22.01.08

strekkbukse again

okay, i slightly got it wrong. the whole explanation i gave for nora brockstedt's "strekkbukse" didn't quite fit with its actual meaning - but chris from the go-go club social was kind enough to mail me an explaination for the song:

"This is such a good track! Its sung in dialect about two farmer girls who buy a pair of latex stretch trousers. The day then comes when Nora wants to use the trousers to go to a party to find a man, but 'Gunhild' the other girl is gone, and so are the trousers! Crisis! (As Nora says... one is not attractive with ill fitting trousers!)...How true!"

thanks a lot!

if you wanna listen:
nora brockstedt - strekkbukse

20.01.08

nora brockstedt week (day 7)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NORA BROCKSTEDT!

finally it's your birthday and you turn 85 years old today. i wish you all the best - may health and happiness stay with you for several more decades!

personally i wish for a huge website in your honour - and a 'complete recordings' boxset with extensive liner notes. i'd gladly spend a huge amount of money on that.

and for all you out there here is one more song. it's also taken from the "tjejer" compilation and it's called "jag trodde" ("i thought"). as far as i know it's a swedish song and it's a little more rock'n'rolly.

song:
nora brockstedt - jag trodde (1950s?)

19.01.08

nora brockstedt week (day 6)

it just won't stop - though it's only one day left until nora brockstedt's 85th birthday...

this time i picked a song called "hei mister banjo", originally written in english by freddy morgan and norman malkin in 1955. once again google is not too helpful - and i guess it's about time that someone builds a huge website (containing a full discography, please!) for this icon of norwegian pop culture.

so i guess nora brockstedt's version of the song (which may also be called "hej mister banjo" or "hey mister banjo") was recorded shortly after the original version. of course it's sung in norwegian - and of course it's absolutely lovely. download it!

song:
nora brockstedt - hei mister banjo (1950s?)

18.01.08

nora brockstedt week (day 5)

if you felt like yesterday's latex song was too offending you get something less provoking today. this time nora brockstedt teams up with norwegian singer per asplin (who is not pictured left, instead i only found a picture of nora and alf prøysen) for a song called "hitsiti hotsiti" - which (i think at least) means nothing specific but is a nursery rhyme.

no further information about this song - google is absolutely unable to find a single piece of information in this case. maybe i got a wrong title? anyway: i guess the song was recorded in the 1950s or early 1960s - and it's really cute.

song:
nora brockstedt & per asplin - hitsiti hotsiti (1950s)

17.01.08

nora brockstedt week (day 4)

today nora brockstedt gets a little naughty with a song called "strekkbukse" (which translates into "leggins" or "stretch pants"). unfortunately it's very difficult to find out anything about this song as you only get very few results if you google it.

basically it only says that the song is included on a compilation album called "tjejer" (which means "women", cover artwork on the left) - and that makes things even more, hmmm, mysterious.

well, "tjejer" (which is quite an entertaining album) actually only includes swedish songs - and "strekkbukse" should be a norwegian song. though i'm not absolutely sure about that because several norwegians i played this track to weren't able to understand the lyrics properly.

but the song seems to deal with this: nora comes to a boutique and spots a "strekkbukse" - at the very same time a prostitute spots it. so both of them have a little fight about who will be buying it. nora wins, takes her new "strekkbukse" home - and then finds out it's not half as nice as it looked in the shop. nice story! and great song! i think it's even my favourite song by nora brockstedt.

if you're able to add some kind of information or correct things - leave a comment!

song:
nora brockstedt - strekkbukse (1950s?)

16.01.08

nora brockstedt week (day 3)

it's the third day in the nora brockstedt week - and this time it's getting a little more classical with an english languaged song. "a-tisket a-tasket" originally was a nursery rhyme from the 19th century and then was developed into a pop song in 1938 by al feldman and ella fitzgerald. according to wikipedia the ella fitzgerald recording even made it into the grammy hall of fame in 1986.

nora brockstedt recorded her version (which is also sung in english) for a swedish ep in 1957. i actually found it on a kind of private compilation called "female audioprozac" put together by blogger doctor superhelga in late 2006. the whole album is still available for download and highly recommended as the title really keeps its promise.

song:
nora brockstedt - a-tisket a-tasket (1957)

15.01.08

nora brockstedt week (day 2)

less talk today, let's get straight to the music: for the second day in the nora brockstedt week i picked a song from 1962 which is called "æille så nær som a ingebjørg". it was written by bjarne amdahl and alf prøysen and the title translates into something like "everyone else but ingebjørg". in a heavy rural accent nora sings about a wedding which everyone is extremely happy about - except ingebjørg. she doesn't dance with the crowd, doesn't believe the groom's promises and probably knows something that no one else would know about. so it's left to your fantasy which kind of relationship ingebjørg has with the guy...

song:
nora brockstedt - æille så nær som a ingebjørg (1962)