HANS POULSEN

Hans Sven Poulsen (born Bruce Gordon Poulsen, 7 March 1945, Melbourne) was a singer-songwriter popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His parents, Vic and Nellie Poulsen, played two instruments, lap-steel guitar and ukulele with their styles of Hawaiian music, as well as bush ballads, country and western music and folk. Poulsen's grandfather had migrated to Victoria from Denmark and being proud of his Danish heritage, Poulsen took the first names of Hans Sven while still a teenager. It is possible that he took the name as a stage-name when he started his school band in 1961 called the Rimfires; at this time, he played around the Frankston area, an outer suburb of Melbourne, and around the Mornington Peninsula region on the coast. It was here that he learnt his craft and became known for his interpretation of Buddy Holly's music and songs.

In 1965 Poulsen formed the first version of a Melbourne group called 18th Century Quartet, which played original material (mostly by Poulsen) and performed in a style that later came to be known as world music; the group also differed from most of its contemporaries with its use of diverse acoustic instruments including mandolin, autoharp and bouzouki. After embarking on a solo career in 1967, Poulsen recorded his first single for Parlophone in 1968 ''Rocking Chair / After Dinner Evening Stroll'' followed by ''Coming Home Late Again / Run Away Children''.  Moving to the Fable label he had two Top 40 pop hits with the songs "Boom Sha La La Lo" and "Light Across the Valley". Poulsen would release another five singles on Fable, but none saw any chart success. During this period, he recorded two albums 'Natural High' (1971) and 'Lost And Found' (1972).

Poulsen also had success as a songwriter with hits written for other artists, including "Rose Coloured Glasses" for John Farnham and "Monty and Me" for Zoot. One of his best-known and most successful compositions, "It's Only A Matter Of Time", was the much-played B-side of the famous single "The Real Thing" by Russell Morris, which was an Australian #1 hit in May 1969.

In 1972 Poulsen relocated to the Findhorn Foundation spiritual community in northeast Scotland, where he recorded three albums, 'What A Way To Look At Life: Findhorn Foundation Sing-along', 'It Can't Be Described In Words' and 'Universal Hands' (all 1975, all released on cassette only by the Findhorn Foundation). These featured many of Poulsen's own songs, plus some by other community singers. Short clips of Poulsen performing several songs are included in the documentary Findhorn, produced in 1974 and reissued on DVD by Earthworks Films in 2006. Poulsen left Findhorn in 1976. Poulsen's career was cut short in the late 1970s when he suffered first cancer and then a stroke and spent several years in hospital. On his recovery he went on to become a music therapist. A booklet, Hans Poulsen – Troubadour, was written by Australian music journalist Paul McHenry and published by Moonlight Publications in 1996. Hans Poulsen died in 2023.

SINGLES

''Rocking Chair (#95) / After Dinner Evening Stroll'' 1968 Parlophone
''Coming Home Late Again (#65) / Run Away Children'' 1968 Parlophone
''Boom-Sha-La-La-Lo (#5) / Mister Curiosity'' 1970 Fable
''Light Across The Valley (#39) / Jenny Come Out Of Hiding'' 1970 Fable
''Stick Of Incense / Getting Back To Nothing (Title Song From Surf Film)'' 1971 Fable
''Sweetest Girl I've Ever Seen (Is Always Crying) / Seagull'' 1971 Fable
''Stork's Song / Bikie's Theme (Instrumental)'' 1971 Fable
''Meet Me In The Valley / Lost And Found'' 1972 Fable
''Sleepy Town Girls / The Wanderer's Song'' 1972 Fable

EPs

'Hans Poulsen' 1973 Fable

ALBUMS

'Natural High' 1971 Fable
'Lost And Found' 1972 Fable
'Sacred Games' 1989 Hans Poulsen
'Carry You In My Heart' 1993 Hans Poulsen
'Wonderchild's In Town' 1997 Hans Poulsen
'Franco & Silverina' 2001 Hans Poulsen
'Rock N' Roll Mystics' 2002 Hans Poulsen

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Poulsen

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/