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History
Jrgen Olsen (born 15 March 2026) and Niels "Noller" Olsen (born
13 April 2026) originate from Odense, Denmark. They moved to Copenhagen
with their parents and by the age of 12 and 8 respectively, they
had started the band "The Kids" with Morten and Niels Thybo. In
1965, the supported The Kinks on their visit to Denmark. In 1967,
the Kids performed two songs in the movie "Masser af pigttrd".
Later that year, The Kids won a musical contest in the Copenhagen
Forum. By 1970, the brothers were simply known as Olsen and changed
band members regularly over the years. At one time, Erik Stephensen,
now better known as a Danish TV manager and journalist, played the
guitar in their band. At this time, Jrgen Olsen was writing most
of the group's material.
At
the beginning of 1972, Jrgen and Noller auditioned for the hippie
musical "Hair" and both got roles. Jrgen had a lead role and on
the subsequent album he sang five of the songs and even released
the title song in Danish, together with Eddie Skoller. The brothers
had great success in Hair and following this, they contacted managers
and record companies to present their own material.
The
material was very good, and the Olsen Brothers recorded their first
album "Olsen" in London with Peter Knight's Orchestra. Released
in 1972 and with all songs in English, this was their first album
to sell more than 100,000 copies in Denmark. Suddenly the Olsen
Brothers were the greatest all-time Danish pop idols. This famous
duo performed all over Europe - from Copenhagen's Tivoli to Knokke
in Belgium. Two singles were released from their first album: "Angelina"
(still their most famous song) and "Jimmy Loves Me". Both singles
became great hits on the Danish charts.
By
1973, the Olsen Brothers' posters were to be seen in the rooms of
every teenage girl in the country. The hardworking duo had a tight
schedule: they played festivals and performed on TV and radio shows
in Denmark, at Montreux in Switzerland, Rostock in Germany and Sopot
in Poland. The two singles, "Vienna Express" and the title track
from the newest album "For What We Are" were released in 1973.
After
releasing the single "My Sweet Baby", the brothers wanted to move
away from their pop image and by 1974 had released "For the Children
of the World" in collaboration with UNICEF. In the same year, the
brothers performed in Japan at the World Popular Music Festival
and in many other places around the world.
In
1975, their only release was the single "Kodachrome"/"Den dag det
skete" on which the B-side was their first song in Danish. The brothers
needed a pause and after a year, they came back to their worried
fans with a lot of new releases; two albums "Back On The Track"
and "You're the One" and six very exciting single releases: "Only
Lies", "Crack Brain Madonna", "Music Is My Only Friend", You're
the One", King Of Rock'n'Roll" and "I Just Saw An Angel". By the
end of 1977, the Olsen Brothers were definitely "back on track"
and once again made a big hit at the World Popular Music Festival
in Japan.
The
year 1978 was fairly relaxed and they released a new single "San
Francisco"/"Marie" (she was actually very popular in the Olsen family,
as you will see later). The single was the first Olsen Brothers
release with a Danish song on the A-side and became one of their
most sold singles ever.
From
"Dans, dans, dans", the 1979 album, the title track was released
as a single and both single and album remained best-sellers on the
charts that year. All in all, the 1970s were a great period for
the Olsen Brothers.
The
year 1978 was fairly relaxed and they released a new single "San
Francisco"/"Marie" (she was actually very popular in the Olsen family,
as you will see later). The single was the first Olsen Brothers
release with a Danish song on the A-side and became one of their
most sold singles ever. From "Dans, dans, dans", the 1979 album,
the title track was released as a single and both single and album
remained best-sellers on the charts that year. All in all, the 1970s
were a great period for the Olsen Brothers.
Their
only release in 1980 was the hit single "Laila" and after a 12-month
pause, the duo was back in full force in 1982. The new singles "Marie-Marie"
(she's back)/"Feels Like I'm Crazy" (no. 21 in Germany) and "Louise"
were some of their most successful releases in Denmark as well as
in Germany. The single "Neon Madonna" was their long-awaited 1984
release becoming a huge success in Denmark and Germany. In 1985,
"Rejsen til solen"/"The Game Is Over" was released as a single in
Denmark.
Throughout
the 70s and 80s, their numbers, especially "Marie Marie", were to
be found on almost 2 million records sold in Germany. In 1986 they
once again participated in the Danish song contest with the number
"Fllessang i parken", distributed as a single with "Rejsen til
solen" on the B side. In 1987, for a concept album, "Rockstalgi",
the Olsen Brothers recorded new versions of their 1960 classic favourites
(something like David Bowie's "Pin Ups" LP), including "I Saw Her
Standing There", "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" and "Hello Mary Lou".
A great success, the album sold more than 25,000 copies in Denmark
alone.
In
1989, Jrgen Olsen decided to work alone and performed the song
"Fugle" in the Danish song contest. He released his first solo album
in 1990, "Det stille ocean" and performed again in the Danish song
contest with the song "Berlin". The Olsen Brothers have participated
in the Danish song contest seven times, with Jrgen Olsen being
a solo performer in two of them.
Throughout
the nineties, the Olsen Brothers have mainly concentrated on their
civil jobs in education. But in 1994, our heroes were back with
a new release on their new album label, CMC Records. The album,
"Latest And Greatest" was packed with Olsen hits and a couple of
new songs. The single release from that album was "Flyvende sommer"
- their first single release in almost ten years. Needless to say,
both album and single enjoyed great success. The Olsen Brothers
were busy again. They played live and prepared a TV talk show with
themselves as hosts and many Danish celebrities and stars as guests.
Throughout
the nineties, the Olsen Brothers have mainly concentrated on their
civil jobs in education. But in 1994, our heroes were back with
a new release on their new album label, CMC Records. The album,
"Latest and Greatest" was packed with Olsen hits and a couple of
new songs.
In
2000, they won the European Song Contest with the song "Fly On The
Wings Of Love" (in Danish "Smuk som et stjerneskud") and have again
become stars throughout Europe with the winning tune and the album
"Wings Of Love", a degree of success seldom enjoyed by Danish performers.
The Olsen Brothers are living legends in Danish pop and rock, about
which much more could be said.
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