TEMPELROCK – Det stora lyftet (Planet, 1979)

 
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

A somewhat energetic hard rock band with former Solid Ground member Björn Uhr as the songwriting guitarist. I don't think Solid Ground's ”Made In Rock” deserves its standing as a classic. I find their Deep Purple approximations to be quite clumsy and unsatisfactory, but ”Made In Rock” is still at least seventy-four times better than ”Det Stora Lyftet”. It takes a lot more than chugging guitars and a boogie rhythm to make good hard rock, but that's just about everything Tempelrock had to offer. Oh, and some radio friendly pop rock with disco touches. Plus one of the most pointless covers of ”Ticket To Ride” imaginable.

Two album tracks were released as a single. Tempelrock reformed in the 2010s (but I can't imagine anyone actually asking them to). Bassist Peter Jägerhult appeared post Tempelrock on a debile single by Staffan Runius & Mia Alasjö in 1978 before joining the incredibly crappy band Attack (featuring Wasa Express drummer Åke Eriksson). Drummer Werner Lindström joined Råg I Ryggen singer Jonas Warnebring in the band Spray. Guitarist Sten Tempelman became a record producer. Björn Uhr followed suit with Jägerhult and joined Attack and also did lots of session work.

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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