The Breakthrough
Disillutioned with their other projects, Schreiner and Pedersen regrouped with Gravem in 1995. At the same time, Quentin Tarantino's seminal Pulp Fiction movie and its soundtrack was starting to influence mainstream popular cuture. This development created an unexpected interest in Kåre And The Cavemen's music, which now also incorporated elements of easy listening and exotica. Still young and fluent in the styles of Link Wray and Dick Dale, the band suddenly became a popular live act at media kickoff parties as well as biker conventions. The group again entered the studio, and released the EP The Mood on Hit Me! Records in the spring of 1996. During these sessions, material for an entire album was recorded. Of these recordings only a cover version of Hava Nagilah on a 1996 radio promo single has surfaced. (Some of these songs, including Hava Nagilah, were re-recorded for Kåre And The Cavemen's 1997 debut album Jet Age.)
In the summer of 1996, the band was invited to the Quart Festival, Norway's most important rock festival of the nineties. Anders Møller, previously of The O-Men and Gluecifer joined the band permanently on percussion. Soon after, Kåre And The Cavemen landed a deal with Norwegian National Television's brand new NRK2 channel. For two seasons they were the house band on the comedy/talk show called Direkte Lykke, gaining media attention for music and antics alike. About the same time, they signed a three album recording contract with Virgin Records.
In the spring of 1997, Kåre And The Cavemen's debut album Jet Age was released, peaking at #7 on the Norwegian album charts. In many ways a summing-up of the musical styles the band had developed through the years and presented on TV, the record established Kåre And The Cavemen in the Norwegian rock elite and was critically acclaimed. In the early summer, 19-year-old Per Øydir joined the band on organ and electric piano, adding new dimensions to the band's sound. Kåre And The Cavemen toured extensively in Norway, did the key Scandinavian festivals as well as a tour of the European continent and the USA, after a Virgin Records subsidiary released the album stateside. In connction with these gigs, they changed their international name to Euroboys.
Read more about this topic: Euroboys