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Olsen
BROTHERS
- together for 40 years and still moving
Five years have passed, since Olsen Brothers went out to "Fly
on the Wings of Love", thanks to their victory in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2000 - a song that gave them probably
the most remarkable comeback in the history of Danish pop
music. A comeback for two brothers who have this year performed
together for 40 years.
And now, five years later, Olsen Brothers are back. Not only
with a new song for the Danish Song Contest, "Little
Yellow Radio", but also with 11 others songs for a new
album, "Our New Songs". Even in the title, Olsen
Brothers want to stress, that they carry after their latest
successes with the two albums, "Songs" (2002) and
"More Songs" (2003), filled with personal re-recordings
of hits by others, especially from the sixties - albums, which
have been sold in nearly 150.000 copies in Denmark and have
made Sweden their second home country after a lot of concerts
there.
With "Our New Songs", Olsen Brothers have put out
six records since the pop victory in 2000 - and that has only
been possible, because the brothers are busy all the time.
Busy giving concerts and playing on television, especially
in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but also
constantly busy writing new songs. Actually, they - first
and foremost Jørgen - often spend the waiting hours
before another concert or another television show playing
little bits and pieces of potential new songs for the band
members or for their manager. Jørgen often says: "What
do you think of this one?"... "And how about this
one?". Many ideas are put on tapes on little portable
recorders, and from time to time they meet with their manager,
Steen Wittrock, to listen through them all and decide which
ones are worth working on - and which are ready to throw out.
The brothers and the manager have to agree all the way - and
they each have one vote.
For "Our New Songs" they have had at least three
times the needed ideas - and no one who listens to the album
will be left in doubt: Olsen Brothers not only loves performing
and writing songs, they are also deeply rooted in the decade
in which they grew up: the sixties. The enthusiasm, that has
left its mark on "Songs" and "More Songs",
is still alive on "Our New Songs" - the result
of one year of intense work - along with the many appointments
for new concerts.
Apart from ABBA no one have been able to gain so much from
the Eurovision Song Contest as the Olsen Brothers. They are
still among the most popular and requested musicians in Denmark.
Actually Jørgen and Noller have been forced to cut
down a bit on the activities and leave some room in the calendar,
especially after the first and most hectic year, when they
continuously found the strength to perform up to four times
a day, sometimes as late as 3 o'clock in the morning before
waking up four hours later to take the next plane to the next
appointment in the next town. Now a couple of solid weeks
of holiday are put in the calendar here and there.
But right now there is no time for holiday for Olsen Brothers.
After the Danish final on Saturday the 12th of February it
might - or might not be - time for the Eurovision Song Contest
with semi finals Thursday the 19th of May and finals Saturday
the 21st of May. On the album "Our New Songs" Olsen
Brothers are supported by some of the most professional musicians
in Denmark, first and foremost the producer, Stig Kreutzfeldt,
together with Poul Halberg (guitar), Lars Danielsson (bass),
Jan Sivertsen (drums) and in the choir Arvid Nielsen and Bobo
Moreno.
Olsen Brothers might win, and they might not - but following
wind all the way holds them up. According to an internet vote
on one of the biggest German TV- and radio stations -
NDR - last year among huge fans of the Eurovision Song
Contest, "Fly on the Wings of Love" was considered
the best winner ever in the 50 years the contest has existed
- far more popular than number two on the list, ABBA's "Waterloo".
And Olsen Brothers have tried it all before.
Actually, they have participated in the contest eight times
in Denmark -Jørgen Olsen alone twice with "Fugle"
("Birds") in 1989 and "Berlin" in 1990.
Their most popular contest song in Denmark, next to "Fly
on the Wings of Love" of course, remains "San Fransisco"
in 1978.
All in all, Olsen Brothers represent the quintessence of the
phrase "grand old men" in Danish pop music: Jørgen
Olsen is 54 years old, Noller is 50 years old, and they have
been performing together since 1965. With a lot of hits along
the way - for instance "Marie, Marie", a huge hit
in Germany in the beginning of the 80's - however, not
always with an equal number of appointments in the calender
from year to year. But still always on the road.
They might not have been constantly visible in the eighties
and the nineties in Denmark, but still they have been out
there performing somewhere to a smaller of a larger degree
all leading up to the big comeback in 2000.
