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After the dissolving of Clockwork Orange, Tor Dybdahl kept working with several groups of people, in addition to some solo work. His most prominent collaborators were Rune Annaniassen (R.I.P.) and Erik Avnskog, both old friends Dybdahl had worked with before. Dybdahl, considering his options, at one point was planning a solo career, but a 1986 demo cassette was issued under the name Clockwork Orange. Confusingly, this cassette contained new versions of Downers tracks, as well as new songs, including “Mr. Sunrise” and “And I Wish...”. In fact, the tracks which were to be issued as Horsemen’s only 7” single in early 1988 were recorded in 1986, with Avnskog and Annaniassen, and produced and mixed by Avnskog, Dybdahl and Harald Are Lund. Long before release, however, Annaniassen moved on to pursue greatness in Matchstick Sun, and Avnskog had never been interested in the public side of rock stardom, preferring the role as studio musician or engineer. Dybdahl, therefore, set about town to recruit new members for a live band. Dybdahl had met a young guitarist, Matti Hansen, at the club “Renegat” where they both worked. Bass player Atle Memo (RIP) was an old acquaintance. The trio started rehearsing Dybdahl’s material, including old Clockwork Orange and Downers songs. Dybdahl had arranged the keyboard parts on a Roland MC-500, he would sing and play guitar together with his compadres to the six synthesizers and two drum machines hooked up to the MC 500. Songs they performed live included “Diamonds Burned To Coal”, “Waiting for the Moonlight”, “Fear to Remember”, “Walk Away”, “In Line”, “Two Bicycles in Summertime”, “Concrete Girls”, “Stick to the Indians”, “Summer of Love” as well as a cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”. Memo soon disappeared however, and Trond Pettersen (R.I.P.), an old friend of Dybdahl filled the vacant spot. Rehearsals went very well, and the band also meticulously developed their visual appearance, the band knew how to dress their part - much against the mainstream of Norwegian rock bands, where “roots”, “authenticity” and “down-to-earth” were the order of the day. Dybdahl’s confidence with the new band grew, and in late 1987 he sent the single off to pressing, but it was delayed from the pressing plant and not released until early 1988. Dybdahl’s girlfriend at the time Betty, who worked at Norsk Rockforbund, would help the new band getting live work. By April 1988, the band was scheduled to play two gigs in Trondheim. To the shock of band mates and friends, Pettersen disappeared just days before the concerts where due. Kim Tangen, who was a friend of Hansen, stepped in at short notice, learning the band’s entire set by heart after an intense 48 hour day-and-night rehearsal. The Trondheim gigs went well, and the band kept gigging. They played both Rockefeller (as warm-up for Popcorn Explosion, another of Annaniassen’s bands), an out-door festival at Grünerløkka and at Hulen in Bergen. For their live shows, the band did not use keyboard players, opting instead for Dybdahl’s programmed synthesizers and drum machines. These however had variations in loudness and ‘sound’, and for several of their gigs, they took on a fourth ‘member’, someone who would stand behind a mixing desk on stage, pulling levellers to Dybdahl’s written instructions to ensure the sound level would be correct from one song to the next. Sometimes his girlfriend Betty performed this task. However for their gig at Hulen, Bergen Jan Berg (from Clockwork Orange) was roped in. By summer 1990, Hansen’s frustration with Dybdahl, whose personal life was a mess getting worse by the hour, made it impossible for them to go on. The band imploded after an aggressive gig in Horten where they blew the PA system to pieces with their viciously loud feedback guitars.
Releases: “Mr. Sunrise”/ “And I Wish” 7” single, Temptation Records 1988
Related projects:
Concerts (incomplete): 09/04/87 UFFA, Trondheim 13/04/87 Holdeplassen pub, Trondheim Summer 89 ”Grünerdagene”, Oslo 1989? Rockefeller, Oslo (supporting Popcorn Explosion) Summer 90 Hulen, Bergen Summer 90 Outdoor festival, Horten |
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