[Nils Jacob Holt Hanssen]

So I asked Lukas to see a list of subcribers from Norway, and lo and behold — there were some names! There was yours, Jon, and Nils. A couple of others too, but their names escape me at the moment (was Hans Offerdal one?). You both even had letters in the magazine. Today, of course, I know about several fellow film music ‘geeks’ in Norway, but different time back then. Norwegian film music fans were more rare than gold.

Thor, I think we first got in touch after I had a reader’s letter in “Filmmagasinet” (a Norwegian movie magazine that was distributed for free at cinemas) sometime in the late 90s, complaining about their abysmal film music coverage. That was back in the day when it was OK to leave your e-mail address in a “public place” like a magazine. You saw that and contacted me, right? (as did Jon).

As for my complaints, they had no effect whatsoever on the magazine. They kept reviewing mostly song compilations, and a few issues later, we could read in the column that people who listen to and collect film music are mostly guys who live in their parents’ basement. Charming.

My film music “origin story” is pretty similar to others’ of my generation – it all started with STAR WARS. Although it got off to a slightly false start when I went to the record shop to get the music, a few days after seeing the movie, and what the clerk got me was the disco version by Meco! But I have to admit I kind of liked that, too… And as it was my first ever LP, I have warm, nostalgic feelings about it to this day. But I quickly got the real thing, too, of course!