DANSKTOP is 50

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GoogaMooga
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DANSKTOP is 50

Postby GoogaMooga » 09 Dec 2018, 02:52

DANSKTOP is 50: Happy fiftieth to that much maligned genre, Dansktop, our very own homegrown nursing home schlager pop! Just finished watching the anniversary show on DR1, an hour and 45 minutes of partying, dancing, singing, and clapping. In the 1960s, Danish language pop was considered uncool, all the young bands wanted to sing in English, like their heroes from the UK and the US. But then the Swedes hit upon the idea of a special chart only for Swedish language pop, and the Danes were quick to copy it. At its peak, in the Golden Age from 1968-1977, the radio program hosted by Jørn Hjorting drew 2 million listeners, almost half the population. Many of the songs were just English language hits with Danish lyrics, but a number of homegrown songs also became beloved evergreens, popular to this day. Birthe Kjær was there from the beginning and can also celebrate her 50th year on the road, as the undisputed Queen of Dansktop. She was, of course, present in DR's Studio 2, along with Bjørn Hansen, Dorthe Kollo, and Bjørn Tidmand. Add Keld Heick and Johnny Reimar, and that was about it, not many of the old guard left. In a way I enjoyed the 45th (?) anniversary show more, it featured more surviving artists, and what we saw tonight could very well be the last hurrah for the pop I grew up with, joyful songs emanating from every kitchen in my street in the burbs.

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"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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GoogaMooga
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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby GoogaMooga » 09 Dec 2018, 02:56

DANSKTOP is 50
The Golden Age, 1968-1977
703 songs--214 artists--414 charts

Here are ten of the best, my personal Top 10, no particular order:

Birthe Kjær: ’Arrivederci Franz’
Birgit Lystager: ’Smilende Sussie’
John Mogensen: ’Der er noget galt i Danmark’
Grethe Ingmann: 'Sig godmorgen'
Keld Heick: ’Vi skal gå hånd i hånd’
Bjørn Tidmand: ’Lille sommerfugl’
Susanne Lana: 'Hvis tårer var guld'
John Mogensen: 'Så længe jeg lever'
Lecia & Lucienne: 'Rør ved mig'
Mette: 'Hjerter af honning'

HONORABLE MENTION
Four Jacks: ’Mandalay’ (1961)

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"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby Count Machuki » 09 Dec 2018, 03:41

GoogaMooga wrote:Birthe Kjær: ’Arrivederci Franz’


I looked it up, everybody, and yes, it sounds exactly like you're imagining it does.

Let U be the set of all united sets, K be the set of the kids and D be the set of things divided.
Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D

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GoogaMooga
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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby GoogaMooga » 09 Dec 2018, 03:56

Of course it's cheesy, but in a good way. This music and Svensktop challenged the Anglo-centric musical hegemony. It certainly has its detractors in Denmark, and I think you'd have to be Northern European of a certain mindset to really appreciate it. Much of it draws on the German schlager tradition. It was considered old-fashioned even at the time, but people lapped it up.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby Count Machuki » 09 Dec 2018, 05:35

GoogaMooga wrote:I think you'd have to be Northern European of a certain mindset to really appreciate it.


That's fucking preposterous.
Let U be the set of all united sets, K be the set of the kids and D be the set of things divided.
Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby GoogaMooga » 09 Dec 2018, 06:37

Count Machuki wrote:
GoogaMooga wrote:I think you'd have to be Northern European of a certain mindset to really appreciate it.


That's fucking preposterous.


Okay, I take that back, but the German schlager tradition has not traveled well, or fared well, in the rest of the world.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby GoogaMooga » 09 Dec 2018, 06:40

Anyway, you could sample some more, it's not all oompah-loompah horn music.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby naughty boy » 09 Dec 2018, 07:21

GoogaMooga wrote:Birthe Kjær was there from the beginning and can also celebrate her 50th year on the road, as the undisputed Queen of Dansktop. She was, of course, present in DR's Studio 2, along with Bjørn Hansen, Dorthe Kollo, and Bjørn Tidmand. Add Keld Heick and Johnny Reimar, and that was about it


Well I for one can sleep easy tonight, knowing that
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby Penk! » 09 Dec 2018, 09:39

GoogaMooga wrote:
Count Machuki wrote:
GoogaMooga wrote:I think you'd have to be Northern European of a certain mindset to really appreciate it.


That's fucking preposterous.


Okay, I take that back, but the German schlager tradition has not traveled well, or fared well, in the rest of the world.


Yes it has. They have Australia in Eurovision now.
fange wrote:One of the things i really dislike in this life is people raising their voices in German.

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GoogaMooga
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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby GoogaMooga » 09 Dec 2018, 10:38

PENK wrote:
GoogaMooga wrote:
Count Machuki wrote:
That's fucking preposterous.


Okay, I take that back, but the German schlager tradition has not traveled well, or fared well, in the rest of the world.


Yes it has. They have Australia in Eurovision now.


Wouldn't that be more like British pop, though? When I think back to some of the UK's Eurovision entries, Puppet on a String, Congratulations, etc. - they aren't distinctly schlager. There is overlap, but schlager is more ballady, old-fashioned, Oktoberfest singalong stuff. There is a difference between ONJ and Caterina Valente.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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GoogaMooga
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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby GoogaMooga » 09 Dec 2018, 10:40

Whatever is the case, Dansktop isn't even all schlager, there is pure pop, country, novelty - all sorts of things going on.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby ConnyOlivetti » 09 Dec 2018, 12:39

Trodde aldrig att jag skulle få läsa om Svensktoppen och Dansktoppen på detta forum!
Jösses!
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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby GoogaMooga » 09 Dec 2018, 13:59

ConnyOlivetti wrote:Trodde aldrig att jag skulle få läsa om Svensktoppen och Dansktoppen på detta forum!
Jösses!


Livet er fuld af overraskelser. :)
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby naughty boy » 09 Dec 2018, 14:52

Hvorfor overrasker du ikke os alle og går væk?
Matt 'interesting' Wilson wrote:So I went from looking at the "I'm a Man" riff, to showing how the rave up was popular for awhile.

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby Count Machuki » 10 Dec 2018, 01:24

:cry:

Bøde. Jeg får mit frakke.
Let U be the set of all united sets, K be the set of the kids and D be the set of things divided.
Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby Count Machuki » 10 Dec 2018, 01:29

Here's the second one on Googa's list.
Guess what? It sounds exactly like you'd think it would with maybe a tiny, tiny modicum of swing.



Of course I'm not a Northern European of a certain mindset so what the fuck do I know?
Let U be the set of all united sets, K be the set of the kids and D be the set of things divided.
Then it follows that ∀ k ∈ K: K ∈ U ⇒ k ∉ D

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Re: DANSKTOP is 50

Postby GoogaMooga » 10 Dec 2018, 02:43

That second one is actually a cover of an American pop hit, with Danish lyrics, IIRC. As for the "Northern European" bit, I've already retracted, although I hardly see that pointing out a cultural difference would be wrong. I don't "get" traditional Chinese music, for instance. Some music is just more universal than other music. Or else every culture's music would have been as pervasive as, say, reggae, Afro-Cuban, or bossa nova.
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck


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