Bonnie Tyler, Iceland 1986

Bonnie Tyler, Iceland, 1986

Concert: 5 December 1986

Venue: Laugardalshöll, Reykjavík

Promoters: Tony Sandy & Bobby Harrison (Split Promotions)

Status: Ongoing research

This signed photograph was given to my dad, Tony Sandy, following Bonnie Tyler's visit to Iceland.

It forms part of the growing Bits + Bobs archive, which brings together photographs, VHS recordings, television appearances, contracts, correspondence, tickets, backstage passes, press material and oral history interviews documenting Iceland's live music scene during the 1980s.

I'm continuing to research Bonnie Tyler's visit to Iceland and would love to hear from anyone who attended the concert.

Do you remember the night? Do you have photographs, tickets, programmes, posters, press cuttings or any other memorabilia? If so, I'd love to hear from you.

Archival television footage shown courtesy of a family VHS recording. Original broadcast copyright remains with the broadcaster.

#bitsandbobsarchive #splitpromotionsarchive

A-ha, Iceland 1987

A-ha, Iceland, 1987

Concert: 17 & 18 July 1987
Venue: Laugardalshöll, Reykjavík
Promoters: Tony Sandy & Bobby Harrison (Split Promotions)
Research status: Ongoing research

This clip shows my dad, Tony Sandy, being interviewed on Icelandic television ahead of A-ha's visit to Iceland in 1987. He talks through the band's contract and some of the requests involved in bringing one of the biggest bands in the world to Reykjavík.

What I find fascinating is how ordinary it all seems. He's discussing paperwork and logistics, yet those documents represent the work involved in bringing major international artists to an island that was still relatively isolated from the international touring circuit.

Before their first concert on 17 July, A-ha attended the Icelandic premiere of The Living Daylights. The band later reflected that, although they missed the film's world premiere in London because they were touring Japan, they were able to attend the Icelandic premiere instead.

As I continue researching Split Promotions, I'm becoming increasingly interested in the people behind the scenes: the promoters, organisers, crews and countless others whose work made these concerts possible but is rarely documented.

If you remember A-ha's visit to Iceland, or have photographs, tickets, programmes, press cuttings or other memorabilia, I'd love to hear from you.

Archival television footage shown courtesy of a family VHS recording. Original broadcast copyright remains with the broadcaster: RÚV

Additional concert research informed by A-ha Live – Icelandic concert dates rediscovered.

#bitsandbobsarchive #splitpromotionsarchive

Finnbogi Marinosson

I found a clip of my dad, Tony Sandy, and Bobby Harrison being interviewed by an Icelandic presenter ahead of Europe coming to Iceland…

…and managed to track him down through some Icelandic contacts (Iceland is like that — which I love).

His name is Finnbogi Marinósson, and we arranged a call to talk about his memory of the interview.

He told me he’d been asked to interview them — and the beard shaving was completely unplanned. Just my dad and Bobby’s sense of humour. His reaction says it all… genuine shock, but he was such a great sport.

This is part of Bits + Bobs, an ongoing project piecing together fragments of my parents’ lives. I’m currently focusing on the Icelandic chapter — looking at that late 80s music scene and gathering memories from people who were there.

Both of my parents passed away four months apart in 2012, and revisiting this time now feels like a way of understanding it properly — from an adult perspective, but also through the eyes of my younger self. I was about seven, quietly in the background while all of this was happening. Now I’m piecing it together.

More to come.

Archival television footage shown courtesy of a family VHS recording. Original broadcast copyright remains with the broadcaster: RÚV

#bitsandbobsarchive #splitpromotionsarchive

Tony Sandy & Bobby Harrison being interviewed by Finnbogi Marinosson

Just uncovered some incredible VHS footage of my dad, Tony Sandy, and Bobby Harrison — original drummer of Procol Harum (who recorded A Whiter Shade of Pale) — being interviewed by Finnbogi Marinosson about Europe coming to Iceland in 1986.

At the time, Bobby was working alongside my dad through their company, Split Promotions.

They’re clearly having a great time — at one point my dad even shaves the presenter’s beard off on camera. He was also a hairdresser (trained personally by Vidal Sassoon at his King’s Road salon in the 1960s) — another story for another post.

This tape is full of interviews and backstage moments — including A-ha, Boy George, Bonnie Tyler, Meat Loaf, Nazareth, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, and The Dubliners (and more).

More to follow.

Archival television footage shown courtesy of a family VHS recording. Original broadcast copyright remains with the broadcaster: RÚV

#bitsandbobsarchive #splitpromotionsarchive

Interview with Þráinn Árni Baldvinsson, Skálmöld

This short clip is taken from a longer conversation I recorded with @thrainnarnibaldvinsson , guitarist with the Icelandic Viking/folk metal band Skálmöld.

I came across some official promo photos of KISS playing in Iceland in 1988 via the Bruce Kulick Appreciation Facebook page. My dad was the band promoter who brought KISS to Iceland that year (alongside many other bands), and I commented on a post explaining my Bits + Bobs archive project.

Þráinn replied — and this conversation followed.

He attended the concert as a 12-year-old, and it was fascinating hearing that night recalled from a 12-year-old’s perspective — especially knowing the path he would later take in Iceland’s metal scene.

This 5-minute clip is a short teaser from a much longer recorded conversation.

More to come.

#bitsandbobsarchive #splitpromotionsarchive