Members uncredited
This obscure trio released one psychedelic single for Hans Edler's Marilla label in 1971. The A-side is an instrumental in the vein of Baby Grandmothers, while the B-side has vocals in English, both with a basement feel.
| 1971 | ■ | X:et / Look Til You Find (S) | Marilla MAS97 | ★★★★★★★7 |
Radiomöbel was formed in Lund in 1973. Their début album, Tramseböx, was recorded in Andrus Kangro's basement in 1975 with just a Revox tape recorder and two microphones. The mostly Swedish-language vocals were added in a professional studio and the band pressed 250 copies on their own label Chockskivor. The album delivers strange primitive music with a dark feel and is highly sought after by collectors of rare psychedelia. Simonsson, Sundin and Mårtensson had all left by the time of the second album and new recruits included female vocalist Carin Bohman. The music was more progressive, but still retained a basement feel. Radiomöbel continued with several line-up changes and made two compilation appearances in the 80's before folding in 1994. Both of their albums have been reissued on CD by the Transubstans label.
| 1975 | ■ | Tramseböx | Chockskivor 1 | ★★★★★★★★★9 |
| 1978 | ■ | Gudang garam | Chockskivor 2 | ★★★★★★6 |
See also Compilations
This band was formed in Kalmar in 1972 by Peter Bryngelsson and the Strindberg brothers and is probably the ultimate example of the Swedish progressive sound. They went through several line-ups before getting serious in 1974 and began touring Sweden full time with Nabo, Sörensson and Ohlsson in the fold. The acclaimed début is Ragnarök's masterpiece, slow and instrumental, with a touch of aggression beneath the lush and gentle compositions. Bryngelsson was also a member of Kung Tung and their drummer Thomas Wiegert signed on for Fjärilar i magen, which also included Dan Söderqvist (Älgarnas Trädgård) and saxophonist Kjell Karlgren. By now, the music had a heavier sound on tracks like "Adrenalin" and "Var glad var dag", while still retaining the trademark mellow style on others. Ragnarök made two more albums before breaking up in 1984. A brief reunion without Bryngelsson resulted in one more album in 1991.
| 1976 | ■ | Ragnarök | Silence SRS 4633 | ★★★★4 |
| 1979 | ■ | Fjärilar i magen | Silence SRS 4655 | ★★★3 |
Singer/songwriter Dan Hylander formed many line-ups of this rock band before winning the Rockbjörnen award as the country's most popular band in 1984. While traveling India in the 70's, Hylander met the revolutionary party Dalit Panthers and they became the subject for his debut single, which featured Mats Norrefalk (Saga) and Häkan Nyberg (Lotus). The eponymous first album featured prominent musicians like Peter O Ekberg, Peter Clemmedson (Hoola Bandoola Band) and Per Melin (Nationalteatern). Hylander's unique non-rhyming Swedish lyrics were not overtly political but the message was there. The mostly instrumental African-style track, "Weka Ujamaa", was written by Roland Gottlow, who was the only member remaining for the second album. New recruits included "Fellis" Fjellström and a returning Nyberg, who both played with Björn Afzelius and Mikael Wiehe. The band went through still more changes in the 80's and was now known as Dan Hylander & Py Bäckman & Raj Montana Band.
| 1977 | ■ | Dalit Panther/ Celliv (S) | Amalthea AMS3 | ★1 |
| 1978 | ■ | Raj Montana Band | Amalthea AM4 | ★1 |
| 1979 | ■ | Döende oskuld | Amalthea AM12 | ★1 |
Mikael Ramel is the son of the legendary Povel Ramel, whose witty tunes from the 40's and onwards have made him one of the Swedish national treasures. They recorded a single together in 1965 before Mikael formed Steainpacket the same year. He played all the instruments himself on his first solo EP, released in January 1967. Of special note is the track "Bara ett par dar", which was also recorded by Ste-ampacket in a version that featured a prominent fuzz guitar. 1967 also saw a single relased by Mikael & Michael, a collaboration between Ramel and engineer Michael B Tretow. Ramel started working on his first solo album in 1969, painstakingly putting it together in his home studio. He wasn't done until three years later. At the time of the release of Till dej, Ramel was a member of Flasket Brinner, whose Bengt Dahlen (guitar) and Erik "Kapten" Dahlbäck (drums) are among the core musicians on the album. The others included Steampacket's Anders Nord (keyboards) and Stefan Höglund (bass) as well as Sören Hansen (congas). Till dej is a great effort of inventive and witty Swedish-language experimental folk psychedelia. Extravagansa features more of the same and was made by the same core musicians. 1977's 3:dje skivan is more polished and - except for the stand-out track, "Gurus att anamma" - the experimenting is kept at bay. The album features the rhythm section of Kaj Söderström (bass, keyboards) and Hempo Hillden (drums). Both were members of Splash and that entire band plays on half of the tracks on Ramel's last 70's album, Rycker dej i svansen. Mikael Ramel continues making music today, although his main occupation is that of a music therapist.
| 1967 | ■ | Mikael Ramel (EP) | Knäppupp KNEP165 | ★★★★★5 |
| 1972 | ■ | Till dej | Ljudspår EFG-7205 | ★★★★★5 |
| 1974 | ■ | Extravagansa | Ljudspår EFG-501 | ★★★★4 |
| 1977 | ■ | 3:dje skivan | YTF 50320 | ★★★3 |
| 1979 | □ | Till dej (Re-issue) | Sonet SLP 2637 | ★★★3 |
| 1979 | ■ | Rycker dej i svansen | Sonet SLP-2650 | ★★2 |
During a break from Samla Mammas Manna, Lasse Hollmer and Coste Apetrea toured with this quintet throughout Sweden. Bill Öhrström was a member of Flasket Brinner and both Eriksson and Wallander played on Samla Mammas Manna's album Snorungarnas Symfoni. The best live tapes from this tour were transferred to vinyl, and the sound quality is surprisingly good. The music is mostly wild, stylish interpretations of East European folk music. Ulf Wallander was also in Renhjärta and Arbete & Fritid. The album was reissued on CD in 1993 as Nights Without Frames, another way of translating the band's name into English.
| 1978 | ■ | Ramlösa kvällar | Silence SRS 4648 | ★★★3 |
Torkel Rasmusson previously sang with Movement pioneers Guilder Hägg / Blå Taget, and his solo albums are very much like that band's later recordings. The Swedish lyrics are always well-crafted but his peculiar voice makes you cither love or hate his albums. On Kalla tårar he was backed up by five members of Archimedes Badkar as well as Mats G Bengtsson (keyboards), Ola Backlund (guitar) and Sigge Krantz (bass), all of whom joined Rasmusson in Stockholm Norra the following year. Torkel Rasmusson made two more solo albums in the 80's.
| 1977 | ■ | Kalla tårar | MNW 76P | ★★2 |
Members uncredited
Raunchy came from Stockholm and released one single on Hazze Östlund's Scam label, home of Solid Ground, Great Ad and 4 Ever. "Flygmaskinen" is a mellow psychedelic number, while the B-side is a rock song about life in the suburbs. Both tracks are sung in Swedish and were written by one P. Oksa.
| 1975 | ■ | Flygmaskinen / Orminge Centrum (S) | Scam SS008 | ★★★★★★★7 |
After disbanding King George Discvovery, American George Clemons formed this band with a bunch of fellow country men, staying in Sweden to avoid serving in the Vietnam war. They recorded one single of funky heavy blues for MNW subsidiary label Green Light and made one summer tour backing members of the cast of Hår, including Bill Öhrström (Fläsket Brinner), Pyret Moberg (Diddlers), Kisa Magnusson (Heta Linjen) and Stoffe of "Dom kallar oss mods" fame. Drummer Dave Spann went on to join Vildkaktus.
| 1971 | ■ | Last Train To Gerorgia / Far, Far Away (S) | Green Light 33S | ★★★★★★★7 |
This album from the late artist Carsten Regild is a strange affair. Apart from two pieces by Regild, it is a collage of sounds provided by others, which he produced at the Fylkingen studio. Contributions comes from emerimentalists like Åke Hodell, Bengt Nordström, Rolf Börjlind and Jan-Olov Mallander. Also included are tracks taken from albums by fellow Gump artists Sten Bergman and Joakim Skogsberg as well as a song left over from Pugh's On The Rocks album. Hans Anton Knall then electronically treated the collage and used it as a basis for his composition "Merde", which takes up the entire B-side.
| 1975 | ■ | Voice Of The Wolf | Gump 7 | ★★★★★★★7 |
This band was formed in Luleå in 1975 and all members also played on the Anton Swedbergs Swängjäng album the same year. Rekyl cleverly blends political Swedish-language lyrics with rock, blues, folk and progressive elements. The first album also included a Swedish version of the Rolling Stones classic "Street Fighting Man" and the influence of the Stones is evident in the rockier sound of I himlen är detför sent, save for the mellow closing track "Kall vinter". The band did their fair share of touring, but did not want to be full-time musicians as they thought the band would lose contact with the issues on which their message was based. They also provided backing for Thomas Forssell's album Ingenting står stilla as well as Ted Ström's Kärva lägen. Rekyl released two more albums and three more singles in the 80's. Sjöö, Bergman and Hedberg were former members of Ålen & Co, which finished in second in the 1969 nationwide talent contest Sveriges Radios Popbandstävling. The latter two were also in Vi Var Tolv Man I Läget. Björn Sjöö went on to join Norrlåtar and has often been seen on TV as sidekick to comedian Ronny Eriksson.
| 1976 | ■ | Rekyl | Manifest MAN007 | ★★2 |
| 1979 | ■ | I himlen är det för sent | Manifest MAN015 | ★★2 |
This progressive band from Uppsala recorded one highly sought after album of self-penned instrumental tracks. There are also four covers sung in English, including a version of "My Friend" by Jimi Hendrix. The album was released on the California label, home to fellow Uppsala band San Michael's. Cary Wihma went on to join Panta Rei, while Ulf Wallander was later in Ramlösa Kvällar and Arbete & Fritid.
| 1971 | ■ | Glitt glitt | California CLP33506 | ★★★★★★★7 |
This project was produced by Adrian Moar (Baltik) and centered around the late drummer Thomas Rydberg, who had a hand in writing most of the tracks. He was helped out by Hasse Jonsson from his 60's band Rowing Gamblers as well as former Life collegues Anders Nordh and Paul Sundlin. Also participating were people like Stefan Höglund (Steampacket) and Pelle Holm (Kebnekajse). The music is a mixture of psychedelic and progressive rock music with Swedish-language lyrics about starvation, love and celebrating diversity. It also includes the instrumental tracks "Life" and the eight-minute collective improvisation "05.00". The album was pressed in one thousand copies, but nowhere near that many have showed up, making it a rare collector's item. Pelle Holm and Hasse Jonsson both appeared on Scorpion's album, while Höglund played on Mikael Ramel's first two albums. Thomas Rydberg went on to join Nature.
| 1973 | ■ | Resan | Epic EPC 65526 | ★★★★★★★★★9 |
This band played well-crafted soft rock with Swedish-language lyrics in the social realism vein. Bengt O Johansson wrote both sides of their only single and the influence of Bob Dylan is noticable.
| 1977 | ■ | Den stora bron / Rebellernas afton (S) | Respekt Records PK8007 | ★★2 |
Rhapsody was a hard rock band from Lidköping. Some songs on their album featured long progressive passages, including "Belly Dancer" and the nine-minute "Take To The Highway". This is one of the better Swedish hard rock productions of the 70's and was produced by Bob Lander of The Spotnicks. Singer Benny Ahlkvist went on to join Ambra, which then changed their name to Gallery.
| 1978 | ■ | Rhapsody | Tyfon TF-LP75609 | ★★★★★★6 |
See also Compilations
This band was formed in Umeä in 1977 and released one accomplished Swedish-language single with heavy guitars and a progressive touch. They evolved into Umeå Small Band and released two more singles before folding in 1984.
| 1979 | ■ | Berlin / Mitt enda liv (S) | Pop Records PR001 | ★1 |
See also Compilations
This witty and satirical duo met at school in Älmhult in the late 60's and later relocated to Lund. After appearing a few times on the TV-show "Knuff" in 1972, they signed with MNW. Their first album featured both their original duo sound as well as full electric backing from the likes of Rolf Wikström, Greg FitzPatrick, Mats G Bengtsson (Blå Tåget) and MNW honcho Roger Wallis. The opening track "Du känner väl mej" became an instant Movement classic. They then moved to Gothenburg and parts of the second album were recorded in Danielsson's apartment. It also featued two tracks capturing the band in their right element - the live performance. In early 1976 Risken Finns collaborated with the band Karlssons Kloster for the show "Ensamma Hjärtans Shåww". That summer Fernebring moved to Malmö and subsequently went solo as Ferne. Danielsson stayed on in Gothenburg and formed Ensamma Hjärtan with some members of the show.
| 1973 | ■ | Risken finns | MNW 41P | ★★★3 |
| 1975 | ■ | 2:a LP:n | MNW 54P | ★★★3 |
Rockvattnä came from Dorotea in the north of Sweden. They played heavy blues rock with highly political Swedish-language lyrics. There are also some more progressive tracks, including "I timmerskogen" and their version of "Gärdebylåten", a tradtional folk melody made famous by the legendary Hjort Anders Olsson (1865-1952).
| 1979 | ■ | Rockvattnä | Ljudbarrikaden M-L LBLP502 | ★★★★★5 |
This political rock band was formed by the Flinck twins and covered Nationalteatern's "Barn av vår tid" on their first single. In 1980 they released the album Första gången on MNW and a final single on Metronome two years later. Thorsten Flinck went on to become a famous actor and director but lately returned to music and released his first solo album in 2004.
| 1979 | ■ | På lörda e re fest hos Catrin / Barn av vår tid (S) | Rockvindar RVR01 | ★★★★4 |
See Pugh
Tintacs was a 60's pop band from Vaxholm outside Stockholm. Their recording experiments led to the founding of the MNW label. After releasing two singles on Amigo, guitarist Gunder Lindwall left and the others changed their name to Ron Faust by picking random names from the local phone book. They released a final single with some faint progressive moves on the B-side. It came out on MNW, which at this point wasn't yet affiliated with the Movement. Bo Anders Larsson went on to become the resident engineer at MNW and recorded a solo album as Scorpion the following year. It was produced by the notorious American Kim Fowley, who also produced the first LP by Lorne de Wolfe's new band Contact on the same label. In 1975 Larsson and de Wolfe reunited as Vargen, a band that evolved into the successful Hansson de Wolfe United.
| 1969 | ■ | I Wanna Hold You / I Keep On Moving (S) | MNW 03S | ★★★★★5 |
See also Compilations
This Umeå band played Swedish-language rock with socially conscious lyrics. They also released a maxi single in 1983. The Åhdén brothers are renowned guitar collectors while Gillén went on to start the Garageland record label.
| 1979 | ■ | Freda'n är här / Betonglåten (S) | Opel Records OR1 | ★★2 |
This Stockholm band was formed in 1965. Their last two singles are fuzz-induced high quality pop in the vein of Blond. This is not surprising as "A World Of Roses" was written by Blond's Göran Lagerberg. "A Present For Tonight" carries the distinction of being the very first Swedish pop or rock single released in the 70's. It was a soundtrack to the movie "Miss And Mrs Sweden", where the band made a brief appearance performing the song. After the break-up Thomas Rydberg went on to join Life and later Nature. He was also in Resan with Hasse Jonsson, who played on the Scorpion album. Ulf Wahlberg later found international success as part of hit act Secret Service.
| 1969 | ■ | A World Of Roses / My Very Special Dream (S) | Parlophone SD6071 | ★★★★★★6 |
| 1970 | ■ | A Present For Tonight / Taken For A Ride (S) | Toniton TONS104 | ★★★★★★6 |
Nils-Åke Runeson started his career with Hässleholm 60's band Twinkleton. His début solo album was produced by Claes af Geijerstam and is surprisingly progressive for the commercial release it really was. Highlights include "Längtans väntan" and "Her Seventh Floor" and among the stellar cast of musicians we find Janne Schaffer, Björn Linder (Blond), Wlodek Gulgowski (Made In Sweden), Mike Watson (Marsfolket) and Benny Andersson (ABBA). Runeson's subsequent 70's releases are more mainstream. He competed twice in the Swedish heat of the Eurovision Song Contest and is still active.
| 1974 | ■ | Runeson | Polar POLS 255 | ★★2 |
This band was formed in the Stockholm suburb Bromma in 1971 and after some line-up changes did their first gig three years later. Their only album features heavy rock sung both in English and Swedish. Of particular interest are the tracks "Sanningsserum" and "Det kan väl inte vara farligt", which perfectly display the band's raw progressive style - sounding somewhat similar to Asoka. Warnerbring and Sandberg left in early 1976 and were replaced by Lantz and Edgren, but the band did not last long. "Nysse" Nyström went on to join popstar Magnus Uggla's backing band Strix Q. Jonas Warnerbring is the son of the famous singer Östen Warnerbring. Räg i ryggen was reissued on CD by the Transubstans label in 2005.
| 1975 | ■ | Råg i ryggen | Rondo RON-ST-114 | ★★★★★★★7 |
This band was formed in Uppsala in 1971 as Libbet Sväller. Released in November 1977, their privately pressed album, Uppsala stadsliolel brinner, appeals to both punk fans and collectors of progressive rock alike. While some songs on the A-side are typical punk rock of the late 70's, the rest are experimental and progressive instrumentals, with a guest appearance by Samla Mammas Manna's Hasse Bruniusson on the title track. Rävjunk then turned into a full-blown punk band for their following releases, including the notorious "Bohman, Bohman", which was banned by Swedish radio. Still, they couldn't hide their progressive roots and several songs feature great guitar work. There's even a progressive instrumental track on their EP, where Hans Lundin (Kaipa) guested on keyboards. Rävjunk released one more single in 1980.
| 1977 | ■ | Uppsala stadshotel brinner | Rävjunk JJ 27 | ★★★★★★★★8 |
| 1979 | ■ | Bohman, Bohman / All Along The Watchtower (S) | SUB z-100 | ★★★★★5 |
| 1979 | ■ | EP med Rävjunk (EP) | SUB z-102 | ★★★★4 |
See also Compilations
| 1976 | ■ | Röda Bönor | MNW 74P | ★★2 |
| 1978 | ■ | Sköna skrönor | MNW 91P | ★★2 |
This political folk-rock band was formed in 1972 and was closely affiliated to the left-wing party VPK in Gothenburg. The first EP was recorded in the summer of 1973 together with members of their Stockholm counterpart, Unga Gardet. Later that year, Röda Kapellet split in two parts - one acoustic and one electric - each keeping the original band name. The members of the electric side are mentioned first in the above list. The two bands performed both together and separately, mostly at political happenings. They also recorded an album together consisting of six electric tracks, three acoustic and two combining both elements. The result is a classic left-wing album with highly political lyrics and good musicianship, much in the vein of Knutna Nävar. In 1976, the electric part of the band decided to record the progressive album Party Music. The longest track "Lärling" clocks in at over 16 minutes. Röda Kapellet continued playing together well into the 80's, even though no records were released. Britt Ling went on to Göteborgs Visgrupp and Göteborgs Brechtenseinble. Englishman Philip Tagg was previously a member of 60's band The Nazz from Filipstad alongside Par David Johnsson (Nature). Tagg is currently a Professor of Musicology at the University of Montréal, Canada.
| 1973 | ■ | Unga Gardet / Röda Kapellet (EP) | Arbetarkultur AKEP01 | ★★★3 |
| 1974 | ■ | Röda Kapellet | Avanti AVLP-01 | ★★★3 |
| 1976 | ■ | Party Music | Avanti AVLP-02 | ★★★★4 |
This band was formed in 1971. Half of their album is instrumental jazz-rock, while the other half features left-wing Swedish-language lyrics set to music of a variety of styles. Claes Palmkvist was a former member of Contact and later joined Vargen, which also included Röda Lacket's producer Bo Anders Larsson (Scorpion). Folkerman and Lindbjer both played on Tomas Ernvik's project Rockoratoriet brinnande, while Igor Janco has often been seen playing in the band for various TV-shows and was also on Änglabarn's album. Göran Folkestad made two solo albums in the 80's and finished second in the 1984 Swedish heat of the Eurovision Song Contest in a duet with Lotta Pedersen, later known as schlager star Lotta Engberg. This is not the same Röda Lacket as that which appeared on the Befrielsens ord compilation.
| 1974 | ■ | Röda Lacket | Ljudspår EFG-5012087 | ★★2 |
See also Compilations
This Gothenburg band was originally formed as a singing group, but evolved into a rock band in time for their album. Dennis Huntington of Love Explosion wrote several of the songs on the album. It features well-played progressive rock with very political Swedish-language lyrics. Guitarist Clas Yngström was also a member of Soffgruppen and later found fame as the leader of Sky High. Mats Johansson and the late Ingmar Nilsson sometimes performed as the duo Mats & Spingo.
| 1975 | ■ | Spänn bågen | Ungkommunistens förlag MLLP475 | ★★★★★5 |
Anders Folke Rönnblom is one of the most personal songwriters Sweden has produced. He first recorded already in 1964 with Bob Major & The G I's and later with Anders & Nicko. Both bands included bassist Hans Eriksson (later Grapenmark), who also appeared on several of Rönnblom's solo albums. Several songs on Din barndom skall aldrig dö have a childhood theme and the music is playful and inventive, often with a folk-psych or popsike feel. The second album, Ramlösa Kvarn, features more of the same with tablas and electric sitars on some tracks. Much of the experimenting were kept at bay on subsequent albums, but there was still one or two interesting tracks on each album. The third album featured "Desoto" while "Följ med till fabriken" and "Tänk om det händer" were the highlights on Alternativ rock'n'roll cirkus. There was a three year wait until Det hysteriska draget, which included "Mannen på soffan" and "Sagan om Sven". Outside of these two tracks this album signalled a move towards a more rock-based sound that was kept for rest of decade. In 1980 Rönnblom's career reached a new level when he scored a big hit with "Jag kysste henne långsamt" and followed it up with "Det är inte snön som faller". Anders F Rönnblom has an extremely dedicated group of fans which made it possible for him to relase the amazing F-Box in 2004. The box-set included all his 18 albums - with bonus tracks, of course - as well as a DVD and a 192-page book. He is also a renowned graphic designer and also published the luxurious international art magazine EFX Art & Design. His current band comprises of Peter R Ericson (Mobben), Björn Aggemyr (Råg I Ryggen) and Björn Rothstein (Miklagård).
| 1971 | ■ | Din barndom skall aldrig dö | Decca SKL 5103 | ★★★3 |
| 1971 | ● | Sommarnattsregnmoln / Hon håller ut över vinter (S) | Decca F 44566 | ★★★3 |
| 1971 | ● | Uten liten sparv / Jag har hennes nummer (S) | Decca F 44567 | ★★★3 |
| 1972 | ■ | Ramlösa kvarn | Epic EPC 65202 | ★★★3 |
| 1973 | ■ | Måsarna lämnar Gotland och hela Sverige tittar på | Epic EPC 65802 | ★★★3 |
| 1974 | ■ | Alternativ rock 'n' roll cirkus | Epic EPC 80335 | ★★2 |
| 1977 | ■ | Det hysteriska draget / Skratta tills tåget går (S) (Promo) | Tyfon TF-S 124 | ★★2 |
| 1977 | ■ | Det hysteriska draget | Tyfon TFLP 75079 | ★★2 |
| 1978 | ■ | Komedia - en tripp nerför Tarschan Boulevard | Tyfon TFLP 75605 | ★★2 |
| 1979 | ■ | Ruby doobie / Går inget tåg till himlen (S) | Mercury 6062 062 | ★★2 |
| 1979 | ■ | Vem har satt mina änglar i bur | Mercury 6363 025 | ★★2 |