Description
THE SHOW CLUB: LOVISA – WITH HAMMER AND HOT (1976)
In the fall of 1968, as a newly converted folk singer, I came from Oslo to Svolvær Gymnasium to take up a position as a philologist. The subjects were Norwegian, history and English. In addition, there was a strong flame burning for the new form of expression, folk singing, which had come to Norway from the USA through Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, and had settled in the student community at Blindern. It was the right-winger Ole Hauki who had brought the folk club idea to Oslo, and in Dolphin's folk club there stood a line of male and female troubadours with guitars and lyrics on a music stand: Peter Skodbo, Lillebjørn Nilsen, Lars Klevstrand, Kari Svendsen, Åse Kleveland and so on. This was something new, and without exaggeration it can be stated that the form of expression, folk singing, had a formidable spreading effect throughout the country. In Svolvær, the 28-year-old assistant professor from the University of Oslo went to the rector Haavard Hansen and asked about the possibility of starting a singing club at the teaching institution. And the rector was accommodating: "It tastes like a bird," was his comment. It is possible that the bird taste eventually wore off, but at least we were getting started. At that time, there were very few options for young people in Kabelvåg, Svolvær, so the old caretaker's apartment at the high school became an attractive place to hang out for a fortnight. For a tenner you got a songbook containing English, American and Swedish songs and maybe a single Norwegian one every now and then. As the country around us became more and more radicalized, we emphasized singing songs that most people understood, in Norwegian or Northern Norwegian dialect. This created a need for lyricists and composers. Here we got help from a number of writers. As contributors to Lovisa we can mention Finn Myrvang, Kai Larsen, Dag Kajander, Lars Hansen Juvik, Herbjørg Wassmo, Jan Arild Skogholt, Arvid Hanssen and the undersigned. Older texts by long-dead authors were also found and set to music. In this way, Lovisa managed to build up its own repertoire. But when it came to arranging the songs, Lovisa lacked expertise. Therefore, it became typical for the singing club that many people stood on stage and sang in unison and loudly with the accompaniment of guitar and accordion in typical Salvation Army style. When one looks back at the activities that Lovisa stood for during the time it existed, one can divide it into four: 1) Singing club, 2) Singing group, 3) Concert organizer and 4) Festival organizer
Over time, singing groups with highly varying membership numbers emerged from the club. In 1976, it got to the point that the record company Mai released an LP with Lovisa: "Med hammar og høtt". Although the radical Norway is very annoying in the lyrics on the album cover and in some of the songs, the album is still audible today. "Feskarkjerringas vise", "Når fesken heng på hjell", "Sol bakom skyan" and "Kor e hammarn, Edvart ?" hold up to the test both in terms of content and form. This album was recorded in Oslo at Pentecost, and the following performers were on board: Bjørghild Rønningen (vocals), Turid Ringstad (vocals), Kai Larsen (vocals and double bass), Jan Danielsen (accordion), Hilde Hamnes (vocals and guitar), Geir Fredriksen (vocals and guitar), Britt Olsen Talmo (vocals) and Jack Berntsen (vocals and guitar). There were no more albums from the progressive singing group in Svolvær. A curious reason may be that Lovisa was "outcompeted and killed" by the Nordnorsk Visegruppe from Tromsø, who sang their way into the market with multi-part harmonies and advanced and refined musical arrangements. This was something different from the all-singing battle song group from Lofoten.
1 The Song About Henningsvær
2 Rural song
3 Big Profits on Black Bears in the Far North
4 Last Working Hour
5 Morning Prayers in the Northwest and the Region
6 The Cod Song
7 But There Is Sun Behind the Clouds Every Day
8 Tråille As Sku Målbinn Nordlänningen
9 Feskar-Kjærring Show
10 The Trawl Song
11 North of 62
12 Support Iceland's Struggle