release date: maj 1979
format: cd (1988 reissue)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,22]
producer: Stig Kreutzfeldt
label: CBS Records / Elap - nationality: Denmark
5th studio album by C.V. Jørgensen is originally his final on Metronome following 15 months after
Vild i varmen (1978) and is C.V.'s second of two consecutive albums with producer Stig Kreutzfeldt. On this, C.V. is backed for the last time by Det Ganske Lille Band, here consisting of a quartet with 'the three regulars': guitarist and co-composer on most tracks, Ivan Horn, bassist Erik Falck, and drummer René Wulf, all three of whom have participated on Jørgensen's last three albums. The backing band is now without Thomas Grue, who only appears on
Vild i varmen - he never really fell in with the relationships in the band and returned to play with Kim Larsen (and Frede Fup). In his place, keyboardist Lotte Rømer has taken over, she is also co-composer on the first track. Before recording the album, both Wulf and Horn had only just participated on Rømer's debut album and together they reportedly persuaded C.V. and Falck to include Rømer in Det Ganske Lille Band.
Musically, this is not a change of style. The band continues in the continued mainstream pop / rock or soft rock mix based on folk, country rock and funk rock that was heard on the predecessor. Likewise, the songs are like new chapters in the history of new trends in society, styles in art, moneymen, illusions and disillusions - in short: the contemporary lifestyle exposed to critical eyes with a good dose of irony added. It's just like taken from exactly the same shelf as C.V.'s previous album and in a way that it almost sounds like leftovers from the same recordings, and in retrospect it's not one of his best albums. Most of all because it is without strong numbers and good choruses. If you compare it with new musical currents such as new wave and punk rock, it is also remarkable how old-fashioned the album here sounds. However, it is quite clear that C.V. by no means overlooked the new trends. In the song "Surf à la mode" he talks about the new British band Siouxsie and the Banshees and notes that Siouxsie is the only interesting thing, because the band "i sig selv er nemlig ikke en nikkel værd - lige bortset fra som baggrundsfyld - af og til når det fungerer kan man ligesom abstrahere - fra den møgbeskidte lyd der fumles med" ['per se isn't worth a nickel except as background filler - occasionally, when it works, you may be able to ignore the dung-dirty sound they are fumbling with' (my translation)]. He continues his categorization of the band, which he clearly doesn't like: "vi har det ind imellem med at placere - ting på hovedet så hvem ved måske en skønne dag - er Siouxie og the Banshees på toppen - af hitlisterne landet over inklusive den hos Irma"['we sometimes turn things upside down, so who knows maybe one fine day Siouxie and the Banshees are topping the charts all across the country including the one at Sainsbury's' (my translation)]. Yes, yes, he has evidently noted new sounds in popular music, and no, he doesn't like it.
After three years of hectic life going from one concert to another, C.V. had to call it a day after a short tour with the new album. He was not a fan of the new band, in which Rømer and Horn now also formed a couple, and he needed a break, all the while the backing band continued to tour under the name C.V. Moto. He was now determined to move on artistically, and already in the autumn of '79 he announced to Horn, Falck, and Wulf that they had come to an end. With a collection of new songs written by C.V., with Lotte Rømer on vocal and with music by Rømer and (boyfriend) Ivan Horn, C.V. Moto released the stand-alone album
Lampefeber in 1980. While the previous backing band had been busy touring and recording the new songs, Jørgensen had inititated a collaboration with Billy Cross, which simultaneosly led to the album
Tidens tern (1980).
The reason I'm not a big fan of Solgt til stanglakrids isn't because of C.V.'s aversion to punk rock, it's simply because with this he basically stopped contributing with anything new to the collection of Danish classics and only delivers a few good songs to his repertoire. The band now sounds as if they are playing in 1973 while founding the music on J.J. Cale, Little Feat with the addition of guitar solos by Clapton and seem fully satisfied spitting out new songs as success rolls in. This is actually the first time you hear C.V. on repeat and without the ability, or the desire to move - and perhaps that was what he actually sensed himself when he made the decision to call it quits.
Incidentally, the cover is the first credited to C.V.'s girlfriend, Annemarie Albrectsen.
Not recommended.
