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    STUDY HALL:
    Bjork

    If you've ever heard Bjork sing, it's a voice you wouldn't forget. The wild ranges and sounds that emit from every melody made Bjork Gudmundsdottir one of the most popular musicians from Iceland. Actually, I can't think of anyone else I know from Iceland, can you??

    As a child, Bjork began her musical quest early by playing the flute and piano, studying voice and even formed a band by the age of 15 named Tappi Tikarass. Her voice has changed immensely since she has progressed through her career, but her talent was clearly evident as she stole the stage with her eclectic presence. (Check out a video clip of Bjork singing live with Tappi Tikarass.) Two of Tappi Tikarass' songs were featured in an Icelandic New Wave documentary which sky rocketed Bjork's fame and pushed her popularity outside the borders of Iceland.

    Once 1983 rolled around, Bjork formed a new band with members of Tappi Tikarass which you might remember called Kukl. It was this band that Bjork sunk her creative vibes into and over the next couple of years toured Europe and even released a couple of LPs. You can definitely hear Bjork's trademark sound developing during the musical influence of Kukl. You can also hear the influences of that decade such as Siouxie and the Banshees in a few of their songs. (Check out a video clip of Bjork with Kakul and see if you can pick up on any other influences.)

    If you thought Bjork looked pregnant in the video above, then you are right! Bjork and her husband, Thor Eldon who was the guitarist in her band, had a son named Sindri in 1986. On the same day, her and her husband formed a new band with some of the former Kukl members called Sykumolarnir. If you don't speak Icelandic or can't find a Google translation, I'll help you out: The Sugarcubes.

    In 1987, the Sugarcubes hit the big time with the Icelandic version of "Birthday" and caught the attention of Elektra records. The Sugarcubes debut album, "Life's Too Good", was released in the States in 1988. You might recall the English version of "Birthday" on this album and the cryptic "Motorcrash", which to this day makes me scratch my head, but none-the-less got them a lot of air time. (Check out the video of "Motorcrash".)

    The Sugarcubes released a few albums following the Elektra debut which did not pan out so well. Their third album released in 1992, "Stick Around for Joy", gave us the single, "Hit", unfortunately The Sugarcubes broke up later that year. Which in my opinion was no big deal since everyone listened to the Cubes to hear Bjork anyway and luckily for us led to her solo career.

    In 1993, Bjork having packed her bags, grabbed her son and left her husband behind for London. This was a big move for Bjork, but clearly the most instrumental in harvesting her solo sound and mixing in with the British music scene of the 90's. With the debut of "Human Behavior" came a lot of different reviews, to include a trashing by Rolling Stone Magazine. However, her fans seemed to feel differently because the album did quite well. In fact, it was this debut that made Bjork a star on the alternative music scene in America.

    1994 didn't offer up much besides a release of some remixes and co-writing a track for Madonna's "Bedtime Stories". Does anyone remember that? Bjork also made an appearance on MTV's Unplugged.

    Bjork's forth album in 1995 gave us "Army of Me", which if there's anyone out there who has never heard this song, please stop reading and go straight to iTunes and download. Her album "Post" gave us the single "Isobel" and "It's Oh So Quiet", my personal favorite because of the theatrical sounds and the oh-so-cute video. "Hyperballad" was also on this album, however these singles didn't receive much airtime here for one reason or another. If only we had iTunes or YouTube back in the day!

    In 1996, "Telegram" was released in the UK and then in the States in 1997. Essentially all this album consisted of were remixes of the entire "Post" album so we didn't see anything new.

    Some of Bjork's other accomplishments include being named Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000 for her work in "Dancer in the Dark". She had the score for the film, Selmasongs.

    Bjork released a Greatest Hits collection in 2002 and performed sporadically at a few venues in 2003 before getting ready for 2004 which brought us the release of "Medulla". FUN FACT: It was "Oceania" off of this album that Bjork sang at the 2004 Olympics in Greece!

    Since then Bjork has collaborated with several multimedia artists as well as musical talents such as Timbaland.

    - Kris with a "K"
    Guidance Counselor, The Edge 101
    Kris with a "K" on MySpace

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