I
TV·2

About:

Steffen Brandt (June 14, 1953)

Bandleader Brandt was already active in the seventies with a symphrock band called Taurus, later Taurus Version 2 making a Danish version of Pink Floyd. But it was not until 1980 that he became serious, assembled the other bandmembers (Hans Erik Lerchenfeld (guitar), Georg Olesen (bass), and Sven Gaul (drums)). and shortened the name to TV-2. The first album was entirely recorded with borrowed money without the band having a record deal . Recordings were somewhat chaotic since Brandt was also the keyboardist in Kliché at the time. The demo send record companies queuing up to sign the band. The first concert took place at Roskilde Festival the same year. The band's white overalls lit by blue neon lights and the album did not thrill critics though. But the public loved it. Having more budget and a genuine studio the second album saw a more polished style and more use of synthesizers and drum machines. It would take until the third album however to silence the skepticism around music critics. The single ‘Bag duggede ruder ‘ was their first big hit. From that moment the band climb to national fame was unstoppable with their 1985 album ‘Rigtige mænd - gider ikke høre mere vrøvl’ selling over 250.000 copies. Oddly the band released an album under another name in between releasing ‘Om sommeren er alting anderledes’ under the name The Beautifuls.

Towards the Nineties  the band became musically more introvert with a larger emphasize on Brandt's texts who now gave a more general ironic commentary on society. The band overestimated itself with the 1991 concept album ‘Slaraffenland’ becoming a commercial failure. Only 32,000 albums were sold. This made the band regroup and going back to the basics with the album ‘Verdens lykkeligste mand’. At the end of the decade the band established their own label Have A Cigar (after a Pink Floyd song) and signing acts like Under Byen, Tobias Trier and Mathias Grip. The effect of having their own label was that the work of a record company fell on their own shoulders. Therefore the album ‘Amerika’ felt like a to quickly assembled album. Under guidance of Thomas Troelsen  the band started working on a more balanced album. It would take four years to record ‘De første kærester på månen’ eventually. The title track received the Danish Music Awards 2006 for best song. Due to the success the cooperation with Troelsen was continued for the next album. In 2011 the band celebrated it’s 30th anniversary with ‘Showtime’. Not with the obligatory compilation but a brand new album using more modern beats and influences.

On the web:

- TV-2's official website: http://www.tv-2.dk/

What do we think:

DB: According to Danes this is the most popular band of Denmark for years also being the band that been around longest in the same formation. Although much of its allure for the Danes are the lyrics of Brandt, positioning them as the intelligent answer to that other Danish band Shu-bi-dua . But don’t be set off by that because if you don’t understand one word TV-2 is a very good pop-group that made some classic Danish new wave and are very skilled in creating good albums. If you start digging in Danish pop of the Eighties you’re sure to bump into them.

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts:

Frank Boeijen (groep) (The Netherlands)

Albums:

♪♪♪♪ - Fantastiske Toyota - 1981

♪♪♪ - Verden er vidunderlig - 1982

♪♪♪ - Beat - 1983

♪♪♪ - Nutidens unge - 1984

♪♪♪♪ - Rigtige mænd - gider ikke høre mere vrøvl - 1985

Further listening: En dejlig torsdag, 1987 / Nærmest lykkelig, 1988 / Vi blir alligevel aldrig voksne, 1990 / Slaraffenland, 1991/ Verdens lykkeligste mand, 1994 / Kys bruden, 1996/ Yndlingsbabe, 1998/ Amerika, 2001/ De første kærester på månen, 2005/ For dig ku' jeg gøre alting, 2007 / Showtime, 2011.

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided