Vispop
Encyclopedia
Vispop is the Swedish
name for a genre of music which became popular in the Scandinavia
n countries in the mid-60s. The term is derived from the word visa which denotes traditional and popular folk song. In Norway
the term applied to this type of accompanied singing is visesang. During the 1970s this was among the most popular genres of music in Scandinavia.
Vispop is typically performed by a singer-songwriter
playing an acoustic guitar
, and the lyrics often expresses social commentary. Musical groups such as the Norwegian group Ballade! also occur.
The genre could be compared to American folk rock
or bluegrass
Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
name for a genre of music which became popular in the Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n countries in the mid-60s. The term is derived from the word visa which denotes traditional and popular folk song. In Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
the term applied to this type of accompanied singing is visesang. During the 1970s this was among the most popular genres of music in Scandinavia.
Vispop is typically performed by a singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
playing an acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, and the lyrics often expresses social commentary. Musical groups such as the Norwegian group Ballade! also occur.
The genre could be compared to American folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
or bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
Vispop artists
Norway- Åse KlevelandÅse KlevelandÅse Maria Kleveland is a Swedish-Norwegian singer and politician.A well-known folk singer and traditional guitarist in Norway, she was appointed Minister of Culture in Norway from 1990 to 1996, representing the Labour Party under the Gro Harlem Brundtland administration...
- Lillebjørn NilsenLillebjørn NilsenBjørn "Lillebjørn" Falk Nilsen is a prominent Norwegian singer-songwriter and folk musician. He is also considered somewhat the leading "voice of Oslo" thanks to numerous classic songs about the city from the 1970s and up....
- Jan EggumJan EggumJan Eggum is a Norwegian singer-songwriter who has been active since 1975. He is often characterised as a "face for the melancholy", and the themes in his songs are often broken hearts, loneliness and sorrow...
- Øystein SundeØystein SundeØystein Olaf Sunde is a Norwegian folk singer and guitarist. He is known for his high-speed guitar and banjo style and his satirical lyrics...
- Alf Cranner
- Halvdan SivertsenHalvdan SivertsenHalvdan Sivertsen is a Norwegian singer. He was born in Tromsø, but raised and currently lives in Bodø. He has won Spellemannprisen awards five times, twice with his group Gitarkameratene, and received the Culture Prize of Nordland county in 2000...
- Finn KalvikFinn KalvikFinn Bjørn Kalvik is a Norwegian singer and composer.-Early career:He was born in Fåvang, but his family moved to the working class district of Grorud, Oslo in 1952. Early in his career Kalvik found success putting music to the poetry of popular Norwegian writers André Bjerke and Inger Hagerup...
Sweden
- Ted GärdestadTed GärdestadTed Gärdestad , internationally known as Ted Gardestad, Ted Gaerdestad or just Ted was a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician.-Early career:...
- Uno SvenningssonUno SvenningssonUno Svenningsson, born 1 July 1959 in Hagelstorp, Sweden is a Swedish pop singer and guitarist, who has been active in music since the late 1970s....
- Cornelis VreeswijkCornelis VreeswijkCornelis Vreeswijk , was a singer-songwriter, poet and actor born in IJmuiden in the Netherlands.He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to become a journalist, but became increasingly involved in music, performing at...