Kim Larsen

Kim Melius Flyvholm Larsen (23 October 1945 – 30 September 2018) was a Danish pop musician. He was a major selling Scandinavian act with over 2.5 million albums sold.

Kim Larsen was born in Copenhagen. Inspired by The Beatles and rock and roll, he began as a songwriter and guitarist. In 1969 he met Franz Beckerlee and Wili Jønsson, and the three founded Gasolin' which, later joined by drummer Søren Berlev, became one of the most successful Danish rock bands. The band dissolved in the late 1970s.
In 1979, Larsen participated in the Danish stage of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Ud i det blå (en: Out in the Blue). He came third out of 17 participants. The song was included on this album 231045-0637.
Around 1980, Larsen moved to New York. He released two albums but was not successful in breaking through in America and returned to Denmark after a few years.
Kim Larsen released a number of solo albums in the 1980s, topping the charts in 1983 with the album Midt om natten (en: In the Middle of the Night). The album more or less became a soundtrack for the movie by the same name based upon it.
In 1983, Larsen founded the band Kim Larsen & Bellami and released four albums until 1992, when after a couple of different line-ups, the band broke up. He then released another solo album, Hvem kan sige nej til en engel (Who Can Say No To An Angel). In the mid 1990s he founded the band Kim Larsen & Kjukken which is based in Odense.
By the end of 2017 Larsen was diagnosed with prostate cancer. This would end up impacting his tour with Kim Larsen & Kjukken who where scheduled for concerts through-out January, February and March of 2018. In a Facebook post published to the bands official profile-page Larsen appologizes for the inconvenience and explains that he intends to be back playing by the start of the summer.
Surrounded by his loved ones; Kim Larsen died of prostate cancer at his home in Odense on 30 September 2018. A week after his death a large memorial concert was held in Copenhagen with around 35,000 people attending, and major Danish musicians such as Magtens Korridorer, Love Shop and The Minds of 99 performing cover versions of Larsen's songs.

Larsen frequently voiced his opposition to established society and instead advocated the right to be different from the mainstream. The album and movie Midt om natten revolves around this subject – in fact you can compare the movie action to the real Danish BZ movement da:BZ, Sorte Hest and also Freetown Christiania, located in Copenhagen. The same opposition is also shown by the album 231045-0637 – the title is Kim Larsen's personal identification number which is strictly personal. Larsen was against the big database of every citizen, implied by this title.
Kim Larsen was a heavy smoker, and he was critical of Danish anti-smoking laws. In August 2008, he paid for an advertising campaign which showed the text "Tillykke med rygeforbudet – Gesundheit macht frei !!!". The first sentence means "Congratulations on the smoking ban" in Danish, and the second sentence means "health makes free" in German (this is a reference to the Nazi phrase Arbeit macht frei). Claiming that smoking bans are made not to protect smokers, but non-smokers, Kim Larsen made a connection between smoking bans and Nazism.

Discography:

Solo:
• 1973: Værsgo ( Here you)
• 1977: Kim Larsen og Yankee drengene (Kim Larsen and the Yankee boys)
• 1979: 231045-0637 (Kim Larsen's personal identification number)
• 1981: Jungle Dreams
• 1983: Midt om natten (en: In the Middle of the Night)
• 1994: Hvem kan sige nej til en engel (en: Who can say no to an angel?)
• 2010: Mine damer og herrer (en: Ladies and Gentlemen)

EP's
• 1982: 5 Eiffel

Compilations
• 1975: Skru Op
• 1977: Boller Op, Boller Ned
• 1979: Hittegods
• 1983: Gorilla Mix
• 1983: Larsens Bedste
• 1984: Årets Koncent
• 2015: Kim i 70'erne (with Gasolin')

Live
• 1985: Kim i Cirkus (Live) (en: Kim at the Circus)
• 2007: En lille pose støj (Live)

with Gasolin'
• 1971: Gasolin'
• 1972: Gasolin' 2
• 1973: Gasolin' 3
• 1974: Stakkels Jim (en: Poor Jim)
• 1975: Gas 5
• 1976: Efter endnu en dag (en: After Another Day)
• 1976: Live sådan (Live)
• 1977: Gør det noget (en: Does it matter?)
• 1978: Killin' Time
• 1978: Gøglernes aften (Live)
• 1980: Super Mix 1
• 1981: A Box Full of Gas
• 1984: Det Bedste Fra Mig Og Mine Venner (Kim Larsen with Gasolin')
• 1991: Rabalderstræde Forever
• 1993: Derudaf Forever
• 1997: A Foreign Affair vol.1
• 1999: Gasolin' Forever
• 2000: The Early Years
• 2002: A Foreign Affair vol.2
• 2003: The Black Box
• 2009: Masser af succes
• 2015: Kim I 70'erne

with Starfuckers:
• 1978: Vogt Dem for efterligninger (en: Beware of imitations)

with Kim Larsen & Jungledreams
• 1982: Sitting on a Time Bomb

with Kim Larsen & Bellami
• 1986: Forklædt som voksen (en: Disguised as an adult)
• 1988: Yummi yummi
• 1989: Kielgasten
• 1992: Wisdom Is Sexy

with Kim Larsen & Kjukken
• 1996: Kim Larsen & Kjukken
• 1998: Luft under vingerne (en: Air below the wings)
• 2001: Weekend Music
• 2001: Sange fra glemmebogen (en: Forgotten songs)
• 2002: Det var en torsdag aften (en: It was a Thursday evening)
• 2003: 7-9-13
• 2004: Sange fra glemmebogen - Jul & nytår (en: Forgotten songs - Christmas and New Year)
• 2006: Gammel hankat (en: Old Tomcat)
• 2007: En lille pose støj (en: A small bag of noise)
• 2008: Glemmebogen for børn (en: Forgotten songs for children)
• 2012: Du glade verden (en: Happy world)
• 2017: Øst for Vesterled (en: East of Westway)

More songs by Kim Larsen

Susan Himmelbla (2|1|7) play video

Den Store Dag (1|1|0) play video

Related Songs

Fru Sauterne Kim Larsen & Bellami play video

De Smukke Unge Mennesker Kim Larsen & Bellami play video