Venus as a boy...

Nostra Dam
Apr 26, 2023
10 min read

Updated: Jun 27

Björk, whose real name is Björk Guðmundsdóttir, is an Icelandic singer who really began her artistic career in 1976 at the age of 10, getting noticed thanks to a successful cover of Tina Charles' title "I love to love".

A spotlight that will allow her to sign with the Fálkkin label, a label that will offer her the possibility of releasing a first album called "Björk" the following year in 1977. Album which will know a nice success of esteem in Iceland and launch for good the career of the very young singer.

We find her two years later in 1979 in a group called 'Exodus', a group with the most ephemeral existence and which will not produce much in the end...

New group 'Tappi Tikarras' from the year 1981, group which released a mini album "Bitið fast í vitið" in 1982, mini album which this time will not go unnoticed. Just like the album "Miranda" which was released in 1983 and which will also know the favors of the public.

New adventure from the year 1984 within 'KUKL', adventure once again ephemeral since it will produce only 2 albums namely "The eye" in 1984 and "Holidays in Europe (The naught nought)" in 1986. Adventure ephemeral but which will all the same allow the young singer to begin to make herself known outside her natural borders...

The last grouped adventure and above all the most successful will take place within the 'Sugarcubes', a group which was born in 1986. An adventure which will last almost 6 years and which will produce 3 albums of international stature with "Life's too good" in 1988, "Here, today, tomorrow, next week!" in 1989 and "Stick around for joy" in 1992.

She will be unfaithful to the Sugarcubes in 1990 by producing an album with the 'Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar', a trio with which she revisits old jazz standards which will appear on the album "Gling Gló".

The solo career as for it starts in 1993 with the exit of a first album named "Debut" and for a beginning it is a real blow of master since the album will make a real planetary success, to sell to more than 4 million copies around the world and literally explode the notoriety of the singer internationally. In particular thanks to the 2 huge titles "Venus as a boy" and "Big time sensuality".

Huge success confirmed two years later with the release in 1995 of the album "Post", album carried at arm's length by the flagship Single "It's oh so quiet" and which will sell more than 3 million copies.

It was the turn of the album "Homogenic" to be released in 1997, an album where the singer pushes eccentricity to its limits. The album creates the buzz thanks to the title "Bachelorette" but paradoxically it will sell a little less than its predecessors.

We find her at the beginning of the 2001 decade with the album "Vespertine", an album which saw sales continue to decline but which still produced the enormous Single "Hidden place".

Other albums will be released thereafter as well as other Singles but the singer will never find the level of extreme success that she will have known during the first half of the 90s. A story that still continues today in any case and in a very nice way.

To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

70s Decade :

I love to love 1976
Arabadrengurinn 1977
Búkolla 1977
Fúsi hreindýr 1977
þín Var Ekki Að Biða 1979

80s Decade :

Other side of the sun 1980
Afi (Björgvin Gíslason) 1983
Síðasta Ég (The Elga Sisters) 1986
Jólakötturinn 1987
Reykjavíkunætur (Megas) 1987
Yonder (Bless) 1989

90s Decade :

Gling-Gló 1990
Ástartöfrar 1990
Oops (808 State) 1991
Falling (Current 93 - HÖH Island) 1991
Ó borg, mín borg (KK Band) 1992
Human behaviour 1993
Venus as a boy 1993
Play dead 1993
Big time sensuality 1993
Violently happy 1994
Army of me 1995
Isobel 1995
It’s oh so quiet 1995
Hyperballad 1996
Possibly maybe 1996
I miss you 1997
Joga 1997
Bachelorette 1997
Hunter 1998
Alarm call 1998
All is full of love 1999

2000s Decade :

I’ve seen it all 2000
New world 2000
Hidden place 2001
Pagan poetry 2001
Cocoon 2002
It’s in our hands 2002
Who is it 2004
Oceania 2004
Triumph of a heart 2005
Where is the line ? 2005
Earth intruders 2007
Innocence 2007
Declare independence 2008
Wanderlust 2008
The dull flame of desire 2008
Nattura 2008

2010s Decade :

The comet song 2010
Crystalline 2011
Cosmogony 2011
Virus 2011
Moon 2011
Thunderbolt 2011
Surrender 2011
Stonemilker 2015
Lionsong 2015
The gate 2017
Blissing me 2017
Arisen my senses 2018
Features creatures 2019

2020s Decade :

Atopos 2022
Ovule 2022
Ancestress 2022
Fossora 2022

Tappi Tikarass adventure :

https://www.bestmusic80.com/post/stick-to-your-wits

KUKL adventure :

https://www.bestmusic80.com/post/outward-flight

The Sugarcubes adventure :

https://www.bestmusic80.com/post/sykurmolarnir

Tracks :

The beginning of the genesis of an exceptional adventure for a very young girl who is also exceptional. But who had absolutely no idea at the time...

1976...the title of the revelation. Then only 10 years old, this young singer will pull off the perfect holdup with this cover of the title of Tina Charles which will be released the same year...

1977...an unexpected highlight that will allow her to release a first album at the age of 11. Mighty feat...

1977 ... certainly the level of influence of the album will be limited to say the least, but it will still allow the young singer to do her very first steps at the top level ...

1977...a first album that will call many others. But no one imagines at this time what this very young girl will be capable of in the future...

1979... the rise in power is slow but certain. As very often in these cases, it is better to give time to time...

1980...no need to skip the stages as they say. The 70s will always have allowed her to start talking about her and in a positive way...

1983...the others also begin to take an interest in her and ask her to participate in some of their titles. Rather flattering...

1986...between her personal bands - Tappi Tikarass, KUKL and The Sugarcubes - and her various and varied participations with other artists, the young girl's schedule begins to seriously overflow...

1987...the 70s will have seen her hatch but it is the 80s that will allow her to start making a name for herself. A real one...

1987...she is on all fronts as they say and nothing seems to scare her at this stage. And when we see what awaits her in the future, we are only at the hors d'oeuvres...

1989 ... she will have mainly alternated between group mode and participatory mode during this decade 80. She thinks that it might be time now for her to stand on her own two feet ...

1990 ... we still find her in grouped mode at the very beginning of the 90s and moreover in jazzy mode. Who would've believed that...

1990...and even in this very particular field, she manages to imprint a style of her own once again. Impressive...

1991...a few more entries before the big solo take-off. Participations that allow her anyway to shine a little more...

1991 ... she impresses with the number of diverse and varied participations that she has chained one after the other. It must be said that her extraordinary talent is really starting to make people talk about her at the highest point...

1992... come on, another small participation for the road as they say. Because for the big solo take-off, it's just after !

1993...and here comes THE title of the revelation, the real one. The world will discover with a certain astonishment this extra-terrestrial coming from the cold without imagining for a single second that she will become a real phenomenon later...

1993...but it is above all this title that will reveal the extraordinary potential of the singer. Not to mention a personality of a child woman who has everything to please...

1993...a year 1993 that literally saw her explode in the eyes of the whole world. The legend is now on the move and nothing and no one can stop it...

1993...an exceptional year 1993 which ends in apotheosis with this title. Each new title that comes out now is a real event in itself. HU-GE !

1994...which will undoubtedly remain as one of her most emblematic titles. In just 2 years she will have reversed everything in her path and will have established herself as one of the most essential singers of the moment. MAS-TER-FUL !

1995... the Björk wave is in the process of submerging the whole planet and leaving only crumbs for the competition. A competition that attends completely powerless against the extraordinary creative power of this little piece of woman who came straight from the cold...

1995... not all the titles will end up at No.1 in the Charts, which would truly be an unprecedented feat. She's still human...

1995... when no one expected it, here she is in delirious jazzy mode in a revisited version of Betty Huton's title dating from 1951. A luxury cover that definitively consecrates her as one of the most gifted singers of this end of the 20th century and this in an indisputable and undisputed way !

1996... after 3 exceptional years in all respects, the year 1996 will mark a slight halt to a career which is progressing in a way that is, to say the least, ideal...

1996...slight stopping point but without any consequence on the following events. Given what's on the horizon, nothing to worry about...

1997...business will pick up again in this new year 1997, admittedly timidly on the first title but in a very real way...

1997... the singer finds her best level with this title and reminds the eyes of the whole world that we will still have to count on her for a few more years. Even a few decades !

1997... if some could think that she was in a phase of decline the previous year and that it was going to last it was very bad to know her. What a return and above all what talent !

1998...little relapse the following year. Nothing very bad once again but she has trouble maintaining her level of excellence at all times, it is clear...

1998...an end of the decade that saw her struggling somewhat. The level of inspiration fluctuates considerably between each title and we go from brilliant to all comers...

1999...it's time for the decade to end as Chart success is in freefall. And this despite an obvious desire to do well...

2000... suddenly she thinks that at 2 it might be better. It starts from a good feeling but it won't change much for the moment...

2000...even if the level of inspiration weakens somewhat musically speaking, the original side remains at an extraordinary level. An originality that will always remain her main asset...

2001...she will set the record straight in a masterful way in this year 2001. A year 2001 which will undoubtedly remain as one of her best Vintages !

2001... each title of this new opus is of an amazing musical level and will above all allow her to come back at the head of the pack in a sensational way to say the least. We expected no less from her !

2002...but where will she get all that, that is the question. Her inner world is so rich that she manages to amaze us almost with each new title...

2002 ... in each new clip she wants to create the event and he succeeds almost every time. A truly one-of-a-kind model !

2004...a first part of the 2000s which will have seen her reminded in a masterful way that she still has things to offer of more than certain quality...

2004...all titles are inspired but not all will necessarily meet the same fate. This one will go a little more unnoticed than the others...

2005...return in force on this title, which inevitably reassures for the continuation of the events. The adventure is far, very far from over...

2005 ... she sometimes pushes the original side so far that you get lost in it a bit. Too much originality kills originality at some point...

2007...as much as the first part of the decade will have been favorable to her, as much as the second part will see her struggling somewhat. Attention danger...

2007...she swung too far into the experimental music side and she paid cash for it in the Charts. The general public is seriously starting to drop out and only the basic fans continue to follow her...

2008...and it's not with this kind of title that things will get better. The singer has gone down musical paths that are tortuous to say the least and reserved for an audience that is less initiated...

2008...it's really hard to find the brilliant inspiration that was her at the beginning of the decade. But what happened...?

2008...big year 2008 in terms of production of titles but it will not bring her more than that. Times are getting tougher...

2008...only this title will almost save the year on the Charts side but once again we are more on experimental than anything else...

2010...the dark side has taken precedence over the light side and this is felt very heavily in every title that comes out now...

2011...now remains to be seen whether the decade of 2010 will be that of renewal or, on the contrary, of the slow but irreversible demotion in the lower division...

2011 ... there is a slight improvement, it is clear. The only problem is that the general public has left to look elsewhere and this in a definitive way...

2011...fortunately the albums continue to sell well because on the Singles side she will hardly rank any title. Hard law of the trade...

2011 ... the style is still less aggressive with this new opus and allows her to stay afloat for a while. The worst is avoided in any case...

2011... what is certain in any case is that she is still there and that she surely does not intend to stop in such a good way. It remains to be seen what she intends to offer next...

2011...an unclassifiable and completely timeless title. Afterwards, we think of it what we want, but it cannot leave anyone indifferent, for good or for bad...

2015...we find a Björk already more in tune with ordinary mortals, which can only reassure because we were really afraid of never seeing her back on track...

2015...and as always this extraordinary side that makes her a truly unique model. We won't remake her again as they say...

2017...and here we go again hard musical ways for the less strange and reserved once again for an audience for the less initiated...

2017... she will surprise us until the end, for good and for bad, but what is certain is that she will never leave anyone indifferent...

2018...you still have to remember that we first talked about her in...1976 ! An exceptional longevity for an artist who is no less...

2019...she will have gone through the 70s, then the 80s, then the 90s, then the 2000s, then the 2010s and here she is at the gates of the 2020s. Already 5 decades of career on the clock and it's not over, far from it...

2022...return to the dark side, which is not necessarily the best side of her, especially in terms of inspiration. Afterwards, it is her who decides to pursue her career as she sees fit...

2022...she will forever remain an extra-terrestrial and will have had no female equivalent for the past 30 years...

2022...generally it's a bright album for a dark album. So we imagine that the next one will be a little more 'open' as they say...

2022...now remains to be seen when she will decide to come back because it is certain that she will come back. With what musical proposals, good question...