Wow, the lyrics are pretty bad, but more so in terms of content than proficiency I'd say: She's domestic, she is property She's slim like reed [...] She's mine, she's all mine. That's quite possessive! Does this mean that's it's Benny who's behind some of the more... unprogressive lyrics in the ABBA catalogue? So at last you're free It's the way you wanted it to be And the price you paid To become a woman of today Is it worth the pain to see the children cry? Does it hurt when they ask for Daddy? Hey hey Helen Now you live on your own Hey hey Helen Can you make it alone?
Always been a big fan of 60s Swedish pop. It can hold it's own along the big boys ( UK,US, Australia & Holland). The Swedes also have a fantastic pedigree in the powerpop scene of the last 25 years. the powerpop scene of the last
Not that it makes things a whole lot better, but "property" is one of the words that Benny mistakenly used in the lyrics here - he wanted to use "proper". So not as possessive as all that, but still fairly dated in today's climate.
Benny has actually said he used the wrong word? Because property obviously goes together with the girl being ”all mine”.
December 1966 (cont'd) The Hep Stars https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mot_-wr92-OAGLTKHeDznHuRmaPXJt2Hg A1 No Time (Ulvaeus) A2 The Birds In The Sky (Bjärenäs) A3 (Consolation) A4 Easy To Fool (Öst/Himmelstrand) A5 Sound Of Eve (Andersson) B1 Isn't It Easy To Say (Andersson/Ulvaeus) B2 Lady Lady (Andersson) B3 Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream (McCurdy) B4 Morning Comes After Night (Bjärenäs) B5 I've Said It All Before (Arnold/Martin/Morrow) B6 (Wedding) LP by the Hep Stars The second album by the Hep Stars contains two previously released A-sides, one of them more than six months old at the time. It's also mainly made up of songs either written by the band or for them by outside songwriters. There is in fact only one true cover here, as most other songs that are not Andersson's are by friends of the band. Speaking of which, a certain Björn Ulvaeus wrote "No Time" and recorded it with his band, the Hootenanny Singers. In their version, this was a typical folk rock record with socially conscious lyrics and a mainly acoustic arrangement. I'm not sure I appreciate the treatment given by the Hep Stars. They've sort of psychedelisized it, with a lot of extraneous noises and effects. The lovely melody is still there and the song is strong, but I definitely prefer the original. This track is followed by a song written by another friend of the band, Per-Olof "Berry" Bjärenäs, who'd record his own version the following year. It's another fine song, which the Hep Stars embellish with sweet harmonies and a vibraphone (I think). A strong melody makes it another winner. The third track is the latest A-side by the band. "Easy To Fool" also makes its first appearance on this album before being recorded by fellow Swedish pop band "14" the following year. This is a jauntier, sprightlier track with prominent acoustic guitars. Benny adds some keyboard touches as well. This is probably the least interesting of the songs so far, but it's an okay album track. Side one ends with another Benny Andersson original, "Sound of Eve". It starts off with gentle keyboard backing and a moody melody, making it another one of those quintessentially Swedish sounding pop songs. Its main drawback is that the tempo is a bit too slow for its own good, and the band has added another set of unnecessary sound effects that distract from the song. It's not a bad song at all, it just could have been better. Side two starts off with the very first song written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. "Isn't It Easy To Say" is a strong song that I like a lot, though it doesn't sound much like an ABBA song, if that's what you expect. It's yet another keyboard heavy song - which I suppose is expected now that Benny Andersson has come to dominate the band - with a lot of minor chords. It's certainly not one of those upbeat pop songs that tend to pop up in this spot on albums. This is followed by yet another Benny song, "Lady Lady". This is a bit more peppy with some influence from the sunshine pop genre. Ultimately, the song itself is a bit too slight, though the band try gamely. This is then followed by an English version of the previously released single sung in Swedish, and the only true cover here. It's another folk song, but this time the band has refrained from adding sound effects, doing a mostly straight run-through. The percussion gets annoying after a while, and the sound of the whole thing sounds a bit cloying. This might be my least favourite track on the album. We're now into the last quarter of the album, which kicks off with another Bjärenäs offering. The intro promises a more upbeat song, which is also what we get. Don't get me wrong, this is not a rock song by any stretch of the imagination, but it does offer some variety after what has been some fairly keyboard heavy melancholy exercises. Unfortunately, the song itself is not as strong as the earlier Bjärenäs track, but I do like that the band changes things up a little here. "I've Said It All Before" makes its first appearance on this album, though David Martin, one of the writers, would later record his own version of the track. In the Hep Stars hands, the song is a bit too ponderous for its own good. The melody isn't strong enough to carry the weight put on it by Svenne Hedlund's singing. This somewhat disappointing run of songs is luckily ended with the final song, which is the excellent but previously released "Wedding". The Hep Stars were less prolific during this year than the other bands we're taking a look at in this thread, but this album shows that they too were doing some strong work and improving as a band, and Benny was also improving in his songwriting craft (though I'd rank him quite a bit behind the Tages lads as well as the Janglers' Claes af Geijerstam). The album loses a lot of momentum towards the end (with an exception for the very last song), but is overall a pleasant listen and is further evidence of the strengths of the Swedish pop scene in 1966. Thus ends a hallmark year, a year of strong songs, performances and arrangements. As we turn the corner and move into 1967, what dizzy heights might we expect?
1967 If 1966 showed continued growth and strength in the Swedish pop music scene, 1967 constitutes the plateau they managed to reach, but also shows the first signs of a business about to crack under its own weight. As you'll see, there will be a great amount of strong material and a couple of the best LPs of the scene are from this year, but at the same time another two of our bands will also release their final albums this year. Towards the end of the year, many of our bands will find it hard to get their singles on the charts. (To be honest, the Mascots had always struggled with that.) February 1967 Every Raindrop Means A Lot (Blom/Lagerberg/Töpel/Larsson/Svensson) Look What You Get (Bergman/Henriksson) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyvMqkSFyco Single by Tages - Kvällstoppen 4, Tio i topp 2 These are the first recordings Tages released with their new drummer, Lasse Svensson. And he gets to show off with a drum pattern going into every chorus. The A-side is psychedelia throughout. Apparently this is in fact a band composition, with everyone chipping in ideas with the purpose of making the song as psychedelic and nonsensical as possible. The lyrics may be fairly silly, but this is another excellent song by our Gothenburgers. A slow and ponderous verse with Tommy Blom singing is followed by a more bombastic and uptempo chorus with Göran Lagerberg hollering away. The B-side is again a gift from the band's producer, Anders Henriksson. And just like the previous song he gave to Tages, this is a soul pastiche, which gives Lagerberg the opportunity to belt away with fine support from Danne Larsson and Anders Töpel. A solid song, which makes this one of the best singles to be released in Sweden during the 60s. ***** Stewball (Stookey/Yarrow) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KtBvMQm5w8 So Sad About Us (Townshend) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQC5Zy0lzlU Single by the Mascots - Kvällstoppen 19, Tio i topp 10 With this single we get a bit of a look into what the Mascots' favourite bands were. They appropriated "Stewball" from the Hollies and "So Sad About Us" from the Who and stuck them together on this single. But why covers, you ask? Well, it was just about here that things started to go pear-shaped for the Mascots. Their old record company had dumped them after the last single, and they were now recording for the Hep Stars own brand HEP HOUSE. Their drummer Rolf Adolfsson was also feeling a bit antsy, and was in and out of the group for about the first half of 1967 before returning full-time and then becoming their lead singer. (Lasse Sandberg subbed for Adolfsson on this and the next single.) Overall, the band felt a bit despondent and weren't too sure of their own craft (especially since they'd not had much luck in the charts lately), and so relied on two stalwarts for this first single with their new company. "Stewball" is and always has been a corny song, but the Hollies scored an almighty hit with it in Sweden, so you can see why the Mascots went for this seemingly fail-safe choice. They do it much in the same vein as the Mancunians, i.e. with a plodding clip-cloppy rhythm and golden harmonies. The melody is quite catchy but obviously I'd have preferred to see an original composition here (and again I'm wrong as the lads actually managed to score a hit with this single). The B-side rocks a bit harder as an early example of power pop, and as this is one of the Who's most harmony laden songs, it fits the Mascots well. Overall, a fine single, but the signs of a music scene in turmoil were there to see for anyone who cared to look.
February 1967 (cont'd) Popligan For Janet (Whom I Met) (Adolfsson/Forsslund/Idering/Ringbom) - the Mascots My Home Town (Blom/Töpel) - Tages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz5p6pzMoJY Nobody (Grahn) - the Shanes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCEOpLcvW64 Like You Used To Do (Andersson/Hedlund) - the Hep Stars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JjvAZ9NIHw Today's The Day (af Geijerstam/Olsson) - Ola & the Janglers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcUipjxuLgU Charity LP This album, recorded for the benefit of the UN and refugees from Africa, consists of one track each from several of the big names in the Swedish music business. There are a further seven tracks on the album, apart from the five listed above. The groups were asked to provide a song that had not been released before and to keep it unique to this collection in order for the LP to sell well. This request was handled very differently by our five bands. The Mascots were the most stringent in following it, never releasing the track hereafter, not even on career compilations long after their career had ended. In fact, it is still the only track by the Mascots not released digitally. Luckily it has been uploaded to YouTube, allowing us all to hear what is in fact a fairly silly track, the very definition of a filler. The party sounds make it sound like it was tossed off in an hour. There's an okay song in here somewhere, but it's buried under a lot of unnecessary stuff. Meanwhile, Tages and the Shanes also followed the request quite well, never re-releasing the songs during their lifetime and only allowing them on career retrospectives well after the groups had stopped recording. Tages' contribution "My Home Town" may be the best of these five tracks. Again, it has production choices that make it a firm part of psychedelia with heavy reverb on the backing instrumentation and a filter on Lagerberg's voice. "Nobody", the Shanes' offering, is a solid track with brass and a vibraphone. There is a certain similarity to "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling", but it's a good song nonetheless. On the other hand, the Hep Stars, perhaps strapped for material, used their song "Like You Used To Do" as a B-side later in the year, as we'll see. Overall, I think the song is almost too strong to be a B-side. Benny has composed something that almost sounds like a nursery rhyme but with a beautiful arrangement that elevates the song. Finally, Ola & the Janglers, always stingy with their B-sides and stray tracks, immediately used their contribution on their next album. But as it is a very good song by their resident songsmith (and his sometime co-writer), I can understand why they wanted to feature it. The keyboard almost has a 70s sound to it, and the whole thing sounds very classy. With the exception of the Mascots, I think all our five bands contributed pretty strong material to this charity. These are not tossed-off songs just to get things out of the way (again, with the exception of the Mascots...)
February 1967 (cont'd) SSSS... Shanes https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mcauyyufjxtcms3QE4WU9O4Io574mxarI A1 Chris-Craft No. 9 (Sundqvist) A2Happy Birthday Broken Heart (Randell/Linzer) A3 You Will Never Know (Sundqvist) A4 Save The Last Dance For Me (Pomus/Shuman) A5 Holy Cow (Toussaint) A6 Humpty Dumpty (Trad. arr. Wåhlberg/Rautio/Grahn/Elfgren/Sundqvist) B1 I've Got It Bad (Shannon) B2 Lets Hang On (Crewe/Randell/Linzer) B3 Hey There Sunbeams (Grahn) B4 I'm Feeling Low-Down (Bergman/Henriksson) B5 She Is A Yum Yum (Frazier) B6 (Can I Trust You) LP by the Shanes (Chris-Craft No. 9) Time (Merchant) Single by the Shanes - Kvällstoppen 4, Tio i topp 2 The A-side (and album opener) is one of the Shanes' best remembered tracks, a catchy pop ditty with lyrics that aren't too weighty. Sundqvist came up with a strong melody that carries the song the whole way through. A really good song, and the B-side "Time" isn't too shabby either. I'm not sure if the Shanes got it from Cher's or perhaps Nancy Sinatra's version, but they make a pretty good version of it. The chorus with its tight arrangement of harmonies is especially good. On the album, "Chris Craft" is followed by a fairly obscure cover that the Shanes seem to have found on a single by the Toys. It's similar to the album opener in being another easy on the ears pop song. You have to give it to them, the Shanes play it well and it all sounds quite professional. Catchy, if a bit inconsequential. Then Sundqvist returns with his second and final contribution to the album. This is a moody bit, introduced with a sad harmonica line. At times, it sounds a bit plodding, but it's got an attractive melody. A pretty strong opening to this record. Track no. 4 is one of the most covered songs in the world. It's never been a favourite of mine, but of course it turned into a pretty big hit for the Shanes when later released as a single, so what do I know? "Holy Cow", an Allen Toussaint song, is a bit slight, and while the brass sounds pretty good, the beat is truly dire. The album side finishes off with the traditional nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty", arranged by the band (which means that they utilized the melody line from "Da Doo Ron Ron"). The very definition of filler. Del Shannon's "I've Got It Bad" opens side two, and as it is a contemporary pop song, the band do pretty well with it. The keyboard opening is excellent, and Grahn turns in a fine vocal. This is a definite step up from the last few tracks we've heard. This is followed by a cover of a Four Seasons song. The crooner pastiche intro soon gives way to a singalong melody. It's an okay track, nothing more. "Hey There Sunbeams", Lennart Grahn's sole offering to this LP, is also one of its highlights. It's a very strong melody dressed up in a nice acoustic arrangement with Sundqvist stabbing away at his keyboards. It's only the lack of harmonies that dissuades me from calling it an early example of sunshine pop. The band were gifted yet another track by their producer, "I'm Feeling Low-Down". This is better produced than many of the other tracks with a nice vibraphone elevating a track with a strong chorus. "She Is A Yum Yum" is absolute filler material, a novelty song which the Shanes should have left on the cutting room floor. Bless them, they almost manage to turn it into a soul stomper, but any song with the lyric "yum yum" shouldn't be touched with a ten-foot pole. Luckily the album ends with a strong, previously released A-side, so at least I leave this listening experience on a happy note. While the album itself isn't any worse than the band's previous long players - it's still an eclectic mix of originals and covers - it's more disappointing because the band had done such interesting and strong material on the intervening singles and EPs. They should have relied more on their own material instead of playing a bunch of covers, particularly since two of them are absolute dogs.
I think “Like You Used To Do” is absolutely beautiful, one of my favourite songs of all time. Benny has such a gift for melody, and I think this one is as strong as any he ever wrote. Just gorgeous.
April 1967 Contrast https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lZXzbfzZaHVg_mwsdnPLhrpTiYMO22uv8 A1 I'm Going Out (Crewe/Knight) A2 Sister's Got A Boyfriend (Jones/Porter/Hayes) A3 Hear My Lamentation (Lagerberg/Henriksson) A4 Fuzzy Patterns (Blom) A5 One Day (Lagerberg/Larsson) A6 You're Too Incomprehensible (Bergman/Henriksson) B1 (Every Raindrop Means A Lot) B2 Wanting (Antell) B3 Prisoner 763 (Larsson/Blom) B4 Why Do You Hide It (Blom/Larsson) B5 House Of Soul Hill (Turner/Eddlemon) B6 Short Song (Blom) LP by Tages With this LP, the Gothenburg lads moved away from their soul and mod identity and embraced psychedelia more fully. If you listen to the album, you'll probably note how short it is. In fact, seven of the songs are shorter than two minutes long, and only two are longer than 2.30 (and then only by a few seconds)! Tages also moved closer to a self-sufficient album, only including four covers among the twelve tracks. The album opens with one of those covers, a recent Lesley Gore track the boys'd found. It's a great little track, a pop song par excellence in Tages' hands. Göran Lagerberg turns in a vocal alternating between confident in the verses and plaintive in the middle eight. An excellent opener which was also culled as a single released concurrently with the album. Another cover follows, one of two soul covers here. You guessed it, Göran belts away over a bed of brass instruments. A good farewell to one of their loves. Lagerberg makes it three in a row when he takes the vocals on his own song, co-written with their producer. In its 90 seconds this baroque offering manages to pack a punch, though in the form of a typically Swedish melancholy melody with lyrics as lachrymose as you can imagine. Tommy Blom then takes over with "Fuzzy Patterns", an out and out psychedelic extravaganza, complete with laughter and other assorted noises over a catchy melody. This track was used as the B-side of the "I'm Going Out" single. This is followed by the textbook definition of twee, with Lagerberg in lamenting mode again. There's also a touch of accordion to underline its tweeness. (I love twee, so it's tops in my book.) Producer Henriksson joins in the psychedelic fun with "You're Too Incomprehensible". Danne Larsson takes the vocals with Tommy helping out on the middle eight. This track is just about as weird as Tages would get, a very soft verse followed by Blom's strident lines. It almost seems like an out-take from Brian Wilson's Smile experiments. Side two kicks off with the excellent, but previously released "Every Raindrop Means A Lot" and then continues with a cover. "Wanting" is yet another baroque pop song with Göran Lagerberg emoting as best he can over a bed of glockenspiel and organ. A great beginning to the album side, which continues with "Prisoner 763", another psychedelic Tommy Blom led track, with Danne Larsson ably assisting him on the repeated chorus line. Their producer chimes in with a beautiful harpsichord accompaniment. The pairing Blom/Larsson are also responsible for the next tune, "Why Do You Hide It", which is more of a regular pop song, with a sweet string arrangement being the only instrumentation supporting Blom's lead, while the chorus by Lagerberg and Larsson is only backed by Henriksson's piano. A fantastic arrangement. The second to last song is their final soul cover, a fairly obscure Baby Ray track, and of course it's Lagerberg showing off his pipes again, ably assisted by a brass arrangement that swings along. Finally, on an album full of short songs, we end with "Short Song", a track just a minute long, which in its short playing time manages to feature Tommy walking up the stairs, sitting down, picking up his guitar, coughing and then walking away again after a short, sweet verse. That's "Her Majesty" almost two years before the fact. What a fantastic album this is. There's hardly a dud among these twelve tracks. I only wish that some of the songs were longer, because they really are that great. This is the best album we've discussed in the thread so far.
April 1967 (cont'd) Drip-Drop (Sundqvist) One Way To Love (Arnold/Martin/Morrow) The Shanes - One Way To Love Single by the Shanes - Kvällstoppen 12, Tio i topp 2 A leslie'd guitar line draws us into the A-side, another Kit Sundqvist original with a chorus that sounds awfully familiar. The whole track is a bit novelty-ish, but the singing makes up for a whole lot of that. The B-side was written by the Arnold, Martin & Morrow team, whom the Hep Stars had already covered twice by now. The Shanes do it better with this one - it sounds very much like a lost Hollies track. Just contrast the singing on this track with a couple of the early works by the Shanes and you'd see a band that's come a long way in their professionalism. Overall, quite a nice single. (The B-side is only on YouTube in a re-recorded version from 1979, but the Soundcloud link above should take you to the 1967 original.) ***** You Could Be My Friend (Forsslund/Ringbom) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkQbiTzMdMs Dave's Idea (Adolfsson/Forsslund/Ringbom) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK1PIwr8C4M Single by the Mascots - Did not chart With Rolf Adolfsson still a bit hesitant about continuing with the band, the Mascots recorded this as a threesome (with a Lasse Sandberg subbing on drums). This is a joyful track with a lot of good natured shouting in the chorus and a strong melody. The brassy interlude sounds great. The B-side is a pretty silly thing, a tune with a lot of wordless singing. The melody is pretty memorable, but I'm sure there are plenty of listeners who feel rather annoyed with this. Still, it's the year of psychedelia, no? Overall, a pretty fun single. May 1967 Malaika (William) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2odGnkmDKns It's Nice To Be Back (Andersson) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2pdZ4dpUIc Single by the Hep Stars - Kvällstoppen 6, Tio i topp 6 The A-side is said to have been a traditional "African song" - whatever that means - that the Hep Stars bought the rights to, and then proceeded to make it into a single. I have no idea if the story is true, or whether the words sung actually mean something. (Some further investigation has told me that it's apparently not true, it seems to have been originally recorded by Fadhili William, who's generally considered the songwriter as well. With that, I'd have to assume that the words are genuine, though obviously I don't know if Svenne is singing the correct words...) The melody is fine and the clarinet(?) solo is excellent, but the backing seems a bit perfunctory at times. The B-side is another Benny Andersson original, a bit more uptempo than his usual fare. It's actually a pretty nice track. Perhaps not strong enough to be an A-side, but very pleasant to listen to. There's some strings in the background, but the overall sound is of a song from 1966, before psychedelia.
June 1967 Strolling Along (af Geijerstam) A Story Of Glory (af Geijerstam) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNSl2jIfcIU Single by Ola & the Janglers - Kvällstoppen 20, Tio i topp 5 1967 was the year of Claes af Geijerstam, who cemented his place in the songwriters hall of fame with his work for Ola & the Janglers. With this A-side, he explored the vaudeville genre, creating a cheery, upbeat tune that will worm its way into your brain and never leave again. A very solid A-side, as long as you can stand the plinkety-plonk piano backing. The B-side is just as excellent, a fun little story with a sad verse contrasting with an upbeat chorus, again with a touch of vaudeville to it. A bit of vibraphone adds to the soundscape, and shows that the Janglers could arrange a song with the best of them. ***** She's Having A Baby Now (Blom/Lagerberg/Töpel/Larsson/Svensson) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPKcl0iB16o (Sister's Got A Boyfriend) Single by Tages - Did not chart The A-side covers a sensitive subject in its lyrics - unexpected teenage motherhood. It's a very strong song with most everyone chiming in, though it's Göran Lagerberg on the main vocal line and Tommy Blom on the middle eight. The arrangement is very strong and shows just how far the band had come. With material such as this it's an incredible pity that they couldn't find an international breakthrough. Of course it bombed completely in Sweden, not even reaching the charts. The previously released B-side was well chosen, considering the subject matter. ***** Tell Me Lady (Ringbom/Adolfsson/Idering) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KG74J5PzRc Aaah, I Love You (Forsslund/Ringbom) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85gCrCByt6k Single by the Mascots - Did not chart With Adolfsson finally deciding to return, the Mascots recorded their third and final single for HEP HOUSE, leaving the label just before it went bankrupt. The A-side is a bit slight, the brass is fairly annoying, but the band does as much with the material as they can, trying to instil it with some heft. They don't succeed fully, though. The B-side is possibly the Mascots' attempt to truly lean into the Summer of Love zeitgeist. A song with only one line, repeated over and over again. It's mainly acoustic, with a fairly baroque arrangement of strings and woodwind. While the song isn't very strong, the whole sound and arrangement shows that the Mascots knew what they were doing, and it would have been interesting to see them continue in this vein. I think the best way to describe this single is "interesting". Not wholly successful, but an interesting listen.
August 1967 Pictures & Sounds https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mHC-y9NFqeT3VJMT2uFVsTRWfq7HjJ0lk A1 This Ring (af Geijerstam) A2 Behind Every Clever Woman There's Always A Clever Man (af Geijerstam) A3 Time Will Go By (af Geijerstam) A4 Call Me Tomorrow (af Geijerstam) A5 My Girl Wants To Be (af Geijerstam) A6 (Today's The Day) A7 (Strolling Along) B1 Juliet (af Geijerstam) B2 Your Melody (af Geijerstam) B3 Mystic Man (af Geijerstam) B4 (A Story Of Glory) B5 Hands (af Geijerstam/Olsson) B6 Talk To Me (af Geijerstam) B7 Mary Jones (af Geijerstam/Olsson) LP by Ola & the Janglers 14 Claes af Geijerstam tunes, do you know what that means? The only other album in this thread with nothing but original material! Sure, there are three previously released tunes, but it's still pretty impressive. "This Ring" is a fine opener, a poppy tune with a very basic beat and a keyboard heavy arrangement. A memorable melody, though no real chorus, so while it's poppy it's still not a conventional pop tune. Track two is a bit more bland, though the lyric isn't the most conventional one. The keyboard still plays a big part in the arrangement, though there's also a big guitar solo from the composer. The spoken word verse is, as usual, not my favourite. As for track three, there's probably some Dylan inspiration there, but then it veers off into a more baroque setting. An interesting track I just wish had a stronger melody. Things pick up with "Call Me Tomorrow". A very funky introduction leads into a cheery melody and a strong chorus. The ending is pretty twee, but still funny. Track five features another cheery melody with a happy keyboard backing and a bed of acoustic guitars. Good stuff! This is followed by two previously released tracks, rounding off side one of the LP. The second side then opens with "Juliet", a mainly acoustic ballad with Ola emoting as best he can an overtly romantic lyric. The song was written for the film "Ola & Julia", released at about the same time as this album. A lovely tune. With "Your Melody" we move into a more psychedelic setting with a leslie'd guitar intro and a backing that sounds vaguely Middle Eastern. The psychedelia continues with the sitar backing of "Mystic Man". This is less successful in my opinion as it sacrifices melody for ambiance. Don't get me wrong, it's still an interesting listen. We then get the previously released "A Story of Glory". Next is "Hands", a short track heavily based on co-composer's Olsson's keyboard playing. One of those songs that could only be found on an 1967 album. Then we're off into vaudeville land again with "Talk To Me". Af Geijerstam always does well with these cheery melodies and this is a fun listen. The final song is a bit heavier (not anywhere near heavy rock, mind you). Ola Håkansson gets to stretch his vocal chords a bit on the chorus and the backing arrangement is a bit more rock instrument heavy than other songs on this album. A pretty strong ending for this album. This is overall quite a psychedelic album, at least as long as you acknowledge that a big part of British psychedelia was influenced by vaudeville. While not every composition is top-notch, it's quite a feat that Clabbe af Geijerstam managed to compose all fourteen tunes almost single-handedly. There are many memorable tunes and it might well be the pinnacle of Ola & the Janglers' career. Highly recommended.
August 1967 (cont'd) (Save The Last Dance For Me) Talkin' To Myself (Grahn/Rautio/Elfgren/Wåhlberg/Sundqvist) Single by the Shanes - Kvällstoppen 9, Tio i topp 4 The A-side, previously released on their SSSS... Shanes album, turned into a sizeable hit for the guys, but let's take a look at the B-side instead. I've only managed to find it on the attached YouTube link, but it sounds like a pretty nice psychedelic pop song with good harmonies in the chorus, and a couple of unexpected detours into other tempos and themes. I can see why it wouldn't be considered A-side material, it's a bit too unusual for that, but I vastly prefer it anyway. (It seems to have been released on a Fading Yellow LP, for those of you who follow that series of popsike.) ***** Runaway (Crook/Shannon) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZLh5XkM6D4 Teardrops (af Geijerstam) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH6t-LdeNio Single by Ola & the Janglers - Kvällstoppen 11, Tio i topp 3 Poor Claes. He'd managed to write an entire album's worth of material, but the concurrent single still featured a cover song. The song was fairly old by this time, but it's obviously very catchy, and the Janglers do rock it up a bit. Still, I'd rather have seen one of af Geijerstam's excellent songs here instead, for example the B-side, which is another top notch pop song from "Clabbe". It's another melody that worms its way into your brain. The middle eight is pretty excellent as well. ***** Christmas On My Mind (Bjärenäs) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYnMTBXE088 Jingle Bells (Trad. arr. Hep Stars) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDCYm1WCwTk Single by the Hep Stars - Did not chart So, a Christmas single in the middle of summer. I guess more perverse things have happened in the music business. This was the first taster of a Christmas album that appeared later the same year. I won't go into that one because most of it is in Swedish, and honestly, after listening to this single I can't be bothered with the rest. The A-side was yet another gift from band friend Berry Bjärenäs, and it starts off with a fairly psychedelic intro, before going into a simple melody with Benny Andersson's keyboard very audible in the backing arrangement. It's okay as a Christmas song, I guess, but nothing special in my mind. And for the Grinches out there among you, at least it's quite short. The B-side is done as a Chipmunks novelty thing with sped-up vocals. Total cannon fodder.
Autumn 1967 A year which has featured some spectacular highs (and even better, quite few lows) is into its finishing stretch and as I already hinted, there will be fewer albums going into the next year. But luckily, this year still has some months left, and some great music too! September 1967 Treat Her Like A Lady (Crewe/Knight) (Wanting) Single by Tages - Kvällstoppen 7, Tio i topp 3 Another Lesley Gore number drafted in to become an A-side for Tages, this is another joyous pop confection with Göran Lagerberg singing his heart out and the backing vocals sounding as excellent as ever. There's a few psychedelic touches to the arrangement. Excellent production. ***** Cara Mia (Mantovani/Lewis) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhCOlg3ynY4 Without Your Love (Sundqvist) Single by the Shanes - Kvällstoppen 8, Tio i topp 5 Another month, another single by the Shanes. I've not been able to find the B-side, though apparently it too is featured on a Fading Yellow album (CD no. 18 in this case). But the A-side is one of those overblown productions that started to appear in the late 60s - a couple of Eurovision contributions come to mind. It's got a lot of backing vocals from outside singers and a brass and string accompaniment that's almost overbearing. It's not my favourite track ever, but I think it might have worked better if the Shanes had toned the production down a bit. (Or a lot.) Then again, the chart success of the single indicates that once again I'm out of step with the Swedish record buying public of the 60s. ***** If I Had A Ship (Williams) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kISPsawjEQk Everyone Knows For Sure (Adolfsson/Forsslund/Idering/Ringbom) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDmrql7hL1c Single by the Mascots - Did not chart So, Tages and the Shanes went in different directions arrangement wise with their covers, to the detriment of the latter. Guess which direction the Mascots took with their cover? Yeah, the wrong one. I think this song is more fun to listen to, though, so I'm a bit more forgiving. There's also less extraneous musicians in the background, making the track more reliant on the group itself. I do find it a bit too repetitious overall, but I vastly prefer it over "Cara Mia". The B-side features another Rolf Adolfsson vocal where his voice sounds very constrained (sort of like Robin Gibb would sometimes do in his early Bee Gees career). The song isn't as strong as some of their earlier originals, the melody lets it down a bit, but there are some tight backing vocals to cheer me up. I wonder how I'd have enjoyed it with Ringbom on vocals instead. There was another Swedish language single by the Hep Stars here, "Mot okänt land"/"Någonting har hänt". You're welcome to seek it out if you want. I didn't. October 1967 Extra Kick!!!! (Müller/Persson) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xhvIT2hIB4&t=2s No-Nox (Grahn/Rautio/Elfgren/Wåhlberg/Sundqvist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUAqUIkE_fU Single by the Shanes - Did not chart Say what now? A third single by the Shanes in as many months? Well, yeah, but this was only a promo single for oil company Gulf who handed it out to customers. The A-side is absolute filler - I've never heard of the song-writers, nor does the internet seem to know anything about them, so it's probably something churned out in five minutes just for this release. The B-side is a group original, which almost has to be heard to be believed. It starts out as a jam track, instrumentally somewhat reminiscent of their early days, and then after a brief chorus moves into what is almost musique concrète, before returning to the original instrumental theme and finally into the chorus again. 1967, I love you so much.
November 1967 This month will see the final LP from two of our bands. Shanes VI https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lto53rHrkiXptgBM5sG2xK6hpJw7SsMoU A1 Love Me, Please Love Me (Sigman/Polnareff) A2 New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Gibb/Gibb) A3 Without You (Marsden) A4 For A Little While (Shannon) A5 It's No Use (Grahn) A6 Away From You (Elias/Wilcox/Draper) B1 Sunday Will Never Be The Same (Pistilli/Cashman) B2 Elusive Butterfly (Lind) B3 In Your Eyes (Sundqvist) B4 The Boat That I Row (Diamond) B5 My Mind Cries (Sundqvist) B6 98/6 (Fischoff/Powers) B7 Julie Ann (Sundqvist) LP by the Shanes This fifth LP from the Shanes is pretty similar in its structure to the last few ones.The odd original (in this case one by Grahn and three by Sundqvist), and a slew of covers, many of them by contemporary songsmiths. There's no 50s cover, though (I think the oldest cover song is from 1965), so I guess that's a bit of a change there. Shall we do the covers first? Let's. Not content with mining the Italian market for songs to cover ("Cara Mia", "Can I Trust You"), they turn to France here with "Love Me, Please Love Me". It's got one of the more painful transitions into falsetto from Lennart Grahn that I've ever heard, but otherwise this somewhat overblown maudlin ballad is pretty well executed. There's also a Bee Gees cover, and it's nice to see them do "New York Mining Disaster" instead of "To Love Somebody" like everyone else. I've always liked the song, but as this is very faithful to the original there's not much new to hear here. Good song, though. The lads follow this with a Gerry & the Pacemakers song from the year before. I've not heard the original here, but the Shanes do it as a very sombre, slow thing with a simple organ backing behind Grahn's vocals, before a fuller arrangement with strings and brass comes in. I'm not entirely convinced by the song, but the arrangement is lovely. The Shanes have also found a new Del Shannon song to cover in "For A Little While". On the last record, the Shannon song was one of the better covers, and it's the same here. This is the first uptempo song on the album and brings a nice change of pace, with a memorable guitar riff and some sweet backing vocals. Finally, as the first side closer, there's also a Billy Fury B-side, "Away From You". This actually sounds almost like a 70s rock song with a pretty big guitar sound. A solid ending to side one, all things told. Side two has fewer covers since all of Sundqvist's three offerings reside here. The first of these covers is the sunshine pop staple "Sunday Will Never Be The Same". It's a very enjoyable song, and compared with the original the backing is a bit more rocking. But it's nothing that you need to seek out specially, though it works nicely in the context of the album. This is followed by another big 60s song, "Elusive Butterfly" by Bob Lind. This one does have some differences from the original with a distorted guitar and a brass arrangement. The main drawback is that it almost goes into that overblown "Cara Mia" territory. That distorted guitar does its best to distract from the lounge-y sound, but I'm not sure it succeeds. We can also find a Neil Diamond song on side two. It's one of those 60s hit songs that I've managed to miss, so I only know this version. It almost sounds like a country song to begin with, but then there's some annoying female chorus vocals that come in and ruin everything. Without them, I think I'd like this one just fine but now it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. "98/6" (originally titled "98.6") is the final cover here, and it's got another jazzy brass arrangement and vocals that more or less belong in the sunshine pop department, though there's some harmony lacking. A fine enough album track. Now on to the originals. On side one, there's just Grahn's offering: "It's No Use". It's got some pretty great vocals but a piano accompaniment that I'm not sure of. Overall, I tend to come down on the side of "yeah, okay, that's not corny enough to ruin the song". As for Kit Sundqvist's tracks, the first one is a harpsichord driven melancholy thing. I think the tempo is just a tad too slow, but the song itself is fine. The brass arrangement sounds great here. Sundqvist's second song is also full of minor chords but the tempo is a bit faster and there's some louder sections to break up the sombre arrangement, and also an acoustic middle. Quite psychedelic stuff, to be honest, and all the better for it. The album ends with his third offering, "Julie Ann". This is another slow thing, much too ponderous and plodding for its own good. And then there's a spoken section to just hammer home that this is not for me. The least interesting of the originals on the album. I think this might be the best album by the Shanes, but I'd still say it's some ways from being truly excellent. The reliance on somewhat questionable covers is still a big minus to me. However, most of the material here sounds good, with only the odd misstep, and as an album listening experience it really does work nicely.
"Chris Craft No. 9" was released as a single by Capitol Records in the U.S. and should have charted in a perfect pop world. Catchy-as-all-hell.
November 1967 (cont'd) Studio https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nCRMYsorYRjaqH0hIIW5Q-z5v2xlsig4Y A1 Have You Seen Your Brother Lately (Lagerberg/Henriksson) A2 It's My Life (Lagerberg/Henriksson) A3 Like A Woman (Lagerberg/Larsson/Henriksson) A4 People Without Faces (Blom) A5 I Left My Shoes At Home (Blom/Larsson) A6 She Is A Man (Palmers/Henriksson) B1 Seeing With Love (Blom/Lagerberg/Töpel/Larsson/Svensson) B2 Created By You (Dieden) B3 What's The Time (Blom/Larsson) B4 It's In A Dream (Lagerberg/Henriksson) B5 (She's Having A Baby Now) B6 The Old Man Wafwer (Blom/Lagerberg/Henriksson) LP by Tages This is the fifth and final album from Tages, and it's a bit strange that in a band full of capable songwriters there's still room to use songs from outside writers. In this case, there's one song from their producer, and one song written by a colleague, Claes Dieden from the band Science Poption. But that still leaves ten originals, with Lagerberg and Blom still doing the lion's share of the work and Larsson helping out a bit here and there. Their producer also gets in on the songwriting thing, not only offering a new song written with fellow producer Bengt Palmers but also helping out on five other tracks. The album opens very distinctively with a bunch of traditional folk instruments before the band comes in with their regular instruments and Göran Lagerberg on vocals. The folk guys continue in the backing arrangement though. The lyrics are a bit repetitive, but the melody is memorable and this is a good kick-off. The second song, "It's My Life", has a just as repetitive lyric, with only the middle eight breaking things up - the verses are identical. However, again the band make up for it with a memorable melody and an infectious riff that returns throughout the song. Lagerberg duets with himself on this one except for the middle eight where co-writer Henriksson joins in. Excellent stuff so far, and that continues with track three, actually recorded at Abbey Road Studios, and a more fully formed song lyrically. Again, the song credits also indicate who takes the vocals, though Lagerberg is the main voice here. A bit of Hammond here, but otherwise this is uses the regular rock instruments of the band. If the beginning of the album had been tilted rather heavily towards Göran, the second half of side one is the Tommy Blom show. His baroque "People Without Faces" is a lovely tune with a celesta and a string orchestra supplying suitable accompaniment. Beautiful. The rather more whimsical "I Left My Shoes At Home" offsets the baroqueness of the previous track, with the psychedelic lyrics supported by excellent chorus vocals and a strong arrangement. And if the lyrics were not psychedelic enough for you on this track, then the next one is a full-blown psychedelic extravaganza, courtesy of the producer Anders Henriksson and his colleague Bengt Palmers (who wrote a lot of songs for other Swedish 60s bands as well). "She Is A Man" discusses cross-gender well before the Kinks' more famous "Lola" lines. Tommy Blom does the main vocals here, with Henriksson doing the middle eight before the break in the middle with what sounds like a cocktail party. Then it's back to the original verse. A track that would have been banned by the BBC before they even heard it. Side two kicks off with "Seeing With Love", another excellent slice of psychedelia with the whole group credited. While Göran Lagerberg takes the main vocal, he is ably assisted by Danne Larsson and Anders Henriksson. Lots of cool instrumentation in the background with traditional Swedish folk instruments battling with regular brass. The next track is the only "outside influence", with the boys tackling Claes Dieden's "Created By You". While this is a fine enough track with more excellent production, I've never been into this one much, mainly because I'd have liked to see another original here. If you're less precious about these things, the various production details with celesta and flute might just make you enjoy it. Tommy Blom on lead vocals here, by the way, but on his own (and Larsson's) "What's The Time", which follows, it's Lagerberg doing the honours. This is another well arranged piece of baroque pop with strings, brass and woodwind joining in. An excellent melody with Lagerberg emoting as best he can. We're now into the final quarter of the album, and "It's In A Dream" is another psych pop track with Lagerberg on main vocals and Henriksson adding his customary keyboard instruments. Lasse Svensson's drums have probably never been as out there as on this track. Following this is their previously released A-side, rescued from ignominy and included on this fine album. Last but not least is "Old Man Wafver", an instrumental extravaganza, a rare collaboration between Lagerberg and Blom (and producer Henriksson). There are strings and brass, and Henriksson adds an accordion to the proceedings. Unfortunately, there's an atonal quality to this track in places, and being the longest track on the album, I feel it overstays its welcome just a bit. What an absolute monster of an album this is. Even though I'm not totally sold on the closer, I feel that this is an album of international quality that with just a bit of luck would have elevated Tages into international stardom. This was not to be, however, but that means that many who have never heard Tages can now experience their excellence first hand. I'd love to have seen what the band could have done if this was a smash. At least we can look forward to some more great stuff over the final parts of the thread.
November 1967 (cont'd) A very short post to mop up the releases of the other three bands from this month. There are two Swedish speaking singles, one by Ola & the Janglers: "Julia"/"Desertören (Jag står här på ett torg)" with the A-side being a translation of the already discussed "Juliet" and the B-side being a Boris Vian track with Swedish lyrics. The Mascots also make a return to Swedish lyrics with "Hade jag en båt", which is "If I Had A Ship" with Swedish lyrics, backed with "Säg mig var är blommorna", which is a translation of Pete Seeger's "Where Have All The Flowers Gone". She Will Love You (Andersson/Hedlund) (Like You Used To Do) Single by Hep Stars - Kvällstoppen 15, Tio i topp DNC Which means it's actually up to the Hep Stars to keep the English flag up. Which they do with an original A-side, backed with the previously released "Like You Used To Do". This is a fairly upbeat track with a somewhat plodding beat, but a sweet string backing makes up for that. Svenne's vocals are excellent and the melody is an earworm. A good pop song, nothing more, nothing less, though the extended fade-out almost turns it into psychedelia.
