the moving-picture
houses, each club or hotel has its own agent and
no one person has a collection of pictures and
advertising material covering all nightlife enter-
tainers. Conversely, artists wishing to visit Ice-
land or Icelandic artists wishing to be booked
abroad must know in advance the name of a
particular Icelandic club agent with whom to do
business.* So far, however, few if any Icelandic
entertainers have been booked abroad, for the
entertainment business is still young in Iceland.
“It is just since 1900 that photography became
popular in Iceland,” says Ragnar Magnusson.
“Only within the last few years have even dance
orchestras become extroverted enough to adver-
tise smiling pictures of themselves.” This being the
case, it is easy to see why there are singers and
instrumentalists in Iceland in large numbers but
no special-act artists except Omar Ragnarsson,
who even writes his own scripts. But Omar is
a lawyer by profession.
The pictures on the middle pages are those
that were available when the magazine went to
press.
* Emil Guffmundsson, Hotel LoftleiSir — general
entertainment, Ragnar Magnusson, RdSull — general
entertainment, Sigmar Petursson, Sigtun — striptease.
Petur GuSjonsson — teenage pop orchestras, Petur
Petursson — concert artists.
Continued on page 35.
65 DEGREES