Þursaflokkurinn (English: the

hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his '' A Midsummer N ...

s), often written in a simplified way ("Thursaflokkurinn"), were an Icelandic

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

group that was mainly active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Similar to the Dutch band

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

, Þursaflokkurinn combined rock music with influences of classical music and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

, enhancing their sound by adding elements of Scandinavian folk music and sometimes eccentric vocals resembling the

Rock in Opposition Rock in Opposition or RIO was a Social movement, movement representing a collective of Progressive rock, progressive bands in the late 1970s united in their opposition to the music industry that refused to recognise their music. It was initiate ...

work of, for instance, the Swedish band Samla Mammas Manna. Since their foundation in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a pop ...

in 1978, the group consisted of Egill Ólafsson (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

, keyboards) and

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

ist Þórður Arnason, bassoonist Rúnar Vilbergsson,

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...

Tómas Magnus Tómasson and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

Ásgeir Óskarsson. Between 1978 and 1980, the band mainly played progressive rock with influences of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science ...

and

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...

. Most of the songs are based on Icelandic folk songs; especially the debut album includes many traditional folk tunes which have all been given a progressive rock arrangement. The second album '' Þursabit'' has more psychedelic influences than the 'folkier' debut album and also features more prominent keyboards, for example the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

(played by the newly recruited keyboarder Karl Sighvatsson) and the

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

. The band's 1980 tour is documented by the live album ''

Á hljómleikum Á, á (a-acute accent, acute) is a letter of the Chinese language, Chinese (Pinyin), Blackfoot language, Blackfoot, Czech language, Czech, Dutch language, Dutch, Faroese language, Faroese, Galician language, Galician, Hungarian language, Hungari ...

'' and imports jazz influences into the band's music. A punk rock track at the end of the album became a popular and well-known song in Iceland. On their fourth album, '' Gæti eins verið...'' from 1982, the band had switched style completely into playing

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. Late ...

. The acoustic instruments were nearly completely substituted by

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...

s; keyboarder Karl Sighvattson and bassoonist Rúnar Vilbergsson had left the band. After some recording sessions for a new album in 1983 and 1984, the band split. One reason was that the band's success did not spread outside Iceland. Egill Ólafsson started working as a writer and was a member of the band ''Stuðmenn'' in which other Þursaflokkurinn musicians also played. Sometimes the band met again for one-off performances, for example for the memorial for Karl Sighvattson, who died in 1991. For the band's 30th anniversary in February 2008, all their albums were reissued in a mini-

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from viny ...

-box with a CD full of previously unissued tracks and live versions. In addition, there was a tour through Iceland in early 2008 with the small orchestra ''Capút''; a live CD-

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

was issued in late November 2008 with the title ''Hinn íslenski Þursaflokkur og Caput''.

Discography

Hinn íslenzki Þursaflokkur Hinn is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benny Hinn * Christopher Hinn Christopher Hinn (June 6, 1855 – March 15, 1926) was an American miller and politician. Born in the town of Marion, Grant County, Wisconsin, Hinn ...

(1978) * Þursabit (1979) *

(1980) * Gæti eins verið... (1982) * Nútíminn - Bestu lög Þursaflokksins 1978-1982 (best of collection) (2000) * Þursar (all the four albums from 1978 to 1982) (2008) ** includes: Ókomin forneskjan (outtake collection) * Hinn íslenski Þursaflokkur og Caput (2008)

External links

Þursaflokkurinn - TV music show from 1979
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thursaflokkurinn Progressive rock groups Icelandic rock music groups