The best hardrock group in the world, TNT was founded in Trondheim, Norway in 1982. The band was originally consisted of the founder Dag Ingebrigtsen (vocals), Ronni Le Tekro (guitars), Steinar Eikum (bass) and Morten Diesel Dahl (drums). They were active mostly in the local area around Trondheim first, but they took the first step forward when they got a deal with Vertigo Norway in 1982. They started a recording immediately and in the same year, released the debut album "TNT" with all lyrics in Norwagian language.
Soon afterwards, the band was reformed. Bassist Steinar Eikum left the band, and the post was taken by Morty Black (bass). And then, Dag Ingebrigtsen followed Steinar out of the band as well. The band without a vocalist, however, got a deal with Fireball Management which is located in New York, so that they had a chance to look for a new member in USA at the same time. In USA, Ronni received a demo-tape from Tony Hansen (later Tony Harnell), who made the band´s opinion totally changed because Gary Barden was the no.1 candidate at that time. And he was out of the list.
TNT with the new members, got an international deal with Polygram USA, and debuted on the 1st international album "Knights of the New Thunder" in 1984. The album won the silver disc in Norway. They were engaged in heavy promotions in USA by touring and producing a single "American Tracks" for American radio stations. Good results were obtained, and they got an encouragement for future of the band.
The band´s real breakthrough was 1987´s "Tell No Tales" which led to the fold disc and the honorable prize "Spellemannsprisen" (Norwagian Grammy Awards) as the best rock group of the year. The band and new tour member Dag Stokke, toured worldwide mainly in Europe and USA for 2 months.
Morten Diesel Dahl departed this time, and Kenneth Odiin took the post after him. "Intuition" in 1989 was the album of stylistic gains. TNT extended their popularity in the far east, and they toured as a head-liner not only in Europe and USA, but also in Japan. This 4th album was rewarded as the gold disc in Japan.
After the world-tour, they had to shift a current deal from Polygram to Atlantic, and they lost their drummer again. Under recording of the next album, 1992´s "Realized Fantasies", the band had an assistance of American musician John Macaluso, who became their new drummer later. After the release of "Realized Fantasies", TNT announced the final breakup under the Japan tour. The gold disc which was acquired in Japan became a memento of the older TNT period. Friction of priority and vision between Norwegian and American views seems to be big.
However, the new era of TNT began in 1996, featured Tony Harnell, Ronni Le Tekro, Morty Black, together with Frode Hansen (drums) and Dag Stokke (keyboard). Return of the band was powerfully indicated at the Trondheim´s 1000 year festival, when they played "Angels Ride" on the stage for the first time after a long stillness. They released the new album "Firefly" in 1997, and tours in Norway and Japan followed afterwards. Tony Harnell took one year recess after their Japan tour, and was back to business again in 1998 to issued "Transistor" together with his colleague.
Now in 2002, TNT´s original drummer Morten Diesel Dahl has come back to the band again. They are working for the new single/album which is supposed to be released in the same year.
GO TO THESE WEBSITES AS WELL:
