Wig Wam
Encyclopedia
Wig Wam is a Norwegian
hard rock
band, which is dedicated to Glam metal
and is the style of typical rock bands from the 1980s movement.
Wig Wam represented Norway
after winning the Norwegian pre-selection Melodi Grand Prix
. With the song "In My Dreams", written by guitarist Teeny, they brought Norway to a ninth place in Kiev
. The song immediately became a huge hit in Norway, being among the most bought singles for 19 weeks and peaking for three weeks at the top of the national single chart http://lista.vg.no/album_info.php?AlbumOp=show&albumId=4526&albumtype=song&albumtype_id=, an achievement neither of Norway's two Eurovision winners managed. Also in Iceland and Sweden it enjoyed moderate to huge commercial success. The band's slogan says: "Rock
is the new schläger
".
Wig Wam first took part in the Eurovision in 2004, finishing 3rd in the Norwegian final. With the song "Crazy Things" they could not beat singer Knut Anders Sørum
("High"), who subsequently slumped to last place in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
. Band leader Glam also took part in the Norwegian preselection on his own in 1998 and claimed third place under his former artist name G'sten, singing the song "Always Will".
After the 2005 contest Glam caused mild controversy due to his actions in interviews after the contest, in particular with the United Kingdom
's BBC broadcasts, where he seemingly had to be separated from Javine Hylton
during an interview in their after-show. The band also confirmed their desire to tour Europe later in the year.
The Eurovision song "In My Dreams" may contain a guitar riff
taken from another song, according to the Latvia
n entrants, who claimed after the competition that Wig Wam had sampled another song and that they knew which one it was. The Latvian duo, however, refused to reveal which song it was due to it "being Wig Wam's song".
On the 28th of May 2005 Wig Wam were also special guests on the Norwegian Junior Eurovision
pre-selection final, as well as on the Norwegian Eurovision-preselection of 2006 on the 4th of May 2006 presenting a medley of their Eurovision-entry "In My Dreams" and their new single "Gonna Get You Someday".
, more specifically the county of Østfold
, and they were founded in 2001. Before their establishment the band members were already active in the music business, playing in bands like Dream Police, Artch, Sha-Boom, Ole Evenrud and Alien, or as solo artists. Wig Wam worked hard to get to the top of the national charts, starting their career with numerous live performances across the country, quickly becoming one of Norway's most popular live bands. Their fan base is known as Wig Wamaniacs.
In 2004 the band released its debut album "667 ... The Neighbour Of The Beast", which was also released in Sweden
. Amongst other things, the album contains a cover of Mel C.
's no. 1 hit I Turn to You. After qualifying for the Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine
, Wig Wam are going to release their album all over Europe, in a new version called "Hard To Be A Rock'n'Roller…In Kiev", including the hit "In My Dreams". Among their musical idols, Wig Wam count the groups KISS
and Sweet
.
In November 2005 the band released their first DVD 'Rock 'N' Roll Revolution 2005' showing the highlights from Wig Wam's best year so far. Included in this DVD is 'Wig Wam Symphonic'
In March 2006 the band released its second full album Wig Wamania
with much better distribution around Europe. In July 2006 Wig Wamania was also released in Japan by King Records with 3 bonus tracks.
By the end of August Wig Wam’s previous album also hit the Japanese market. The album’s Japanese edition with 3 bonus tracks is being slightly retitled to “Hard To Be A Rock’n Roller… In Tokyo!”.
The band released their third studio album Non Stop Rock 'N Roll on January 22, 2010.
In January 2010 Wig Wam were announced as the support act for KISS at Valhall in Oslo on June 14, 2010.
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...
hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band, which is dedicated to Glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
and is the style of typical rock bands from the 1980s movement.
Eurovision
In the Eurovision Song Contest 2005Eurovision Song Contest 2005
The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the 50th Eurovision Song Contest, which was held at the Palace of Sports, Kiev, Ukraine. The winner was Greece's My Number One, written by Christos Dantis and Natalia Germanou and performed by Swedish-born Greek singer Elena Paparizou, who scored 230 points,...
Wig Wam represented 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...
after winning the Norwegian pre-selection Melodi Grand Prix
Melodi Grand Prix
Melodi Grand Prix is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1960.The festival has produced three Eurovision winners and...
. With the song "In My Dreams", written by guitarist Teeny, they brought Norway to a ninth place in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. The song immediately became a huge hit in Norway, being among the most bought singles for 19 weeks and peaking for three weeks at the top of the national single chart http://lista.vg.no/album_info.php?AlbumOp=show&albumId=4526&albumtype=song&albumtype_id=, an achievement neither of Norway's two Eurovision winners managed. Also in Iceland and Sweden it enjoyed moderate to huge commercial success. The band's slogan says: "Rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
is the new schläger
Schlager
Schlager music is a style of popular music prevalent in Central and Northern Europe and the Balkans and also in France and Poland. In Portugal, it was adapted and became pimba music...
".
Wig Wam first took part in the Eurovision in 2004, finishing 3rd in the Norwegian final. With the song "Crazy Things" they could not beat singer Knut Anders Sørum
Knut Anders Sørum
Knut Anders Sørum is a Norwegian singer from Østre Toten. He won the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest selection in 2004, the so-called Melodi Grand Prix, and thus represented Norway at Eurovision 2004 in Istanbul with the pop-ballad "High", written by two Swedish composers...
("High"), who subsequently slumped to last place in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Eurovision Song Contest 2004
The Eurovision Song Contest 2004, was the 49th Contest and it was held in the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. This was the first occasion in which the contest was held in Turkey after they had won the competition in 2003 with Sertab Erener singing "Everyway That I Can"...
. Band leader Glam also took part in the Norwegian preselection on his own in 1998 and claimed third place under his former artist name G'sten, singing the song "Always Will".
After the 2005 contest Glam caused mild controversy due to his actions in interviews after the contest, in particular with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's BBC broadcasts, where he seemingly had to be separated from Javine Hylton
Javine Hylton
Javine Dionne Hylton , often known simply as Javine, is an English singer. She is most notable for representing the UK at Eurovision Song Contest 2005; beating competition favourite, model Katie Price, for the ticket to Kiev...
during an interview in their after-show. The band also confirmed their desire to tour Europe later in the year.
The Eurovision song "In My Dreams" may contain a guitar riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
taken from another song, according to the Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n entrants, who claimed after the competition that Wig Wam had sampled another song and that they knew which one it was. The Latvian duo, however, refused to reveal which song it was due to it "being Wig Wam's song".
On the 28th of May 2005 Wig Wam were also special guests on the Norwegian Junior Eurovision
Junior Eurovision Song Contest
The Junior Eurovision Song Contest , is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union annually since 2003 and is open exclusively to broadcasters that are members of the EBU. It is held in a different European city each year.The competition has many...
pre-selection final, as well as on the Norwegian Eurovision-preselection of 2006 on the 4th of May 2006 presenting a medley of their Eurovision-entry "In My Dreams" and their new single "Gonna Get You Someday".
Band history
Wig Wam comes from NorwayNorway
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...
, more specifically the county of Østfold
Østfold
is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden , while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss and...
, and they were founded in 2001. Before their establishment the band members were already active in the music business, playing in bands like Dream Police, Artch, Sha-Boom, Ole Evenrud and Alien, or as solo artists. Wig Wam worked hard to get to the top of the national charts, starting their career with numerous live performances across the country, quickly becoming one of Norway's most popular live bands. Their fan base is known as Wig Wamaniacs.
In 2004 the band released its debut album "667 ... The Neighbour Of The Beast", which was also released in 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....
. Amongst other things, the album contains a cover of Mel C.
Melanie Chisholm
Melanie Jayne Chisholm is an English singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman professionally known simply as Melanie C . She is best known as one of the five members of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed "Sporty Spice"...
's no. 1 hit I Turn to You. After qualifying for the Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Wig Wam are going to release their album all over Europe, in a new version called "Hard To Be A Rock'n'Roller…In Kiev", including the hit "In My Dreams". Among their musical idols, Wig Wam count the groups KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
and Sweet
Sweet (band)
Sweet was a British rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s as one of the most prominent glam rock acts, with the classic line-up of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker.Sweet was formed in 1968 and achieved their first...
.
In November 2005 the band released their first DVD 'Rock 'N' Roll Revolution 2005' showing the highlights from Wig Wam's best year so far. Included in this DVD is 'Wig Wam Symphonic'
In March 2006 the band released its second full album Wig Wamania
Wig Wamania
Wig Wamania is the third studio album by Norwegian glam metal band Wig Wam. The album was released in 2006 on March 13. The debut single "Gonna Get You Someday" was released on February 6, 2006 and was also featured in the 2006 movie "Lange Flate Baller"....
with much better distribution around Europe. In July 2006 Wig Wamania was also released in Japan by King Records with 3 bonus tracks.
By the end of August Wig Wam’s previous album also hit the Japanese market. The album’s Japanese edition with 3 bonus tracks is being slightly retitled to “Hard To Be A Rock’n Roller… In Tokyo!”.
The band released their third studio album Non Stop Rock 'N Roll on January 22, 2010.
In January 2010 Wig Wam were announced as the support act for KISS at Valhall in Oslo on June 14, 2010.
Band members
- Glam (Åge Sten Nilsen) — vocals
- Teeny (Trond Holter) — guitars
- Flash (Bernt Jansen) — bass
- Sporty (Øystein Andersen) — drums
Discography
- 667.. The Neighbour of the Beast667.. The Neighbour of the Beast667.. The Neighbour of the Beast is the debut album by the modern glam metal group Wig Wam. Released in Norway on March 8, 2004 the album would establish Wig Wam as one of Norway's biggest rock acts, resulting in their participation in the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest.The album would include two...
(2004) - Wig WamaniaWig WamaniaWig Wamania is the third studio album by Norwegian glam metal band Wig Wam. The album was released in 2006 on March 13. The debut single "Gonna Get You Someday" was released on February 6, 2006 and was also featured in the 2006 movie "Lange Flate Baller"....
(2006) - Non Stop Rock'n RollNon Stop Rock'n RollNon Stop Rock'n Roll is the third studio album by Norwegian glam metal band Wig Wam. The album was released on January 21, 2010, making it the first Wig Wam-album to be released worldwide on the same day.- Writing and recording :...
(2010)
External links
- International official website
- Band's management
- Wig Wam at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Wig Wam at Napalm RecordsNapalm RecordsNapalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock.Originally, Napalm Records focused mainly on black metal acts such as Abigor and Summoning and folk metal bands such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg....
Videos
- "In My Dreams" (2005) at Napalm RecordsNapalm RecordsNapalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock.Originally, Napalm Records focused mainly on black metal acts such as Abigor and Summoning and folk metal bands such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg....
(WMVWindows Media Video'Windows Media Video is a video compression format for several proprietary codecs developed by Microsoft. The original video format, known as WMV, was originally designed for Internet streaming applications, as a competitor to RealVideo. The other formats, such as WMV Screen and WMV Image, cater...
) - "Gonna Get You Someday" (2006) at Napalm RecordsNapalm RecordsNapalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock.Originally, Napalm Records focused mainly on black metal acts such as Abigor and Summoning and folk metal bands such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg....
(WMVWindows Media Video'Windows Media Video is a video compression format for several proprietary codecs developed by Microsoft. The original video format, known as WMV, was originally designed for Internet streaming applications, as a competitor to RealVideo. The other formats, such as WMV Screen and WMV Image, cater...
)