VIDEO KIDS

The exact opposite of "cheeeeese" to the camera.

"...Alle dem andre taler men aldri om sig selv. Folk er bange for at sige hvem de virkelig er..." 

"...Everybody talks but never about themselves(sic). People are scared to tell who they really are...."

"Alle Taler"

LOST KIDS 

(Reinventing the wheel in the age of the ego.)

Legendary TV performance by the infamous Danish punkband LOST KIDS, performing their evergreen "Cola Freaks" on this ultra corny Danish television pop program,Pop´79. 

This is of course playback, make no mistake. Keeping eyes on the surface of things, the Danes display a rather hilarious inconsistency in individual style, an apparent lack of any attempt at crafting some band policy of image/gimmick,a tendency easy to spot on both the cover of the debut single(Født Som Nul)and Cola Freaks.

However, no matter how laughable they might come across, echoed in lyric lines that goes WAY beyond the generic idiot savant factor found in 1st generation underage punk rock bands like this, I can not help liking them or this video. 

LOST KIDS had a very brief momentum before becoming victims of the nihilistic maelstrom this kind of 1st Generation Scandinavian punk outfits were exposed to. I believe at least 2 of the members are dead ages ago, among others Kim "Sweet Bølle Du Blonde" Nielsen, the young cute guitar hero in this video and perhaps Fritz "Fritz the Dick" Christensen, all due to drug abuse, most likely smack.

Cola Freaks single

Founder of the band, Jan "Jet" Nielsen, the guy with the slightly funny(neither DANZIG or DAMNED)punky corpse paint, is still going "strong" with his habit of smack and is rumored to have had some serious arm injuries due to a 25 year old career as a Heroin junkie. Kate "Pussy Punk" Svanholm flew the camp before they went to deep into the quicksand of drug taking and went on with her MONOMANIA/SOFAMANIA projects before fading out of the music business to become mother and wife. I ve managed to find her on FB, at least. She is definitely ranked high on my personal "Scandinavian Punkettes" list, and check out this video and you should see why.

LOST KIDS: Live,1979. Sunglasses on.

I remember hearing their 3 tracks on their Pærepunk compilation of 1979, and got totally blown away. Ok, in comparison to SODS and THE BRATS(featuring some future members of rock gods MERCYFUL FATE, they were more of a party-punk playing covers of UK/US punk/new wave hits with Danish texts, like "Born To Lose"(THE HEARTBREAKERS), which became "Født Som Nul",and "Mongoloid"(DEVO), which became "Asocial". The latter was the very first song I ever performed live with a band, my first punk band BELSENFANGAN,in my hometown Kristiansund in June 1989.

I m living on a Danish Rock

The story of how the band came together is hilarious. Jan Jet had just arrived back in Århus from a longer stay in UK, working as a servant, and along with him came a suitcase packed with 1st UK Punk vinyl(one can only imagine the titles). In 1978 he visited capitol of Denmark, Copenhagen, punked up to see the TUBES at a place called Daddy's Dancehall. Somehow he found his way into the ladies room at the concert place where he me met this female journalist who was pretty impressed by his style, in those days a rather rare sight in the Danish urban jungle. 

STYLE WARS: The last battlefield of hippie and punk?

                        Plus a hint of Dame Edna.

The story never told if he was making at pass at her or simply just bragging when he told her he had his local punk band back in Århus. His words captured him when she suggested coming to Århus 2 weeks later and make a feature on he and his band. So he had to rush back and put together a line up and rehearse in few covers.


It is a bit of a fat irony to ponder the name "Lost Kids" and their choice of debut, a Danish version of the JOHNNY THUNDERS´ signature song from the L.A.M.F album by THE HEARTBREAKERS,"Born To Lose"(Født Som Nul), in regards to the real life story. I guess the thought never struck Jan Jets mind, at least. 

Nevertheless, 2 winded up dead while Jan Jet ended up being the local town original on dope, full beard and long hair,though he still wears his sleeveless denim with the slogan "Punk Rock For Life".

NEW LOST KIDS ON THE ROCK: 

Featuring a freaked out version of Knut "Euroboy" Schreiner .

"Jeg kan ikke huske ret meget, og det er heller ikke ret meget punk over Jyllands-Posten"

"I can t remember much and "Jyllandsposten"(local Århus newspaper) is not that punk, for that matter"

Karsten Bo "Kose" Sørensen and Mek Pek, both ex-members of the band, agreed on the unbearable situation of being in the same band as Jan Jet, he was impossible to trust in any issue of the official band activities, missed out at gigs, constantly broke and under the influence of something.

25 years after the band broke up, Jan Jet decided it was about time they had some local buzz again, getting some loose Århus birds together and organized a reunion show. Jan Jet screamed out the old tunes as good as his battered memory was capable of. However, though the words on his sleeveless denim begged to differ, his present day commitment to the spectacle that made him a tiny legend 25 years ago was proclaimed a lower priority midways during the reunion show than his good old Horse habit:

"Skal vi have punk, nej, vi skal have junk!"

"Are we gonna have punk? No, we are having junk!"

LOST KID: Jan Jet.

The local newspaper, Jyllandsposten, in Århus was eager to get some comments from the man himself after the show. In addition to denying his membership of the band and a general complaint of memory loss, he even added the cheeky remark of the newspaper not being particularly "punk". Ha ha, guess he is not the right guy to evaluate the punk credibility of others, once fronting a band that barely was taken seriously at the end of their "career".

Pærepunk compilation of 1979

I know this compilation album is mentioned earlier on this blog, but I will not hesitate to recommend it one more time. This was nevertheless where I first got introduced to LOST KIDS, opening the whole album with a hat trick of punk rock simplicity with an immediate appeal. In addition to the two already mentioned SODS and BRATS, the album features ELEKTROCHOCK,SLIM,KLICHÉ,DREAM POLICE and NO KNOX.They all played together on this legendary punk festival in Århus,where I heard that the 12 years old HARLEY FLANEGAN of the CRO-MAGS was present. If you scroll down on the comments on this video, you will even find a comment signed Mr. Flanegan, claiming that he "used to know these guys".