The Story of Kurt
1947 - 2007
How do you illustrate your story in just one picture?
Good question, at least I always felt attracted to the cool, shadowy quietness of the forest - sometimes interrupted by the singing of birds. Is is very inspiring to be in the midst of a forest, often leaving you with a wealth of good ideas. So, that's the reason for this picture.
Photo: Kristian Hernström
SUMMARY
Born in Copenhagen 1947, my father died from tuberculosis & penumonia even before I was born. Due to this my mother had a nervous breakdown and birth depression from which she never really recovered. Not the best conditions to start a life.
I was sent for my grandparents in Jutland for seven strange and lonesome years. My grandma was old and grey, she no longer had the strength to take care of a child. Grandpa was at work most of the time - he had to, most people had to. When grandma died in 1955, my grandpapa brought me to my mother in Copenhagen. In the meantime, she had found a new husband. He had two children, Peter and Mona.
Grandma while she was sound and alive. Never saw her like this.In Copenhagen we (brother, sister, mother, stepfather & Kurt) lived in a 2-room apartment. No central heating, no hot water. I went to a nearby school, which I didn't like. Neither did many of my classmates.
Kurt & cousin Leif ca. 1950
My mother, Mona, PeterI had a feeling (no one ever said this directly) that as a working-class child you were supposed to stop school as fast as possible. Education was not for us. I had a feeling of beeing in a dead end street. So, when I had the chance to go to a boarding school, I was only relieved. No more slavery at local factories.
4C, 1958 (you'll find Kurt in second row, #2 from right)
Kurt & his mother, ca. 1959
I had six good, but often lonely, years at boarding school. Diabetes was diagnosed too. Now I had to learn the rules of regular eating, working, sleeping etc.
In May 1962 my confirmation was celebrated. Of great importance was my first electric guitar and band, Les Distraits, L-R 56 Paulsen, 71 Rathsach, 91 Starlit.
Later, The Bulldogs followed. L-R Starlit, Holm, Jorgensen, Nielsen.
Diary 1964, May 8
At Louisiana. American pop-art. Boring. Humbug.
Interesting to read, how my opinion has changed on this subject over the years. I disgusted places like this, because the teachers in general and the principal in particular were praising it. Today, this place for me is where you can breathe, be free, be relaxed.
Dairy 1964, Oct. 19Leaving (boarding)school in 1965, I immediately started searching for groups to play and perform with. This was the most important thing for me. I didn't have much money, but somehow I managed to get hands on the right gear at the right time: bass guitar, bass amp, bass speaker, microphone & stand, etc.
Bought a microphone
This was what I had waited for over a long period: to get a microphone. It was a cheap one, but it worked. One of my classmates made a stand for me, so now I had reached the impossible: guitar and singing - pure magic.
As mentioned before, many of us were lonesome, no one to talk to, no girls, you were in several aspects like a zombie. The last year of this period, matron Mille started working at the boarding school. She was a pleasant person, willing and ready to listen to you, helping out with any personal problem (including girls), so life seemed a lot brighter after meeting her.
Working at a municipal office, I earned some 800 kr. a month. Paying for the rent and food took at least 600 kr., so I had to be careful. Nevertheless I was hopelessly attracted to the Copenhagen venues with live bands and beautiful girls. I won't go into detail here, see Alt det andet... (all the rest), if you are interested. I met quite a number of girls, but didn't have the money to attend them, so often it ended quite soon.
The Secrets
were the first group I met. But alas, we didn't cope very well, they had a completely different attitude to music (compared to me). Anyway, one picture was taken:
The Secrets
at Bagsværd Skole (Copenhagen suburb), December 1965
Remark!
Most pics can be magnified:
1. hold Mouse over picture
2. click the icon, right bottom
Bumble Bees
were next step.
Bumble Bees at rest. Blue Note, Silkeborg (Jutland), April 1967Brita,
L-R: Georg Wangel vocals, Jesper Jensen guitar, Kurt "Pastor" Simonsen organ, "Jeppe" (Lars From Rasmussen) drums, Kurt Starlit bass.
my first wife. She still have a place in my heart. We met 1967, got two children (Thomas & Jannie), and got divorced 1984. I got married three times, and still have the greatest respect for all three women. Life is often strange, you plan to stay together for the rest of your life. Time changes, society changes, you change, it's not that easy to stay firm in the midst of all this.
Sounds Ltd. (1967-68)
Sounds Ltd., 1968We also had a group called Circle, August-October 1968
v-h: Jorgen Knudsen (drums), Kurt (guitar), Benny Sandell (bass)
Stridens Æble (Apple of Discord)
Stridens Æble, 1968 (Apple of Discord)1970, I started a four year education as a radio technician (radiomekaniker). Started my own studio, built my own gadgets & stomp boxes for the guitar and much more. As I often grew tired of playing in copy-bands, I found it much more constructive (but also a little lonely) to stay at home, composing and playing my own songs & tunes. This was an ambivalence that I always felt.
Photographic work for poster.
L-R: Preben Witt (drums), Darkie (vocal), Starlit (guitar), Benny Sandell (bass).
Kurt & Fender Jazzmaster, 1974
Stridens Æble, 1975
Starlit (guitar), Morkboe (vocal), OC (drums), Olsen (bass), Allbook (gtr.)
Stridens Æble, first performance at discoteque The Flying Dutchman, 1975
L-R: Kurt (sologtr.), Morkboe (vocal), OC (drums), Olsen (bass) og Albook (rhythm guitar).
Stridens Æble photographed by Poul Reinau, 1975. Picture was used for our first single record.
L-R: Albook, OC, Kurt, Olsen, Morkboe
Stridens Able signing a contract with manager Claus Holm, 1975.
L-R.: Morkboe, Starlit, OC (light hair), Olsen, Holm (seated w. contract) and Allbook (real name: Bent Rähr)
Applejacks (1976-78)
Applejacks quartet, 1976
Applejacks poster, 1976
Upper: OC & Olsen
Middle: Kurt & Allbook
Bottom: Morkboe
I met a lot of famous people within show business, some of them were interesting and/or wonderful, some of them were anything but.
The compositional Period (1977-79)
In this period I purchased the monophonic synthesizer. Countless are the happy hours of programming new sounds, used for recording. The equipment consisted of
Korg MS-20 (synth + keyboard),The KORG system was built in a way that you could connect anything with anything. There would come no sound out of the beast until you had connected a minimum of cables. You had to know how. When you needed a new sound, you had to start all over.
Korg MS-50 (synth without keyboard), and
Korg modulation pedal MS-04 ("the gas pedal").
The advantage?
That anything was possible. You could make a guitar sound like anything, as long as you knew how to connect cables. I have for example used the KORG system to produce
- automatic panorama (a sound is continously moving from side to side in soundscape),
- fuzz (distortion),
- foot(volume)control,
- tremolo (varying sound volume),
- vibrato (varying pitch or blabbling),
- noise-gate (noise supression or keepex),
- ring modulator (strange non-harmonic sounds),
- vocoder (robot voice),
- snore,
- blackbird,
- spring,
- saw blade,
- ocean waves,
- explosion(s)
and of course all ordinary sounds like piano, organ, bass etc.......fantastic!
Note reading
I encountered a note course. To learn how to read and (particularly) how to write notes. It was certainly not easy, as each instrument is doing things in particular ways. The writing process is the peak of all creation. Once it is written (or played), it's just a (sweet) memory of something that once were.
The Kurt Logo, 1977
After quitting Applejacks 1977, I had a wonderful productive periode in my home studio.
Wanted: Writer of Lyrics!
In a newspaper I was lucky to find a very good one: Klaus W. Schmidt. By coincidence he lived just around the corner. My weak spot, the lyrics, were his hot spot. He preferred a ready-to-record melody to put lyrics on. Exactly my cup of tea. If I delivered a tune, he was usually able to handle syllable-by-syllable fit lyrics within a week. Here's a few examples:
Tina
EMPIRE quartet (1977-80)
- Jesper Langkilde - sologuitar & vocalWhy is music business in general and showbusiness in particular so exciting?
- Erik Overgaard - drums
- Lars Green - bass guitar & vocal
- Tonny Larsen - rhythm guitar, organ & vocal
- Kurt Starlit - solo guitar & vocal (as replacement for Jesper)
- Lars "Pelle" Pilemand Hansen - drums & vocals (as replacement for Erik)
Good question.
We - the musicians - had many a good discussion on this matter when we drove back and forth. I guess it's the feeling of liberty. To be able to elevate yourself up and away from stupid daily life. On the other hand, if you dare to analyze your own situation, it is easy to see that you are playing games with yourself this way. But the feeling, my friend, the feeling !!
EMPIRE quartet, 1978
L-R: Lars Green (bass), Tonny Larsen (guitar, organ), Kurt Starlit (guitar), Erik Overgaard (drums)
Empire at La Flamenco, 1980
L-R: Larsen, Green, Starlit, Hansen
Empire at The Ritz, Roskilde 1978
L-R: Pelle, Kurt, Green og Larsen.
Trio EMPIRE (= Green Trio) (1983-89)
Green and I decided to try one more time. This time as a trio. For this reason I had to take piano training. Difficult but interesting.
- Lars Green - bass gtr. & vocal
- Kurt Starlit - guitar & keyboards & vocal
- 1. Søren Sebber Larsen - drums & vocal
- 2. Bjarne Nielsen - drums & vocal
- 3. Niels Juul Schneider - drums & vocal
Trio Empire poster Sebber, Green og Kurt, 1984
Green Trio Starlit, Green, Schneider, 1985
Green Trio, 1985
L-R: Green (bass), Schneider (drums), Starlit (kbd)
Kurt and the Crows (1984)
No, this is not the name of a group. I simply found interest in wild birds and began to observe. Especially crows like Raven, Hooded Crow, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw and Magpie had my interest. At Faroe Islands they had this beautiful variation: White Raven, which was exterminated by 1902. Disgusting!
Also through bird-interest, I found Knud Nielsen, who knows a lot about birds in general and crows in particular.
Birds of a feather flock together
Grete, my second wife, and I met late 1984. She soon moved down to my apartment South of Copenhagen. January 1986 our son Bo was born. Grete took the initiative to get us travelling. Together we have been to places like Florida (1992), Wallonia (1995), Paris (1997), Prague (2002) and New York (2004).
Schneider Duo
As bass player Green didn't have time to continue playing (he opened a music shop), Schneider and I decided to go on alone. This meant that I had to learn bass playing by foot. We played for birthdays, weddings etc. We never used any kind of automatic play back - everyting was played manually, voices, vocals, rhythm, bass, everything. The only limitation was ourselves. This meant that we could make tempo shifts, style shift, swing variation etc.etc. - in short, all the ingredients that makes live music live.
Schneider is a keen drummer, sings well, entertains even better, so we kept on until 2005, where I had to stop, due to problems with my heart (and we are talking strictly medical now). It was good years with Schneider, especially I learned a lot on the keyboard/piano, so what more is there to demand. Thanks for all, Schneider!
Schneider Duo, card 1993
Schneider Duo, 1996
Third Half
Grete and I drifted apart and divorced. Luckily I met Hennie, my third (and hopefully final) wife. She had an apartment in central Copenhagen and I was delighted. All those little jazz places we have encountered are countless. We both love live jazz.
But alas, my heart doesn't work well anymore. This has forced me to stop any performance. On the other hand, this gives me more time for writing, which I do a lot these days. As well as bird-observations with Hennie. We do a lot of cycling in the Copenhagen green areas. This is good for health and mind.
Politically, things are going in the wrong direction these days. Seems like it's all about low taxes and cutting on social wellfare. Wonder if any political party has got the nerve to show another way.
Hennie and I were married May 2006 in The Jerusalem Church. The wedding party was held onboard the good ship "Bjørnsholm" - the party of our life.
Lately we kept my 60 years birthday May 2007. We also travelled a little, e.g. Rome (2006), London (2007), Madeira (2008) and Oslo (2008).
All in all we live a good life. Thanks for everything, Hennie!
The local Church (Saint Paul)
Picnic, 2005.April
Hennie at the piano, Falll 2005
At Flyvergrillen (plane's grill), 2006 May
Bridegroom keeping his speech, 2006, May.20
A final Word
We finally reached the end. I have no plans, however, to pop off this year or the next, but on the other hand, no one lives forever. Still, I live a good life, climbed all the mountains I dreamed to climb - hopefully on the expense of nobody - what more can anybody ask.
As you have probably detected, music means a lot to me. I ought to tell more about members of my family, especially wives and children. But alas, they ask me to keep quiet. This I will do now. Thank you for reading.
Got questions or comments? Feel free to write:
LINKS
Family Pics
Alt det andet... (all the rest...)
The Story of Kurt in Danish (into more detail)
The Story of Kurt INDEX (in English)
Frontpage (in English)
