Minor Majority’s second album “If I Told You, You Were Beautiful” turns 20 in October.
When the album was recorded in the summer of 2002, Minor Majority was a duo consisting of Pål Angelskår (vocals, guitar) and Jon Arild Stieng (guitar, bass, vocals). Singer Karen Jo Fields and violist Kathrine Benedicte Skaug were key guest artists on the album, with contributions on six (Fields) and three (Skaug) of the 12 songs respectively. The later band members Halvor Høgh Winsnes (drums) and Henrik Harr Widerøe (bass, banjo vocals) make their first appearances with Minor Majority on this album. Winsnes with drums and percussion on the songs “Smile at Everyone” and “Angeline”. Widerøe with banjo and backing vocals on the Buddy Holly song “Learning The Game”. The band also did a number of cover songs at this time, and an interpretation of the Guided By Voices song “Motor Away” was also included on the album.
If I Told You, You Were Beautiful was recorded by producer and technician Andreas Berczelly in guitarist Stieng’s house at Skådalen in Oslo. Berczelly also contributed with keyboards to the record. On the launch tour, keyboard responsibility was taken over by future band member Harald Sommerstad.
With the single “Dancing in the Backyard”, Minor Majority had their first radio hit. The song made the A-list on Nrk P3 and was also a big hit on the music video program “Svisj” on NRK, where the audience could vote for videos should be shown. The title cut “If I Told You, You Were Beautiful” was also released as a single, but did not achieve the same popularity.
The album was nominated for “Spellemannsprisen” (the Norwegian Grammy) in the category best pop group.
