miðvikudagur, janúar 16, 2008

An Icelandic Musical Family: Björgvin Halldórsson & his children Krummi & Svala

It runs in the Icelandic family

Björgvin (Bó) Halldórsson was born on April 16th 1951. He started singing with the band Bendix and the moment he first appeared on stage singing Penny Lane, he kickstarted one of the most brilliant careers in Icelandic pop music history. He soon formed the band Ævintýri (Fairy Tale) with Sigurjón Sighvatsson and Arnar Sigurbjörnsson. He fulfilled his dream of becoming a star with that band when they performed in the Laugardalshöllin Arena for 4.300 people who then voted him pop star of the year on October 1st 1969. Ævintýri wanted to release an album but the label thought a solo album with Björgvin would be more profitable. The album was released late in 1970 and sold well. The guys from Ævintýri formed a new band called Brimkló, but Björgvin soon left because of musical differences. He joined the band Change for a short time and then left to join the band Hljómar which was reuniting. They released the album Hljómar 74 in 1974 but it wasn´t a commercial success so the band dissolved. Instead they formed the band Ðe lónlí blú boys which became extremely popular and released many fun-filled albums. Björgvin worked with Gunnar Þórðarsson on two albums of children's ballads called Einu sinni var which was released in 1976 and is still one of the best selling albums in Icelandic history and Út um græna grundu a year later. In 1976 Brimkló was revived and became a hit with their first LP. In 1978 Björgvin released his second solo album, Ég syng fyrir þig (I Sing for You) which is one of his most popular albums. In 1979 Björgvin put on his leather jacket and rock´n rolled with comedic brother-duo Halli og Laddi in the band HLH. They released a few albums through the years and were always hugely popular. In 1980 Björgvin released the album Dagar og Nætur (Days and Nights) with singer Ragnhildur Gísladóttir which became very popular despite the great punk revolution that was finding its way to Iceland at the time. In 1982 his third solo album Á hverju kvöldi (Every Night) was released. In 1986 he released the album Björgvin which contains a few of his most popular songs, e.g. Ég lifi í Draumi by Eyjólfur Kristjánsson and Ástin by Valgeir Guðjónsson. A year later (1987) his first Christmas album of three, where Björgvin sings with known Icelandic singers, was released. The other two albums Allir fá þá eitthvað fallegt and Jólagestir 3 were released in 1989 and 1995. In 1993 Björgvin released the album Kom Heim (Come Home). The songs Gullvagninn and Milljón glappaskotin became instant hits and Björgvin was one of the first artists to make gospel music popular in Iceland. Later he made two other gospel albums Hærra til þín in 1995 and Alla leið heim in 1997. Many of his songs have been collected on various compilation albums. In 2001 Björgvin released a new solo album and surprised people with his renditions of two songs by Icelandic artist Megas.
Björgvin has also worked as a producer and musical director. His voice can be heard on more than 500 recordings in Icelandic music history and he has taken part in many song contests both in Iceland and abroad. In 2003 Björgvin released an album where he sings duets with many of Iceland's most popular younger singers. In 2005 Björgvin released a triple CD box, containing 70 of his most popular songs, along with 4 new recordings. Björgvin has recorded around 900 songs in his succesful career. This Compilation Box was a best seller before christmas and sold around 13.000 units in Iceland and is still going strong. To celebrate Björgvins 35 years in the recording business he staged a show at the prestigous Broadway Club in Reykjavik. The show premiered in October 2006 and. A 9 piece band with 2 actors and 4 dancers took you through Bjorgvin´s songs through the years in 2 hours. In November 2006 Bjorgvin staged concerts at the Sports Stadium in Reykjavik. Along with the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, The Male Choir Fostbrædur, rock band and some of the most popular singers in Iceland he sold out the stadium 3 times. These concerts were released in November in a 2 CD box. One DVD and a CD. This box was at the top of the charts in Iceland over Christmas and was the seasons best seller. The concerts were also screened on New Years day on Channel 2 in Iceland Björgvin wil still be recording and producing. His next project are various and exiting projects. He was working in the studio producing albums winter 2007. Among the projects that Björgvin will be working on on is a tripute album to the country legend Hank Williams. Bó is hoping to have many of the top Icelandic artists to take part in this project. Also in the works is the 7th íslandslög/Songs of Iceland album that contains many of the best Icelandic songs. Bo is also writing material for a new solo album. Release date is not confirmed. The Icelandic Music Awards were televised from Borgarleikhusid in Reykjavik on January 31st 2007. Awards were handed out to many of Icelands leading artists. Björgvin was nominated in 2 categories, performer of the year 2006 and as a part of the Band Baggalutur. Björgvin sang the lead in one of the most popular songs of 2006 " Allt fyrir mig". Bó won the Perfomer of the Year 2006 Award. He closed the show with the band Baggalutur. The radio station RADIO 700 in Germany featured Bó in a 3 hour radio show recently. A crew of two traveled to Iceland with the help of Icelandair and interviewed Bó and they went over his career and played some 30 songs. It was broadcasted in April 2007 to a large audience of listeners.
Bó is now preparing for his production of the CD's Songs of Iceland Series. Bo has produced 5 of these popular CD´s. Now the 7th one is in the works and will feature many of the most popular Icelandic Pop songs through the years. Many of the popular singers in Iceland will perform. The CDs will be simply called Songs of Iceland 7 or íslandslög 7. The . A box of 6 albums of Songs of Iceland was released. Icelandic Songs 7 is out now and has had great success. It was number 1 for three weeks on the sales Chart. Also the The Iceland Songs 6 cd box has remaines in top three position. Plans for a new Christmas album is in the works and Bó is busy in the studio recording the new album. There will be many great performers guesting on this album. Along with the release of this album, Sena Music will be releasing box of 3 Christmas albums from the past. These are the popular "Jolagestir" albums that Bo did release some years ago and have become a classic seasonal albums in Iceland.
The Videos>
Bó Halldórsson @ Eurovision Song Contest (1995)
"Núna"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC41L0bCo_M

Bó with HLH Flokkurinn
"Riddari Götunar"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HQYlCNma9A

" Í útvarpinu heyrði ég lag" (I heard a song on the radio)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10OH0Pt18B8

Source and More on :
www.myspace.com/bohalldorssonband
His children are in the music business too:

The children in his footsteps

A picture of Svala and Krummi together getting off the stage of Organ venue downtown Reykjavik, January 2008 were Krummi joined the band to sing 1 song - A photograph by Wim Van Hooste.

Bó's son Krummi is the heavily tattood singer in the bands Esja (a duo he forms together with Daniel Agust of GusGus fame) and Minus
His daughter Svala is now singing in the techno band Steed Lord.

Engin ummæli: