Alex Naumik
Encyclopedia
Alex or Alexandra Naumik (earlier Alexandra Sandøy) (born 12 August 1951) is a Norwegian-Polish rock and pop icon and artist who rose to fame in the late 1970s.
Alexandra Naumik was born to Polish parents in Vilnius
, Lithuanian SSR
. During the Stalinist
era she was deported to Siberia together with her family and only arrived in Poland
6 years later. With her 4 and a half octave voice Alex won several competitions and prizes while still a teenager and recorded records with renowned artists such as Agnieszka Osiecka
and Adam Slawinski
. Having graduated from the Pedagogy Institute in Łódź in 1969 she came to Norway
in 1970 after having married film director
Haakon Sandøy. Her debut in 1977 launched funk-rock in Norway while her album received both critical acclaim and the Norwegian equivalent for the Grammy Award
s as well as silver and gold records for sales. Alex also became renowned as a trend-setter in several areas ("Alex-hair" was a common expression) and she became the first female artist in Norway to take full control over her music, her personal and public image at a time when a female control was unusual. She was also the first Norwegian artist to sign international recording contracts in 1977 with PolyGram
International ( now Universal Music Group
) and in 1978 RCA Records
, USA working with artists such as David Foster
, Andrae Crouch
, Andy Summers
and Glen Matlock
. In addition to performing all Continents, Alex was also given her own television special in the German Musikladen
program which was viewed by 20 million people in over 18 countries worldwide. An honour bestowed on the likes of The Ramones
, Stevie Wonder
and Roxy Music
. As she was also a pioneer in co-operation between the music and commercial sector and became a spokesperson for Helen Curtis Shampoos, BASF
, Levi's and Ford Motor Company
amongst others.
Alex has over a long period been working in the United States
and Japan
as a songwriter
and producer
and she has most recently had success with her work with Swedish-born artist Leana's album Faith who reached number one on the Billboard
charts in June 2006 and January 2007. Alex contributed on Leana's album as a writer and producer together with her daughter Naomi Naumik and her collaborator for 25 years, Grammy winner Atle Bakken
Alex has received several international prizes and distinctions in addition to national ones. These have included the "Nordring" prize in Helsinki
(1981), Spellemansprisen, the Norwegian Grammy (1977), for two albums, and being voted "Female Artist of the Year" by the readers of Det Nye magazine in 1980
In October 2008 Alex started the release of all her recordings, after record labels had waited up to 30 years in taking action. This happened on i.e. Itunes
but also through the artist's own website.
The occasion also launched brand new recordings and remixes, including the classic song "Home Is Where The Hatred Is."
), Brynjulf Blix
and Per Ivar Johansen. Johansen died September 19. 1980 in a bus accident while touring with the band. Brake failure were the cause of the fatalities.
Alexandra Naumik was born to Polish parents in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Lithuanian SSR
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
. During the Stalinist
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
era she was deported to Siberia together with her family and only arrived in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
6 years later. With her 4 and a half octave voice Alex won several competitions and prizes while still a teenager and recorded records with renowned artists such as Agnieszka Osiecka
Agnieszka Osiecka
Agnieszka Osiecka She was a poet, writer, author of theatre and television screenplays, film director and journalist...
and Adam Slawinski
Adam Slawinski
Adam Sławiński is a Polish composer.In the years 1957–1963, he worked as an editor of music in Telewizja Polska. Then he composed music for television series and has written music for some 40 films and serials...
. Having graduated from the Pedagogy Institute in Łódź in 1969 she came to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in 1970 after having married film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Haakon Sandøy. Her debut in 1977 launched funk-rock in Norway while her album received both critical acclaim and the Norwegian equivalent for the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s as well as silver and gold records for sales. Alex also became renowned as a trend-setter in several areas ("Alex-hair" was a common expression) and she became the first female artist in Norway to take full control over her music, her personal and public image at a time when a female control was unusual. She was also the first Norwegian artist to sign international recording contracts in 1977 with PolyGram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
International ( now Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
) and in 1978 RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
, USA working with artists such as David Foster
David Foster
David Walter Foster, OC, OBC , is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, and arranger, noted for discovering singers such as Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Charice Pempengco; and for producing some of the most successful artists in the world, such as Céline Dion, Toni...
, Andrae Crouch
Andrae Crouch
Andraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....
, Andy Summers
Andy Summers
Andy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
and Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock is an English bass guitarist most famous for being in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Drummer Paul Cook has said that Matlock came up with much of the music for the band's songs and most of the lyrics, while lead singer Johnny Rotten made some adjustments...
. In addition to performing all Continents, Alex was also given her own television special in the German Musikladen
Musikladen
Der Musikladen was a West German music television programme that ran from December 13, 1972 to November 29, 1984. The show continued the 1960s Beat-Club under a new name, and in turn was replaced by Extratour.-History:...
program which was viewed by 20 million people in over 18 countries worldwide. An honour bestowed on the likes of The Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
and Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
. As she was also a pioneer in co-operation between the music and commercial sector and became a spokesperson for Helen Curtis Shampoos, BASF
BASF
BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Germany. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik . Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock...
, Levi's and Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
amongst others.
Alex has over a long period been working in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as a songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
and she has most recently had success with her work with Swedish-born artist Leana's album Faith who reached number one on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts in June 2006 and January 2007. Alex contributed on Leana's album as a writer and producer together with her daughter Naomi Naumik and her collaborator for 25 years, Grammy winner Atle Bakken
Atle Bakken
Atle Bakken , is a composer, performer and producer from Norway, known on both sides of the Atlantic, through his work with Stevie Wonder, Sting, Diana Ross, Andy Summers, Snoop Dog, Andrae Crouch and scoring credits such as the Fox/HBO award winning TV comedy series "Martin", starring Martin...
Alex has received several international prizes and distinctions in addition to national ones. These have included the "Nordring" prize in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
(1981), Spellemansprisen, the Norwegian Grammy (1977), for two albums, and being voted "Female Artist of the Year" by the readers of Det Nye magazine in 1980
In October 2008 Alex started the release of all her recordings, after record labels had waited up to 30 years in taking action. This happened on i.e. Itunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
but also through the artist's own website.
The occasion also launched brand new recordings and remixes, including the classic song "Home Is Where The Hatred Is."
Alex' first band
Her first band, also named "Alex", was formed in 1976 together with Bjørn Christiansen, Svein Gundersen (from the earlier noted Rock group Aunt MaryAunt Mary
Norwegian Prog Rock band from the seventies. Signed a contract with Polydor in Denmark to release 'Aunt Mary' in 1970. Gradually moved towards Progressive Rock with the records 'Loaded' in 1972 og 'Janus' in '73.- Musicians :Jan Groth - Vocals, keyboards, guitar...
), Brynjulf Blix
Brynjulf Blix
Brynjulf Blix is a noted pianist from Norway. First known from his collaboration with Terje Rypdal, Blix received broader notoriety as a member of the group "Alex", supporting the singer Alex Naumik....
and Per Ivar Johansen. Johansen died September 19. 1980 in a bus accident while touring with the band. Brake failure were the cause of the fatalities.
Other
- The artist's name itself was created and given by Norwegian and internationally known writer Jens BjørneboeJens BjørneboeJens Ingvald Bjørneboe was a Norwegian writer whose work spanned a number of literary formats. He was also a painter and a waldorf school teacher. Bjørneboe was a harsh and eloquent critic of Norwegian society and Western civilization on the whole...
, and dedicated on his novel "Powderhouse" (Kruttårnet in Norw.) - «To little Alex from old Jens». - Alex was granted her artist's name as a copyrighted trademark in 1992. This also gained attention as the media in Scandinavia at this point in time did not take copyright laws seriously on the artist's side.
Solo albums
- Alex (Mercury, 1977)
- Handle With Care (Mercury, 1977)
- Hello, I Love You (Mercury, 1979)
- Daddy’s Child (Polydor, 1980)
- Alex’ beste (Polydor, 1981) samleplate
- Always (CBS, 1983)
- Almost (Ventura Records, 1991)
- Living In Color (MTG, 1993)
Singles
- «Heartbreak Queen» Mercury 1977
- «Heartbreak Queen» AU utgivelse - Mercury 1977
- «Heartbreak Queen» / «Heartbreak Queen» US-utgivelse - Freeflight 1977
- «Heartbreak Queen» / «Only You Can Make Me Stronger» US-utgivelse - Freeflight 1977
- «Flying High» / «Listen To The Music» Storbritannia-utgivelse - Mercury 1978
- «Listen To The Music» Tyskland-utgivelse - Metronome 1978
- «Listen To The Music» / «I Won't Hold You Down» Frankrike-utgivelse - Mercury 1979
- «Rock Machine» Storbritannia-utgivelse - Mercury 1979
- «Hello I love you» / «Rock Machine» Mercury 1979
- «Rock Machine» / «Hello I love you» Tyskland-utgivelse - Mercury 1980
- «Univers» / «Slike drømmer om hus» Mercury 1981
- «Rock'n'roller» / «Instrumental» Mercury 1981
- «Flying High» / «Listen To The Music» Mercury 1982
- «I love Warszawa» / «Dreamboy» CBS 1982
- «Dreamboy» / «I love Warszawa» Storbritannia-utgivelse - CBS 9184
- «Don't break down My Heart» / «Stop All The Trains» Øst–Europa-utgivelse Polski Nagranie med flere 1984
- «Almost» / «Can't get next to you» / «Ventura» 1991
- «Home Is Where The Hatred Is» / «AlexMusic/EMU» 2008
- «I Wanna Fly» / «AlexMusic/EMU» 2008
Other releases
- Listy Spiewajace (compilation) Vocal (1966)
- Songfestival Opole (samlealbum) Låtbidrag Vokal (1967)
- K.M. Myrland Isbål (1976)
- Heksedans med Jan Eggum (1977)
- I can't stop loving you med Per Elvis Granberg (1977)
- Lion and the Lamb (1978)
- Soloflight med Svein Finjarn (1978)
- Melodi Grand Prix 1979 (1979)
- Songwriters for the stars med David FosterDavid FosterDavid Walter Foster, OC, OBC , is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, and arranger, noted for discovering singers such as Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Charice Pempengco; and for producing some of the most successful artists in the world, such as Céline Dion, Toni...
(1982) - Norsk Rock (samlealbum) (1983)
- Sylfest Strutle På Reisefot (1983)
- Sammen for livet Forente artister (1985)
- Melodi Grand Prix 1986 (1986)
- Hockeyfeber (soundtrack 1979)
- Norske Filmklassikere Soundtrack 1993)
- Songwriters for the stars (Samle dobbelt-CD) Låtbidrag (1994)
- Crazy Japan-release (1997)
- Lucky Star Japan-release (1997)
- Dancemania7 Japan-release (1997)
- DancemaniaDeluxe2 Japan-release (1998)
- Sacred Place med Emmanuel USA-release (1999)
- FrodoCpu USA-release (1999)
- There Is Hope med Emmanuel USA-release (2000)
- Look At The Shape I'm In med Maje USA-release (2004)
- Faith med Leana USA- og Europa-release Leana (2006)
Film music – soundtracks
- Lasse & Geir Wam & Vennerød (1977)
- Julia Julia Wam & Vennerød (1982)
- Hockeyfeber Oddvar Bull Tuhus (1983)
- Norske filmklassikere (1993)
- Serving In Silence CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
(1996)
Eurovision Song Contest
- Univers (1980) (3.)
- Rock'n Roller (1981) (5.)
- Perfekte Engel (1982) (4.)
- Fri (1986) (9.)
Literature
- Bratteli, RandiRandi BratteliRandi Bratteli was a Norwegian journalist.She was born in Hamar as the daughter of Olav Larssen. She married Trygve Bratteli, who served as Prime Minister of Norway from 1971 to 1972 and 1973 to 1976. She published several books.-References:...
(1978). The Way They Went. Tiden Forlag, Oslo. ISBN 82-10-01671-7