Olsen band (piece of music)

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Olsen-banden (also Olsen-banden tema or Tema fra Olsen-banden ) is the title of the theme song of the Danish film series of the same name . The Dixieland style melody was composed in 1968 by Bent Fabricius-Bjerre .

Emergence

When Nordisk Film produced The Olsen Gang in 1968 , director Erik Balling commissioned the film composer Bent Fabricius-Bjerre:

“I need a theme that can run through the whole film, like in the films with Gøg and Gokke. It should sound a bit weird and be variable in all conceivable shapes and styles. "

- Erik Balling : after Bent Fabricius-Bjerre's autobiography Klaver med mer ; quoted in German from Frank Eberlein .

Fabricius-Bjerre then suggested to the director to write a melody in the style of Dixieland jazz, which he immediately agreed to. The composer recorded the original version with Papa Bue's Viking Jazzband . In 1969 the band released the piece as a single.

Use as film music

Original Danish films

Since the film The Olsen Gang proved to be a great commercial success in 1968, it received numerous sequels at Nordisk Film, so that until 1981 another film was made almost every year. Fabricius-Bjerre's theme song was used in all films. In addition to the original version of Papa Bue's Viking Jazzband, Fabricius-Bjerre recorded new versions for the later films with a specially composed studio orchestra; however, the original shot of Papa Bue was still used - especially in the scenes in which the Olsen Gang can be seen silhouetted in Copenhagen harbor. At the end of the tenth film The Olsen Gang Rises on the Roof (1978), the band made a guest appearance as a prison band, which Egon Olsen greeted with the melody on his return to the Vridsløselille State Prison .

According to the director's idea that the title melody should "be variable in all conceivable forms and styles", a multitude of variations arose depending on the mood and location of the respective scenes; For example, castanets were used in scenes in Spain or an accordion in the style of the musette was used in scenes in Paris .

Modern variations of the theme song were created for the television series Olsen-bandens første kup (1999) and the children's film Olsenbande Junior (2001).

Norwegian remakes

In Norway , under the director Knut Bohwim, remakes of the successful Danish Olsen gang films have been made with their own actors since 1969. For the first film, Olsen-Gangs , a completely separate theme song by the Norwegian film composer Egil Monn-Iversen was used . From the second film, Olsenbanden og Dynamitt-Harry (1970), the original Danish theme song by Bent Fabricius-Bjerre was also used in Norway. As a result, this remained as inextricably linked to filming around the gang as it was in its country of origin and was also used in the Norwegian junior films - which, unlike in Denmark, resulted in a whole series of films . In this film series, modern variations of the title melody were also used and for the film Olsenbanden jr. på rocker'n a rock version was created especially for this.

A special feature is the title music of the film Olsenbanden møter Kongen & Knekten from 1974: Here the melody by Bent Fabricius-Bjerre was accompanied by an independent lyrics under the title Tidens menn , which was played by the main actors Arve Opsahl , Sverre Holm , Carsten Byhring , Aud Schønemann and Pål Johannessen is sung.

reception

In the GDR published Papa Binne's Jazz Band in 1987 a re-recording of the tune on their LP Yes, we san mit'm Radl there! .

Especially in the 1990s, several samples of the film music in dance style were created, which were underlaid with quotes from the films:

  • 1996: Børges Dance Convention presents: The Olsen Gang (The ultimative Dance-Mix '96) (EAN: 4012831107212)
  • 1996: Sandmann's Dummies feat. Olsen Gang - mighty mighty ... (EAN: 74321385582)
  • 1998: Olsen-Bandet - Kuppet over alle kup (EAN: 5709576990221)
  • 2012: The Olsen Gang feat. Robbie Miraux - I have a plan (EAN: 090204627134)

While the version of Sandmann's Dummies stock quotes from the DEFA -Synchronfassungen the films used for were Børges Dance Convention relevant quotes from the still living at the time DEFA voice actors Karl Heinz Oppel , Erhard Köster and Helga Sasse new eingesprochen. A dispute arose between the publishers of the two singles, who came out almost simultaneously in 1996 - TGM Musikverlag for Børges Dance Convention and BMG label Hansa / Amiga for Sandmann's Dummies - before the Berlin Regional Court . July 1996 the decision was made in favor of Børges Dance Convention .

The Berlin punk band Fluchtweg released the title Die Olsenbande - was one of us on their album Commerzpunk in 1998 , in which they quoted the film melody.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Danish name for Laurel and Hardy .
  2. ↑ cit. n. Frank Eberlein, Das große Lexikon der Olsenbande , p. 158.
  3. ^ A b c Frank Eberlein: The large lexicon of the Olsen gang , p. 158.
  4. ^ Frank Eberlein: The large lexicon of the Olsen gang, p. 328f.

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