Music Reissues Weekly: Diggin' For Gold Volume 14 - Norway's Sixties beat-group scene

In 1964, the Norwegian division of Philips Records began issuing singles labelled “Bergen Beat.” The picture sleeves of 45s by Davy Dean and the Swinging Ballades, Sverre Faaberg and the Young Ones, The Jokers, Rune Larsen and Teen Beats, The Quartermasters, Helge Nilsen and the Stringers and Tornado bore a bold stamp recognising each band’s origin in the country’s second city.

As a marketing tool, “Bergen Beat” made sense. A Norwegian counterpart to Merseybeat might catch on (irrespective of some of the bands dubbed thus being in the mould of Cliff Richard & The Shadows or Swedish instro group The Spotnicks). But in the event, none of those given the tag rose to become top-drawer outfits. Nonetheless, the branding recognised that the international success of The Beatles was galvanising Norway’s group scene.

The top band in the post-Beatles Norway of the Sixties was The Vanguards, who coalesced in the suburbs of capital city Oslo in 1961. Their enduring legacy was as the first showcase for guitarist Terje Rypdal, now an internationally known jazz player. Although it was mostly about singles then – The Vanguards issued 16 between 1963 and 1968 – the band also released two LPs. Albums were a marker of popularity and an acknowledgement of sales achieved on single. Tromø’s Pussycats – also prolific on single – issued two as well, both of which were also released in Germany. There were also LPs from 1-2-6, The New Beatnicks (formerly just The Beatnicks), whose album also came out in Canada, Germany and Venezuela, and Firebeats Inc. Alongside these, Norway was stuffed with bands whose output was limited to singles. An idea of the scale of potential sales comes from the knowledge that a total of 500 copies of the Firebeats Inc. LP were pressed. A limited home audience wasn’t a restriction though. Bands kept appearing. Audiences wanted in-person samples of the beat boom. Home-grown bands would do fine.

Which is where the 18-track LP Diggin’ For Gold Volume 14 steps in. The valuable series dedicated to world-wide Sixties beat and related music, which debuted in 1993, now trains its attention on the edgiest aspects of Norway’s Sixties beat-group scene. There are no “Bergen Beat” bands, but The Vanguards are here with a 1966 track which wasn’t issued at the time. The other big name is Oslo’s Beatmakers, whose leg-up came from being associated with Norway’s first pop magazine POP-Revyen. The Vanguards apart, the tracks are drawn from singles. Take the band Few, seen in the header picture. From Bodø in Norway’s north, like their home-town competitors 1-2-6 they were picked up by the RCA label. “Seeing is Believing” is Few’s contribution. The B-side of their 1967 debut single – they only issued two – it’s a moody, mod-like mover with a folk-rock edge, Keith Moon-style drums and a raving pop-art freak-out middle section. Terrific stuff.

“Seeing is Believing” confirms that there’s gold to be found in Norway’s Sixties beat scene. Even so, the last vinyl set dedicated to these bands was the 1995 double album Raveyard Paradise. Close to a decade later, one of the multi-volume 2004 CD series Norsk Rocks Historie was the less-than edgy Beatgrupper 1964-1967. Around that time, a couple of Bergen Beat CDs were issued (a 1980 album had also focused on this). Back in 1976, the double album Beat and Piggtråd was the marker in the sand, the first authoritative Norwegian Sixties archive release. Diggin’ For Gold Volume 14, which true its title digs deep, plugs a gap.

Side One kicks off with “Problems” by The Saints from, to quote the smart multi-page booklet coming with the album, “Hafslundsøy, a small island in the middle of the river Glomma, just outside Sarpsborg in the county of Østfold.” “Problems” was the top side of their sole single: a confoundedly slim discography considering the band formed in 1962, played regularly, had a high regional profile and split in late 1967. Like Few’s “Seeing Is Believing,” “Problems” has a Who component. The band must have heard “Happy Jack.” After this, 1967’s “I’m Alone” by Oslo’s Members Of Time. Moody in a Zombies way, it has raga-rock touches. Next up, 1966’s “Lonely Days” by The Zodiacs – who toured Denmark twice. They were from Rjukan in south-central Norway. Their “Lonely Days” unites Kinks and Searchers influences. Skipping forward to the end of Side One, “Horn” by Society Defects from Moss, to Oslo’s south, is a major slab of freakbeat issued in June 1967 which edges towards psychedelia.

Everything collected is as satisfyingly solid, suggesting that a high profile – or even a “Bergen Beat” branding – was not analogous with being a great band. Of course, that principle applies to all sorts of music from all sorts of places but what’s dug into here is previously largely neglected so the case for Norway was less explicit; Norway has persistently escaped attention. Thank goodness then for the very welcome Diggin’ For Gold Volume 14.

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@kierontyler.bsky.social