{"id":439,"date":"2010-03-09T10:48:09","date_gmt":"2010-03-09T10:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=439"},"modified":"2010-03-09T10:48:09","modified_gmt":"2010-03-09T10:48:09","slug":"the-evolution-of-swedish-pop-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/the-evolution-of-swedish-pop-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The evolution of Swedish pop part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Modern Swedish pop music has been around for almost four decades on the international scene. We can all agree that it started with ABBA<\/a> in 1974 at the Eurovision Song Contest.\u00a0They put Sweden on the map in the music industry. But it has been quite a ride since then, and believe me when I say that the Swedish audience is maybe the hardest to please for a Swedish band. And you can either like ABBA or not but there is hardly anyone (from rockers to ravers) who wouldn\u00b4t know at least one ABBA song by heart. You roll your eyes whenever you hear the name of them but you are so proud of course.\u00a0 And now it is cool with vintage if you know what I mean. For example Europe <\/a>form 1983. We tend to rediscover bands like them today in Sweden.<\/p>\n

I remember that one of my first ever concerts (besides a Bj\u00f6rk)\u00a0was a Roxette<\/a> concert. What was the text all about in The Look? No one really knew it but it became a huge hit. I went to the concert\u00a0with my mother because she wouldn\u00b4t let me go on my own. I was only twelve and so embarrassed. But she loves to rock out every now and then. Now, I\u00a0am\u00a030\u00a0and I think: You are one of the coolest moms I have seen!!!\u00a0There weren\u00b4t any\u00a0special concert\u00a0effects like these days,\u00a0but it was an amazing experience\u00a0at that early age.\u00a0The era was\u00a0also “The golden days of MTV Europe” in my opinion. When it was all about music and not\u00a0meaningless “reality shows”. If those shows about\u00a0reality I\u00b4d rather\u00a0keep my headphones on!<\/p>\n

I guess\u00a0people have an ambivalent feeling about Roxette\u00a0in Sweden or let\u00b4s say the “majority” of people think that Per Gessle is embarrassing when ever\u00a0singing in Swedish with his own band.\u00a0However, everyone knows his songs like the following video proves it:\u00a0Sommartider<\/a> (Summertimes). But\u00a0we got to\u00a0give\u00a0Roxette some credit for an international success and several number one singles world wide. And\u00a0we should\u00a0not forget,\u00a0that\u00a0you\u00a0can\u00b4t\u00a0be a prophet in your own country.<\/p>\n

In the end of the 80s beginning of the 90s “the wind of change” came\u00a0to Europe.\u00a0Euro pop aka. Euro trash, rave, house, trance took over the continent. For me it all started\u00a0with Neneh Cherry. She had many big hits through the years like Buffalo Stance<\/a>, Manchild<\/a>, 7 seconds with Youssou N\u00b4Dour <\/a>and they all hold up even today. She has been a very cooperative artist. She works mainly as a DJ today and she is a forty something grandma. She is still cool. Another female artist from Sweden is\u00a0Leila K.\u00a0She got very popular both in Sweden and\u00a0in the UK in the\u00a0early 90s. She made several hits like Got to get<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0a cover on Ca plane pour moi<\/a><\/em> or\u00a0<\/em>Open Sesame<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0She came from a very strict family and she had hard time making her parents\u00a0accept her singing carrier.\u00a0Unfortunately her carrier\u00a0turned out to be a\u00a0short one because of different private issues.\u00a0\u00a0Thanks to\u00a0her and Ace fo Base that we have a vivid music scene in Gothenburg\u00a0today\u00a0in my opinion. It all started there. They created somehow more interest in other cities than Stockholm. Since then there have been loads of Swedish bands from Gothenburg. If you ever\u00a0come to\u00a0visit Gothenburg and like festivals, the WOW (Way out west festival<\/a>) in august is the place to be. I saw last year an oldie there. \u00a0The former\u00a0dentist of Nigerian origin\u00a0Dr. Alban<\/a>. He performed with Robyn.\u00a0And don\u00b4t forget what he sings about :-)! He had some major pop hits in the 90s like It\u00b4s my life<\/a> and Sing Hallelujah<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 1991\u00a0two very controversial videos came out. Crucified <\/a>and Obsession<\/a> by the band\u00a0Army of Lovers. But the controversy was just about to begin. They were outspoken, sexual and provocative.\u00a0Pretty soon they became one of the most popular bands of this time\u00a0period.\u00a0They had several mega hits even later on like Sexual Revolution<\/a>\u00a0and King Midas<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In 1992 the public eye turned towards Hisingen island (Sweden\u00b4s\u00a0fourth largest island and also a part of town in Gothenburg). Ace of Base<\/a> released its first singel. They became the third largest Swedish group and sold approximately 60 million copies. Sweden did it again. They had even the US in front of their feet. All that she wants<\/a>, The sign<\/a>, Living in Danger<\/a> (I found a live video from the first ever MTV European Music Awards just a few years after the Berlin-wall\u00a0had come\u00a0down. MTV Europe\u00a0chose the city for its first ever award show in 1994.). I like statements like these.<\/p>\n

In 1993 I just couldn\u00b4t stop listening to this track in my Walkman. Remember the Walkman? I think, I had it in my mini-bag haha!\u00a0That was rather 80s though. The group\u00a0was\u00a0a kind of one-hit-wonders. The guy in orange Henrik Schyffert is an active comedian nowadays on Swedish TV. Whale – Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe<\/a>. It must have been the rocky beats. Another\u00a0short-life band\u00a0was Stakka Bo<\/a>, but one of the guys Johan Renck has made a very successful international carrier as a video director. He has worked with Suede, Madonna, Kylie, Beyonc\u00e9, All Saints, Robbie Williams, and The Cardigans. And that is where we continue….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Modern Swedish pop music has been around for almost four decades on the international scene. We can all agree that it started with ABBA in 1974 at the Eurovision Song Contest.\u00a0They put Sweden on the map in the music industry. But it has been quite a ride since then, and believe me when I say…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7793,7795,7800,7799,7792,7798,2267,7802,364869,7803,7797,7794,7801,7791,7796,2628],"class_list":["post-439","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","tag-abba","tag-ace-of-base","tag-army-of-lovers","tag-dr-alban","tag-evolution-of","tag-leila-k","tag-listening","tag-mtv","tag-music","tag-music-today","tag-neneh-cherry","tag-roxette","tag-stakka-bo","tag-swedish-music","tag-swedish-pop","tag-whale"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":67,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":498,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions\/498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}