History Span

There is more than one artist with this name: 1) a rock band from Bærum, Norway, 2) a mundart rock band from Switzerland, and 3) a hip hop duo from Michigan.

1) Span were a rock band from Bærum, Norway, who self-proclaimed themselves as "Norwegian Turbo-Rock 'n' Roll Commandos."

The band started off as Explicit Lyrics, but changed bandname to Span in 1999. By this time, only Fridtjof Nilsen ("Joff", guitar) and Jarle Bernhoft ("Burn", vocals) remained from Explicit Lyrics, and Vemund Stavnes ("Wes", bass) and Fredrik Wallumrød (drums) were recruited to form the new band.

Span released their debut EP, Baby's come back, in 2002 and financed an UK-tour by guitarist Frithjof Nilsen's appearence in commercials for the Norwegian consumer guidance for meat. Late 2003, bassist Stavnes was replaced by Kim Nordbæk.

The band continiued touring (mostly in the UK) and released numerous singles before their album debut in February 2004. This album, Mass Distraction, was produced by Gil Norton (Pixies, Foo Fighers) and enjoyed a great reception from both fans and music magazines. To date they have sold more than 55 000 copies of this album and toured both Norway, UK and USA to boost the sales.

In the spring of 2005, the band released their second album, Vs. time, which received a far less warm welcome than their debut. Just months later, July 2005, the Span announced that they had decided to "end this while we are still the best of friends."

Singer Jarle Bernhoft later had a brief encounter with the Norwegian band Big Bang, while the remaining members went on to form Dog Almighty.

Discography:

Baby's Come Back (EP, Playground)

Found (EP, Island Records)

Mass Distraction (2004, Island Records)

Vs. time (2005, Mercury)

2) Span are a Swiss mundart rock band who pioneered the use of Swiss German dialects in popular rock music. They were founded in 1972 as Grünspan and changed their name in 1975 to Span. Their song Louenesee has become a classic of Swiss German rock.

http://www.spanonline.ch/

3) Span is a hip hop duo consisting of MC/producer D-Fro and bi-lingual MC Marsaye. D-Fro resides in Flint, MI. Marsaye, although originally from Marseille, France currently lives in Gorham, NH.

http://www.reverbnation.com/span

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