RESPEKT – Den stora bron /
Rebellernas afton (Respekt, 1977)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
It looks like an biker hard rock single but it sounds more like average singer/songwriter rock. ”Den stora bron” is quite OK (although overlong at 6+ minutes), with an acoustic rhythm guitar and a harmonica solo to put it firmly in the Ulf Lundell/Bob Dylan/Neil Young tradition. ”Rebellernas afton” is musically weaker and particularly suffers from singer Bengt O. Johansson's attempts at sounding Ulf-Lundell-as-John-Wayne macho.
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
First ever single by Motvind, released
between their third and fourth album, and their only 1979 lifesign on
vinyl. The style is typically Motvind with two songs approaching
boogie rock and hard rock. Typically Motvind also means typically
ignorable.
Final Single (Svenska Popfabriken, 1980) as F.D.Drömpojkarna
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
Featured
here for the sake of completion as Drömpojkarna's only LP is already
included. Both singles have some of their better songs, and doesn't
suffer too much from the contrived 'controversial' tone that was
evident on the album. The 1979 single was produced by Pål Spektrum,
an underground legend responsible for most of what was released on
Svenska Popfabriken, a label that was hot as a waffle iron in the
late 70s/early 80s thanks to the strong regional air to their many
pop and rock'n'roll styled releases. For the aptly titled ”Final
Single” (actually released as F.D. Drömpojkarna – ”f.d.”
meaning ”ex-” – signalling the band had split up before its
release) they took the full step and became a Svenska Popfabriken
act. I personally have a weak spot for Svenska Popfabriken and what
they stood for, but neither of these singles are at all recommended
to progg fans.
FRONTALROCK – Nattens barn / Angår oss inte (Gadd, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
Sometimes classified as punk or hard rock, this has very little of either. It was taped in 1979 but not released until 1980 at the band's own expense in a 500 copies edition. ”Nattens barn” shows very faint traces of the then popular neo-ska of the British 2 Tone label, but is basically a mid tempo rock song which is quite good with a discreet but ornate piano and a rather fiery lead guitar. The title of the B side means ”Doesn't concern us”, and that's how I feel about the song too. It sounds more like a Kylans Rockorkester throwaway, a silly rock'n'roll pastiche that is has none of the decent songwriting qualities of ”Nattens barn”.
Bassist Christer Höglund was also in Musikgruppen ACP and Istid.
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
Categorized as hard rock on Discogs, but that's wrong. It's a private release with a somewhat quirky track on the A side and the more straightforward proggish ”Lilla Lisa” on the flip. ”Lilla Lisa” sounds a bit like a later Nationalteatern song and deals with at-risk youth and related social issues. The phrase ”livet är en fest” even appears in the lyrics (alluding to one of Nationalteatern's best known tracks, meaning ”life's a party” which is purely ironic). Several clues lead to Gothenburg as the band's origin, which would further explain the Nationalteatern influence.
RENDEZ-VOUS – Plugget är slut / Åh dessa dagar (GMP, 1980)
International relevance: **
An outlier on the GMP (Great Music
Production) label that was more into Swedish dance bands than the
budget kind of commercial sounding symphonic rock of Rendez-Vous.
Singer and keyboardist Thomas Nanor had an MNW single of classical
interpretations out in 1971, a semi-rare space electronics album in
1982, plus another 7” in 1986. Needless to say, both ”Plugget är
slut” and ”Åh dessa dagar” are heavy on keyboards. The latter
is in fact a half-decent ”dramatic ballad” in itself, but I find
Nanor's high pitched vocals with a threating vibrato quite
irritating. Perhaps the symphonic vibe is too light to appeal to
seasoned symph fans, but then again, I'm not sure who else would be
very interest in this. Judging by the low market value and the fact
it's fairly easy to come by, the answer is: no-one.
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
Per Paulsson had previously released the album ”Tro, hopp och kaffe” in 1974 while his backing band Ruff is featured on the various artists comp ”Ruff & Fukt & Suck”. This four track EP was released with two B sides according to the sleeve and labels and was pressed in red vinyl. It's pretty pedestrian rock progg although some of the lyrics are a bit peculiar. I've never heard of ”drunken guitar picks” before I heard the punk inspired ”Ackumulerad skuld”... Probably the best track here, and as that's not very good you can take this as an encouragement to pass on this.
Released through the label run by
Plebb/Purple Haze in an edition of reputedly only 285 copies, this
might seem more interesting than it is. ”Jag vill ut” is a mediocre power pop track, so it's ”Yesterday Song”
that has to offer up some progginess to justify its place here. It
has a slightly off-kilter rhythm suggesting funk and reggae without
being any of it plus some knotty guitar playing. The melody is oddly
elusive. Elusive apparently also to the singer who seems to struggle
with it. Rare yes, but that's really the only thing it has going for
it. Avoid.
GRÖNA HISSEN – Statt! (Ori, 1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
Although titled ”Statt!”, the two
songs on this small label release are named ”Ute” (several
meanings, here ”out of fashion”, ”unpopular”) and ”Samhällets
fiende No. 1” (=”Public enemy no. 1”). Often considered a hard
rock band, Gröna Hissen were a more a plain rock band with a
punk/progg edge. ”Ute” borrows shamelessly from ”Jumpin' Jack
Flash” while the bass line on ”Samhällets fiende No. 1” is
reminiscent of neo-ska band Specials. Which is not to say that Gröna
Hissen were mere copycats. Although they weren't the most original
band around, ”Statt!” nevertheless has a certain appeal thanks to
its strong underground aura. They're not the best players, and not
always tight, but these two songs have an urgency to them which I
like. Prices vary, but not being an established sought-after
rarity, it should still be fairly easy to come by relatively cheap for those
interested (as of early 2026).
SPINNROCK – Nighttime Is The Righttime / I Remember You (Hit-Records, 1981)
Although there's nothing particularly wrong with this – ”Nighttime Is The Righttime” [sic!] even has some mildly interesting harmonic turns – it's pretty mundane. The lead guitar has some hard rock glitz to them, and the harmony vocals are OK for a release like this, but both tracks leave me cold and a little bored, especially the ballad ”I Remember You”.
Respekt
Rebellernas afton
Motvind
Plockepinn / Törst
Djush Band
Lilla Lisa
Rendez-Vous
Plugget är slut
Gröna Hissen
Ute
Drömpojkarna
Sofi full single playlist
Final Single full single playlist
Frontalrock full single
Ictus full single playlist
Spinnrock full single playlist
Per P no links found
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