The Savage Rose
When you think about the kind of band who would be invited to play a benefit for African-American revolutionary group The Black Panthers, you likely wouldn’t immediately picture a mixed-gender hippie prog-rock group from Denmark. Then again, rock ’n’ roll was built on the unexpected marriage of wildly different streams of sound and style.
As founding keyboardist Thomas Koppel relayed in the liner notes to the Supernatural Fairy Tales box set, “With the avant-garde as the father, soul as the mother, and a worldwide revolt as the cradle, The Savage Rose was a true child of her time, nourished by reality, respect, roots, revolution.” The combination worked exceedingly well, and The Savage Rose became one of the most popular European bands of the late ’60s and early ’70s—and in fact remained well known into the ’00s. (Though Thomas Koppel died in 2006, his widow, lead singer Annisette, has continued performing with new band members.)
The group’s early records could be safely described as sounding like a cross between The Jefferson Airplane, The Staple Singers, and Genesis, and featured a unique two-keyboard lineup. Yes, that’s an odd enough blend, but when you consider the voice of lead singer Annisette…well, now some seriously otherworldly images begin to invade your mental television. The most obvious reference point would be British singer Kate Bush (“Wuthering Heights,” “The Hounds Of Love”), with her similar tone and flights of high-register fancy. But with no disrespect to the true musical genius of Bush, Annisette’s vocal control is on a higher level, rivaling that of the great jazz and pop singers of our time. Like Bush, Annisette also occasionally breaks out her “baby girl” vocal mannerisms, lending an oddness to the group’s records that might not appeal to all listeners, and could very well be the reason they never broke big in the States. (Ditto for Kate, actually.) But like their more well known peers such as ELP, Yes, or Strawbs, the group could really play, and their classic baroque-rock albums still sound impressive today.
In the late ’70s the group retired from recording to concentrate on supporting leftist political causes, often playing benefits and free concerts and even traveling to war-torn destinations like Lebanon to play refugee camps, hospitals, and schools. (Their official Web site tells the story of how the band once rejected their managers’ quest to go to Vietnam and have a picture taken shaking hands with President Johnson, not wanting their music to be seen as being used to support of the war.) Later they returned to a more conventional approach to their music career, though they now largely recorded in their native tongue, as opposed to their previous albums, which were sung completely in English.
Despite their cult status in the States, The Savage Rose continued to be very popular abroad. Their ballet Triumph Of Death, performed by The Royal Ballet (with its famous nude dance scenes) resulted in hundreds of sold-out performances worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The band scored top-charting records as recently as 2001, and individual members of the group also found success outside of the band.
There are some great clips of The Savage Rose on YouTube, such as this performance of “A Girl I Knew.” For more, go to www.thesavagerose.net or www.myspace.com/savagerosemusic.
