Stage Dolls is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band based in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, Norway.

History

In 1982, Erlend Antonsen and Terje Storli played at local clubs in and around Trondheim. In need of a guitarist they called on Torstein Flakne, who by then had finished playing in The Kids (a popular teeny-band in Norway 1980-82). Throughout the summer and fall of 1982 the newly formed band started rehearsing and playing shows in the region. The trio took the name Stage Dolls in January 1983. The first album, titled ''

Soldier's Gun ''Soldier's Gun'' is the first studio album by the Norwegian hard rock band Stage Dolls. The album was recorded in the fall of 1984 at Nidaros Studios in Trondheim, Norway with the same producer, Bjørn Nessjø, and engineer, Rune Nordahl, as ...

'', was released in late 1985, after a successful nationwide tour in Norway supporting the

band

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

. Antonsen left the band in 1985 and was replaced by Steinar Krokstad; he in turn left in 1993 and was replaced by Morten Skogstad. The recordings for their next album ''

Commandos Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

'' started in late 1985. It peaked at number 8 in the Norwegian charts (VG) and set the band up as one of the most popular rockbands in Norway in 1986. The album was released in the US by

Big Time Records Big Time Records was an independent record label based in Sydney, Australia. The label was owned by Lance Reynolds and Fred Bestall, who managed Air Supply in their early days, among others. From 1979 until 1981, Big Time was distributed by Wi ...

and the title track "Commandos" gained considerable airplay on college-radio. The '' self-titled third album'' was released in 1988. It made it to number 3 at the charts in Norway, and the single "Wings of Steel" went to number 10. In 1989, the band released the album on Chrysalis Records for the American market. The single "Love Cries" went to number 46 on the Billboard Singles Charts the same year. A second single for the song "Still in Love" was also released in America. In 1991, the band released a fourth album called ''Stripped''. The album went to number 5 in Norway, and the single "Love Don't Bother Me" charted at number 3. The music video for the song, featured English model

Kate Moss Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...

. In 1995, Torstein Flakne released a solo album on Mercury Records in 1995 called ''Shoot the Moon''.

Personnel

Current members

Torstein Flakne Torstein Flakne (born December 17, 1960 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian singer and guitarist, best known for being the founder of the Norwegian rock band Stage Dolls. He is from Melhus and played in the band The Kids (Norwegian band), The Ki ...

- lead vocals, lead guitar (1983–present) *Terje Storli - bass, backing vocals (1983–present) *

Morten Skogstad Morten Skogstad (born 26 June 1962) is the drummer in the Norwegian hard rock/glam metal band Stage Dolls. He joined the band in 1993, replacing Steinar Krokstad. Skogstad was the drummer in the Norwegian hard rock band TNT from 1988 to 1989. Dur ...

- drums, percussion, backing vocals (1993–present)

Former members

*Erlend Antonsen - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1983–1985) *Steinar Krokstad - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1985–1993)

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1985) *''

'' (1986) *'' Stage Dolls'' (1988) *''Stripped'' (1991) *''Dig'' (1997) *''Get a Life'' (2004) *''Always'' (2010)

Live albums

*''Get a Live'' CD + DVD (2005)

Compilation albums

*''Stories We Could Tell'' (1993) *''Good Times - The Essential Stage Dolls'' (2002)

References

External links

* The band official website
STAGE DOLLS
{{Authority control 1983 establishments in Norway Grappa Music artists Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups from Trondheim Norwegian glam metal musical groups Norwegian hard rock musical groups Norwegian heavy metal musical groups Norwegian rock music groups