* En anglais uniquement
Allan Olsen is a Danish folk-rock singer/songwriter who began his solo recording career in the 1980s and rose to chart-topping success in his homeland. Born on March 18, 1956, in Grønholt, Denmark, he was influenced primarily by the early- to mid-'70s singer/songwriter movement. He cites among his all-time favorite albums
the Who's
Who's Next (1971),
Neil Young's
Harvest (1972),
Nick Drake's
Pink Moon (1972),
Bert Jansch's
L.A. Turnaround (1973),
Randy Newman's
Good Old Boys (1974), and
Bob Dylan's
Before the Flood (1974). While clearly influenced by American and British music,
Olsen chose to write and sing his songs in his own regional dialect. At age 33 he made his solo album debut with Norlan (1989), followed by Gajo (1990) and Pindsvin i Pigsko (1992). His fourth album, Dalton (1992), a collaboration with
Johnny Madsen and
Lars Lilholt, was particularly successful, and the double-disc live album
Rygter Fra Randområderne (1994) was released in its wake. He released new studio albums every couple years thereafter, among them
Jern (1996),
Sange for Rygere (1998), and
Onomatopoietikon (2000), plus a steady stream of live albums and compilations.
Olsen's popularity remained steady well after the turn of the century as the studio albums Gæst (2004) and
Multo Importante (2007) topped the Danish albums chart and numerous compilations were released. ~ Jason Birchmeier