Worth a Listen - Donnie & Joe Emerson

This post could might as well be called "On the Subject of Parental Love", as I've been thinking quite a lot about it lately. Possibly due to the fact that my parents have always shown me so much support and especially in recent times. When I was younger, I would have all these obsessions, for instance like finding and collecting fossils. At some point my parents took me to this big limestone quarry, which was situated in the other end of Denmark and they would spend a day with me, just digging away for fossils. I could go on and on with stories like this.

This summer I've been listening to this song "Baby" by Donnie & Joe Emerson A LOT. It's not a new song, as it was released back in 1979, however it still sounds fresh and relevant. Back in the day no one took notice of this record despite it's obvious qualities, but I guess the music business is like that. Some things just aren't recognised in its time, but is left for future generations to appreciate.

If you're still reading here's the connection to the introduction. Donnie & Joe were supported massively by their parents, who funded, what at the time was a really good studio in the middle of nowhere for their sons to practice and record. They spent a fortune on it. It never really paid off in the sense of making any money on it, however the amazing record "Dreamin' Wild" was released.

So instead of me using up more words, I suggest you spend a good 7 minutes watching this little documentary on the whole project. It's heartwarming.

Oh, and mom, happy birthday.

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What Once Was; The Story of a Danish Bicycle Manufacturer

Denmark has always been a cycling country – thousands upon thousands of people commute to work on their bikes everyday and Denmark is always mentioned as a pioneer country in the field of bicycling. Nonetheless, most people are these days riding around on bicycles manufactured in various countries in the Far East, which I think is a bit sad considering the rich (and important!) bicycle heritage of our small country. I hope this doesn't come off, as being the usual pathetic nonsense cliché of “things aren't as good, as they were in the good old days”, as there is still a lot of quality bikes being manufactured in other parts of the world. Instead I would rather use this post to tell a little story about a Danish bicycle manufacturer. I can't deny that there will be a pinch of romanticizing and nostalgia, though.

Nordisk Cyclefabrik A/S (notice the different spelling and even pronunciation) was probably established in 1895 by one H.P. Hansen. I'm not quite sure about the last part, as the former Danish time trial world champion Henry-Peter Hansen, who later became affiliated with the company, wasn't born before 1902. So either they shared the name or there has been some misunderstandings over the years. I invite you to decide for yourself. After moving the factory around Sjælland the first few years, the manufacturing was moved to the free port of Copenhagen. The free port was a place filled with different factories and a few other bicycle companies also had factories there.

What was different about Nordisk Cyclefabrik was the bicycle they made, that didn't have any chain like most other bicycles did. Rather they made a bike that was shaft-driven(“kardantræk” in Danish) with the name “La Danoise”. The type of bike became quite popular at the time and was even exported to other countries; even the Netherlands. Of course they also made normal chain-driven bikes and around the 1930's they introduced the Danish people to the Swedish Crescent, that still exists today. In these years the factory also made a bike, that is still known today as the “sofacykel”. It was a bike with a complete seat rather than just a saddle and the positioning of the rider was much more laid back; not far from the cruisers seen today. I'm not sure, whether or not it was that big a success though. It was meant to be more comfortable, but it turned out to be a quite awkward position to ride in.

In 1933, the company moved to Vanløse west of Copenhagen, where Henry-Peter Hansen had built a factory in a functionalist style typical of the period. From this period it is quite hard to find information about the factory and what happened. What I do know is that in the 1950's the factory was eventually sold to a Swedish company called Nymanbolagen, that already produced brands like the aforementioned Crescent. The old factory building in Vanløse was sold to the government in 1969 and it now houses a school of education, but what happened between these years I haven't been able to stumble upon anywhere.

I hope this little story will be of interest to some people and that we some day can see bicycles being manufactured for the people in Denmark again. Of course there are still Danish bicycle manufacturers, but to my knowledge it is mostly expensive, custom-built luxury bikes like Sögreni and Cykelmageren and cargo bikes like the Christiania bike and Nihola. I would love to see everyday bikes being manufactured in Denmark again and not just assembled.

All words by Lars Engelbrecht 

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My Mom's Rings

My mom is quite creative and quite handy and I sometime hope, that I've inherited some of her skills, but I have my doubts, when I see, how many things she has excelled at, sewing, painting, drawing sculpting, knitting and so on. 

I could show you more stuff, that she has made or designed, but for now I'll stick to a couple of rings, that she had custom made to her specific design some time in the 60's as far as I recall (it could be the 70's, so mom, please forgive me, if I'm wrong). I've had them in a drawer for quite some time because I've been meaning to have them reproduced in my size, albeit I want to have some minor alterations made. 

Somehow I've never gotten around to actually having it done. Most likely a result of me never wearing much jewellery - except for a watch.

The first ring is the one, I've always liked the most. Please bear in mind, that it used to look a lot better, but one of my sister attempted to resize it, which made it crooked. To make matters worse she also decided to clean and polish it. Luckily it's starting to patinate again.

One day it struck me, that I could easily wear a signet ring, but in the end it'll probably be hard pull off.

I have just sent these pictures to a good friend of After the Denim in hopes of having them reproduced in my size.

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Worth a Listen: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

This constellation of individuals is just superb. It is truly worthy of the term super group. I don't know, what else I can say about them. Or rather, what else I can say about them, that hasn't already been said before, so I'm just going to recommend, that you buy the record "Dèjá Vu". It is indeed a master piece, that has proven its worth in musical history.

To me this record represents so much nostalgia, as I remember it being played a lot on our stereo, when I was a kid. My dad talked about how he had a huge poster with them on his wall, when he was young and I imagined it being the coolest thing ever. Oh, how I wanted that poster, but alas it was long gone. Just like many other artifacts - probably created in my imagination - from his youth like this corduroy jackets, that Oma made for him.

Pops listened to Neil Young the most, and mom listened to Cohen, but I always liked Neil's high pitch the most.

I'm sure a lot of you guys already own at least one pair of Red Wings, but if you are on the fence about buying a pair, please take a look at this picture of Neil Young wearing what appears to be a pair of Irish Setters, which is known as the 877 nowadays, and a pair of slim, cropped jeans. Perfect combination.

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