BRIDGES

Crossover Prog • Norway

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Bridges biography
Norwegian band BRIDGES was formed in 1978, the final evolution of a quickly evolving band project instigated by Paal Waaktar. Following a number of personell shifts and different monikers, Bridges was the result of a line-up that settled with Magne Furuholmen (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Paal Waaktar (vocals, guitar), Øystein Jevanord (drums) and Viggo Andreas Bondi (bass) as permanent members, the choice of moniker the result of a thorough investigation into the music of The Doors.

The fledgling band started to perform live towards the end of 1978, and while they never managed to become a superior live act, one of their performances resulted in the band getting to know a fellow young music enthusiast, Morten Harket. In 1980 Bridges decided to record an album, and in the summer weeks they bought studio time for that very purpose. The end result became the LP Fakkeltog, privately released by the band and a commercial failure. The thousand or so copies pressed having a hard time competing with the punk and new wave popular at the time.

One of many results wof this lack of success was a change in band name, and 1981 saw them continue using the moniker Poem. But the climate between band members were less than good at this point, and a few sessions into the recording of their next album the band broke up. Pål and Magne left for England shortly after, attempting to establish themselves as musicians in London. The next couple of years saw them travelling back and forth between Norway and England, eventually involving aforementioned friend Morten Harket. A couple of years of hard work eventually saw this trio establishing themselves as a household name in music under the moniker a-ha.