ANDERS F. RÖNNBLOM – The 1970s albums

Approaching the work of Anders F. Rönnblom's from scratch must be a daunting task for someone who never did before – his discography is moving towards a whopping 40 albums at the time of writing! Just about everyone with such a long creative stretch has artistic dips, but Rönnblom's output has been strikingly consistent. His lesser albums are good, and there are some merely great, but most of them are simply brilliant. At 79 in 2025, he's still as active as a recording artist as ever before, and not only that: for the last decade or so, he has made some of his best albums ever.

Steeped in the American beat poetry tradition with names like Allen Ginsberg, Richard Brautigan and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, he has carved out a completely original niche of lyric writing within the Swedish language. It's as if he watches the world from his own sidelines, always with a sharp vision and often with a spiky wit. A serious admirer of Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Little Feat and The Grateful Dead, his musical sense is just as precise and precious.

Educated at Konstfack, the university of arts and design, Rönnblom has also worked as a graphic designer and he has provided artwork for books as well as record covers for artists such as Monica Törnell, Neon Rose, Telge Blues and Cornelis Vreeswijk to name but a few. He began playing music in the late 1950s and made his first appearence on a commercially distributed record with Bob Major & The G.I:s in 1964, an EP for which he wrote all four songs.

Although he was never an obvious part of the progg movement, he wasn't shunned by it either. ”I was on commercial labels, just like Pugh, Bernt Staf, John Holm and Ola Magnell,” Rönnblom told me in 2017. ”But the music movement still let us into their venues, the so called music forums. True there was a rigid nucleus of strongly politically charged journalists and concert promoters centered around the Musikens Makt magazine, but even if they didn't write a lot about me, I had no problems getting gigs. I even played at Gothenburg's Sprängkullen which was considered one of the movement's seats of honour.”

Then again, he's never been part of any movement. He had a few hits in the early 80s, and his biting 1980 Christmas song ”Det är inte snön som faller” (inspired by The Rolling Stones' ”Sympathy For The Devil”) is a perennial favourite to everyone who despise the commercialized hysteria of that particular December holiday. But he's always been satisfied with being a maverick. As he put it on his 2015 album ”The Subliminal Solo Inferno”: ”Who the hell wants to be beloved by the people?”

This piece will include Anders F. Rönnblom's 70s output only. His albums ”Rapport från ett kallt fosterland” (1980), ”Vit flagg” (1981) and ”Krig & fred & country music” (1982) would of course fit within the time frame of the blog, but they're more in a new wavish vein (comparatively speaking). All wonderful albums, among his finest, but not quite progg blog material.

Din barndom skall aldrig dö (Decca, 1971)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

I have a fetish for debut albums. It's something special watching artists' first steps, hearing their first voice and knowing it was the seed of the future.

”Din barndom skall aldrig dö” came out in 1971. Pugh Rogefeldt's ”Ja dä ä dä” was only two years old, Kjell Höglund's ”Undran” was released the same year as ”Din barndom”, as was Robert Broberg's ”En typisk rund LP med hål i mitten”, the first of his where he really displayed his special outsider talent. In short, Swedish singer/songwriter pop/rock was only in its infancy, and there was still room for original expressions because there were yet no fixed reference points. ”Din barndom skall aldrig dö” is one important piece of that puzzle.

The album title means ”your childhood shall never die”, a beautiful title that says a lot about this lovely, touching album's overall mood. It has a naivité but the innocence comes with a fledgling worry that it might not stay that way forever. There's a kind of a Peter Pan quality to it, but a Peter Pan with a beginning identity crisis.

The title track is an eternal fan favourite, but there are so many great songs here. ”Hon håller ut över vintern” is a cross pollination of The Beatles and Big Star. ”Kärleken är död” echoes of Paul McCartney's early countryside recordings and is a wonderful song. But my favourite song here is the final track, the seven minute ”Mamma hjälp mig” with Dylanesque imagery and desperate underpinnings further emphasized by a distortion-drenched guitar solo soaked in escalating panic.

”Din barndom” has been reissued a couple of times, most recently as a lavish 50th anniversary 3CD set with one disc being the original album, the second being new recordings of unfinished songs from the period finally finished in the early 2020s, and the third one being other artists covering the entire original album
.

Ramlösa Kvarn (Epic, 1972)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

I count ”Ramlösa Kvarn” among Rönnblom's top 5. The songwriting's more focused, the lyrics are stronger, the melodies are more precise and the arrangements are richer, with tastefully applied horns, tablas, accordeon, vibraphone and even an electric sitar on ”Ta väl hand om Louis”. An all-star cast of session players back Rönnblom up, and he himself sings with greater confidence than before. There's not one bad track here, and although the songs are varied, the album's very cohesive – a tight and carefully pieced together unit. Oddly enough, demon producer Anders ”Henkan” Henriksson appears as a musician but not as a producer. It was in fact produced by Claes Dieden, formerly of 60s pop band Science Poption, but he did a great work making the many elements gel. A masterpiece, up there with period Pugh, Mikael Ramel et al.

Måsarna lämnar Gotland och hela Sverige tittar på (Epic, 1973)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

The third album has the slightly unwieldy title meaning ”the seagulls leave Gotland and all of Sweden is watching”. After the majestic ”Ramlösa Kvarn”, the follow-up was perhaps destined to be a disappointment. I said already from the start that Anders F. Rönnblom hasn't made any bad albums, and ”Måsarna” does have qualitues, but it's just not on the same level as much of his other stuff.

Again released on Epic Records, the framework is very different from the predecessor, with a smaller ensemble opting for a jazzy and even funky sound. I get the feeling that Rönnblom deliberately tried to change push his songwriting forward not to repeat himself, and while that signifies a great visionary artist and should be applauded, choosing a slightly bluesy groove based mode doesn't work out that well. The standout track is ”Ulla Hau” with a vibe not dissimilar to Dylan and The Band's ”Planet Waves” which was released the same year.

Still, this might be one of Rönnblom's albums most easily accessible to a non-Swedish listener because of its international style.

A lesser known Rönnblom related album from 1973 is ”Glas” by Marita Mejstam for which both he and Hawkey Franzén contributed several songs. Although some songs are OK, it's a more commercial sounding pop album and mostly interesting as a footnote to Rönnblom's own releases.

Alternativ rock'n'roll cirkus (Epic, 1974)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Third and final Rönnblom on Epic Records, and while not another ”Ramlösa Kvarn” it's definitely a step in the right direction after ”Måsarna”. The songs are sharper and the rock oriented sound is a lot more becoming to them. A great addition is drummer Pelle Holm, known from especially Scorpion, Resan and Kebnekajse. His loose, open kind of playing is very important to how ”Alternativ rock'n'roll cirkus” turned out. I'd even go as far as to call him the most important element here as I suspect it's his presence that inspires the other players (including Rönnblom himself) to open up a bit more than they did on ”Måsarna”. I like how the album sounds, but the specific song I like the best is curiously enough the most atypical one here, the brooding and oddly claustrophobic ”Guds rosor”.

 

Det hysteriska draget (Tyfon, 1977)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

After his stint with major label Epic he took a break for three years until 1977 when he scored a deal with Tyfon Records. Not known as a rock imprint, their output up to his signing consisted of particularly bad dance bands and budget albums of nameless artists covering hits from the last few years. The only other rock act they had was Rhapsody, so I suspect Tyfon's ability to market music of even the smallest merit was limited. Which might explain why ”Det hysteriska draget” is one of the rarer Rönnblom albums from the 70s. Which is a pity, as it's a return to form with plenty of great songs and inspired performances.

Rönnblom explains in his liner notes for the double CD reissue of the two Tyfon albums that he rediscovered Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks around that time, which inspired him to enrich the instrumental palette. A horn and string arranger, Jonny Blomqvist, was hired to give the album a fuller sound – a successful move that gave the album an extra push. As he explains: ”'Draget' became the album that 'Alternativ rock'n'roll cirkus' should have been.” Also, the lyrics turned darker. Rönnblom's earlier lyrics often had a romantic gleam, but now torn souls and broken people entered his lyrical world. That makes ”Det hysteriska draget” one of his most multifaceted albums up to then.

Komedia – En tripp nerför Tarschan Boulevard (Tyfon, 1978)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***

The modus operandi for the second Tyfon album was vastly different to ”Det hysteriska draget”. The drums were dragged out to the centre of the studio with all the other musicians standing around ”as if it was a rehearsal room gig” as Rönnblom puts it. Overdubbing and meticulous studio work was the order of the day, but producer Börje Forsberg wanted a raw and unpolished sound. Rönnblom's newest songs were too intricate for this method, so instead he had to present simpler and more straightforward material. And that's what you hear on the album.

And what an album it is! Hands down his best since ”Ramlösa Kvarn”, – better even! It certainly is much grainier than ”Det hysteriska draget”, and the no frills songs are in-your-face, almost like a documentary in music. The title track is among the best songs he's ever written with an ominous guitar line running through the verses, while ”Dom rätta kretsarna” captures the bleak mood of Sweden in the late 70s. But there's no point in singling out particular songs because they're all great. Easily one of the best Swedish albums of the era, still sounding fresh and vivid no matter how dark the colours of it are. Simply another masterpiece.

The 2CD reissue of ”Komedia” and ”Det hysteriska draget” features bonus tracks collectively named ”Garagesekvenser”. Songs Rönnblom kept on deteriorating cassette tapes but musically good enough to save for posterity, so as with ”Din barndom skall aldrig dö”, he recorded them anew in time for the reissue. Essential stuff, although it would have been great hearing what they would have been like if recorded properly during his Tyfon years.

 

Vem har satt mina änglar i bur? (Volym 1) (Mercury, 1979)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

”Vem har satt mina änglar i bur?” initiated a new phase in Rönnblom's career, a five album stretch for Mercury Records. A slicker album than ”Komedia” with the occasional influence from country music and old rock'n'roll. That had been part of his music already before, but it's a bit more obvious here. It's a good album; the title track and the lilting ”I ett snöfall” are fine songs, and there are a few more pleasant moments, but overall it feels a bit like an in-between album, like he's going somewhere but not quite sure where. As I decided to cut off at the end of the 70s, his next album ”Rapport från ett kallt fosterland” (subtitled ”Vem har satt mina änglar i bur, volym 2”) isn't included but it's a punchier and better defined album.

* * * 

I tend to think of Anders F. Rönnblom's discography as book, with his various phases being chapters and each album is a set of pages in each chapter. In that regard, he's a Dylan, or a Peter Hammill –  artists to grow with. Anders F. Rönnblom is indeed one of those. But I also realize that something vital is lost if you don't understand his language. A great songwriter for sure, but the lyrical dimension is a great part of why he's enriched my life so much.

Din barndom skall aldrig dö full album playlis
Ramlösa Kvarn full album playlist
Måsarna lämnar Gotland och hela Sverige tittar på full album playlist
Alternativ rock'n'roll cirkus full album playlist
Vem har satt mina änglar i bur? full album playlist
Det hysteriska draget:
Side A, part 1 
Side A, part 2 
Side B, part 1  
Side B, part 2 
from "Komedia - En tripp nerför Tarschan Boulevard":
Komedia 
bonus:
Marita Mejstam - Glas full album playlist 

FREEDOM – Freedom (Bellatrix, 1978)

 

 Swedish vocals, English vocals

International relevance: *

Dan Tillberg's Bellatrix label was a confusing one. Anything could come out on the label – punk, progg, jazz, garage rock, polka (!), choirs and religious music. This one fits the last two categories.

Released as Freedom but actually performed by Kyrkans Ungdom I Finja Pastorat (=”the church youth of the Finja pastorate”, Finja being a small town in Skåne in the south) to the benefit of the Church of Sweden International Aid. Seemingly appealing to collectors of Jesus pop, it does have some progg characteristics. A few tracks would actually have been quite good hadn't it been a youth choir singing. The best track by far is album opener ”Vem var han?” which wouldn't have been out of place on Obadja's great album ”Testa”. However, it was resurrected on the "Frälst!" compilation – a good choice making "Freedom" redundant. As it stands, it is a youth choir album sounding like one.

Vem var han? (Bandcamp)

DICE – Live (Belle Antique, 1993; rec. 1978-1979)

 

English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: **

The second of two live Dice discs on the Japanese Belle Antique label, the other being ”Live 1977”, and this the weakest of all available Dice albums. Compiled from four different sources, the sound quality varies. Only the last four cuts, billed as bonus tracks, are of studio quality but they're also the musically worst. No specific date is given, late 70s I guess, but the band sounds like a faceless FM radio band on these demos, like a mix between Kansas and Steely Dan.

The live portions are audience tapes of so-so quality, and Belle Antique has tried to cover up their limitations with added reverb. It still sounds like audience tapes though, I've heard worse, but the tinny sound soon gets fatiguing.

”Live 1977” was a motivated release, but ”Live” looks more like an attempt to squeeze water out of a stone. For Dice completists only.

No links found

LILLEMOR LIND – Hjortronblom och kärleksört (Proprius, 1978)

 

Swedish vocals, a capella
International relevance: **

Lillemor Lind is a Dalecarlian singer who made her debut on record on the ”Tjejclown” album in 1974. She wrote one of the songs on Lena Ekman's second album in 1980 and also contributed some recordings to a couple of folk albums around the same time. Her full length solo debut came with ”Så draga vi upp till Dalom igen”, with songs from her native Dalarna region, something she passionately researched beside her singing. Lind also had a thorough interest in foreign musics, particularly from Latin America, the Near East and the Balkans as reflected by the two Macedonian songs on ”Hjortronblom and kärleksört”. Both her albums were released through Proprius, known to blog readers from Leif Strands Kammarkör, Lena Granhagen and Elisabet Hermodsson, meaning they have a very particular ambience.

”Hjortronblom och kärleksört” is Lind's most interesting album thanks to the musicians involved. It features Arbete & Fritid key members Roland Keijser and Ove Karlsson, as well as fiddler Anders Rosén who made several albums with Keijser plus took a leading role on ”Sen dansar vi ut”. (A further Arbete & Fritid connection is Rolf Lundqvist who took the group photo on the album cover.) Also present are members from jazz outfit Opposite Corner.

The sound and the arrangements are wonderfully moody and the songs– both traditional and original – are beautiful and melancholy with a prominent archaic character. The main problem is Lillemor Lind herself. Her vocal style has a kind of preciosity to it, as if she was classically trained and had lost some touch with the vernacularity of the songs. It's not a constantly up front problem, but you can always sense it under the surface and now and then it comes through. That spoils it somewhat for me and I can't help but imagining what this would have been like had Marie Selander or Lena Ekman been in Lind's place. As it stands now, it's an intrinsically great album that never reaches its full potential.

Full album playlist

AMBRA – Ambra (Symphilis, 2020; rec. 1975-1979)

 

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

A symphonic quartet from Lidköping in the Western part of Sweden, existing from 1975 to 1979 but with only one single out, in 1977 on Anette, the same label Blåkulla were on. Both sides of the single ("Vandring" and "Scherzo") are here, but they obviously recorded a lot more than that – this archival disc is 80 minutes long.

Influenced by British symph rock bands, you can also spot traces from Kaipa. One blog reader described Ambra as a mix of Ragnarök and Atlas, and that's as accurate a definition as any. The synth sounds favoured by later symph bands are prevalent here supporting the fiddly guitars. They had a certain lyricism to their songs, but there's too much going on for any mood to properly settle – Ambra simply can't resist getting show-offy. I don't like the singer either; Michael Ellgren has a rather thin voice and sounds too much like a musicals reject.

Ambra indeed had ambitions and certainly some chops, but had they been a bit more economical about them, they wouldn't have become so overbearing.

Full album

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: PROGGLÅDAN

You've probably noticed I mention ”Progglådan” (="the progg box") every now and then. It might be a good idea to explain what it is for those who might not really know.

”Progglådan” is a 40 CD (!!!) box set released by the Swedish Radio in 2013, compiling tons of recordings mainly from their weekly Tonkraft show that ran for 11 years beginning in 1972. The show's forerunner was Midnight Hour in the late 60s. ”Progglådan” came in a slipcase containing four smaller boxes with 10 discs each housed in cardboard sleeves. The four smaller boxes are thematically organized. Box A has heavy rock and blues, box B features instrumental and experimental bands, original proggers and punk, box C is folk progg and singer/songwriters, and box D collects melodic rock. A fantastic testament to Swedish progg with the best recordings from Swedish Radio's vast archive of special sessions – or is it?

In reality, it's not as great as it looks at a first glance and nowhere near as great as it could have been. Compiled by Coste Apetrea who said he worked on it for three years as the project constantly grew. It's hard to believe he put three years into it. Had he said a month, I would take his word for it. It's so shoddily done that not only is it disrespectful to the people who forked out quite a sum for it when it was available, but also to the artists involved.

Several names are misspelt which is a big no-no for a credible presentation – don't you think so too, Cotse Arpetea? The liner notes are so littered with completely moronic spelling mistakes that it sometimes looks as if Cesto Paterea just hammered down his fingers on the computer keyboard at random. Did you know your computer has a spellcheck function? It's impossible to read them without getting furious at the carelessness, and some ”words” take some time to figure out what they're actually supposed to be. I know for a fact that at least one person offered his proof reading services for free before the the whole shebang went to print, but Swedish Radio ignored him and obviously thought that this exercise in aleatoric typing would suffice. (I've done some proof reading myself over the years, and I prmoise you I've never seen anything like this.) I once wrote a Facebook comment when some gala celebrating ”Progglådan” was to be held, complaining about the impetuous writing and I just got the response ”it's supposed to be like that”. Talk about adding insult to injury. I don't know if it was Secto Trepaea who replied, but NO, IT'S NOT FUCKING SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THAT! Don't behave like a complete idiot who doesn't give a shit, and don't be proud of it! Thanks for your consideration.

The recording dates are too often wrong and insufficient. I thought Swedish Radio kept pedantic notes on session details, and if they do, then Tesco Repatae must have ignored them in favour of his own guessing game. I once did extensive research on the correct dates as far as possible, but I've unfortunately lost the document since and I just can't be arsed to do it all over again. Besides, it's not my bloody job to correct some ignorant fucker's deficient work. I don't get paid for it but I'm sure he did.

The editing of the recorded material is sometimes haphazard too. Several of the shows have songs cut from the original sessions and I can live with that even if its irritating, but sometimes a spoken intro to a missing song is left intact. It's like a glitch in the matrix. OK, it's a lot of material to listen through, but if you've worked on it for three years, then you should bloody well have the time to check if it's correct. Right, Tesco Eptarea? Otherwise, work on it one more year to make sure it's right.

 
You can always question the selection done for a compilation depending on your own taste, but some of the choices here are downright dubious. I know that Pugh Rogefeldt was asked to be included, but he failed to reply before deadline why the first disc is wasted on Cosmic Ray, a modern band recorded in Silence's studio in 2012 – not a Swedish Radio recording from the time ”Progglådan” covers, 1967-1985. I suspect this rushed decision has something to with Ocest Ptaaree being the producer of the Cosmic Ray recording... You see, he had a peculiar way of sneaking quite a few of his own recordings on here – De Gladas Kapell, Jukka Tolonen Band, Samla Mammas Manna (appear twice), Ramlösa Kvällar, and Cosmic Rays. It might not look much for a 40 CD box set, but no other musician is that extensively represented. And he never once spelled his own name wrong in the credits...

I don't know how royalties from the sales were shared, but I know – again for a fact – that less known bands weren't payed. And I know at least one musician who shall remain nameless was genuinely pissed off with the crappy presentation of the whole thing, telling me something to the effect of ”'Progglådan' will remain a kind of final statement but we'll have to live with this inferior release forever.' Exactly. This was a one-shot thing, and even though Eosct Aaeeprt at one point opened for a second volume, I doubt that will ever happen. This, I suspect, is what we'll get. A chance blown to produce something excellent and honorable for everyone involved. Including the fans, buyers and listeners.

This is why I've never reviewed ”Progglådan” in detail and never will. I don't think it deserves it. I will continue to mention individual shows in dedicated reviews when appropriate but I won't go through it disc by disc because it pisses me off every time I even look at it on my shelf. If you want to know what artists are included, check Discogs. Some of it is very good music, take your pick and check it on Youtube. Or borrow it from an unlucky friend who bought it and copy the stuff you like. Get it whichever way you prefer to get your stuff. It's your decision. Do what you will. Those responsible for it cared bugger all when it was compiled, so why would anyone care now what you do? If somebody objects, just tell them to send their written complaints to Octse Paertea, in two copies.

TOTTE WALLIN – Enköpingståge' (Metronome, 1978)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

This is Totte Wallin's third album, following ”När kulorna rullar” in 1975 and ”Grand Canyon” in 1977. None of them belongs here, and nothing he did after 1978 does either. His albums are mostly slick soft rock – music for people who don't really care about music – with lyrics supposed to be 'humourous' but without being funny. Still, he was signed to Metronome by Anders Burman who also discovered John Holm, Pugh Rogefeldt and Ola Magnell, and Wallin even toured with Magnell and Marie Bergman.

Only ”Enköpingståge'” has enough of a progg vibe, much thanks to Finn Sjöberg's production. Some tracks here are characterless as usual but there are a few decent moments. ”Pressveck” sounds a bit like Ola Magnell, ”Ett förslag” is OK, and ”Inte vet väl jorden” has an eerie late 70s vibe that I like. But the best song is also hands down the only really great song Totte Wallin wrote, namely ”Våren dör aldrig i Prag”. ”Enköpingståge'” isn't exactly good, but it's Wallin's best album.

Full album playlist 

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Bara brudar (Silence, 1978)

 

Featured artists: Tösabeat / Søsterrock / Husmoderns Bröst / Anita Livstrand / Feminist Improvising Group / Reis Kjerringa / Tintomara
Swedish vocals, other languages, instrumental
International relevance: **

Recorded live at the Women Festival in Stockholm in August 1978 with the profits going to the Women House Fund. Musicians came from Sweden, Denmark and the UK – one of the Brits is Henry Cow's Lindsay Cooper here appearing with the Feminist Improvising Group. It's a wide array of styles, spanning from acoustic folk to free jazz. Anita Livstrand's ”Dervishen”, otiginally on her fantastic album ”Mötet”, is intense and the high point of the LP, but ”Bara brudar” is overall one of the best feminist albums of the era. Also features contributions from Husmoderns Bröst and Tintomara.

Full album playlist

KNOA – Tvära kast och vändningar (Opus 3, 1978) / Inside Out (Opus 3, 1980)

Instrumental
International relevance: **

Opus 3 is an audiophile label having operated since the late 70s and is still in business. Their back catalogue is diverse but with an emphasis on jazz and classical. Among their releases is an album by Eric Bibb.

Knoa were Växjö ensemble spanning several genres and thus a bit hard to describe. Imagine a mix of renaissance and baroque music, folk and a dash of Penguin Café Orchestra and you get a rough idea of what they sounded like. The title of their first album means ”sudden twists and turns” and that is as a description as good as any. I assume they all came from the classical field and while they're technically proficient their music never gets bone dry. On the contrary, it's warm and vivid, and with such a stylistic range, it's full of surprises and fun to listen to. The second album was technically released as Knoa II and saw the group with an expanded line-up, but it's similar in style to their first. The main difference apart from the personnel changes is that the songs – always originals – are longer but equally well-crafted as on ”Tvära kast och vändningar”. The arrangements are a real pleasure and the instruments sound rich and present. Opus 3 knew their sound stuff for sure!

Knoa's two albums may not be the first thing you think about when you hear the word 'progg' (although they are mentioned in the 'further listening' section of Tobias Peterson's progg encyclopedia), but Knoa's approach to music was definitely progressive, unafraid and explorative. They're well worth hearing, and you can rest assured you're in good musical hands.

A compilation CD appeared in 1994, simply titled "A Selection of Knoa".

No links found

A SEVEN INCH SPECIAL, VOL. 5: Political and religious

THE VERGERS – Se dig för / Fader vår (Celesta, 1969)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

”Se dig för” is included on ”Frälst!” but B side ”Fader vår” remains uncomped. Not a very good one, weaker than the A side, so there's no need to look for this 45 if you have ”Frälst!”. This was the last of The Vergers' four singles.

 

FRIA PROTEATERN – Chile (Folksång, 1974)
Swedish vocals:
International relevance: *

Two tracks unique to this Chile solidarity single, although side one's ”Ett enat folk” is available in a live version on ”Koncert I København Okt. 1973”. Side B has ”IB, ÖB och SÄPO” about the political scandal described in some detail here. For Fria Proteatern fans only.

OPPONER – Alfa blues / Till min make (Opponer, 1975)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Two tracks not on Opponer's full length album. ”Alfa blues” is exacrly that, a blues number of no particular merir, while ”Till min make” is a traditional tune with new lyrics by Opponer singer Anna Olofsson and bassist Mats Sönnfors. A much better song with that sweet melancholy typical to the best Swedish folk tunes. Released with the aid from the workers at pump facorty Alfa Laval.

ELEVER PÅ MUSIKLÄRARSKOLAN SÄMUS I GÖTEBORG / FRIA PROTEATERN – Vietnam Kambodja befriade (Befria Södern, 1975)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

As the Vietnam war ended in 1975, so did the stream of releases from De Förenade FNL-grupperna and their cohorts. This was the last of those, a three track EP split between Fria Proteatern and Elever på musiklärarskolan SÄMUS i Göteborg (students at the Gothenburg school for music teachers). Released to celebrate the war's end, it's typical political stuff very much in line with the other Vietnam albums and singles, and so best ignored. Fria Proteatern's ”Balladen om Rune Henry Johansson” is also on ”Sånger från ljugarbänken”.

BJÖRN AFZELIUS BAND / NATIONALTEATERN – Kamrater, Bodenarbetare / Rädda varven! (Nacksving, 1978)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Two exclusive tracks, one by Björn Afzelius Band and one by Nationalteatern. Afzelius's ”Kamrater, Bodenarbetare” is in support of the strikers at Boden's car factory in 1978. It's a pretty good track with slight folk rock shadings, good especially for Björn Afzelius. Nationalteatern's ”Rädda varven!” is a call to save the Gothenburg boatyard threatened by shutdown which eventually happened. A weak track in an undistinguished Gothenburg/Nacksving rock style.

EN RÖD KÖR OCH SÅNGGRUPPEN DEN MÄNSKLIGA FAKTORN – Säj nej! (no label, EP 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A privately pressed single released in 1980, the year of the Swedish nuclear power referendum and has anti-nuclear message. It has two acts, the choir En Röd Kör and vocal folk group Den Mänskliga Faktorn, although it's hard to say if it all involves the same people. Acoustic as it is it could easily fall into the Fria Proteatern trap but there's something very charming and disarming about the unpretentious atmosphere. The rock & roll pastiche ”The Sysselsättning Rock” is pretty terrible but the other songs are in fact rather catchy. Well, perhaps I wouldn't call the title track exactly catchy, but it's a quite atmospheric adaptation of a Czech herding song. It's nothing I would particularly recommend, but I've heard far worse and way more self-important examples of political songs than these.

The Vergers:
Se dig för (Bandcamp)
Fader vår
Fria Proteatern:
Ett enat folk (El Pueblo Unido)
IB, ÖB och SÄPO
Opponer:
Alfa blues
Till min make
Vietnam Kambodja befriade:
SÄMUS - Vietnam är befriat
Fria Proteatern - Balladen om Rune Henry Johansson
SÄMUS - Kambodja är befriat 
Björn Afzelius/Nationalteatern:
Björn Afzelius Band - Kamrater, Bodenarbetare
Nationalteatern - Rädda varven!
En Röd Kör och sånggruppen Den Mänskliga Faktorn:
no links found

CARL-ANDERS DEXTER – Sån't som får mig att ilskna till (Contra, 1978) / En sång om friheten (Contra, 1981)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Carl-Anders Dexter is a truly rare bird in the progg universe. He hates everything from the political left, and he really hates communists. I mean he really hates them! He hates them so much that he recorded two albums in 1978 and 1981 respectively just to tell everybody how much he hates communists. And then he released them on Contra, a publishing company known for really hating communists.

Dexter (if that's his real name - ”dexter” is Latin for ”right” and it seems a little too appropriate if that was his birth name) was obviously a Merle Haggard fan. There's two Haggard songs on ”Sån't som får mig att ilska till” (=”things that makes me angry”). One of them is, needless to say, ”Okie From Muskogee” which may or may not be ironic on Haggard's part, but here every trace of possible irony is gone. There's a bit of country in Dexter's original songs too, but filtered through the jiggly sound of Swedish dance bands. With the difference that Dexter's songs are so musically stiff that I can't imagine anyone actually wanting to dance to them.

And then there's his vocals. His prosody is peculiarly squeaky and his articulation is so exaggerated that the whole thing almost comes off as parody – his rolled Rs are so overly clear that he sounds like a singing vibrator.

But there's no parody involved here, and if Dexter has anything like humour in him, it only comes out as coarse assaults. It's like listening to an inverted Knutna Nävar. They are both equally intransigent, only coming from the extreme opposites of the political spectrum. Except that Knutna Nävar actually had one or two pretty good songs and they sometimes even, probably by mistake, could swing a bit.

Carl-Anders Dexter's two albums were later reissued as ”Dexter ilsknar till igen”, a CD-r again on the Contra label with a few songs omitted plus one previously unreleased radio session (how on earth did he get on the radio?!). He also had a privately released cassette out in 1992. His albums are cheap and not too hard to find, but they're best left to wither away in the flea market bins or wherever you may find them.

From Sån't som får mig att ilskna till:
Sagor som sagor
Bekämpa kommunismen

From En sång om friheten:
En sång om friheten
Tjejer

LALLA HANSSON – Complete 70s albums

 Upp till Ragvaldsträsk (Columbia, 1971)
Tur & retur (EMI, 1973)
Fångat i flykten (EMI, 1976)
Enstaka spår! (EMI, 1978)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: -

Featured in the ”100 other artists to check out” list in ”The Encyclopedia Of Swedish Progressive Music”, and another odd inclusion. Lalla Hansson was in 60s band Fabulous Four who did a couple of great freakbeat tracks, but as a solo artist, Hansson went for a more country tinged soft rock style. It's pretty twee stuff but I kind of like some of what he did, which is a decidedly unhip thing to say. He relied heavily on covers, especially on his first two albums, but his Swedish translations are often very good – he had a real knack for transposing mostly American songs to a Swedish setting. Which of course is competely lost on non-Swedish listeners, and with very little progg involved here, there's not much to recommend here in that context.

Upp till Ragvaldsträsk full album playlist
Tur & retur full album playlist
Fångat i flykten full album playlist
Enstaka spår! full album playlist

GRUS I DOJJAN – I klackbaren (Metronome, 1978)

Swedish vocals, other languages, instrumental
International relevance: -

Just another Grus I Dojjan album. The only thing that differs their later albums from the earlier is that the later ones are better recorded. Other than that, it's the same cheerful, good-timey folk/bluegrass fare as always. The skewed ”Tokfans polska” is a bit fun though with the deliberate off-key playing that will surely drive some people nuts.

But whar's Jeff Lynne doing in cover shot???

Full album playlist

JOJJE WADENIUS – Puss puss sant sant (Sonet, 1978)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

”Goda' goda'” is one of the GREAT Swedish childrens' records of all time, a fantastic LP chock full of brilliant songs and Jojje Wadenius and his Made In Sweden pals at their very best. The lyrics were written by children's author Barbro Lindgren, and she did the same for ”Puss puss sant sant”, recorded almost ten years after ”Goda' goda'” as a kind of sequel. But times were different and so were the musicians, and the childlike joy that permeated the original album wasn't to be repeated in 1978. The band tracks sound like an ordinary day at work, very studio musicians-like, and Wadenius himself often sounds as if he just goes through the motions vocally. Some songs are fine though, with the best one being the beautiful and ironically enough instrumental ”Vintervisa” which is close to what John Renbourn Group did on their albums from roughly the same time, complete with tablas. But compared to the album ”Puss puss sant sant” was styled after, this is a real disappointment.

Full album playlist

BLOMMAN – COMPLETE ALBUMS 1977-1982

Små knepiga låtar (Mercury, 1977)
Om jag lira munspel i Winnipeg Jets (Mercury, 1978)
Jag har fått en elefant (Mercury, 1979)
Blommans epistlar (Planet, 1981)
Stockholm mitt i (Apollo, 1982)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: -

Mentioned in ”The Encyclopedia Of Swedish Progressive Music” in the section for suggested further listening which is the absolutely only reason why I include Blomman's output here. None of his albums is worth approaching in detail as they're all low on proper progg content, so consider this post dutiful and strictly parenthetical. 

Bosse ”Blomman” Blombergh got off to a rough start in life with an extensively troubled childhood. Being unable to properly deal with it, he took to drugs and alcohol with a life of crime following. That includes pimping and wife abuse for which he spent six months in jail. After being released he had a massive tax debt following his successful years as a musician when he managed to release a total of five albums 1977-1982. His albums were generally met with some acclaim, and he even had a couple of decent hits including ”Dom borde tjacka spikskor” off his debut album ”Små knepiga låtar”. His forte was the lyrics, and he had in fact published a book as early as in 1972. Songwriting wasn't his thing however, so he often wrote Swedish lyrics for songs by the likes of Dire Straits, Graham Parker, Randy Newman and J.J. Cale – ”Små knepiga låtar” actually has a full seven Cale compositions!

He may have been a certified arsehole but he wasn't entirely bereft of talent. Many of his translations are rather witty, acidic observations of his time, with wry pokes at the authorities and general stupidity. But if they worked well in his era, some of them feel pretty dated today, and with his earliest albums in particular consisting of non-original material, there's really no need to bother.

"Blommans epistlar" has liner notes by Sweden's most excellent singer/songwriter Cornelis Vreeswijk. One track on "Stockholm mitt i" is co-written with Thommie Fransson who also plays on the album.

Blomman died in 2008, 64 years old.

Små knepiga låtar full album playlist
Om lag lira munspel i Winnipeg Jets full album playlist
Jag har fått en elefant full album playlist

From Blommans epistlar:
Lämna mig inte ensam
From Stockholm mitt i:
Holmen
Rakt in i dimman
Gör nånting
Dan före dan
non-album 'B' side
Lilla Marie

AMERINDIOS – Ditt skrik är min sång – Tu grito es mi canto (Amalthea, 1978)

Other languages
International relevance: *

Amerindios was a Chilean duo consisting of Julio Numhauser and Mario Salazar, the former a founding member of Quilapayún who also had a number of Swedish releases. ”Ditt skrik är min sång” was originally released in Chile in 1973 with full title ”Tu Sueño Es Mi Sueño, Tu Grito Es Mi Canto”. It is in the Nueva Cancion style -- protest songs with light dashes of sort-of-but-not-really folk rock. Often backed by acoustic guitar and a singer or two sounding both seriously pissed off (for good reasons) and at the same time curiously happy. 

Original Chilean cover

But there are moments of surprise here, such as the short organ-laced instrumental ”Valparaiso 4 A.M.” with a slightly hazy pseudo-psychedelic vibe, and the stinging fuzz guitar in ”Cueca Beat” like straight out of a primitive garage rock single from Nowhereburg, USA 1966. I didn't see that one coming! And whatever that bizarre instrument in ”La Cervecita” is I don't know, but it sounds like a zither recorded while the producer changed the speed of the tape while recording, making that cosmic zither go WHOOOP and WHEEESH. 

All in all, a pretty good album in its style.

Full album playlist

SJÖN SUGER – Complete albums 1974-1978

I kustbandet (Polydor, 1974)

Sjön Suger (Strike Of Sweden, 1976)

Värre än vanligt (Strike Of Sweden, 1977)

Fina fisken (Marianne, 1978)

Swedish vocals, English vocals, instrumental

International relevance: -

Mentioned in the "100 other artists to listen to" in ”The Encyclopedia Of Swedish Progressive Music”. Similar in style to Grus I Dojjan but better playing. Cheerful roots music, tongue-in-cheek trad jazz and interwar period goodtime songs with ”humourous” lyrics. There's no need to distinguish the albums, they all sound the same and they're all bad.

I kustbandet no links found
Sjön Suger full album playlist
Värre än vanligt full album playlist
Fina fisken full album playlist

DAY DREAM – DAGDRÖM (Polydor, 1978)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Another shortlived project from the rather illustrious character Janne Goldmann (of Gin & Grappo and albums with his band Rock Und Roll Gruppe). He's one of those artists I don't know if I actually like, but still appreciate for his off-kilter character. I never really feel like listening to his records, but I'm glad he made them because they're always oddly unruly and peculiarly off and I want things like that to exist in this world. His music's almost always grounded in straight-ahead rock music, but Goldmann always seemed to enter it diagonally from behind. And coming out of it not quite where you expected.

”Dagdröm” is the only album by Day Dream, and the only Goldmann album released on Polydor. It would hardly have been released on that particular major label hadn't it had its prominent share of commercial appeal, but I doubt there are any other Swedish major label albums with lyrics like ”and so one day he caught gastritis” or ”your kids are tiny, tiny insects”. And there are probably not too many others namechecking fellow artists Peps, Ola Magnell and Motvind in the same song either.

The songs themselves indeed have some proggish shadings but what really stands out already during early listens is Ola Boström's guitar. He delivers several fiery solos that wouldn't be out of place on some 70s heavy rock rarity that costs a lot more than ”Dagdröm” ever will.

So, as with most Goldmann albums, this isn't one I spin very often at all, but I find it mildly amusing the few times I do. 

No links found

THOMAS MERA GARTZ – Luftsånger = Cloudsongs (Silence. 1984; rec. 1978-82)

Instrumental, wordless vocals
International relevance: ***

Those expecting anything like Träd Gräs & Stenar or Thomas Mera Gartz's solo album ”Sånger” will possibly be disappointed and definitely surprised by ”Luftsånger” (or, if you prefer its English subtitle, ”Cloudsongs”). Mixed and constructed in 1983 and released the following year through Silence Records, it was recorded during the course of four years just prior to that. It's much more of a kaleidoscopic mood piece than a song oriented collection. Not divided into separate tracks, the two untitled album sides combine field recordings, ambient sections, chunks of percussion of unknown origin, humming drones... From the liner notes: ”You can hear stormwinds, sheet-metal tub with water, happy birds in a forest glade, wooden gardenchair, grass being eaten by sheep, wheel-barrow, crickets (both normal and speeded down), a dead pine-stem, the circular sawblade of a firewood cutter, tubes rolling at the floor, kerosene tank, 'play-it-yourself' music festivals, the sound of a cigarette being rolled, the song of retarded Lasse, the vast sky in which an airplane is disappearing and much more”. There's only one segment that resembles music in the traditional sense, a kraut-like section fading in (or rather, coming out of the storm) halfway through side 1, sounding like an unusually energetic Popol Vuh rehearsal.

”Luftsånger” is one of those albums that, much like Joakim Skogsberg's ”Jola Rota”, is so set apart from everything else that it's pointless to even try measuring it by any good/bad scales. It's an entity of its own, not music of harmonics, melodies or metres but more like a state of mind. Some parts are indeed enjoyable, others (particularly the percussion bits) are terribly annoying, but they're all part of the uncategorizable whole. If you take one bit out of it, it won't be the same anymore and there's a certain strength in that. Make what you will of it, but it's certainly worth hearing at least once.

Full album

LENNIE NORMAN – Transport (GMP, 1978)

English vocals
International relevance: *

Son of Swedish boogie woogie pianist Charlie Norman and often bass player in dad's band, but these days best known nationally as Swedish stand-up comedy's grand old man, Lennie Norman is hardly someone to you'd think of as progg. 

Also, record label GMP, short for Great Music Productions, has notoriously avoided coming up with anything to live up to its pompous name. Proggwise, they have the lacklustre 7” EP by Fem Älgar I Ett Badkar and the decidedly crappy album by Måns Mossa. And that's about it. The rest is comically bad country singers, rheumatic rock & roll acts and loads of that particular brand of evil called Swedish dance bands.

First of all: Lennie Norman is not a very good singer. His voice is uninteresting and his English pronounciation pretty much sounds like when you mock Swedes for their terrible English pronounciation. And musically, most of what's on ”Transport” is either bad country music or rheumatic rock & roll. Add to that some typical-of-the-time disco moves that were representative to that particular brand of evil called Swedish dance bands.

The cover choices aren't exactly dazzling either; a pointless attempt at pointless singer Tommy Roe's pointless Buddy Holly pastiche ”Sheila”, a discofied take on The Box Tops' chestnut ”The Letter” and a limp version of Mose Allison's ”Parchman Farm” are hardly stuff to spark my enthusiasm.

That said, album opener (and Lennie Norman original) ”Street Roller” is surprisingly heavy with some gritty guitar playing, but it would have benefitted from better vocals. ”Haven't Got A Mother” has a laidback J.J. Cale funk to it with some rather cool guitar picking. The guitar playing is generally the best thing about the album, courtesy of Rune Furén who'd previously been in really appalling rock revival-cum-comedy act Rockfolket and Swedish rock & roll has-been Rock-Ragge's band – stuff I've spent a whole life avoiding.

But two half decent tracks don't make an album, and if the inclusion in "The Encyclopedia of Swedish Progressive Music" piqued your interest (like it did for me), then a word of warning might be in place.
Street Roller