Joachim Nielsen (8 September 1964 – 17 October 2000), better known as Jokke, was a Norwegian rock musician and poet. He was the frontman of Norwegian rock band Jokke & Valentinerne, the brother of

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

Christopher Nielsen Christopher Nielsen (born 20 April 1963 in Oslo) is a Norwegian comics artist. He is especially known for his subcultural depictions. Nielsen got his first comics printed in 1980 after entering a competition in the Norwegian anarchist magazi ...

, and son of the artist John David Nielsen. He is considered to be one of the greatest songwriters in Norway. By the mid-1990s, Jokke had developed a heroin addiction, and had several stays at rehabilitation clinics. By the turn of the millennium, many of his close friends believed that he had conquered his addiction. However, he died suddenly of a heroin overdose in October 2000, aged 36. In 2005, a double tribute album entitled ''Det beste til meg og mine venner'' (''The best for me and my friends'') was released, which featured cover versions of Jokke's best known work from Norwegian artists. Later that year (around Christmas time) a single was released featuring three previously unreleased songs, called ''Tomgang''. In November 2005, a proposal came up in the "old town" of

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

that Nielsen should get a street in the new part of Oslo (Bjørvika) named after him. In December this proposal was declined. The committee agreed instead that he could get a street in

Grønland, Oslo Grønland (meaning “Greenland” in Norwegian) is a neighbourhood in central Oslo, Norway. It is served by several Oslo Tramway, tram and bus lines, as well as the Oslo Metro at the Grønland (station), Grønland Station. The neighborhood, al ...

. This street is now called "Joachim Nielsens gang" ("Joachim Nielsen's aisle") and the sign for it came up in September 2006. The closest neighbor is a bar and a theater. They also suggested to put up a statue of him, but his family did not approve of this.

Jokke and Valentinerne

Jokke & Valentinerne (''Jokke and the Valentines'') were formed in 1982, consisting of Nielsen on guitar and vocals, his longtime partner May-Irene Aasen on drums and Håkon Torgersen on bass. The band went on to become one of the most popular bands in

's underground rock scene. Their first album ''Alt kan repareres'' (''Everything can be repaired'') was released in 1986. The band is regarded as one of the "Great Four" Norwegian-language rock bands of the 1980s, along with

deLillos deLillos is a Norway, Norwegian pop rock band formed in Oslo in 1984. They are generally regarded as one of the "Four Greats" in modern Norwegian pop music, i.e. one of the four 1980s groups that founded a new tradition for rock music with lyri ...

Dum Dum Boys ''The Idiot'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal ''The Russian Messenger'' in 1868–1869. The title is an ironic reference to the ...

and

Raga Rockers Raga Rockers is a Norwegian rock band. The band was formed in 1982 in Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2 ...

. The band drew their influences mainly from

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and American

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

. Much of the band's lyrics were about alcohol, and Jokke had a reputation of frequently getting drunk on stage. In 1992, he created a scandal when he received Spellemannprisen (the Norwegian equivalent of the

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

awards) visibly drunk and/or under the influence of drugs. Still, one must not dismiss his lyrics as being shallow drinking songs. All his lyrics, including the much-played and catchy ''Øl'' ("Beer"), have a deeper tone describing a harsh lifestyle with drugs, alcohol and general anxiety towards the society and the people close to him. Nielsen's lyricism is closely related to the American writer

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German Americans, German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambien ...

, in describing societal underdogs, misfits and so-called

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...

es. Nielsen's lyrics show strong sympathy for people who are somewhat scarred by life, and in addition, are deeply working class-conscious. The Norwegian poet Rudolf Nilsen and musician

Alf Prøysen Alf Prøysen () (23 July 1914 – 23 November 1970) was a Norwegian author, poet, playwright, songwriter and musician. Prøysen was one of the most important Norwegian cultural personalities in the second half of the 20th century. He work ...

are two other influences, in both a literal and a musical sense.

JEPS

JEPS is short for "Jokke's Eget PlateSelskap" ("Jokke's Own RecordCompany"). Joachim Nielsen used this abbreviation on some of the CDs he released.

Last line-up

*Joachim Nielsen – vocals and guitar (1982–1994) *

Petter Pogo Petter may refer to: People * Petter (given name) * Petter (surname) * Petter (rapper), stage name of Swedish rapper Petter Alexis Askergren (born 1974) Other uses * Petter Bay Petter Bay () is a bight 0.5 nautical miles (0.9 km) south of ...

– guitar, bass (1990–1994) * May-Irene Aasen – drums and percussion, vocals (1982–1994)

Former members

* Håkon Torgersen – bass (1984–1990) * Lars Lothe – guitar, vocals (1982–1983) *

Waldemar Hepstein Waldemar, Valdemar, Valdimar, or Woldemar is an Old High German given name. It consists of the elements ''wald-'' "power", "brightness" and ''-mar'' "fame". The name is considered the equivalent of the Latvian name Valdemārs, the Estonian name ...

– piano (1985) *

Trygve Johansen Trygve is a masculine given name most common in Norway. Trygve is derived from the Old Norse ''tryggr'', meaning "true, trustworthy", cognate with Old English '' treowe'', Old High German ''triuwe''. Gothic has ''triggws''. The Icelandic, Faroese ...

– piano (1982–1983) *

Christian Ellingsgård A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

– bass (1982–1983)

Discography

Jokke and Valentinerne

Albums

*''Alt kan repareres'' (1986) *''Et hundeliv'' (1987) *''III'' (1990) *''Frelst'' (1991) *''Alt kan repeteres'' (1994)

Singles

*''To fulle menn'' (1987) *''Gnukk'' (1991) *''Ta meg med'' (1994)

Compilations

*''Spenn!'' (1995) *''Prisen for popen'' (2002) *''Levende (Så Lenge Det Varer)'' (2009)

Soloalbum

* ''Nykter'' (1996)

Jokke med Tourettes

* ''Trygge Oslo'' (1997) * ''Billig Lykke'' (1999) * ''Tomgang'' (2005)

References

External links

Hans Petter Blom Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

. 20 år uten Jokke
NRK">0 years without Jokke
20 år uten Jokke
NRK
Jokke discography
– A complete discography.
Fra Jokke til Joachim
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Joachim 1964 births 2000 deaths Norwegian rock musicians Norwegian rock music groups Accidental deaths in Norway Drug-related deaths in Norway Musicians from Oslo