Fredrik Friis

Hans Fredrik Friis-Olsen, born 2 April 1923 in Sandefjord, Norway, died 15 March 2008, was one of Norway's first

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music manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of entertainer, artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee t ...

s and producers. He was also a noted composer, lyricist and singer, producing more than 600 songs of his own. Friis was one of the early pioneers in the Norwegian music business, even much underappreciated, discovering artists who would not only plague the national charts, but also seek International notoriety, at a time where Norway did not have any infrastructure, nor much plans for its music exportation. Most famous is

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. But Nationally,

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, Eivind Løberg, Gluntan and Ivar Simastuen. He made his recording debut in 1951. Friis' musical career started with a local performance at home in Sandefjord when he was five years old. He bought a saxophone and started his first orchestra, Daisy Bell, in 1940. Friis made his first appearance on radio December 7, 1946, and became famous in 1948 with the song "Swinging Baby", which was performed in a show from Store Studio in

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

. He had his first appearance on

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in 1950 with

Aud Schønemann Aud Schønemann (13 November 1922 – 30 October 2006) was a Norwegian actress, regarded by many as the leading comedienne of her generation in Norway. She was born in Østre Aker, and was a daughter of actor August Schønemann and dancer Dagmar ...

, and the following year he was called by John Johanson in the record company Nera. Friis got a contract and made his debut in 1951 on the label Musica. Later he also published records on Philips and Columbia. His record production on his own counts twelve singles and three LPs, as well as an LP with Arnt Haugen. Fredrik Friis has a large production of songs and lyrics behind him. He has over 600 songs recorded in the base of

TONO TONO is a Norwegian corporation that administers copyrights for music in Norway. It is owned and governed by its members; composers, music publishers and text-writers. Through the managing agreement the originators give TONO an exclusive right to ...

. Fredrik Friis has made his mark on Norwegian popular music for more than 50 years. In addition to his musical career, he has also worked as a welfare officer in the Navy and a social consultant in the Welfare Service for the merchant navy. He was for many years a social consultant in the Armed Forces Command, where he had the central responsibility for the Armed Forces' economic social service and the crew's living and welfare supplement schemes. At the age of 83, he entered the British chart list when British soul artist Lemar used the tune "Eventyrlandet" which Friis composed for child artist Eivind Løberg in the 1970s.

Lemar Lemar Obika (born 4 April 1978), known as Lemar, is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. Initially rising to fame after finishing third on the first series of British talent show ''Fame Academy'', he was later signed to Sony BMG ...

made the lyrics to Friis's tune under the name "

It's Not That Easy "It's Not That Easy" is the first single taken from British R&B singer Lemar's third album '' The Truth About Love''. Before the single's release, "It's Not That Easy" made the top 3 of the UK radio airplay chart and the top 10 of the TV airp ...

". The song lay eleven weeks on the chart list in the fall of 2006, reaching seventh place. 1923 births 2008 deaths Norwegian pop singers Norwegian songwriters 20th-century Norwegian male singers 20th-century Norwegian singers {{norway-singer-stub