THE OUTSIDERS – Inside Outsiders (Mellotronen, 2024; rec. 1965-69)

  
English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: **

The Outsiders only had three 45s released in 1967 and 1968, all an different labels, but they were enough to cement their lasting reputation of being one of Sweden's loudest and rowdiest mod/garage/freakbeat bands. True they were, at their best, a combo that would give most other outfits a run for their money, and that includes Namelosers and Lea Riders Group. No wonder The Outsiders became one of Jimi Hendrix's favourite bands.

Given their slim output, it wasn't obvious they'd be honoured with a a full length compilation, but the guys at Mellotronen managed to dig up a number of previously unreleased recordings for the 2024 limited edition archival collection ”Inside Outsiders”. It is short though, not even a full 30 minutes, and only about half of it is relevant to this blog. I've decided to present it in its entirety anyway.

The core of the album is obviously the three singles ”Don't Fight It/From Four Until Late”, ”So You're My Sister's Boyfriend/Kinda Dead” and ”On My Magic Carpet/Inside Of Me”. ”Don't Fight It” is an OK mod groover with nods to The Small Faces and their peers, while ”From Four Until Late” sounds more like a silly leftover from the beat era and definitely old hat in 1967, even by Swedish standards. ”So You're My Sister's Boyfriend” follows along those lines, a real ”meh!” in The Outsiders' minimal catalogue. However, this stupid vaguely music hall inspired dud is balanced against their first true victory on disc, the flipside ”Kinda Dead”. It shows that Hendrix's love for the band was mutual – ”Kinda Dead” falls somewhere between ”Hey Joe”, ”Foxy Lady” and ”The Wind Cries Mary”. It's in moderate tempo with a distinct bass line, backing vocals hovering like ghosts in the background, and a confidently sneering guitar solo.

But it's the third and final 45 that is the prime proof of The Outsiders' potential. Both ”On My Magic Carpet” and ”Inside Of Me” rank with the best UK freakbeat singles of the era. Two true classics that showed such great promise for the future. Had The Outsiders only kept going instead of calling it quits in 1969, they'd easily had beaten Mecki Mark Men in their own game.

A trip to London meant gigs at The Marquee and The Speakeasy, but a promised contract with Mercury Records that would have led to a Brazilian tour fell through when bassist Sten ”Plutten” Larsson didn't want to go. When lead vocalist Thomas Hermelin then left the band, British singer Roye Albrighton joined instead, and with some further line-up changes, the band kept going for a little while before eventually breaking up entirely in 1969. (Albrighton later joined fellow exile Brits in German band Nektar.)

”Son Of A Gun”, recorded live in early 1969, opens ”Inside Outsiders” and shows just how far the band had gotten from their humble beginnings in 1965. A heavy, guitar driven progressive blues track clocking in on almost five and a half minutes, it's very different to the three home recordings from 1965 also featured here, presenting The Outsiders as a rather shaky instrumental surf rock combo. ”The Cruel Sea”, ”Pipeline” and ”Foot Tapper” are interesting to hear as a comparison, but they certainly drag the album down. Together with the short total playing time, they suggest that maybe there wasn't too much in the vaults to choose from.

The remaining two 1966 studio recordings are closer to the 'real' Outsiders. ”Dancing In The Streets” is a passable Motown tribute, while ”Milk Cow Blues” is a youthfully revved-up cover of The Kinks' cover of said song. Not great but still more convincing than what many other Swedish beat bands produced around the same time.

As you can tell, ”Inside Outsiders” doesn't work as a cohesive album. (The closing interview snippet with Noel Redding/Jimi Hendrix may be only 11 seconds long, but is still an unnessary addition only adding to the scattered feel.) It's an overview of a band in constant search of a style they found only shortly before they gave up. The real shame is they never got a proper album together in 1968/69, but chances are almost zero there are any more studio recordings left unreleased after Mellotronen's trawl through the surviving tapes. Unless a miracle happens, like someone finding a good or at least decent quality tape of a full late period gig, this is what we have and this is what we'll get. And given the shocking collectors prices for the original singles, it's also the only way to get the three really good Outsiders tracks to an affordable sum.

Full album playlist

FAGERSTA STADSMUSIKKÅR & BERÄTTARGRUPP – Norbergs-strejken 1891-92 (no label, 1980)

Swedish vocals, spoken word
International relevance: -

A virtually unknown double album documenting a stage play written by Sture Karlsson with music composed by Anders Lindström, and first performed in 1977. It deals with a miners strike in 1891-92 which is one of the labor movement's biggest conflicts. It started when the workers in Kallmora iron ore mine suddenly got less wages than promised and quickly grew to a nationwide concern when Sweden's then Prime Minister Hjalmar Branting came to Kallmora to appear for the workers. Military forces were called in against the strikers, but the soldiers surprisingly sided with the miners. The workers eventually settled for an agreement that didn't entirely fulfilled their claims.

It's a historically relevant incident, and so is the theatrical description of it as it inspired several more so called ”workers plays” around Sweden in the following years. But that doesn't mean it's fun to listen to on record, especially not a double album. It's virtually impossible to sit through ”Norbergs-strejken 1891-92” with its amateurish acting (I don't think any of the actors was a professional) and the terrible music. The songs are all in the typical vein of all acoustic political progg albums from the 70s. The message is the all-important thing here, so the songs are merely meant to carry the narrative and not necessarily to entertain. And they certainly don't. I can't see anyone getting a lot out of this album, except for possibly one or two local Norberg scholars wanting to dig deeper into the area's political history. 

Marie Selander also sang about the strike in the appropriately titled "Norbergsstrejken" on her fine album "Från den svenska vildmarken".

No links found.

KLARTEXT / HAZARD – MOTDRAG (Ungdomens Nykterhetsförbund, 1982)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

A split album with Klartext on one side and Hazard on the other and released by the Swedish Youth Temperance Organisation. Hence the lyrics all speaking out against inebriation. I'm not familiar with any of the two bands so perhaps they were just temporary constellations, or only active within the organisation. None of them is very good but Klartext is a tad better. Their 7 minute “Krossa alkoholtraditionen” even shows some symphonic moves which I didn't exptect to hear on an album like this. Hazard are more towards the contemporary sounds of 1982 with funk and ska leanings.

Klartext:
Krossa alkoholtraditionen
Ge tillbaks min ungdom
På rätt plats i världen
Langen går
Jag har lagt av
Hazard:
Tretton år
Förste man i kön
Sprit är sprit
Min garderob
Nere i verksta'n
bonus track

KENTA – Complete albums 1979-1981

You don't have to be a coldblooded cynic to say that hadn't it been for ”They Call Us Misfits” and ”A Respectable Life”, Edgar Froese lookalike Kenta would never have gotten a recording career.

Kenneth ”Kenta” Gustafsson was born in Stockholm in 1948 to a rough upbringing. Both his parents were alcoholics and Kenta was left to take care of himself. When the Swedish mod scene grew in the mid/late 60s, Kenta was drawn into it. Swedish mods had very little in common with UK mods, with a completely different dressing style and dissimilar values. Most people only knew about the mod subculture from the newspaper headlines of 1965 when mods and raggare (another youth subculture, centered around American cars and music from the 50s) clashed in the city centre of Stockholm. The tumult came to be known as the Hötorget riots after the location where the it happened. Stefan Jarl's 1968 semi-documentary ”They Call Us Misfits”, original title ”Dom kallar oss mods”, portrays the drink and drug-fuelled mod lifestyle with greater compassion and depth, and brought buddies Kenta and Gustav ”Stoffe” Svensson to the public eye. The movie had a follow-up in 1978 with ”Ett anständigt liv” (English title ”A Respectable Life”), a much darker and grittier work than its predecessor. Ulf Dageby's relentlessly bleak soundtrack reflects the the movie with scary accurance, and marks the vocal debut of Kenta who sings on four of the tracks.

Kenta (Metronome, 1979)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Kenta's co-writing partner Aapo Sääsk brought Kenta to ABBA manager and Polar Records owner Stikkan Andersson's attention, but when Andersson got cold feed, Kenta ended up with Anders Burman's Metronome. A much better choice to begin with considering Burman's penchant for odd voices and self-styled songwriters. Production work was delegated to Finn Sjöberg (Kvartetten Som Sprängde) who also plays guitar on a few tracks. As do Kenny Håkansson among several other weathered studio musicians. The instrumental backing is much more lavish and polished than Kenta himself. He sings with great conviction in a slight post-Ulf Lundell fashion, but his barky, gruff voice is certainly an acquired taste. But it serves the lyrical purpose; the words are monochromatic snapshots from life's other side and it's impossible imagining a better singer deliver them with equal confidence. The album may be a minor Swedish classic but truth is it really isn't very good. It's more of a statement entirely dependent on Kenta's persona.

In a strange turn of events, Kenta found himself competing in the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest in 1980. His contribution ”Utan att fråga” ended up as #6 – imagine that happening now! – but what many people were far more concerned with was the T-shirt Kenta wore. Depicting a couple in the sex position popularly known as 69 with the words ”try it you'll like it” had the moral majority choking in front of their TV sets. Despite, or most likely thanks to that, ”Utan att fråga” reached number 2 in the singles charts and was added to later editions of ”Kenta”.

Kan det va' fel på systemet? (Metronome, 1980)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

”Kenta” could very well have ended up as a one-off novelty thing, but after his ESC success, he returned with another LP. ”Kan det va' fel på systemet?” (=”could it be that the system's wrong?”) is basically more from the same stock, only a wee bit heavier with a somewhat tighter sound. Again produced by Finn Sjöberg but no Kenny Håkansson this time. More uneven than the debut but with a few better songs including ”Vi behöver hjälp”, a rather heavy track unfortunately spoiled by the vocals. Also featured is ”Bajen”, Kenta's tribute song to his favourite football team Hammarby IF.

August & Kenta (Metronome, 1981)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Third time around and Kenta makes an unexpected move setting music to poems by Sweden's major author August Strindberg. It's also a step away from the large number of studio musicians to a smaller ensemble consisting of for instance Nynningen cohorts Nikke Ström and Bernt Andersson, with electric guitar provided by Ulf Dageby who also stepped in as an arranger. With Stefan Jarl in the rare position of record producer, this is almost a throwback to the ”Ett anständigt liv” soundtrack. ”Esplanadsystemet” even sounds like an outtake from it (which it isn't). At any rate, ”August & Kenta” is probably the Kenta's most focused album. The smaller line-up proves beneficial to the songs, and Kenta the singer sounds more relaxed here than on any of his previous albums. Still not great, but it showed that Kenta had more to give than just his personality.

But as fate had it, this was to be his last album. He appeared in the third installment in Stefan Jarl's Misfits series in 1993, and he popped out as for guest vocals on an album by commercial keyed fiddle player Åsa Jinder in 2002. He provided one track to a V/A tribute album to Hammarby football club in 2001. Kenta Gustafsson died from cancer two years later at the age of 54. Two posthumous albums of previously unreleased songs and demos appeared in 2022/23 in strictly limited vinyl editions.

Kenta full album playlist including "Utan att fråga"
Kan det va' fel på systemet full album playlist
August & Kenta 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

FRIA PROTEATERN (NJA-GRUPPEN) - Koncert I København Okt. 1973 (Demos, 1973)

 Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Fria Proteatern, known for having given me permanent brain damages by being the third worst band I ever sat through for the sole purpose of this blog, here recorded in concert in Copenhagen and released on Demos, Denmark's equivalent to MNW. This is the same kind of drivel as on their studio albums, only with poorer sound.

Side 1
Side 2

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

AMANDLA – Amandla (A-Disc, 1980)

Other languages, English vocals, instrumental, spoken word
International relevance: -

Man, does the A-Disc curse go deep! Not only did they release train loads of emotionally debilitated rock music and pseudo progg, they also managed to sneak out this entirely redundant slab of ANC themed South African music.

Now, I'll readily admit I'm not a fan of South African music in general (I very much prefer the hard-boiled grooves of Northern Africa), but I can nevertheless discern when South African music is passionate. And this just isn't. It's amazing really how A-Disc could turn everything they touched into cosmic dullness.

If I am to say one nice thing about it (although I'm certainly not obliged to), ”Ngwaba Wanga” (=”my child”) is a half-decent slightly jazzy thing that could have been released on a lesser Black Jazz Records disc. But don't take that as an excuse to check this album out. I just said it to look kind. 

Welele Mandela
Ngwana Wanga 

KARIN GREEN – Brinn (Nacksving, 1982)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: -

Karin Green made her debut already in the early 60s with a 45 on the Cupol label but the follow-up didn't appear until 1982! ”Nattfjäril” was the pilot single for ”Brinn”; the album followed shortly after on Nacksving with Bengan Blomgren (Nynningen et al), Mikael Krönlein (Skrotbandet), Niels Nordin (Skrotbandet, Sundance) and Olle Nyberg (Motvind) backing. And there end the progg credentials. Well-received upon its release (but without sales to match the reviews), ”Brinn” is dull singer/songwriter rock best avoided.

Green (who has a decent enough voice herself) is now a voice coach and has released several more albums on her own label, as well as a couple of books.

Full album playlist

BJÖRN ARAHB & MONICA NIELSEN – Sjunger Ture Nerman (A-Disc, 1979)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Ture Nerman was a journalist, radical social democrat (sometimes communist), anti-militarist, dedicated teetotaller, and for his time something as unusual as a vegetarian (he was born in 1886 and died in 1969). He was also a poet, and harbouring such sentiments as the ones mentioned above, his poems were well equipped for being set to music in the progg era. Some of the songs use older melodies by for instance Joe Hill, while several were written specifically for this project by Björn Arahb.

Being released on the Social Democrats' in-house label A-Disc, this is every bit as boring as you can imagine. There's no doubting that the sentiments of Arahb and fellow singer (and actor) Monica Nielsen are honest and genuine, but once again, whatever emotional impact this could have had with less self-righteous performances, soulfulness is substituted with oversinging. The musical framework is also typical of the ilk; it's either semi-cabaret-like or it sounds like The Labour Day Marches Greatest Hits.

Full album playlist

HANSSON & KARLSSON WITH BENGAN DAHLÉN – Crescendo 1968 Volume 1 & Volume 2 (Mellotronen, 2023; rec. 1968)

 

Instrumental
International relevance: ***

It's surprising that Hansson & Karlsson archival releases amount to only two, ”For People In Love” released in 2010, and this live recording spread across two limited edition vinyl volumes. There must be piles of unreleased Hansson & Karlsson tapes collecting dust somewhere, and since they were known to be a dazzling live act, it would be great having more documents like this officially released. (One thing's for sure: as long as Jimi Hendrix's estate refuses a release of his mythical Club Filips live jam with the Swedes being, most of us will only ever hear the chopped up lo-fi snippets that circulate.) So having access to a release such as this is much appreciated.

To put it short: This is the best representation of Hansson & Karlsson available, and that includes their original albums. Especially since this sees the duo expanded with soon-to-be Fläsket Brinner guitarist Bengan Dahlén on violin! Some have compared this unusual line-up to Zappa's ”Hot Rats” with Sugarcane Harris and Jean-Luc Ponty, but that's lackadaisical. There's no Zappa here to keep a tight rein on the musicians. What we have here is three musicians working as a collective mind, with all them being leaders improvising either entirely freely or wihin the framework of a song such as ”Tax Free”, ”Triplets” or ”Richard Lionheart”. Some tracks stretch out to 10, 13, 17 minutes but almost never feel overlong. All three players are on fire and Dahlén really brings a lot to the table with his violin. In him they get another person to bounce ideas off allowing the music to find new paths. He doesn't feel at all like an extra but a completely natural musical ingredient in a tight unit always ready to work up an improvisational frenzy. 

The stereo recording is surprisingly good with a rich and warm reel-to-reel sound that retains enough nuances to warrant a pleasurable listening session. Unearthing these tapes and presenting them to the public is an act of love and care, and it's shame only they're a limited edition release. This is the kind of stuff that should be kept available forever in a proper, physical format and I say that even though I'm not a die-hard Hansson & Karlsson fan. I am, however, a massive fan of Hansson, Karlsson & Dahlén.

Crescendo 1968 Volume 1 full album playlist
Crescendo 1968 Volume 2 full album playlist

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Sånger och musik från Kvinnokulturfestivalen (Silence, 1977)

Rut Hermansson / Eva Blomqvist / Sabina Kristensen / Monika Lundin / Frankie Armstrong / Lena Ekman / Jan Hammarlund / Marie Selander / Lena Granhagen / Monica Törnell / Andra Bullar / Lava / Ulla Bendrik-Johansson / Turid / Margareta Söderberg / Monica Törnell / Cyndee Peters / Röda Bönor 

Swedish vocals, English vocals, a cappella
International relevance: **

Kvinnokulturfestivalen (Festival of Women Culture) was a three day event held in Stockholm in late October 1977 with many of the usual suspects coming together. This album is a selection of songs recorded at the festival and features Marie Selander, Turid, Lena Granhagen, Andra Bullar, Margareta Söderberg and Röda Bönor to name a few. Most of it is acoustic and most of it sounds exactly as expected, meaning political folk with a righteous message.

A couple of tracks have electric backing and those selections are also the best. Marie Selander's ”Carcara” even manages to work up a physical groove very rarely heard on political albums. Lava, a seemingly temporary grouping assembled specifically for the festival, is Lena Ekman backed by the likes of Sigge Krantz (Archimedes Badkar, Stockholm Norra, Torkel Rasmusson, Lokomotiv Konkret et al) and Ola Backström (Stockholm Norra, Torkel Rasmussion, Dag Vag). Their ”Svartsjuk” starts out a bit trying and uncertain but grows organically as it goes on. Ola Backström's slide guitar isn't exactly Elmore James – more of a slurry Robbie Krieger – but it works to good effect and pushes the song almost to the six minute limit. And Monica Törnell is far better here than on any of her own albums from around this time.

The performers are perhaps more interesting than the performances, but as said above, the album isn't entirely without musical merits. It's not a great album by any means, but remains one of the better feminist albums from the period, for what it's worth.

Full album playlist

TUNDRA – Dubbla budskap (EMI, 1982)

  
Swedish vocals
International relevance: -

Largely forgotten and consistently horrible latecomers with poet Jacques Werup of Storm on saxophone. Some lyrics have an anti-militarist sentiment and they're the most progg thing here as the music is mainly slick, radio friendly and occassionally discofied MOR. Lead-off track ”Solfångaren” however displays a clear inspiration from Chilean music. ”Solfångaren” was also recorded for their minor label debut single in 1981 with a non-album track on the flip. They had a couple of singles out in 1984 and 1986 respectively, plus another album in 1985, ”Våga livet”, which is so indescribably nauseating it will make your ears throw up.

Full album playlist (Spotify)

STYRBJÖRN BERGELT – Tagelharpa och videflöjt (MNW, 1979)

Instrumental, Swedish vocals, English vocals, other languages
International relevance: **

Styrbjörn Bergelt was a comparatively under-recorded folk musician that went through several stages before specializing in reviving old and just about forgotten Nordic folk instruments. He started playing jazz trombone before entering the world of classical music as a French horn player. It was during his time at The Royal Academy of Music he gravitated towards traditional music and took up the recorder along with the so called spilå pipe (a traditional variant of the recorder). He rediscovered and reintroduced the willow pipe and the Finnish bowed lyre called tagelharpa (literally: horsehair harp).

His first recording was ”Å än är det glädje å än är det gråt”, a joint venture with Marie Selander and Susanne Broms in 1976. He returned three years later with his first true solo album, ”Tagelharpa och videflöjt” on which he introduced some of his rediscovered instruments to a larger audience.

A few tracks have vocals by Fred Lane, Ingrid Mickelin and Estonian Igor Tönurist, but the album is mainly instrumental. Many of the tunes will sound familiar if you're at all acquainted with Swedish and Scandinavian folk harmonics and melodics, but the tones and timbres are different from what you usually hear. Especially the tunes performed on the bowed lyre sounds quite a lot raspier and grainier than they would on the regular fiddle. Simply put, the archaic resonance makes those tunes and songs sound every bit as ancient as the instrument itself. It also makes the entire album particularly captivating. Bergelt is a fine musician as is, but the sheer ring of especially the bowed lyre draws you in and keeps you fascinated that a standard fiddle album won't necessarily do. So even if you think you've heard enough of Swedish folk music, this might very well be that extra album you need to hear.

Bergelt was also a recognized painter -- the watercolour painting on the cover is his.

Full album playlist (but the running order is jumbled up)

MIA SANDBERG – Hälften av din kudde (Sonet, 1982)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Second album from this confessional singer/songwriter, following two years after her debut ”...från mig”. Lyrically following along the same lines of slightly self-pitying diary poetry, but musically it's more ethereal with fretless bass and an airy production touching on new age. Put it all together and you have a truly terrible album with a embarrassing title meaning ”half of your pillow”. Avoid at all costs.

Features Janne Schaffer and Björn J:son Lindh, with liner notes by Swedish Academy member and author Lars Forsell.

Full album playlist

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.

Transport

A SEVEN INCH SPECIAL, VOL. 1: 3 POLITICAL SINGLES

Three political various artists singles with a strong local flavor.

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Historien går igen (Manifest, EP 1977)
Featured artists: Ted Ström / Thores Trio / Magnus Nilsson
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A four-track EP released on Manifest – the premier label of Northern Sweden – to raise money for a feature length documentary on the fate of small town Karlsvik, directed by Kerstin Wixe and Ylva Mårtens. The subtitle for ”Historien går igen” is ”Stöd filmen om Karlsvik!” (=”support the Karlsvik movie!”). An early example of fundraising.

Karlsvik is a very small town, a village really, just outside of Luleå (home of the Manifest label), with a population of then only 280, and once dependent on the local ironworks before it was blown-up in the early 20th century which almost forced the village to shut down completely. The same thing was about to happen again in the late 70s (hence the title ”Historien går igen”, ”history repeats itself”) when the local grocery store was about to shut down. According to the EP's liner notes. a municipal commissioner says in the movie that they'd prefer if they just could let Karlsvik cease and desist altogether. This was actually not uncommon in Sweden during the 70s when many a rural area bled both financially and populationwise to the bigger cities in the South. Several artists, especially from the affected regions, dealt with it in their songs, most notably Bernt Staf and Ted Ström. Not surprisingly, Ted Ström contributes to the lead-off title track to this EP, an acoustic number also included on his ”Kärva lägen” album.

The remaining three tracks are shared between obscure band Thores Trio (who had one full album out in 1981), and Magnus Nilsson who gets two songs. Nilsson was actually a member of Gothenburgians Text & Musik, and although none of the tracks on this EP is any good, Nilsson's ”Den första butiken” is the best. The style of all four selections is rather typical political songs, and if I am to point out any certain value of this release, it would be exclusively historical.

If the movie and its accompanying EP had anything to do with it is beyond my knowledge, but the village of Karlsvik still exists; population 232 in 2020. 

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Norrbottenplattan 1 (Manifest, 1977)

Featured artists: Anton Swedbergs Swängjäng / Contraband / Thores Trio / Norrlåtar / Håkan Rudehäll
 Swedish vocals, other languages
International relevance: *

The second of the two volumes of ”Norrbottenplattan” is already on this blog. This first volume was released a year earlier than volume 2, in 1977. Featured on both releases are Anton Swedbergs Swängjäng, the nebulous musical collective who had different members on any given occasion. Their track here is one of their weakest – ”Playa Plannya” is several songs in one mixing show tunes with trad jazz, like a miniature cabaret.

Contraband is featured with a song named ”Euskefeurat” which soon also became the name of the band. As such they had a long career which earned their mix of folk sounds and comedy quite some popularity for reasons that will remain obscure with me.

Thores Trio is back again here with a track in the same sort of old timey folk vein and just as forgettable as the one on ”Historien går igen”.

Norrlåtar is the most credible band in this lot but their contribution is among their weakest tracks.

Håkan Rudehäll released at least one album on his own, and at one point contributed an essay on the lack of work in Northern Sweden to an anthology book published in 1973. His track on ”Norrbottenplattan” is a jolly ditty of which there are seemingly thousands in the field of political song. And none of them is worth hearing.

All in all, this is for local patriots only. Others should steer clear.

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Livet i Kvarnbyn / Vi bygger landet (no label, 1982)

Featured artists: Pär Holmertz / Leif Moe / Maria Samuelsson / Mats Sköldberg / Stefan Sporsén 
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Quite possible one of the most obscure and secretive releases on the blog, this was a local release from Mölndal, a neighbouring town to Gothenburg. The two songs on the single was culled from a stage play about the labourers movement's development in the Mölndal region in the early 1900s. Info on this release is scarce to say the least; it's not even listed on Discogs and I don't recognize most of the names on the cover either, but it appears that Leif and Ole Moe (brothers, assumably) later had a couple of private releases out, and Pär Holmertz (guitar, bass, drums) could possibly be the Per Holmertz who later did some engineering work for bands in the Gothenburg area. Trumpeter Stefan Sporsén however has had a long career afterwards, playing with several of Sweden's best known artists in more recent times. Not that any of this really matters because it's nothing worth hunting down. ”Livet i Kvarnbyn” is an undistinguished track that reminds me of equally undistinguished Christian singer/songwriter rock from the same time (but without the Christian message). B side ”Vi bygger landet” sounds like any old laborers movement song, and without any proper songwriter's credit here it might very well be. The production is pretty good, especially for a release like this, so I assume somebody put a little cash into its realization.

from Historien går igen:
Ted Ström - Historien går igen
Thores Trio - Hit kom dom

from Norrbottenplattan 1:
Contraband - Euskefeurat
Anton Swedbergs Swängjäng - Playa Plannja
Thores Trio - Norrbottenssången
Norrlåtar - Lakkolaulu Pajalasta

Livet i Kvarnbyn:
No links found.

LOLLO ASPLUND – Äppelmelodier & lurendrejerier (MNW, 1983; rec. 1982)

Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Lollo Asplund's first album ”Eldsjäl” is reviewed here, and this is his second. Although it wasn't released until 1983 which is technically one year too late for this blog's time span, it was recorded in 1982.

”Äppelmelodier & lurendrejerier” is a children's record that retains the spirit of 70s children's progg. It's done with the honest intent to make music for kids with the same care as if it was made for grown-ups. You can of course tell right away that it's aimed at kids; the singing is more tongue-in-cheek and cheerful than on ”Eldsjäl”, and the overall performances don't have the same degree of seriousness. But the songwriting itself is as thorough as before, and Asplund even sneaks in a remake of his radio hit ”Råckenroll till frukost” from his debut album, here in a more acoustic sounding rendition. There are also more children singing along here than on ”Eldsjäl” which of obviously gives away the album's intent. And if you're familiar with the Swedish language, the lyrics are telling enough.

The overall feeling will likely not attract a post-childhood audience, but as a reminder of the spirit of the previous decade when children's music was considered something just as important as any other music deserving of acknowledged musicians such as Sten Källman (Text & Musik, Skrotbandet) and Tomas Gabrielsson (Förklädd Gud), then ”Äppelmelodier & lurendrejerier” works just fine. In the end, it stands out as one of the finer children's albums of its age.

Full album playlist 

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Vad gör egentligen algerna på vintern? (Scam, 1974)

Featured artists: Stamp Från Kön / Di Sma Under Jårdi / Jan Ekedahl / Anders Peedu / Smaklösa / Olle Karlsson / Gotlands Jazzband / Pax Teatern / Gotlands Teater / Folklynnet / Ramlösa Cykelklubb / Peter Jankert / Lejonklösa / Unknown artist / Tranz
Swedish vocals, English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: *

A serious contender for strangest album title: ”What do algae actually do in the winter?”. The music within won't answer the question, it actually raises more questions, like ”Why does this album even exist?”. I assume it's an attempt to present the early 70s Gotland scene – Gotland being Sweden's biggest island well known for its unusual rock formations called rauks (and also the home of the godlike Cement).

The Scam label have an obvious place in progg history, having released 45s by acts such as Great Ad, Raunchy and 4 Ever, not to mention Solid Ground's sole album ”Made In Rock”. Although I'm not a fan of ”Made In Rock”, such a release schedule nevertheless raises the expectations a few notches. But almost the entire LP consists of various acoustic acts, several of them aspiring to comedy which isn't funny. A couple of them became rather famous years later, most notably Smaklösa and Di Sma Under Jårdi with the latter scoring a major hit with the appalling ”Snabbköpskassörskan” in 1985. Anders Peedu in turn had been in 60s freak rock band Friends who released a number of garage rock fuelled 45s of now legendary status. However, his contribution ”Rallarvisa” shows no traces of his noisy, ramshackle past – it's a traditional navvy song.

Everything on this album is bad with one striking exception. After sitting through terrible stabs at moronic humour, bad versions of trad songs, limp trad jazz and what might be the worst Bob Dylan cover ever recorded, the whole things goes out with a bang. ”Gamarnas sång” by Tranz is a riff heavy hard rock track mangling away for 7 minutes. If the vocals leave a bit to be desired, then the guitars fully make up for it. Thankfully, the track was salvaged from obscurity when it was included on the second volume of the marvellous ”Swedish Meathballs” comp in 2022, rendering ”Vad gör egentligen algerna på vintern” completely redundant.

Tranz - Gamarnas dans