MONICA NIELSEN & TOMMY KÖRBERG – ...med hjärtat fyllt av trots: Arbetarrörelsens kampsånger (A Disc, 1977)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Monica Nielsen was mainly a busy movie and television actor but as a singer, she was the perpetual co-artist. She only ever released one album of her own and that was back in 1966, with her other vocal participations including merely the odd single, appearances on various artists and duo albums with high profile performers. ”Med hjärtat fyllt av trots” is one of those, focused on Labours movement songs and recorded with Tommy Körberg. Now an internationally widely celebrated singer, but back in the day best known domestically for his early pop albums, Solar Plexus, and the reformed Made In Sweden.

Körberg isn't the only renowned musician here. On the contrary, the credits are littered with names like Janne Schaffer, Ulf Adåker, Egil Johansen, Björn J:son Lindh, Pekka Pohjola and Rune Gustafsson, and the arrangements were written by much beloved bassist, composer and former Jan Johansson cohort Georg Riedel. While this all points to a thoroughly executed project, we have to remember that the album was released by A Disc, the Social Democrats' imprint known to dampen any kind of artistic enthusiasm. Thus the album title meaning ”with a heart full of defiance” seems like impossible wishful thinking, and it is. It's all very well played, well sung and well arranged – in short, technically and musically impeccable – but if you're looking for any inspiration to defiantly fight the powers that be, this is not the place to go. Unless authorities can be fought with sleep, but I for one have never heard of any revolutionary naps. It ought to be wellknown to all by now that I don't ask for any fistwaving loudmouths, but a little more oomph hadn't hurt...

Motsträvigt och med hjärtat fyllt av trots / Arbetsmannen / Oss alla unga / Kom med oss kamrat / Vårt vapen heter solidaritet / Ingen rubbar oss / Arbetets söner / Signalen / Ett enat folk / Det unga gardet / Solidaritetssång / Internationalen

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Spanien 75: Solidaritet mot fascismen (YTF, 1976)

 
Featured artists: Malin Ek / Jeja Sundström / Eva-Lisa Lennartsson / Narren / Jan Malmsjö / Stefan Demert / Björn Ehrling / 27 Septembergruppen / José Barba / Monica Nielsen / Lasse Johansson / Stog Järrel / Kristina Adolphson, Grynet Molvig & Lis Nilheim
Swedish vocals, other languages, spoken word
International relevance: -

A charity album for Swedish Spanish Volunteers' Companions' Association Solidarity Fund (say that fast ten times) recorded live at an anti-fascist meeting against the Spanish Franco regime in 1975, the same year Franco died. The performers came from various genres. There's visa singers Jeja Sundström & Stefan Demert and Björn Ehrling, singing actors like Jan Malmsjö and Grynet Molvig, and a couple of acts closer to progg such as Monica Nielsen and Narren. Poetry recitals mix with Spanish and Swedish songs, and none of it is interesting to listen to fifty years on. As with basically every album such as this, it's a document frozen in time and it hasn't aged well at all. There's not one single track on this album worth hearing now. Once the proceeds from this album were transfered to the Swedish Spanish Volunteers' Companions' Association Solidarity Fund, ”Spanien 75” died just like artefacts of a purely temprary value die.

José Barba & 27 Septembergruppen - Julián Grimau 

BJÖRN ARAHB & MONICA NIELSEN – Sjunger Ture Nerman (A-Disc, 1979)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Ture Nerman was a journalist, radical social democrat (sometimes communist), anti-militarist, dedicated teetotaller, and for his time something as unusual as a vegetarian (he was born in 1886 and died in 1969). He was also a poet, and harbouring such sentiments as the ones mentioned above, his poems were well equipped for being set to music in the progg era. Some of the songs use older melodies by for instance Joe Hill, while several were written specifically for this project by Björn Arahb.

Being released on the Social Democrats' in-house label A-Disc, this is every bit as boring as you can imagine. There's no doubting that the sentiments of Arahb and fellow singer (and actor) Monica Nielsen are honest and genuine, but once again, whatever emotional impact this could have had with less self-righteous performances, soulfulness is substituted with oversinging. The musical framework is also typical of the ilk; it's either semi-cabaret-like or it sounds like The Labour Day Marches Greatest Hits.

Full album playlist

VARIOUS ARTISTS - ...Hör en susande vind (Viking, 1973)

 
Featured artists: Monica Nielsen / Bertil Norström / Stig Ring med Do-Re-Mi-kören / Lasse Bagge med trio / Medlemmar ur Sveriges Radios symfoniorkester
Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: *

Included mainly as a warning, as the album might seem like a progg album. But it's only thematically related to progg – the music displays no progg credentials whatsoever unless you count the presence of Monica Nielsen who appears on several similarily styled albums from the 70s including one with Tommy Körberg (Solar Plexus, second incarnation of Made In Sweden). Members of the Swedish Radio's symphony orchestra provide extensive backing. The songs are drawn from the songbook of the labour movement which means you get two (!) more versions of ”The International” plus Swedish takes on ”There's Power In A Union” and ”Which Side Are You On”. ”We Shall Overcome” also slips in seamlessly into the predictable mix. The Viking label was a commercial imprint, best remembered for having put out two Lee Hazlewood albums in the 70s plus one by Hawkey Franzén.

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