Laban

Hailing from Denmark, the synth pop duo Laban rose to prominence across the first half of the 1980s. Lecia Jönsson and Ivan Pedersen formed the pair, which entered the recording arena in 1982 through the single “Hvor Ska’ Vi Sove I Nat?,” a Danish-language adaptation of “Sarà Perché Ti Amo,” the hit single by Italian pop group Ricchi e Poveri that had resonated widely throughout Western Europe the previous year. Momentum from that release secured an EMI deal and the self-titled debut album Laban in 1982. Annual full-length projects followed in steady succession: Laban 2 in 1983, Laban 3 in 1984, Laban 4 in 1985, the compilation Laban’s Bedste also in 1985, and Laban 5 in 1987. An English-language counterpart to Laban 4, issued internationally as Caught by Surprise in 1986, yielded the hit single “Love in Siberia,” originally released domestically under the title “Kold Som Is.” An English counterpart to Laban 5 appeared as Roulette in 1987 for global markets, yet it could not replicate the earlier success and hastened the duo’s end. Laban disbanded in 1988, the same year an English-language collection titled Greatest Hits reached stores. Two decades afterward, the double-disc compilation De 36 Bedste Narrestreger surfaced in 2009 and climbed to Top Ten status inside Denmark.