THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,562) Thor’s Hammer — “If You Knew”
This wonderful uptempo Beatlesque number naturally enough comes from Iceland’s Beatles! — “I was in U.S. Navy stationed at Keflavik in 1967-68 and these guys performed on the base many times. We called them the Icelandic Beatles.” (EdFertik, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bd_GIpJEn4&pp=ygUlVGhvcuKAmXMgSGFtbWVyIOKAlCDigJxJZiBZb3UgS25ld-KAnQ%3D%3D) Richie Unterberger has described “If You Knew” as “gutsy Merseybeat”, “the hardest Merseybeat or early Hollies”. (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thors-hammer-mn0000584715/biography, https://www.allmusic.com/album/from-keflavik-with-love-mw0000211096) The band was Hljómar (The Sound of the Chords) (see #518, 910) in Iceland, and Thor’s Hammer in overseas markets.
Richie Unterberger recites Thor’s saga:
Thor’s Hammer was the most notable ’60s Icelandic rock band . . . . In part that’s because they were able to record in London for Parlophone, and even get a solitary 45 released in America in 1967. . . . In the mid- to late ’60s, they made quite a few recordings, the best of them in a ferocious mod, British Invasion style reminiscent of the early Who and sub-Who groups like the Eyes. . . . Thor’s Hammer formed as Hlijomar . . . in Keflavik, Iceland, in 1963. In a small, isolated country that didn’t even have television in 1963, a rock band of any kind was a novelty. They became extremely popular [there] and began recording for the Icelandic market in 1965, also supporting some visiting British acts on their Icelandic tours. They named themselves Thor’s Hammer for English-sung recordings made in London and released on the Parlophone label.
Mike Stax adds:
Their initial releases were sung in their native tongue, but the group and their record company quickly realized that to export the group’s popularity, they would need to sing in English and adjust the band’s name accordingly. In late 1965 Thor’s Hammer traveled to England for recording sessions which included ones for tracks that were to be used in an upcoming movie starring the band, called Umbarumbamba. . . . The song was released on an EP, issued in conjunction with the movie in the fall of 1966. The film was something of a flop, however, and the record consequently sold poorly. Though the band’s popularity was fading in their home country, they pursued their international ambitions with a 1967 single for Columbia Records. However, the single — cut by U.S. session men, with the band’s vocals added later– sank without a trace. In Iceland, the group’s career . . . eventually recovered and they thrived in a more progressive vein until their final split in 1969.
liner notes to the CD comp Nuggets II (Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969)
Now, Umbarumbamba wasn’t a feature — only 15 minutes long, it is a “stylized account of an Icelandic country dance.” (https://www.icelandicfilms.info/films/nr/783) Supposedly, the film has never been screened since. Well, I want to see it! If anyone reading this has done so, let us all know!
I am not sure what Umbarumbamba means — Google Translate tells me that it’s English equivalent is Umbarumbamba.* Maybe one problem here is that Iceland doesn’t have the best international marketers — naming their country Iceland when it is so beautiful while Greenland gets to call itself Greenland (what a joke)! Maybe if they had named it Ummagumma, it would have been a blockbuster.
* Interestingly, Google Translate notes that the word means “thinness” in Nyanja. Wikipedia tells us that “Chewa (also known as Nyanja) is a Bantu language spoken in Malawi and a recognized minority in Zambia and Mozambique.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewa_language)
Pay to Play! The Off the Charts Spotify Playlist! + Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock Merchandise
Please consider helping to support my website/blog by contributing $6 a month for access to the Off the Charts Spotify Playlist. Using a term familiar to denizens of Capitol Hill, you pay to play! (“relating to or denoting an unethical or illicit arrangement in which payment is made by those who want certain privileges or advantages in such arenas as business, politics, sports, and entertainment” — dictionary.com).
The playlist includes all the “greatest songs of the 1960’s that no one has ever heard” that are available on Spotify — now over 1,000 songs. The playlist will expand each time I feature an available song.
All new subscribers will receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock magnet. New subscribers who sign up for a year will also receive a Brace for the Obscure 60s Rock t-shirt or baseball cap. See pictures on the Pay to Play page.
When subscribing, please send me an e-mail (GMFtma1@gmail.com) or a comment on this site letting me know an e-mail address/phone number/Facebook address, etc. to which I can send instructions on accessing the playlist and a physical address to which I can sent a magnet/t-shirt/baseball cap. If choosing a t-shirt, please let me know the gender and size you prefer.
Just click on the first blue block for a month to month subscription or the second blue block for a yearly subscription.
Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! / Off the Charts: 60s Rock Revelations😊 
Umbarumbamba doesn’t actually mean anything in Icelandic. It’s a nonsense word. No idea where the band got it from and don’t remember ever having seen any explanation. But it does roll easily off the tongue in Icelandic.
A couple of things that are key to understanding Hljómar’s success in Iceland other than their effective emulation of Beatles vibe. They were from the town of Keflavík, one of the closest towns to the US Navy’s former base in Iceland. The town was often called the Icelandic Beatle Town (or the Liverpool of the North) because it begat so many British Invasion style bands in the sixties. The proximity to the US base was a significant factor. As is stated in your article, Iceland didn’t have an Icelandic TV station until ’63 and even then it only broadcast a few hours a day. However, the US base had a TV station and radio station and their broadcasts could be picked up in the towns around the base (and sometimes even as far as in Reykjavík). So, kids there were exposed to American culture (including rock music and psychedelic dr*gs) earlier than many other parts of Iceland and were listening to British Invasion bands on the radio and some might even have seen TV shows like the Ed Sullivan show. Even more importantly, bands in the vicinity could pick up good paying gigs on the US base and the audience there wanted to hear what was popular in the US at the time. So bands like Hljómar had to learn all of the British Invasion stuff to pass muster on the base. Other notable Keflavík bands from the time include Óðmenn & Júdas. There was a lot of intermingling, so members of these bands moved from one to the other quite often and went on to form other bands like the immensely popular Flowers and Trúbrot. You could say that it was a very fluid scene.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for that!
LikeLike