Vinskvetten (previously known as Salhus Vinskvetten) is a Norwegian music and comedy troupe.

History

The group was formed in 1975 as part of a local comedy revue (Nornarevyen (Salhus Revy og Teater)), and has ever since been based in Salhus, north of

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 o ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The group's name is a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of another well known band from the same area, Salhuskvintetten. They first gained national fame in 1983, when they made the TV program ''Livet i Rothålå'' (Life in ''Rothålå''), a mockumentary about the fictional town of Rothålå. This production would stay with both the band and its fans for the remainder of their career, and the band often use the town and its inhabitants as basis for their songs. In the late 1980s the band began recording their material, and their first two albums, released in 1988 and 1991, both went gold in Norway. They would go on to record seven albums, the last one in 2005. In 2008, the group announced their farewell tour, which played to sold-out crowds in Bergen during fall 2008 and winter 2009. The show was released on a DVD soon after, along with over two hours of bonus material from 1981 to 2007. The group subsequently retired. Vinskvetten sings in a typical Northern

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

dialect referred to as "stril", which is local slang for a person from the outskirts of Bergen and their dialect, and they also use many "old"

Nynorsk Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano-N ...

words and expressions in their lyrics.

Members

The line-up went through many changes during the '70s and '80s, until a final roster was selected in 1986. Final members (1986 - 2009): *Bjørn Jensen alias "Bertel" –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

(founding member), *Jarle Farestveit alias "Hallstein" – accordion and vocals (founding member), *Gunnar Låstad alias "Ruball" – bass and vocals, *Arild Totland alias "Belbert" – drums and vocals, *Øyvind Østerbø alias "Øyvind" – guitar and vocals, *Gunnar Polden – light and sound technician. Former members (until 1986): * Steinar Toft * Finn Langeland * Knut Langeland * Stein Langeland * Bjørn Ivar Rusten * Kjell Østerbø * Roald Tellevik

Discography

Albums

*1988: "Platå" - Sold 25,000 (

Gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

in Norway) *1991: "På Helså Laus" - Sold 25,212 copies (Gold record in Norway) *1994: "På Nye Eventy" - Sold 15,353 copies *1997: "Rånnyen og Kveitebollen" - Sold 32,402 copies (Gold record in Norway) *2000: "Dei Beste" (Greatest hits) - Sold 19,800 copies *2002: "Du Sa Det Va Forbi-bi-bi..." - Sold 12,162 copies *2005: "Stapp Mett" - Sold 7,000 copies

Singles

* 1984: Data-Dagros (single) * 1990: Ein Heit Ekkel Sommarhitt (single) * 2004: Daiane (single)

DVDs

* 2006: Stapp-Mett (DVD) * 2009: No Kjem Dei Tre Siste (DVD)

External links

Vinskvettens official page (In Norwegian)Ballade.no article
{{Authority control Norwegian musical groups