Kerrs Pink

Kerrs Pink enjoys a rather important reputation in international progressive rock circles, despite long-lasting obscurity in Norway and an unstable career marked by numerous break-ups and lineup changes. The group has recorded five albums in its first 30 years of existence. All have been released or reissued by the French prog rock label Musea. The music is most notable for its blend of Scandinavian folk elements with the vintage British symphonic prog sound of the ‘70s.

Kerrs Pink, named after a variety of potatoes, formed in 1972 in Trømborg, a small Norwegian town. Of the four original members, all aged 15 to 17 at the time, only Jostein Hansen would continue to carry the torch. Essentially a cover band at first, the group also used the names "Memories" and "Cash Pink" in its early years, which it spent in basements and dance halls. The first major change in personnel occurred in 1975 when guitarist Harald Lytomt was recruited. Hansen, who previously played guitar, too, switched to bass. This pair would later form the die-hard core of the band and write most of its material. In March 1976 the group performed its first "real" concert and began to focus on original songs. It took another three years before the members found the guts and the money to self-produce their first single. Released on their own label, Pottittskiver, "Kong Edvardt"/"Feberlåten" attracted good press and sold out its limited run of a thousand copies. Galvanized, Kerrs Pink entered the studio of Höst guitarist Svein Rönning in the summer of 1980 to record its self-titled debut LP, also self-released later that year. The lineup at this point included Lytomt, Hansen, Halvard Haugerud, Tore Johansen, Trond Böhn, and Terje Solaas. The instrumental track "Velkomst" reached the national Top Ten in early 1981. A second LP, Mellom Oss, came out in January 1982 and featured a new drummer in Tore Fundingsrud. The cost of self-production and lack of commitment from some of the musicians led to the band's first breakup. Bøhn left during the recording sessions, Lytomt and Fundingsrud followed shortly after the LP's release to form the harder-edged Mantra. Hansen and Haugerud continued for a while as a pop/rock unit before things ground to a halt.

In 1989, Musea expressed interest in reissuing Kerrs Pink's two LPs, which rekindled a flame in Hansen. He re-formed the group with former members Johansen, Fundingsrud, and Lytomt, plus Mantra's keyboardist Per Øyvind Nordberg. This lineup re-recorded Mellom Oss for its 1992 reissue, contributed to the Musea project Seven Days of a Life (1993), and recorded the ambitious concept album A Journey of the Inside (also 1993). This outburst of activity was followed by an extended hiatus. Tired of waiting, Lytomt began work on a solo album in 1996. He asked Hansen to provide lyrics, and in the end, Art of Complex Simplicity came out in 1997 under Kerrs Pink's name, featuring a cast of former members and studio musicians. After another break, Hansen and Lytomt recruited a fresh lineup, including two keyboardists and male and female lead singers, to record 2002's Tidings. ~ François Couture, Rovi