The duo of John Guldberg and Tim Stahl has with their electronic pop project Laid Back helped put Denmark on the map with their widely sucsessful albums of the early 1980’s. While their first hit “Maybe I’m Crazy” was still wrapped in a coat of 70’s pop, their follow-up album spawned the now classic hit “Sunshine Reggae” which reached #1 in up to 22 countries and was a favourite spin for many Ibiza DJs. Even more of a balearic ht was the B-side to thae 12″ single, the even more laid back tune “Fly Away / Walking In The Sunshine”.
Yet another track off that 1983 album was called “White Horse” and found its way into the then underground scene of New York as both a breakdance classic in the parks and a late night club spin. Re-released in the US as an A-side single, it peaked in both the Disco and Black Singles charts at the time. With the songs stripped down electronic funk and deep-sung vocals, many actually thought the band were black; causing their US manager to advise against them touring live in the country. Several albums and US No # 1 singles in the Billboard Club Chart followed during the latter part of the 80’s, including the German no # 1 single “Bakerman” (with a video by Lars Von Trier). To date the band has sold over 35 million records worldwide.
In later years, the duo has re-established their trademark sound. They signed up with Music For Dreams and released the album Happy Dreamer in 2005, that featured their new classic “Beautiful Day”. They have since then collaborated to great success with contemporary dance music producers like Trentemøller, Kasper Bjørke and Soul Clap. In 2010 they resurrected the 1985 track “Cocaine Cool” and released it on their newly launched label Brother Music.
Teaming up with Music For Dreams again in 2014, they released a double A-side single featuring the darkly funny “Fuck” and the groovy “Don’t Step On The Grass”. A new release for the label has seen the daylight during the summer of 2016 with “Satie”. Here we see the duo once again drifting towards more balearic territories, in re-interpreting the classical piano piece of Eric Satie.