Bobbysocks is a Norwegian pop duo consisting of Norwegian

Hanne Krogh Hanne Krogh (born 24 January 1956) is a Norwegian singer and actress from Haugesund and Oslo. Krogh is among the most selling record artists in Norway ever. She represented Norway alone at the age of fifteen at the "Eurovision Song Contest 1971" ...

and Swedish-Norwegian

Elisabeth Andreassen Elisabeth Gunilla Andreassen (; born 28 March 1958), also known simply as Bettan, is a Norwegian-Swedish singer who has finished both first and second in the Eurovision Song Contest. Career Her talent was discovered in 1979 by Swedish musician an ...

. They won the

Eurovision Song Contest 1985 The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 4 May 1985 in the in Gothenburg, Sweden. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (SVT), it was presented by Lill Li ...

with the song "

La det swinge "La det swinge" (; "Let it swing") is a song recorded by the pop duo Bobbysocks! –Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreassen– with music composed and Norwegian lyrics written by Rolf Løvland. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 held in Gothenb ...

" ("Let it swing"). Elisabeth went by the surname Andreasson until 1994.

History

1980s

The duo was formed in 1983. Both Krogh and Andreassen were frequent Eurovision contestants. Krogh has appeared three times, all for Norway: in 1971 as a soloist, with Bobbysocks in 1985 and as part of Just 4 Fun in 1991. Andreassen sang for Sweden as one half of

Chips ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

in 1982 and after winning with Bobbysocks, teamed up with Jan Werner Danielsen in 1994 and sang solo in 1996. According to John Kennedy O'Connor's ''The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History'' Andreassen is one of only five lead artists to sing in the contest on four occasions and is also one of only four artists to finish both first and second in Eurovision (1985 & 1996). The duo's debut single was "I Don't Wanna Break My Heart" (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

), released in a pink colored vinyl. The concept behind Bobbysocks! was to bring up-to-date songs from the 1950s with a swing mood, adding them a "modern" 1980s sound. That idea was fully applied on their first LP ''

Bobbysocks! Bobbysocks is a Norwegian pop duo consisting of Norwegian Hanne Krogh and Swedish-Norwegian Elisabeth Andreassen. They won the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song "La det swinge" ("Let it swing"). Elisabeth went by the surname Andreasson ...

'', which was a mixture of covers and brand new songs. The scheduled next single was going to be "Radio", but the plans were changed when the duo won the Eurovision Song Contest. "Let It Swing" topped the Norwegian singles chart, as well as it did in Belgium. It was a Top 10 in Sweden and Ireland, and a Top 20 in The Netherlands and Austria. It entered the UK Singles Chart on 25 May 1985, and rose to a high of 44; it remained in the charts for four weeks. It was also pressed in countries such as Germany, Japan and Australia. In 1985, due to their ESC victory, Bobbysocks! were awarded the Peer Gynt Prize, which is awarded by the

Stortinget The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

, Norway's

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Another ESC consequence was the re-release of the ''

'' LP with "Let It Swing" on it, reaching the gold status. Their next album, '' Waiting for the Morning'', was released in April 1986, preceded by the single of the same name, both becoming a success in Norway, peaking at number 1 on the Norwegian singles and album charts. '' Walkin' on Air'', was recorded in Los Angeles in 1987 and produced by Bill Maxwell. It went gold in only four days, becoming their third and final LP. Just before the release of "If I Fall", the album's lead single in Norway, the duo wanted to do something "decently crazy" as they revealed at the time, so they did a cover of "Swing it, magister'n", a song from 1940 originally sung by the Swedish singer and actress Alice Babs, releasing it as single in the summer of 1987. In 1988, Bobbysocks disbanded, after four successful years.

21st century

Krogh and Andreassen still appeared from time to time together on stage in Norway. They appeared at ''

Congratulations Congratulations may refer to: Film and television * Congratulations (2010 film), an Egyptian film * Congratulations (2023 film), a Gujarati drama film *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme ...

'', the 50th anniversary Eurovision concert in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, in October 2005, and ''

Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits ''Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits'' (also known as ''Eurovision's Greatest Hits'') was a live television concert programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and produced by the BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation (BB ...

'', the 60th anniversary concert in London. In May 2010, Bobbysocks did a short comeback to celebrate their 25th anniversary since their ESC victory in 1985, launching a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

called ''Let It Swing - The Best Of Bobbysocks!'', which included two newly recorded songs and peaking at number 13 on the Norwegian albums chart. On the 16th January, 2025 they were announced as one of 9 finalists in Melodi Grand Prix 2025 with the song "Joyful". In the final on 15th February, Bobbysocks finished in third place with 164 points, coming second in the public televote.

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums

*2010: ''Let it Swing - The Best of Bobbysocks!''

Singles

*1984: "I Don't Wanna Break My Heart" *1984: "Radio" (re-released in 1985) *1985: "Let It Swing" / "La Det Swinge" NOR #1 *1986: "Waiting for the Morning" NOR #1 *1987: "Swing It, Magister'n" *1987: "If I Fall" *1987: "Don't Leave Me Here Without You" *2010: "Boogie Woogie Mama" (feat. Vidar Busk) *2025: "Joyful" ( Melodi Grand Prix 2025)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bobbysocks Norwegian pop music groups Norwegian musical duos Norwegian girl groups Melodi Grand Prix winners English-language musical groups from Norway Eurovision Song Contest winners Musical groups established in 1983 1983 establishments in Norway Musical groups disestablished in 1988 1988 disestablishments in Norway Musical groups from Norway with local place of origin missing Pop music duos Female musical duos