Dinosaurdays - Titanic

The band's roots go back to Oslo in 1969 when they were formed by Janny Loseth on guitar and vocals, John Lorck on drums, Chappy Asperud on percussion and vocals, and Kenny Aas on bass and organ, although Arica Siggs was later added on bass, allowing Aas to concentrate on organ. Their international appeal was enhanced by the addition of English vocalist Roy Robinson, who also wrote most of their lyrics, and the band enjoyed hit singles and albums in both England and Germany, as well as in their home country. Their debut, self-titled album was released in 1970 on CBS Records and was an immediate success, the band's Santana-influenced style, prominent use of percussion and Hammond organ, going down very well. They soon became Norway's premier rock outfit and this was endorsed with the release of this, our featured track, which reached number 5 in the UK singles charts in September 1971. It was also a fair-sized hit in both Norway and France, where the band would later relocate to. They enjoyed their first big break at the Cannes Film Festival in France and they were also invited to play at the gala screening of the 1969 ' Woodstock ' movie. It was hoped that Titanic would be big in the US, but they failed to score with any major hits there. They toured the Near East and Africa, where their danceable rhythms were much in demand. Further albums such as "Eagle Rock" and "Ballad of a Rock 'n Roll Loser", both of which are available on CD, were released in the early to mid seventies, but failed add to their previous successes, although both albums were equally as good as the first two. Kenny Aas left the band and they adopted a more straight ahead, almost folky, rock style which was quite in evidence on the aforementioned "Ballad of a Rock 'n Roll Loser" album. It would be three years before a new Titanic album was released: 1978's "Return of Drakkar", saw a harder side to this talented band's repertoire, and it featured two new members in Claude Chamboissier on keyboards and Saintclaire Brunet on bass and backing vocals.Robinson, Lorck, Asperud and Loseth were still with the band and this new line-up showed great promise. The band's final album, "Eye of the Hurricane", was also unfortunately their weakest. Recorded in Los Angeles and released in 1979, the band had now trimmed down to a quartet, with a guest bassist. The line-up is not shown on the album sleeve, but it would appear that the band was comprised of Robinson, Aas, Loseth and Lorck, with guest bassist Mike Piccirillo. That album seemed to signal the end of Titanic, although in the late eighties/early nineties, an album called "Lower the Atlantic", and, once again featuring Robinson and Loseth (in the songwriting credits, in any case), was released. The band had now veered in an even harder, more metal direction, which actually suited them quite well. The band's history from then on is a mystery, but they really made some memorable music and they should be fondly remembered for that.

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