The Swedish Mod-60s Returns

Remember when I advertised a Swedish 60s pop band called The Hep Stars last December? Soon after I wrote that, I found some statements about what the coolest Swedish 60s pop band actually was. There were surely many awesome Swedish pop bands in the 60s, and I even might blab more about some of them later… Anyway, according to my sources, the best pop band of 60s Sweden was Tages (pronounced “tah-guess”).

The story of Tages began in Gothenburg area. The guys showed some real talent at a young age and performed some covers and a lot of original material written mostly by bassist Göran Lagerberg. Their work resulted in national hits (Sleep Little Girl being the first) and, in time, legendary status as one of Sweden’s most memorable 60s pop groups as well as one of the most respected 60s bands from a non-English speaking country. Their greatest moment may have been their last psychedelic album Studio (1967). Tages were even considered to be Sweden’s answer to The Beatles. However, Tages never managed to break into international markets. The group broke up in 1968 and a new short-lived group Blond was founded.

I checked out YouTube for Tages and found quite a few songs. I would've liked to find more stuff from their later, more psychedelic period more but these songs are definitely not bad. They are actually very good (and you will find the single She's Having a Baby Now from 1967's Studio album here). Catchy songs, sweet melodies, and great harmonies added with the right attitude – perfect stuff for any 60s pop moment.

Sleep Little Girl
Every Raindrop Means a Lot
I Read You Like an Open Book
She’s Having a Baby Now
Get up an’ Get Goin’
True Fine Woman
I’ll Be Doggone
Understanding
Leaving Here
In My Dreams

THE Swedish Pop Wonder

Right now is the perfect moment to get to know Sweden’s pride: a globally successful 70s pop group, winners of Eurovision Song Contest 1974, one of the best pop bands of all times! It’s of course ABBA I’m talking about, and this band definitely is worth mentioning. They are the most famous Swedish band ever, and insanely successful commercially. They continue selling millions of albums every year, and combined with income from musicals it’s no wonder they are one of the most commercially successful bands ever.

Why now, then? First, you already know it’s always a perfect moment to be a pop fan. Second, everyone should be familiar with this group. So, if you aren’t, it’s about time! Third, there is now a complete ABBA box out, nine CDs containing eight most important albums of the group’s ten albums and a bonus CD. The box is called The Albums.

I haven’t really been that close to ABBA so far but I really intend to do something about that. In fact, I am a Nordist which means I’m supposed to familiarize myself with Scandinavian culture. Anyway, I recently proved myself that I’m much closer to this band than I thought. ABBA is actually as familiar to me as The Beatles, probably even more familiar. It’s actually really difficult to avoid hearing ABBA’s music here in Finland – not that it’s a bad thing, not at all (at some other occasions unavoidable music-hearing surely is unwanted). This means that I already have heard probably all of the group’s hits. I checked this with ABBA Gold – Greatest Hits collection that had 19 songs. There were only 1-2 songs that were unfamiliar to me.

So, now really is time to enhance your (and my) knowledge of ABBA! Although I haven’t ordered the new box yet, I intend to do so very soon.

Abba at YouTube
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Pop from the Dear Western Neighbour

Looking for some new 60s pop? Try Swedish! There was a lot of pop activity in this country back in the 60s. Pop such as instrumental rock (á la The Shadows) and beat music was adopted from the United Kingdom as well as American-styled rock’n’roll, pop, folk-rock and many others. There are, in fact, two excellent 2CD Swedish pop collections called Swedish Graffiti (Unfortunately, it’s probably very difficult to find those).

One of my most recent Swedish favourites has been Hep Stars. This band performed different styles of pop and rock. Their cover choices included Mike Berry (Tribute to Buddy Holly), The Kinks (So Mystifying) and others. The general sound of Hep Stars is quite mellow and includes Byrds-like feel and harmonies. Another strong point of their music is baroque melancholy. Check out Consolation and you’ll be mesmerized!

Hep Stars featured a future ABBA member Benny Andersson as a keyboardist. The band was active in years 1963-1969. During that time they released many albums and had numerous hits in Sweden.

Hep Stars at YouTube