Rune Larsen (born 8 August 1948) is a Norwegian journalist, singer, musician, record producer and television presenter. He was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

. He made his stage debut in 1957, and his television debut in 1964. By that time, he had already played with two bands, The White Shirts and The Black Diamonds, and rejected a contract offer for a solo career. After appearing on television, however, he bumped into

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in ...

manager Per W. Kilde at a concert, and was promptly offered a solo contract. Larsen accepted, and released his first single with Teen Beats ("Cinderella/Y'arriva") in October of the same year (

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

353.264 PF). Not long after, Larsen joined the group The Stringers. He succeeded

Helge Nilsen Helge or Helgi is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch mostly male name. The name is derived from Proto-Norse ''Hailaga'' with its original meaning being ''dedicated to the gods''. For its Slavic version, see Oleg. Its feminine equivalent is Olga ...

, who soon rejoined. Larsen started working as a journalist in ''

Bergens Arbeiderblad ''Bergensavisen'' (lit. "the Bergen newspaper"), usually shortened to ''BA'', is the second largest newspaper in Bergen, Norway. The paper is published in tabloid format. The newspaper's webpage ba.no is Bergen's largest local newspaper webpage ...

'' in 1967. He came to refer to himself as a

Christian socialist Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

. He became involved in the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

in 1968, and was a devout

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

from 1969. He did not leave music as he founded a choir in Bergen named Gospel. In July in the same year he also married nurse Edle Tornes, born 1947. Gospel released LPs in 1970 and 1972. With the choir, Larsen made his debut as a television presenter in 1970, in the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the larges ...

show ''Gospel synger gospels''. In 1972, Larsen formed the gospel group ''

Frisk Luft ''Frisk Luft'' ('Fresh Air') is a Norwegian gospel group. It was founded in 1972 as . It consisted of Rune Larsen, Ivar Skippervold, Arnold Børud and Kjell Fjalsett, and since all are accomplished musicians outside of the group as well, ''Frisk L ...

'' together with

Kjell Fjalsett Kjell Sigurd Fjalsett (born 1952) is a Norwegian singer and musician. He made a name for himself in the Norwegian gospel and Christian pop scene as a teenager in the choir Believe, covering the song "Oh Happy Day" among other things. He later form ...

Ivar Skippervold Ivar Skippervold (born 14 March 1949) is a Norwegian singer and musician. He hails from Oslo, but moved to Lillesand as an adult. He took up music at an early age, and his first self-made music was protest songs. He became Christian out of a "reli ...

and Arnold Børud. The group formed by coincidence in 1972, when Larsen and Børud, performing at

Hedmarktoppen Hedmarktoppen Folk High School ( no, Hedmarktoppen Folkehøgskole) is a folk high school in Hamar. It was established in 1970, and is owned and run by the Norwegian Pentecostal movement. Gospel music events are held there, and the gospel sup ...

, spotted the already-known Fjalsett and Skippervold in the audience and invited them onto the stage. ''Frisk Luft'' released two LPs in the 1970s, and participated in a television show named ''Gospelkveld''. It was said to be the first

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

in Norway. Larsen's third television show aired from 1975, and was ''Hele menigheten synger'', a copy of the Swedish ''Hela kyrkan sjunger''. Songs from the show were released on LP and sold well. Larsen had left the journalist job to become secretary for the YMCA in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

from 1974. He held the same job in Bergen from 1976 to 1978 before returning to journalism, working in ''

Bergens Tidende ''Bergens Tidende'' is Norway's fifth-largest newspaper, and the country's largest newspaper outside Oslo. ''Bergens Tidende'' is owned by the public company Schibsted ASA. Norwegian owners held a mere 42% of the shares in Schibsted at the end ...

'' from 1978 to 1981. He still performed sporadically, trying himself in the national

Melodi Grand Prix Melodi Grand Prix (), commonly known as Grand Prix and MGP, sometimes as Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix ( no, Norsk Melodi Grand Prix), is an annual music competition organised by Norwegian public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK). It det ...

event with the song ''Robåtrock'' in 1977. In 1981, he founded the

record company A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Noah. He also released the album ''Sweet Mints'' together with Helge Nilsen, under the name Helge & Rune. The album was produced by Trygve Thue of the band Saft. Several releases followed. In 1983 Larsen discovered later world-famous singer

Sissel Kyrkjebø Sissel Kyrkjebø (; born 24 June 1969), also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Her musical style ranges from pop recordings and folk songs, to classical vocals and o ...

via the television show ''Syng med oss'' presented by Nils Abrahamsen. Her first three records (''Sissel'', ''Glade jul'', ''Soria Moria'') were released on Noah. In 1984 Larsen discovered

Karoline Krüger Karoline Krüger (born 13 February 1970 in Bergen, Norway) is a Norwegian singer, actress and composer. Career Krüger's first TV appearance was at the age of 11, in a youth show called ''Halvsju''. She got her breakthrough in 1988, first by ...

. Larsen presented the show ''Lollipop'' from 1989, together with Trygve Thue,

Tor Endresen Tor Lars Oskar Endresen (born 15 June 1959 in Bergen) is a Norwegian singer and composer. He has entered the Norwegian song selection for the Eurovision Song Contest numerous times, but has only won it once, and represented Norway in the Eur ...

and the backing band The Lollipops. The signature song was "

Lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are av ...

" by

The Chordettes The Chordettes were an American female vocal quartet, specializing in traditional pop music. They are best known for their 1950s hit songs "Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop". Career The group organized in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in 1946. The origina ...

, 1958, and the material was taken from that time. Three records were released following the show, and all sold well. Later shows during the 1990s were ''Scala'', ''Casablanca'' ( TV 2, 1992), ''Noteknekk'', ''Larsen spesial'' and ''Absolutt norsk'', the latter co-hosting with

Jan Eggum Jan Eggum (born 8 December 1951) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. He has been characterized as a "face for the melancholy", and the themes in his songs are often broken hearts, loneliness, and sorrow. Sometimes his lyrics include social critici ...

. Another outing in Melodi Grand Prix came in 1993, when Larsen performed ''Det skulle vært sommer'' together with Helge Nilsen. In 1997, he released ''Nære ting'' with Tor Endresen. Also, ''Frisk Luft'' made a public comeback performing live in 1998, and released the record ''Lifetime Friends'' in 2000. In 2004, they followed with ''I'll Never Find Another You''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Rune 1948 births Living people Journalists from Bergen Norwegian gospel singers Norwegian rock singers Norwegian rock musicians Norwegian record producers Norwegian television presenters NRK people Norwegian Christians Musicians from Bergen Mass media people from Bergen