Origin: Trondheim (Norway)
STAGE DOLLS
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| Terje Storli - Torstein Flakne - Steinar Krokstad |
Commandos - 1986 (with lyrics)
st - 1988 (with lyrics)Notes:
- During the 70"s,the town Trondheim in Norway developed a rich rock"n roll scene. Partly because the region had a lot of livescenes where bands could easliy get to play but also because the yearly competion to decide which was the best band kept all young musicians focused on rehearsing and writing their own music. Stage Dolls was founded in 1983 but the band actually met each other backstage at this competion as early as 1976 playing in different bands.Little would they know then that they should spend half a lifetime together.
The 80s
In 1982,Erlend Antonsen and Terje Storli worked the local clubs in and around Trondheim with their band Hot Lips.In need of a guitarist they called Torstein Flakne who by then had finished playing in the Kids(very popular teeny-band in Norway 1980-82).HotLips played rock-covers and had quite a following.Torstein joined the band and through the summer and fall of 1982 they did a lot of shows in the region.
Having the same favourite bands(Rolling Stones and Aerosmith) Erlend and Torstein rehearsed and jammed almost daily at their rehearsal room with Torstein singin" for the first time.They began seriously thinking about restructuring the band into a three-piece with Terje on bass.The move was made in January 1983 and the name Stage Dolls saw the light of day.They immediately began to write their own songs and was destined to come up with material good enough for an album as soon as possible. But the road was gonna be hard,The first demos were rejected by all the record companies,claiming that the music was too hard and that the format three-piece was not going to work.After several rounds it seemed like the band had no future.
The first recording
At the time, the only studio in Trondheim was Nidaros Studios.Engineer Rune Nordal and producer Bjrn NessjEsaw something in this young band and let them do a session.The collaboration was gonna be extremely successful.They decided to record the first album with their money gambling that some of the companies would pick it up.Noone did.The only positive reaction came from A&R man Per Alm at Polydor,Oslo.The only missing part is a hit-song,he said. Torstein sat down and wrote Soldier"s gun.And the snowball started rollin...
The first album was released early winter of 1985.The band had just ended a successful (and by now legendary) nationwide tour in Norway with their good friends TNT(Dec.1984) and had already gotten great reputation for their live-act. And in 1985 playing live was the only way to get recognition as a rock-band in Norway because you would"nt get played on the radio.So the touring began,thrugh 1985/86 they played every little club in every little valley in Norway.The first album sold around 20000 copies,quite good for a rockband but more important was the increasing fanbase they built around the country.A fanbase which exists still today.The band have always taken time to meet their fans and especially the old ones from those first years.
The third member
1985 was also the year when the first change of line-up happened.Erlend Antonsen quit the band and in came Steinar Krokstad,who strangely enough played together with Terje in their first band in 1975! That shows the closeness of the Trondheim rockscene at the time.Erlend Antonsen had played some terrific drums both on stage and on the first album as well as played a great part in constructing the songs.He set the standard for the band and Steinar followed in the same footsteps.Hardkickin" drums that would be a important part in the Stage Dolls-sound.
And then it started rolling
The recordings for their next album "Commandosstarted in the fall 1985.Their record-guru Per Alm had moved to Grappa Rec. in the meantime and Stage Dolls followed him there.The release showed that the band had improved significantly in terms of arranging and trying out new ideas. Great songs all through the album with a majestetic sound.For many fans this is the rockalbum of the 80"s.It peaked at no.5 in the Norwegian charts and set the band up as the most popular rockband in Norway in 1986. By now they started to get attention abroad.The album was released in the US by BigTime Records and the title track "Commandosgained considerable airplay on college-radio.
1987 was spent on the road,taking time off in the fall to go into the studio to record their next album.Torstein had met the songwriter/musician Bobby Icon on a trip to the US in 1986 and they quickly got together writingwise,setting up the songs for the album "Stage Dolls. This was to be Stage Dollsmost successful record so far,taking them to the top of the charts in Norway as well as sending them to the U.S. and the rest of Europe. Hits in Norway with both "Still in love" and "Wings of steel" made it into a platinum album there. In 1989,the band signed a deal with Chrysalis Rec. for the American market.They went over to the States that summer and promoted their single "Love crieswhich went top 3 in the "Album Rock Chartsand no.46 in the Billboard Singles Charts. Touring comprised headlining their own gigs,and also together with other bands,as Faster Pussycat,Warrant,Blue Murder.
The Break trough
Back in Europe by 1990, they quickly turned to record their fourth album.This was to be called "Stripped" and the band wanted in fact to strip the sound down,bringing more air around it. The result was remarkable. "Stripped" contains probably Torstein"s best song so far, "Love don"t bother me". After recording the song in Trondheim they took it to the U.S. where top producer Ron Nevison together with singer/songwriter Mark Spiro also put their mark on it. The rest of the year was spent on the road.In Europe they toured with Mister Big, having a real good time with probably the nicest band in the world.
Changes
By 1992, Steinar felt he needed a break.Exploring other musical interests,he decided to quit the band. This was quite a blow for the band.Steinar had been a major player in the Stage Dolls sound. This was a crucial period for the band but luckily out of the blue came the possibility to try Morten Skogstad (ex.TNT) as a replacement.Just a couple of bars were needed to hear that this was a fantastic choice. To sum up the first ten years,Stage Dolls decided to do a best-of collection in 1993.
This was released early 1994 with two new songs,Warren Zevon"s "Lawyers guns and money" and Torstein"s "Hard to say goodbye". The latter became a major hitsong in Norway and opened up also for a whole new generation of fans.Double gold and it"s still selling today. Torstein had always written more songs than the band needed.During the first years he contributed quite a few bigselling records apart from the Dolls.Tin Drum, a Norwegian rockband had hits with two of his songs, and in Sweden Shaboom topped the charts with Torsteins help.Outside of Norway not so many know that the official clubanthem for the soccer-club Rosenborg, Trondheim (Champions League) is written by him and his friend Dag Ingebrigtsen. In the 90"s, he would continue with his songwriting, providing songs for among others Morten Harket of a-ha and the Danish singer Sanne Salomonsen. But he also made an soloalbum, "Shoot the moon" in 1995. A bit more relaxed than the band"s records, the fans found it to be a long awaited record, showing more of his songwritingcapabilities. -
(Notes by http://www.stagedolls.com/biography.html)
- A popular trio from the city of Trondheim - the capital city of Norwegian Hard Rock. STAGE DOLLS quickly earned themselves a strong reputation for producing an authentic, glossy American sound married to some exceptional songs. The group's original line-up featured drummer Erlend Antonsen for the debut 'Soldiers Gun' record, produced by Bjørn Nessjø¸ at Nidaros Studios in Trondheim in the Autumn of 1982. Alongside the core personnel of vocalist / guitarist TORSTEIN FLAKNE, previously a member of THE KIDS, the ex-HOT LIPS duo of bassist Terje Storli and Antonsen 'Soldiers Gun' also incorporated a guesting Gunnar Berg with a guitar solo on the track 'Ten Tons' and keyboards courtesy of Baard Svendsen.
The first album was a self financed affair, which at first provoked little interest from the record companies. However, Polydor would be intrigued enough to ask for a potential single resulting in the track 'Soldiers Gun'. Subsequently a deal was struck. Touring across Norway in December of 1984 had the band acting as openers to TNT and having generated fan enthusiasm on the live circuit 'Soldiers Gun' soon surpassed the 20,000 sales mark.
By the time the group's second album 'Commandos' was released in 1986, once again finding Bjørn Nessjø¸ as producer but released this time on the Grappa label. For this effort, unfortunately clad in an exceptionally amatuerish sleeve design, Antonsen had been replaced by Steiner Krokstad. Keyboards for this opus would be supplied by Brynjulf Blix. The stirrings of American fortune would be prompted by a US release through the Big Time label. Both frontman Torstein Flakne and drummer Steinar Krokstad would also feature the same year on the John Payne of ASIA led covers album by C.C.C.P.
Originally only gaining album releases in Scandinavia and America, the three-piece would eventually find a market in Britain through Polydor and signed to label mates MAGNUM's manager Keith Baker, ensuring a support tour to MAGNUM on British soil during 1989. Having signed to Chrysalis Records in the USA, STAGE DOLLS entered the American charts with the track 'Love Cries' the same year, peaking at no. 49, and were back in Britain for some headlining club shows towards the end of 1989, having toured in the States with BLUE MURDER and WARRANT. Having released the 'Stage Dolls' album in 1989, this seeing the song 'Wings Of Steel' remixed for US radio by Duane Baron and John Purdell. The album landed STAGE DOLLS at no. 1 in the Norwegian album charts, where it was certified with platinum status.
It was not until 1992 that the Norwegian outfit would make a return with 'Stripped'. Heavy promotion would be afforded by the single 'Love Don't Bother Me', the video for which was graced by supermodel Kate Moss and the Norwegian Miss World Mona Grudt. Drafted in as additional session musicians would be MARK SPIRO on backing vocals, guitarist Tim Pierce and keyboard player Robbie Buchanan. Produced by Bjørn Nessjø and Ron Nevison 'Stripped' found the trio, opening for MR. BIG during their 1992 British and European tour, but despite a good deal of acclaim the group would fragment. A posthumous compilation album of 1994, entitled 'Stories We Could Tell', included two unreleased songs, 'Hard To say Goodbye' and the 1993 recorded WARREN ZEVON track 'Lawyers, Guns And Money'.
Frontman TORSTEIN FLAKNE turned solo, recording an album 'Shoot The Moon'. As a songwriter his influence could be felt across the Norwegian scene in both the rock and Pop fields with artists such as TIN DRUM and SHABOOM. Steiner Krokstad teamed up with TNT's Ronni Lé Tekro and Morty Black to form the Progressively tinged VAGABOND. During 1997 a STAGE DOLLS reformation occurred thanks to the arrival of a new album in 'Dig', although Krokstad's position was taken by ex-TNT drummer Ken Odiin after recording. The TNT connection was strengthened with singer Dag Ingebrigtsen donating backing vocals to the record.
STAGE DOLLS toured Norway acoustically during 1999, repeating this success a further two years running. As a reminder of their status a 2002 compilation ''Good Tmes â?? The Essential' made it to no. 2 in the Norwegian charts, selling over 60,000 copies. The band would once again attempt a comeback in 2003, performing live in their home town that September and performing a special concert for Norwegian peace keeping forces in Kosovo. -
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