Björk's eclectic musical beginnings (disco, flute and Beatles)

September 10, 2016 2:56 PM

When Björk was ten, a teacher submitted her recording of Tina Charles’s disco hit “I Love to Love” to Iceland's radio station RÚV. This eventually led to her first album, Björk, released when she was all of eleven years old. Dangerous Minds takes a look at the history behind Björk's first album, including excerpts from an interview with her mother, who did the cover art. You can listen to mp3s of the songs on WFMU's Beware of the Blog, including Björk's original flute instrumental, "Johannes Kjarval" (a tribute to the Icelandic painter) and her Icelandic-language cover of the Beatles' "Fool on the Hill".

Bonus: eleven-year-old Björk reads the Nativity Story on Icelandic TV with musical backup from her fellow students at the Reykjavik Children's Music School.

posted by hurdy gurdy girl (13 comments total)

Nice post.
Björk did an AMA on Reddit a few days ago.
posted by bouvin at 3:31 PM on September 10, 2016 [7 favorites]

It's almost impossible to grasp just how consistently amazing she has been. That and how bleeding edge she has been tech wise reminds me of Bowie.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 3:40 PM on September 10, 2016 [7 favorites]

I don't think there's an artist of any kind (popular musician, writer, etc) that I feel and think remotely as I do of Björk. She's a force, she's like some huge fact of the universe. I adore some of her stuff and have listened to those tracks frequently over many, many years, I like most of the rest, and what I don't really like I still respect. But it's not just the quality of her music, it's that her music expresses a singular, visionary personality that is evident, and consistent, across everything about her. I think she is unquestionably an artistic genius in the truest, rarified sense.

Despite my enthusiasm and high praise, I'm not a "fan" in the sense that I really know her biography or could even manage to avoid embarrassing myself in a Björk-themed trivia contest. So this article and album is new to me. And, speaking for myself, my response to it is a kind of validation. Many people don't just "get" Björk and, I think, see her as just someone with an outsized and affected media image. But I think she's the rare prodigy who goes on to deeply and widely explore the potential suggested by that prodigious childhood. That alone impresses me because the deck is stacked against those kinds of kids and often even if they do accomplish much, it's in very early adulthood and then they get stuck.

Björk is absolutely on my list of about five living people in the world I'd most like to spend some time being around. I'm not entirely sure who the other four are, but I'm pretty sure that none of them are popular entertainers. Björk stands alone.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:10 PM on September 10, 2016 [12 favorites]

Oh, funny, a friend just sent me a video making the rounds of her performing at about 16. Didn't realize she started even earlier than that.
posted by lkc at 5:07 PM on September 10, 2016

I only like some of Björk's stuff. Just a personal taste thing.

I respect the hell out of all her stuff, though.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 6:13 PM on September 10, 2016 [3 favorites]

I only like some of Björk's stuff. Just a personal taste thing.

I really liked Vespertine, and then really did not like Medulla, and didn't find myself getting into anything else since then. I think Post was my favorite overall.

Gling-Gló is one I don't often see mentioned, but apparently it's still Iceland's favorite album of hers.
posted by Foosnark at 6:54 PM on September 10, 2016 [4 favorites]

posted by hurdy gurdy girl

ebjörkysterical.
posted by progosk at 1:41 AM on September 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

And here I thought I was hipster because I was listening to the Sugarcubes when they were new. The first licks of Birthday still give me chills, but it's Björk's caterwauling chorus that really brings me back to sneaking into clubs as a high-school goth/punk(*) wannabe.

(*) hey, adolescence is a confusing time
posted by Nelson at 7:21 AM on September 11, 2016 [3 favorites]

The tour for Biophilia was one of the best live shows I've ever seen. An all-female choir, a guy playing iPad apps, a player piano playing itself, a bass made from a giant Tesla coil suspended above the audience, and several custom instruments plus Bjork in a series of brilliantly-coloured massive wigs AND all of it synced to video for every song.
posted by eustacescrubb at 9:31 AM on September 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

Björk has always been one of my muses--she's a genius if there ever was such a thing. Thanks for this post! Lots of great stuff to dig into here.
posted by saulgoodman at 2:52 PM on September 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

After listening to the music, I wondered what language group Icelandic belongs to, because I almost sounded Athabaskan to me. So Icelandic is most closely related to Norwegian, but really old Norse. The language is protected, and is spoken the same as in the ninth century. They make up their own new words, so look up the word for computer in Icelandic, it has a great story. Such a unique country, and such an amazing artist. I will never forget the swan dress.
posted by Oyéah at 5:25 PM on September 11, 2016 [1 favorite]

That's so cool, Oyéah! I searched for "Icelandic word for computer" and found this article...how cool!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:52 PM on September 11, 2016

The recording of her as a ten year old is spellbinding. Michael Jackson levels.
posted by Coda Tronca at 2:07 AM on September 13, 2016