Savoy (Norwegian band)

Savoy are a Norwegian-American rock trio consisting of Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (famous from Norwegian band a-ha) (vocals/guitars/bass/keyboards), his wife Lauren Savoy (vocals/guitars) and Frode Unneland (drums/percussion/backing vocals). The band was formed in 1994 and has released 6 studio albums to date.

Savoy
Waaktaar-Savoy performing live at Irving Plaza in NYC 09-12-05
Waaktaar-Savoy performing live at Irving Plaza in NYC 09-12-05
Background information
OriginOslo, Norway
Boston, USA
Bergen, Norway
GenresAlternative rock[1]
Post-grunge[1]
Years active1994–present
Labels
MembersPaul Waaktaar-Savoy
Lauren Savoy
Frode Unneland
WebsiteSavoy homepage

Biography

Savoy, unlike Waaktaar-Savoy's other band A-ha, has a more down-to-earth indie rock approach to their music. All songs are composed by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy and Lauren Savoy. Lauren herself is known as a film maker, and Frode Unneland is one of Norway's best drummers known from the Bergen music scene as drummer with Chocolate Overdose and Popium. He has also drummed for Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche.

Savoy have achieved great critical success in Norway. They have been nominated for 3 Norwegian Grammy Awards (Spellemannprisen) and won two of them, in 2000 and 2002. Their most known hits include "Velvet" (also covered by A-ha), "Rain", "Star", "Grind You Down", "If You Won't Come to the Party" and "Whalebone" (from the soundtrack of the well-acclaimed Norwegian film Hawaii, Oslo). The latter track cleverly recycles lyrics from A-ha's 1993 track, "Locust". Savoy have sold a total of 200,000 albums.

On August 6, 2007, Savoy released Savoy Songbook Vol. 1, a double-CD where CD2 is a "best of"-album with 14 tracks, and CD1 contains three new songs and seven re-worked versions of some of their older songs. It will work as an introduction to the band outside Norway (noting a possible worldwide release). The first single from this release, "Karma Boomerang", is one of the new tracks and was released on 13 April 2007. The second single was announced as "Best Western Beauty" and was released on August 5, 2007.

Savoy signed a UK deal with indie label Genepool Records.

In 2016, it was announced that the band's back catalogue would be remastered and re-released by Apollon Records.[2] Lackluster Me and Mountains of Time were subsequently re-released in 2016 and 2017 respectively.[3][4] As of 2020, the remaining albums have not been re-released.

After some speculation and social media posts confirming recording in 2015, Savoy's first studio album in 14 years, See the Beauty in Your Drab Hometown, was released on January 12, 2018.[5][6]

Band members
Current members
Guest musicians
  • Greg Calvert - Bass (1995–1997)
  • Geir Luedy - Bass (1997–1998)
  • Maya Vik - Bass (2004)
  • Christer Ottesen - Bass (2004)
  • Jørun Bøgeberg - Bass (2008)
  • Preben Grieg-Halvorsen - Keyboards (2008)
  • Erin Hill - Harp, backing vocals (2008)
  • Linn Frøkedal - Keyboards (2018)
  • Chris Holm - Bass (2018)[7]

Discography

Studio albums
Year Title Label
1996 Mary Is Coming Warner Bros.
1997 Lackluster Me EMI
1999 Mountains of Time
2001 Reasons to Stay Indoors
2004 Savoy Eleventeen Records
2018 See the Beauty in Your Drab Hometown Drabant Music

Compilation
Year Title Label
2007 Savoy Songbook Vol. 1 Universal

References
  1. "Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  2. "Apollon Records to reissue Savoy albums | a-ha live". a-ha-live.com. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
  3. "Pre-order 'Lackluster Me' reissue | a-ha live". a-ha-live.com. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
  4. "'Mountains of Time' to be reissued in July | a-ha live". a-ha-live.com. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
  5. "Gjør comeback - i mellomtida har et annet band med samme navn dukket opp". Dagbladet.no (in Norwegian). 2017-11-14. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  6. "Savoy recording new album in New York | a-ha live". a-ha-live.com. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
  7. "Savoy at Parkteatret | a-ha live". a-ha-live.com. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
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