Editing Laid Back (section)

==Recordings==
=== 1981–89 ===

{{Listen|filename=Laid Back- White Horse.ogg|title="White Horse" by '''Laid Back'''|description=First released in 1983 as a B-side of the single "Sunshine Reggae", this song is one of the group's most memorable tracks and their breakthrough hit in America.|format=[[Ogg]]}}

Their debut album, simply titled ''Laid Back'', was released in 1981, and the single "Maybe I'm Crazy" became a number-one hit in Denmark.<ref name="AllMusic"/>

The single "Sunshine Reggae", released the next year, became another chart-topper in their home country; it was later included on the band's second album, ''Keep Smiling'', in 1983, and went on to become a number-one single in Italy, West Germany, and nineteen other countries around the world. In the US, however, it was the single's [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] that became the band's only big hit. "[[White Horse (Laid Back song)|White Horse]]" is a [[funk]]-influenced [[dance music|dance]] track with a memorable [[bassline]] and ambiguous, drug- and/or sex-themed lyrics ("white horse" being a slang for [[heroin]]) that became popular in US [[Nightclub|club]]s. After the song was re-released as an A-side on both [[gramophone record|7-inch]] and [[12-inch single|12-inch vinyl]], it went on to spend three weeks at number one on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''{{'}}s [[Hot Dance Club Songs|National Disco Action]] charts; it was also a [[Crossover (music)|crossover]] success, reaching the top five on the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Hot Black Singles]] chart while peaking at number 26 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] in early 1984. Its relatively poor performance on the Hot 100 is most likely due to the track's controversial lyrics (including the word "[[bitch (insult)|bitch]]"), which prevented it from receiving radio airplay in much of the country. In 1989, the American [[Rapping|rap]] act [[2 Live Crew]] [[sampling (music)|sample]]d "White Horse" heavily for their single "Get the Fuck Out of My House"; it was later sampled for [[Monifah]]'s 1998 hit "Touch It".

Laid Back's next two albums, ''Play It Straight'' (1985) and ''See You in the Lobby'' (1987),<ref name="AllMusic"/> and singles such as "Abu Dhabi" and "Tricky Kind of Thing", were released to little fanfare and limited chart success. 

The duo made a return to the European charts in 1989 with the single "Bakerman" (featuring Danish singer [[Hanne Boel]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Laid-Back-Bakerman/release/77440|title=Laid Back - Bakerman|website=Discogs.com|accessdate=4 October 2020}}</ref>), which peaked at number nine on the West German chart, and number 44 in the United Kingdom in early 1990. It was accompanied by an unusual video, directed by [[Lars von Trier]], which featured the band [[skydiving]] while "playing" their instruments. Guldberg and Stahl have both named this their favourite Laid Back track, and said the words were written by Guldberg during the recording session for the song. The lyrics are in English except for the phrase "Sagabona kunjani wena", which Guldberg has described as a [[Swahili language|Swahili]] phrase meaning "Hello, how are you?"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.musiknyt.dk/anmeldelser/anmeldelser-artikel/artikel/laid-back/|title=Blog - LAID BACK|website=Musiknyt.dk|accessdate=4 October 2020}}</ref>

Hoping to capitalize on the success of Bakerman, their label re-released ''White Horse'' (as ''White Horse '89'') with new [[remix]]es, although this was a commercial disappointment.

===Later work===
Over the course of the following decades, Laid Back released several albums and singles. The duo also composed the [[soundtrack]] of the 2001 [[feature film]] ''Flyvende Farmor'', for which they were awarded a Robert, the Danish equivalent of an [[Academy Award|Oscar]]. That same year, an [[art exhibition|exhibition]] of the band's artwork, including pieces that appeared on their records and promotional posters, took place in Copenhagen. In 2003 they featured on the track "Tango" by Danish band Hæst, produced by [[Umpff]]. A remix of "Bakerman" by British [[Disc jockey|DJ]] [[Shaun Baker (musician)|Shaun Baker]] reached number one in [[Greenland]] in 2006.

In 2010, "Cocaine Cool" was the first single to be released on Laid Back's own label, Brother Music. It was followed by the mini album ''Cosyland'' and the instrumental album ''Cosmic Vibes'' in 2012. In 2013, Laid Back released the double album "Uptimistic Music". 

In 2019, Laid Back received the prestigious Danish award "Pioneer of the Year" (Årets Steppeulv) for their many years of contribution to the international music scene. 2019 was a special year for Laid Back marking 40 years of making music in the same studio in Copenhagen, the studio where it all began. Laid Back celebrated their anniversary by releasing their 12th studio album "Healing Feeling".

In 2023, Laid Back released the 21–track studio album, ''Road to Fame''. For the second time in the band's history, they released a song in their native language: it was called "Mig" ("Me"). Their first song in Danish was "Flyvende Farmor" ("The flying granny") from 2001.

They continue to make sporadic live performances as well. In 2023, Laid Back made a guest performance at Roskilde Festival with Free Nationals.