Swedish vocals
International relevance: **
The curious Tom Zacharias is said to
have attended the same private school at the same time as Sweden's
future monarch Carl XVI Gustav. He was predicted a future in tennis
but wanted to become an actor. Instead he turned into a stand up
comedian, a career that ended when he at one point peed on the
audience... Zacharias then tried his luck as a pin-up boy (he didn't
quite have the looks for it) and actually did some acting before
scoring a record deal with MNW for one 45, released on their Green
Light imprint. The single was a massive flop. Reputedly only a
handful of copies were sold. MNW didn't renew the deal. Zacharias
then had an album out on Grammofonverket in 1973, ”Är du ärlig –
är du härlig”.
Trying hard to make it in the
entertainment business and haphazardly taking whatever showbiz job he
could get, Zacharias jumped at the chance when shady businessman and
inventor Stefan Brydolf one day contacted him. He suggested Zacharias
should write a book and record two albums with triple X rated
content. Zacharias came up with the BDSM themed book ”Rebecka” in
three weeks, released to no success and soon forgotten altogether.
The material for the first of the two albums was written during the
same intensive period, and then quickly recorded by an exhausted
Zacharias together with session drummer Rolf Alex, bassist Lars
Bergstrom (ex-Levande Livet) and guitarist Tommy Broman. For the
female vocals, Esther Nordenbring (previously involved in the
Tillsammans project) and Suzie Heine (whoappeared in the Swedish stage version
of ”Hair”) were recruited, appearing on the album as Vera Fräsch
and Helen Bed. The album's cover star is Tommy Broman's girlfriend at
the time, Karin.
The first album was named ”Belinda”
and sold anonymously in porn shops and through ads in porno mags.
It's probably the most infamous Swedish album of the 70's,
perhaps even of all time (and that includes Johnny Bode's
scandalous ”Bordellmammans visor” which gave Stefan Brydolf the idea for the
”Belinda” albums to begin with). The lyrics certainly are
hardcore, I assume way too coarse for the average listener –
sadism, incest and enema are ingredients in this bizarre stew.
The story behind "Belinda" and the myth
surrounding Zacharias are much better than the music itself. Yes,
it's a bit more accomplished than one would suspect from the nature
of the album and the circumstances under which it was recorded, but
that has more to do with the session players than the songs. Some of
them are OK, some pedestrian, some just bad. You could say ”Belinda”
sounds like a technically more talented Erik Aschan album.
The follow-up album ”Belindas
döttrar” was recorded three months later, and selections from both
volumes were chosen for a projected album in English. New vocals were
overdubbed but the English album went unreleased until Subliminal
Sounds unearthed the recordings in 2004 and released them as a CD
with bonus tracks from the Swedish versions. They also reissued it on
double vinyl in 2011.
Tom Zacharias had another album out in
1975, ”Horar gör vi alla”, and a children's album (!) followed
in 1979, ”Vi barn” that was awarded with the Swedish 'children's
album of the year' Grammy (!!!). He also acted in children's TV
series ”Katitzi” the same year, appearing alongside actor/drummer Janne Carlsson (i.e. the half of Hansson & Karlsson that's not Hansson). In 1984 he released ”Till
frukost” on his own label, featuring 50 people including Turid Lundqvist whispering profanities. He continued looking for a
breakthrough and participated in various strange projects over the
years before passing away in 2010.
Full album playlist with bonus tracks
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