Kim Bård Hansen (born 9 July 1954), better known by his stage name Herodes Falsk, is a Norwegian comedian, actor, author, and songwriter. Falsk is probably best known for his work with the musical comedy trio Prima Vera alongside Jahn Teigen and Tom Mathisen, and for his longtime collaboration with Mathisen after Prima Vera's breakup in 1984. He is also often credited as Norway's first stand-up comedian.Standup i Norge, Dagbladet (27 April 2004).
Early career (1969–1976) Kim Hansen was born and grew up in Drammen. His career in showbusiness began at age 15 when he in late 1969 became friends with Terje Jensen, a young guitarist and songwriter also from Drammen. The two shared a similar musical taste, listening to artists like Jethro Tull, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa and Led Zeppelin. Jensen also played in a local rock band called Frosk, and Hansen became the band's manager and roadie.
It was during this time Kim Hansen became Herodes Falsk. According to his autobiography, when reading a short newspaper story about Frosk in 1972, he realized that the band and its members were "too average", looking like regular long-haired boys with ordinary names, and that an image change was needed to make it in the music industry. Thus, Terje Jensen began using the stage name Jonas Fjeld, a name he still uses today. Hansen became Herodes Falsk, and the other bandmembers also picked eccentric stage names. Also, the band itself changed its name to Jonas Fjeld Rock n' Rolf Band, and the bandmembers began wearing outrageous outfits on stage. In line with this new image, Falsk would begin joining the band on stage, even though he did not sing or play any instruments, usually dancing around on stage, telling jokes or reading dirty poetry in-between songs as well as various other crazy antics.
The image change seemed to pay dividends, because in 1973 the band got a record deal, and for Falsk, who was still the band's manager, it became much easier to book concert dates. By late 1975, the band had released three albums, but felt they weren't getting enough backing from their record company, and wanted to get fired from their contract. To achieve this, they decided to make an album containing the absolute worst music the guys could imagine, and Falsk was given the task of producing the record, only because he had absolutely no experience in the field. The album was named Endelig! (Uff, ikke nå igjen?) (translated: At Last! (Oh no, not again?)), was recorded in just four days, and featured JFRRB's take on protest songs, disco, football chants, Swedish dansband music, yodeling and every other genre that the band hated – and to everyone's surprise, the album became an overwhelming success, peaking at number 15 on the Norwegian national album chart,Jonas Fjeld Band: Endelig! (Uff, ikke nå igjen), VG-lista (Norwegian album chart). and was by far JFRRB's most successful album to date in terms of record sales.
The unexpected success of "Endelig!" saddled JFRRB with the label of being a humor band, which was a label they did not want. Even though JFRRB's concerts had always contained an element of comedy, Jonas Fjeld and the other members regarded themselves as serious musicians, so in order to distance themselves from the humor band label, they dropped the silly stage costumes and "Rock n' Rolf" from its name and became the Jonas Fjeld Band. No longer required to perform clownery on stage, Falsk left the band in 1976 to pursue other projects.
Prima Vera (1976–1984) After leaving Jonas Fjeld Band, Falsk hooked up with his childhood friend Tom Mathisen. Together they wrote a collection of comedy sketches and humorous songs in the summer of 1976, and were later joined by former Popol Vuh singer Jahn Teigen whom Falsk had become friends with on the road. Both Mathisen and Teigen were accomplished musicians, and although Falsk was no musician himself, he had in his own words become a half-decent songwriter during his years with the Jonas Fjeld Band. Falsk, Teigen and Mathisen also shared a common sense of absurd humor, and decided to form the musical comedy group Prima Vera.
Early years Prima Vera performed together for the first time in October 1976, and toured extensively for the next year. Prima Vera's comedy shows contained a mix of sketches, music performed by Teigen and Mathisen, and monologues performed by Falsk. They also became famous for their silly costumes and their trademark lime green tights which they wore at all times on stage, as well as during most of their other public appearances. Their self-titled debut album Prima Vera was released in September 1977, and although it failed to make the charts, it sold well enough that the guys decided to make a follow-up album the next year. One of the songs recorded for the debut album was a song called "Arne Belinda", which was a mock version of "Anna Lovinda", a song recorded several years earlier by TV host Erik Bye, with different lyrics. However, as the song's original composer, Bye refused to allow Prima Vera the right to use the song on their album. Annoyed by this, Falsk included "Arne Belinda" on the debut album's track list, with the line "Censored by Erik Bye" written underneath.
For their 1978 follow-up album, Brakara, Prima Vera decided to include "Arne Belinda" anyway, by slightly altering the song's melody so that Erik Bye could no longer be credited as composer. This move gave Prima Vera much publicity ahead of the release, and with rumors of Bye going to court to have the album stopped, people flocked to the music stores to secure a copy before the album was withdrawn from the market, and to hear what the fuss was all about. As a result, Brakara sold copies in Norway, went platinum, and reached the top of the album chart, where it remained in the top five for 13 weeks.Prima Vera: Brakara, VG-lista (Norwegian album chart). The rumored lawsuit from Erik Bye never came, but in his 2004 autobiography Falsk credits the "Arne Belinda" debacle as the single-biggest reason Brakara topped the charts, claiming this was "the kind of publicity you couldn't buy with all the money in the world", and helped make Prima Vera a national phenomenon.
In 1979, Prima Vera released their third album Salmer og sanger vi gjerne hiver, which stayed in the charts for 11 weeks, peaking at #2,Prima Vera: Salmer og sanger vi gjerne hiver, VG-lista (Norwegian album chart). only beaten by Pink Floyd's The Wall. In-between their work with Prima Vera, Teigen also had a solo career as a more serious artist (at least compared to Prima Vera), and Falsk wrote many songs for the Teigen albums Teigen's Tivoli (1977), This Year's Loser (1978), En dags pause (1979) and Mentalkrem (1980), with the latter two albums reaching the top of the Norwegian album chart.Jahn Teigen: En dags pause, VG-lista (Norwegian album chart).Jahn Teigen: Mentalkrem, VG-lista (Norwegian album chart).
Later years Prima Vera's fourth album The Best of Ebba, released in 1980, was a compilation album containing the band's greatest hits plus one new song. It did not make the charts. However, the band's fifth release, 1981's Prima Vera den 5'te provided more success, spurred on by another controversy. The original album cover had a superimposed image of Teigen, Falsk and Mathisen standing behind King Olav V, Crown Princess Sonja and Queen Elizabeth II. Even though the image itself was quite innocent, with no evidence that any member of Norway's royal family was ever offended by the picture, the band was forced to withdraw the album from the market, and re-release it with a different cover. Of course, Prima Vera milked this controversy for all it was worth, and the album peaked at #2 in the charts, spending 16 weeks in the Top 20.Prima Vera: Den 5te, VG-lista (Norwegian album chart).
Prima Vera's sixth and final studio album was Ha Ha He He Ho (De gærne har det godt), which was released in September 1982. The album did not sell quite as well as the previous records, peaking at #7 in the charts,Prima Vera: Ha Ha He He Ho (De gærne har det godt), VG-lista (Norwegian album chart). and in 1983, the band went on hiatus as Teigen wanted to focus on his solo career. Falsk wrote the Teigen songs "Adieu" (1982) and "Do Re Mi" (1983), which Teigen performed in the Eurovision Song Contest, the former in duet with Teigen's future wife Anita Skorgan. However, with Teigen wanting to become a more "serious" artist, the relationship between Falsk and Teigen was becoming strained. They had several arguments during the recording of Teigen and Skorgan's 1983 album Cheek to Cheek, which Falsk co-produced, and went on to spend six weeks at #1 in the Norwegian charts.Jahn Teigen and Anita Skorgan: Cheek to Cheek, VG-lista (Norwegian album chart).
In addition to their albums and touring with their music/comedy shows, Prima Vera also made two musicals, both written by Falsk. The first was Fantomets glade bryllup (The Phantom's happy wedding) which was performed on Centralteateret in Oslo in 1978,Fantomets glade bryllup Jahn Teigen official site (Norwegian) and became a box office success despite lukewarm reviews. The second musical was named Fisle Narrepanne i Tyrol and was performed at Centralteateret in 1981.Fisle Narrepanne i Tyrol , Jahn Teigen official site (Norwegian) Both musicals heavily featured Prima Vera's own brand of humor and silliness. They also made a film which premiered in the summer of 1983 called Prima Vera og soga om Olav den hellige (Prima Vera and the saga of Olav the holy). The film received generally poor reviews, and many critics viewed it as a rip-off of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Breakup Falsk and Mathisen had little contact with Teigen in 1984 as Teigen and Anita Skorgan toured extensively in Norway and Sweden to support the Cheek to Cheek album – but in November 1984, Teigen contacted Falsk and Mathisen, and asked them to join him for a series of shows in Stockholm. Even before the shows, the climate between Teigen and the other two Prima Vera members was poor. With little time for rehearsals, they decided to perform basically the same show they had performed in Oslo two years earlier, with only minor adaptations for the Swedish audience. The show was a disaster, and was followed by a bitter argument backstage. The same night, Falsk and Mathisen returned to Norway without even saying goodbye, and with that Prima Vera was history. In his autobiography, Falsk writes that he never spoke to Teigen again for the next 15 years.
After Prima Vera (1984–present) During Prima Vera's hiatus in early 1984, Falsk toured Norway with a solo stand-up comedy show. Prima Vera's shows had always had a certain element of toilet humor in their material, but for his solo act, Falsk got even dirtier. Falsk's solo act was described by some critics as vulgar and obscene, but in spite of this, or maybe because of it, the show was a big hit with the fans. The show was also recorded and released as an album, called Born in Drammen, which is believed to be the first ever stand-up comedy album released in Norway. The album title is a reference to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, which topped the charts in Norway at the time, and the album cover is an almost exact copy of the Born in the USA cover, except that Falsk is not wearing jeans or even underpants on the picture. After the Prima Vera breakup, Falsk did another comedy tour in 1985, and released a second comedy album called Falskboy, which also contained a few songs by Tom Mathisen.
Falsk/Mathisen