Kurt Foss (1 January 1925 – 17 October 1991) was a Norwegian composer, singer and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

artist.

Biography

He was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, and together with

Reidar Bøe Reidar Bøe (7 May 1921 – 9 August 1969) was a Norwegian singer and composer. He was born in Bergen, and is known for his collaboration with Kurt Foss. He made his stage debut at Den nationale scene in 1939, and also participated in radio s ...

Kurt Foss created the hugely popular duo "Radiofantomene" ("The Radio Phantoms") that was active throughout the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Their biggest success was the song " Blåveispiken" ("The Liverwort Girl") with lyrics by

Arne Paasche Aasen Arne Paasche Aasen (18 June 1901 – 1 November 1978) was a Norwegian politician, journalist and poet, who worked for the labour movement. He was born in Steinkjer as a son of teacher and politician Augusta Aasen, née Paasche (1878–1920) and ...

and which was released in 1950 selling 100,000 records. They later produced humorous songs and tender

vise A vise or vice (British English) is a mechanical apparatus used to secure an object to allow work to be performed on it. Vises have two parallel jaws, one fixed and the other movable, threaded in and out by a screw and lever. A vise grip is no ...

s, among these were "Tre yndige små mus" ("Three Cute Little Mice") in 1950, composed by

Kristian Hauger Kristian Hauger (24 October 1905 – 18 October 1977) was a Norwegian pianist, orchestra leader and composer of popular music from the late 1920s to mid 1950s. Kristian Asbjørn Hauger was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. His father, H ...

, "Nordlandsnetter" ("Nordland Nights") in collaboration with

Jens Book-Jenssen Jens Peter Book-Jenssen (14 November 1910 – 28 March 1999) was a Norwegian singer of popular music, songwriter, revue artist and theatre director. From his stage debut in the early 1930s, his career included radio and television work, recordi ...

in 1952, "Det ringer, det ringer" ("It's Ringing, It's Ringing") in 1953, "Kallen og katten" ("The Old Man and the Cat") in 1954, which was one of several adaptations into songs of the poetry of

Jakob Sande Jakob Sande (1 December 1906 – 16 March 1967) was a Norwegian writer, poet and folk singer from Dale in Sunnfjord. His parents were Andreas Sande and Ragna Margrete (born Barsnes). He married Solveig Ytterlid in 1942 and they had a daughter, Si ...

, and also "De nære ting" ("The Things Near") in 1951, that song was also with lyrics by Arne Paasche Aasen. After the death of Reidar Bøe in 1969, Foss didn't thrive in the limelight as he had used to. During the subsequent years he worked as, among other things,

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

at some of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

's theatres. Nevertheless, he still performed some during the 1970s as well as the 1980s, initially together with his wife Torhild Lindal who was also a stage artist, and later with other, one of these being

Jon Eikemo Jon Eikemo (born 30 November 1939 in Åsane, Norway) is a Norwegian actor. He debuted on stage in 1961. He made his film debut in 1968, with the movie '' De ukjentes marked'' (The Market of the Outcasts). Eikemo has been a minor political candidat ...

. He was awarded the

Gammleng Award The Gammleng Award ( no, Gammleng-prisen) is a Norwegian culture award created by ''The Fund for Performing Artists'' in 1982, 25 years after the fund was established in 1957. The award's official name is the ''Rolf Gammleng award to performing art ...

in the veteran category in 1986. In 1989 he moved back to his home town, Bergen, and he lived there until his death in 1991, at the age of 66. The first CD release of "Radiofantomene" came in 2004, and the second collector's album was released in August 2005. A third record with musical adaptations of Jakob Sande poems came in November 2006.

References

External links

*
Biography in ''Norsk pop- og rockleksikon'' from 2005
1925 births 1991 deaths Traditional pop music singers Vaudeville performers Norwegian singer-songwriters Musicians from Bergen 20th-century Norwegian male singers 20th-century Norwegian singers {{Singer-songwriter-stub