Hans Poulsen

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Hans Sven Poulsen (born March 1945 in Victoria, Australia) was one of Australia's most successful and prolific singer-songwriters in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

In 1965 Hans formed the first version of Melbourne group 18th Century Quartet, which played original material (mostly by Hans) and performed in a style that later came to be known as world music; the group also differed from most of its contemporaries with its use of diverse acoustic instruments including mandolin, autoharp and bouzouki.

After embarking on a solo career in 1967, Hans scored two Australian pop hits with the songs "Boom Sha La La Lo", "Light Across the Valley" and he enjoyed great success as a songwriter with hits written for other artists, including "Rose Coloured Glasses" for John Farnham and "Monty and Me" for Zoot. One of his best-known and most successful compositions, "It's Only A Matter Of Time", was the much-played B-side of the famous single "The Real Thing" by Russell Morris, which was an Australian #1 hit in May 1969.

In 1972 Hans relocated to the Findhorn Foundation spiritual community in north east Scotland, where he recorded three albums, What A Way To Look At Life: Findhorn Foundation Sing-along, It Can't Be Described In Words and Universal Hands (all 1975, all released on cassette only by the Findhorn Foundation). These featured many of Hans' own songs, plus some by other community singers. Short clips of Hans performing several songs are included in the documentary Findhorn, produced in 1974 and reissued on DVD by Earthworks Films in 2006. Hans left Findhorn in 1976. Hans's career was cut short in the late 1970s when he suffered first cancer and then a stroke, and spent several years in hospital. On his recovery he went on to become a very inspirational music therapist.

A booklet, Hans Poulsen - Troubadour, was written by Australian music journalist Paul McHenry and published by Moonlight Books in 1996.