19 May 2013

Dieters Lieder "Hvor flink kan man blive?" (1988)

Hvor flink kan man blive?
release date: 1988
format: digital
[album rate: 2,5 / 5]
producer: Kim Sagild
label: Genlyd - nationality: Denmark

Track highlights: 9. "Dig & mig"

2nd studio album by Dieters Lieder is following the debut Jeg ka' lieder released 5 years earlier. In the meantime, the band has experienced their greatest succes with the pop-song "Dig og mig", which may have resulted in a change of style. This new album is in a distinct pop / rock sphere without traces of new wave and / or post-punk from their debut. This was a huge disappointment to me when I listened to the album for the first time. The band had been on their own, playing a daring new wave style, which was a strange blend, but here they have turned to pop with a distinct element of funk. The band is now in a new line-up still with the brothers Gerup, who both share the part as lead vocalist and Martin has changed his primary instrument and now is playing keyboards. Halfdan E plays bass - he would later on become an acclaimed composer / producer - and new drummer is Morten Kaufmann.
The band released the album, as well as the debut, on the label Genlyd, founded by the Danish band Gnags, and that may be the band's closest stylistic reference here. It now seems without a will to dare make new music. The band is mostly known for having had the composer / producer Halfdan E on bass from '83 and for being almost synonymous with the single track "Dig og mig", which was originally released in 1984, but it wasn't really noticed until the track featured in the Danish TV-series "Sonny Soufflé Chok Show" in '86 (link). And in '99 the track was covered by the Danish act, Blå øjne (link), and that brought some fame to the band. In 2008 Natasja also covered the song in a dance hall version - again with some success (link). The band dissolved in 1989 shortly after releasing Hvor flink kan man blive.