The music forums were the backbone of
the 70's progg movement, not only providing places to play for
nationally established acts but for local bands executing their
talents (or lack thereof) as well. Many of the music forums (well,
some at least) were rather well organized units with plenty of people
involved in booking, budget issues etc, all on a non-profit basis
where the money earned went back into the independent operations that
apart from music in several cases also included other social
activities. The two best known and as far as I know also longest
running music forums were the one in Uppsala and Gothenburg's
Sprängkullen. Uppsala Musikforum was the archetype, the blueprint
for other music forums to come. In 1973, Uppsala Musikforum recorded
several bands associated with them, and self-released the double
album ”Bygg ditt eget musikforum”.
Bygg ett eget musikforum (Upsala
Musikforum, 1973)
Featured artists: Samla Mammas Manna &
Uppsala Kammarorkester / Rio Brazzaville / Simon Simonsson, Kristina
Ståhl & Bengt Cedervall / Lön För Mödan / Tom Thomason / King
Kinos / Hederskompaniet / Björnligan / Music Inn Big Band
Swedish vocals, English vocals,
instrumental
International relevance: **
Most of the featured acts on ”Bygg
ett eget musikforum” remain unknown outside a small circuit of
local friends, and it's no wonder as most of them are mediocre at
best. The style varies from the Mikael Ramel inspired prog rock of
Rio Brazzaville (it sounds a lot better than it actually is); traditional fiddlers
Simon Simonsson, Kristina Ståhl and Bengt Cedervall, and Lön För
Mödan's political folk pop horribly similar to Fria Proteatern, to
the decent but unspectacular acoustic blues of Tom Thomason and the urban sounding electric
run-of-the-mill variant of King Kinos, the guitar-driven snooze jazz of Björnligan
and Music Inn Big Band that sounds just like you expect from a combo
of that name. Hederskompaniet's two tracks would have been OK had
they kept their music instrumental, not spoiling it with an
incredibly grating singer with a Jesus freak vibe.
That leaves us with the sole track of
any real interest. Followers of this blog know I'm not a Samla Mammas
Manna fan, but this ten minute version of ”Den återupplivade
låten” (its standard incarnation can be found on ”Måltid”) is
by far the best selection in this overlong exposé of Uppsala's music
scene in the early 70's. Recorded with Uppsala Chamber Orchestra,
it's a singular piece in Samla's ouvre with interesting timbres not found
elsewhere in their discography. Furthermore, the track has never been
reissued why ”Bygg ett eget musikforum” is essential to Samla
die-hards – but hardly to anyone else.
018/Tio grupper (Svenska Love Records,
1980)
Featured artists: The Stain / N-Liners
/ Rune Strutz / Automania / Rävjunk / Caiza / Olle Morgon / Lepra /
Allan Ball / Original Rummies / Lars Garage
Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: *
As progg waned at the tail end of the
decade and punk took over, the surviving music forums changed
accordingly. In Gothenburg, punk legends cum
blue
collar rock band Göteborg Sound became a crucial force
to Sprängkullen, while
Rävjunk (with one foot in stoned out progg
jams and one foot in punk and new wave) played an important part in
Uppsala. ”018/Tio grupper” was recorded in its entirety at
Rävjunk's head quarters (referred to as ”studio” on the album
cover; the quotation marks suggest it's really the band's rehearsal
space). It was released by Svenska Love Records in collaboration with
Uppsala Musikforum.
The Rävjunk connection is the only
thing that make this release vaguely interesting to progg
aficionados. It should be mentioned that their only contribution to
this album, ”Slå tillbaka”, is along the lines of the punk/new
wave dominating ”018/Tio grupper”, i.e. more akin to Rävjunk's
45's and the straight-forward 1-2-3-4! tracks on the ”Uppsala
Stadshotell brinner” album. It's only two minutes long, so that
should give a hint what it sounds like as well.
A couple of tracks move away from the
traditional punk format, most notably Caiza's synth punk number
”Ångestskri” and
Dag Vag clones Olle Morgon's ”Se mig”, but
obviously none of these do anything to elevate the album's minimal
progg credentials. Its value as a punk document cannot be questioned though.
And in case you wonder: The 018 of the
album title is the Uppsala area code.
A
documentary on Uppsala Musikforum was
in the making in the 70's but abandoned. Thanks to one of the forum's
driving forces, Anders Folke, the surviving footage is now up on
Youtube. Taken for what it's worth – i.e. a time capsule and not a
finished piece – it's worth a watch, especially to progg interested
Swedes.
Bygg ett eget musikforum no links found
018/Tio grupper full album playlist
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