Hans Rotmo

Hans Rotmo was a Norwegian singer/songwriter who rose to fame in the mid-'70s as the frontman of Vømmøl Spellmannslag, a remarkably successful folk-pop band, before proceeding to form a number of other bands and embark on a solo career in the 1980s. Born on March 10, 1948, Rotmo began his musical career in the mid-'60s in a local band called the Valley Boys. (In 1982 he would reunite the band and release the album Løkka i Livet.) In 1973 Rotmo adopted the alias Kristian Schravlevold and founded the folk-pop band Vømmøl Spellmannslag in Trøndelag, Norway. The band released a pair of tremendously popular albums, Vömmöl'n (1974) and Vömlingen (1975). The former spent 43 consecutive weeks in the Top Ten of the Norwegian albums chart, peaking at number two, while the latter went all the way to number one. In the aftermath of this remarkable success, Rotmo put Vømmøl Spellmannslag aside and formed a new band, Arbeidslaget Hass K. Vømmølbakken, with which he released another pair of albums, the Spellemannprisen award-winning Grovarbeid (1976) and Varsko Her! (1976). The albums failed to rival the commercial success of Vømmøl Spellmannslag, however, and Rotmo proceeded to form yet another band, Heimevernslaget, with which he released a few more albums, Mob. Styrken (1978), Spaellet om Trøndelag (1979), and Trekkspellkrigen (1979). In the 1980s Rotmo embarked on a solo career, releasing the albums Vårres Jul (1980) and Løkka i Livet (1982). In another twist, he adopted a new alias, Ola Uteligger, for a few albums released during the mid- to late '80s. The first two, Brøllopet i Kaanan (1985) and Herberget Sannheten (1987), were Top Ten hits while the third, Sorgens Bar (1989), reached the Top 20. In the 1990s Rotmo reverted to his born name for another couple albums, Vårres Jul Revidert (1990) and Fest i Natt (1992), but mostly occupied himself with a vast number of theater productions. After the turn of the century he released the album Bønder i Solnedgang (2000) and the compilation Spaell Åt Mae (2003), the latter of which was a big hit. Still recording into his seventies, the accordion album Jularbosommer appeared in 2022. Hans Rotmo died on October 24, 2024, at the age of 76. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi