Björk's Early Bands
Sure, everyone knows that Björk was previously in The Sugarcubes, but did you know she was previously in many other bands? I will be spotlighting some of her early bands, I won't go into a lot of details, only the more famous ones (since many of her early bands did not have official recordings).
The first major band that featured Björk is Tappi Tíkarrass (which rudely translates to "Cork the Bitch's Ass"). They're a funk/disco/jazz band in the early 80s. They did not stay together too long, only lasting three years and managed to released one album, Miranda (1983).
Their one major claim to fame was appearing on a TV documentary called "Rokk í Reykjavík" (1982). The documentary features 19 Icelandic band and a 2-disc soundtrack was also released the same year.
After Tappi Tíkarrass broke up, many of the members, including Björk, went on to join KUKL ("Witchcraft").
KUKL went on to release (I think) one album and two live album: The Eye (1984), KUKL à Paris 14.9.84 (1985), and Holidays in Europe (The Naughty Nought) (1986).
Existing alongside KUKL, was The Elgar Sisters was a side-project between Björk and Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson (guitarist). Although they recorded 11 songs, I don't believe "The Elgar Sessions" were ever officially released. Some of the songs later appeared on Bjork's Family Tree boxset. This boxset is not to be confused with her greatest hits CD which was released on the same day with very similar artwork.
When KUKL disbanded, the Elgar Sisters also dissolved.
Eventually the members of KUKL became what we know as The Sugarcubes.
An interesting side note, during The Sugarcubes days, Björk released a jazzy album by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar called Gling-Gló (Ding-Dong) in 1990. As far as I know, this is the only album that her side project ever released. It wasn't even released domestically in the US until years later.
You probably didn't know, but Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar was already an established bebop/jazz/piano band. The trio broke up in 1992 at the death of their pianist Guðmundur Ingólfsson.
Incidentally, the Gling-Glo album remains Iceland's best selling jazz album of all time.
Much more on the Sugarcubes and Bjork later.
11/08/2007 22:40:36
vu
my♥posts
vu@weheartmusic.com
www.bjork.com
Comments
let me know which song if you ever figure out the title - i have all her albums, it's not really that much ...
love all the early bjork stuff, there are some really great kukl and tappi tracks.