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| Bobbysocks! |
Today, The Grandma has talked with The Watsons about Bobbysocks!, the Norwegian singers who won the Eurovision Song Contest representing their country in 1985 and singing La det swinge.
Before talking about Bobbysocks!, The Grandma has offered a new Cambridge Key English Test A2 Example to them.
Bobbysocks! is a Norwegian pop duo consisting of Norwegian Hanne Krogh and Swedish-Norwegian Elisabeth Andreassen. They won the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song La det swinge.
The duo was formed in 1983. Both Krogh and Andreassen were frequent Eurovision contestants. Krogh has appeared three times, all for Norway -in 1971 as a soloist, with Bobbysocks! in 1985 and as part of Just 4 Fun in 1991.
Andreassen sang for Sweden as one half of Chips in 1982 and after winning with Bobbysocks, teamed up with Jan Werner Danielsen in 1994 and sang solo in 1996.
According to John Kennedy O'Connor's The Eurovision Song Contest-The Official History Andreassen is one of only five lead artists to sing in the contest on four occasions and is also one of only four artists to finish both first and second in Eurovision (1985 & 1996).
The duo's debut single was I Don't Wanna Break My Heart (1984), released in a pink colored vinyl. The concept behind Bobbysocks! was to bring up to date songs from the 1950s with a swing mood, adding them a modern 1980s sound. That idea was fully applied on their first LP Bobbysocks!, which was a mixture of covers and brand new songs.
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| Bobbysocks! |
The scheduled next single was going to be Radio, but the plans were changed when the duo won the Eurovision Song Contest. Let It Swing topped the Norwegian singles chart, as well as it did in Belgium. It was a Top 10 in Sweden and Ireland, and a Top 20 in The Netherlands and Austria.
It entered the UK singles charts on 25 May 1985, and rose to a high of Nº 44; it remained in the charts for 4 weeks. It was also pressed in countries such as Germany, Japan and Australia. There were plans to release the single in USA, but it didn't happen at the end.
In 1985, due to their ESC victory, Bobbysocks! were awarded the Peer Gynt Prize, which is awarded by the Stortinget, Norway's parliament.
Another ESC consequence was the re-release of the Bobbysocks! LP with Let It Swing on it, reaching the Gold status. Their next album, Waiting for the Morning, was released in April 1986, preceded by the single of the same name, both becoming a huge success in Norway, peaking at Nº 1 on the Norwegian singles and album charts.
Walkin' on Air, was
recorded in L.A. in 1987 and produced by Bill Maxwell. It went Gold in
only 4 days, becoming their 3rd and final LP. Just before the release of If I Fall, the album's lead single in Norway, the duo wanted to do
something decently crazy as they revealed at the time, so they did a
cover of Swing it, magister'n, a song from 1940 originally sung by the
Swedish singer and actress Alice Babs, releasing it as single in the
summer of 1987.
More information: Eurovision TV
In 1988, Bobbysocks disbanded, after 4 successful years. However, Krogh and Andreassen still appeared time to time together on stage in Norway. They appeared at Congratulations, the 50th anniversary Eurovision concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, in October 2005.
During May 2010, Bobbysocks did a short comeback to celebrate their 25th anniversary since their ESC victory in 1985, launching a compilation album called Let It Swing-The Best Of Bobbysocks!, which included 2 newly recorded songs and peaking at Nº 13 on the Norwegian album charts, helping to gain brand new fans not only in Norway, but also in other countries all over the world.
La det swinge is a song
in Norwegian, sung by the pop duo Bobbysocks!. It was the winner of the
Eurovision Song Contest 1985 –Norway's first victory in the contest.
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| Bobbysocks! |
The song is a tribute to dancing to old rock 'n' roll heard on the radio. Befitting the subject matter, the song itself is written in an old-fashioned style, with a memorable saxophone melody starting the song. The melody arrangement is in retro style, containing elements of contemporary 1980s music and throwbacks to the 1950s.
The song entered, and won Melodi Grand Prix 1985, and was therefore selected to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985. For the performances, the two members –Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreassen– appeared in sparkling, bright purple jackets, worn over black and white outfits; Krogh sported a black-and-white striped floor-length gown.
At the Eurovision Song Contest, the song was performed thirteenth on the night, following Italy's Al Bano and Romina Power with Magic Oh Magic and preceding the United Kingdom's Vikki Watson with Love Is. At the close of voting, it received 123 points, placing 1st in a field of 19.
This was the second appearance for both Andreasson and Krogh in the Eurovision Song Contest; in 1982 Andreassen had represented Sweden in the duo Chips with Kikki Danielsson singing Dag efter dag, and in 1971 Krogh had finished 17th (second from last) in the contest, with the song Lykken er.
Andreasson went on to appear in the contest on two more occasions –she finished sixth in 1994, performing a duet with Jan Werner Danielsen, entitled simply, Duett and in 1996, she appeared as a solo artist, finishing second to Ireland's Eimear Quinn. Krogh also returned to the Contest in 1991 as part of the group Just 4 Fun, finishing 17th with Mrs. Thompson.
La Det Swinge was succeeded as Norwegian representative at the 1986 Contest by Ketil Stokkan with Romeo.
Following their win, the single La det swinge peaked at #1 in the Norwegian and Belgian singles chart, and entered the charts in Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, United Kingdom to name a few.
More information: Wiwi Blogs
Fra en radio strømmer gamle melodier
Og jeg våkner opp og spør meg hva som skjer
Er det bare drøm og fantasier
Når jeg føler at det swinger mer og mer?
From a radio old melodies flow
And I wake up and ask myself what's going on
Is this only dream and fantasies
When I feel that it's swinging more and more?
Og jeg våkner opp og spør meg hva som skjer
Er det bare drøm og fantasier
Når jeg føler at det swinger mer og mer?
From a radio old melodies flow
And I wake up and ask myself what's going on
Is this only dream and fantasies
When I feel that it's swinging more and more?
Bobbysocks!
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