The Encyclopedia of Swedish Progressive Music 1967-1979 is a comprehensive guide to what is known in Sweden as "progg" or the alternative Swedish progressive music movement. The Movement is described in detail on the previous pages, but that is just half of this book. The rest of the space is devoted to acts that fit under the internationally recognised progressive rock banner and its related genres, including psychedelia, jazz-rock as well as the private pressing scene.
Many of these artists were not considered part of the Movement at the time, mainly because their lyrics weren't political enough or that they released their records on "commercial" major labels. When listening to the music three decades on, the differences between the two camps are often unnoticable, especially to an international audience that doesn't speak Swedish. Several of the most influential domestic acts on Movement musicians came from this group of outsiders anyway. Made In Sweden, Pugh and November are the most obvious examples.
Some entries - for example, Lee Kings, Tages and Steampacket - were active in the 60's pop era and did not necessarily record music directly connected to the Movement or the progressive rock scene, but nevertheless were forerunners by definition based on the act’s members or its music.
With this wide definition, we had a hard time to decide which acts to include and which ones to leave out. At the end of this book is a list of 100 acts that narrowly missed out on being included. These artists recorded some fine music, so please check them out as well.
The main criteria for inclusion is that an act must have released a vinyl recording between 1967 and 1979. The aim is to have complete discographies for all entries in the Artist section. These are strictly limited to the applicable time period and if an artist released records before or after this period it is indicated in the biography text. Compilations have their own separate section, except for EP’s released on the Juke Box label. These appear in the Artist section and only mentions the song titles performed by the artist in question.
As much as possible, we have tried to include all band members and the instruments they played. Members are presented with the lead singers first and the rhythm section and background singers last. Replacement members then follows in the order they joined. Some groups, like Archimedes Badkar and Södra Bergens Balalaikor, had so many lineup changes that only the members who appeared on the records are included. Members who left bands prior to 1967 are not included either. A band member index is included at the end of this book.
All listings within each section are alphabetical, utilizing the Swedish language alphabet - the letters ä, å and ö follow the letter z - with acts alphabetized by surname. Boldfaced names appear as a reference to indicate that an act has an entry in the Artists section.
Album and EP titles are italicized in the text and song titles appear in regular typeface with "citation" marks in the biographies. Swedish-language titles use the traditional form of the initial letter of the first word and only proper names following being capitalized, while every word in English-language titles have initial capital letters. Some English language titles are misspelled or incorrectly com pounded but are left in their original form as they appear on the records. Language translations are indicated within [brackets] except for the italicized names of acts and compilation album titles that appear with a heading.
| ■ | The record was released with art/picture sleeve and is pictured in the book. |
| □ | The record was released with art/picture sleeve, but it is not pictured. |
| ● | The record was released without art/picture sleeve, but it’s label is pictured. |
| ○ | The record was released without art/picture sleeve and is not pictured. |
| (S) | 7 inch single |
| (S12) | 12 inch maxi single |
| (EP) | 7 inch extended play |
| (LP10) | 10 inch album |
The availability and actual value of a near-mint condition record based on current estimated cost - or, in other words, how easily obtainable and affordable the best possible quality is - are the criteria that determine its Valuation.
Many records have been re-issued, some several times and some on compact disc, but only the original vinyl release is considered. It is not unusual for prices of the same record of the same quality to fluctuate and, of course, estimates of value differ from seller to seller or from one geographic area to another. The true value depends on availability and demand.
Thus, the Valuation provides an aid in determining the value for those exploring the cost of acquiring a record or for those appraising an existing collection. A low star (★) count means it should be inexpensive, although it may or may not be easy to procure. With seven plus stars it should, in all likelihood, be quite expensive and difficult to find.
| ★ | 1 | Record with minimal value. |
| ★★ | 2 | |
| ★★★ | 3 | |
| ★★★★ | 4 | |
| ★★★★★ | 5 | |
| ★★★★★★ | 6 | |
| ★★★★★★★ | 7 | |
| ★★★★★★★★ | 8 | |
| ★★★★★★★★★ | 9 | |
| ★★★★★★★★★★ | 10 | Extreme rarity. Very expensive. |