This legendary guitarist started his long and illustrious career in Stubinerna, a 60's band that released an ten inch album in Romania, of all places. Next up was a spell in Grapes Of Wrath before he formed the highly influential trio Made In Sweden in 1968. That band backed him on his solo début, the acclaimed children's album Goda' goda', with lyrics by author Barbro Lindgren. Wadenius quickly became a leading session musician, both as a bassist and guitarist. He appeared on albums by numerous artists, including Pugh, Bernt Staf and troubadour legend Cornelis Vreeswijk. After playing in Solar Plexus, he moved to the USA in 1972 to join mega stars Blood, Sweat & Tears. Back in Sweden in 1976, he formed a new version of Made In Sweden and later recorded the English-language Georg Wadenius together with Stefan Nilsson (Kornet), Matz Nilsson (Soffgruppen) and Peter Sundell (Egba). Following the death of Barbro Lindgren, he recorded Puss, puss, sant, sant, featuring her lyrics, and also found time for a stint in De Gladas Kapell. He then returned to the New York session scene, playing on albums by the likes of Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick and Donald Fagen. He composed and/or arranged over 600 jingles for various companies and was a member of the band for TV-show Saturday Night Live between 1979 and 1985. There were no more solo albums until 1987's Cleo. Since moving to America he has preferred to be known as Georg Wadenius, but all Swedes still refers to him as "Jojje". He currently lives in Norway.
| 1969 | ■ | Goda' goda' | Metronome MLP15350 | ★★★★★5 |
| 1969 | ● | Mitt sår / Sången om Kalle (S) | Metronome J27 049 | ★★2 |
| 1971 | ■ | Goda' goda' * (Danish release) | Columbia 062-38060 | ★★★★★★6 |
| 1978 | ■ | Georg Wadenius | Frituna FRLP-125 | ★★2 |
| 1978 | ■ | Puss, puss, sant, sant | Sonet SLP-2626 | ★★★★4 |
This Kalmar teen band released a hard rocking single on Ulf Bejerstrand's Grisbäck label. Despite the English titles, both sides are sung in Swedish. The A-side feature social commentary while the flip is a tale about a progressive band becoming a punk band.
| 1979 | ■ | This Is Life / Wagabond (S) | Grisbäck GRIS7906 | ★★2 |
This duo recorded one album of soft folk-rock and acoustic blues with a basement feel. It featured both English and Swedish lyrics. This was the only album released on the tiny Tronick label.
| 1971 | ■ | Skogsrock | Tronick TRL101 | ★★★★★5 |
Originally named Klara Express, this jazz-rock band was formed in 1975 by Egba members Ulf Adåker, Bjarne Roupé and Åke Eriksson along with Bosse Häggström (Made In Sweden, Solar Plexus) and a very young Nils Landgren. When Adåker, Roupé and Landgren left, the remaining members were forced to change the name of the band. Wasa Express was a supreme display of heavy jazz-rock. The second album, On With The Action, was half jazz-rock and the other half was mainsteam rock sung in English. Soon the band noticed there was more work to be found as a rock band and changed their musical direction accordingly. Singer Roger Holegård (Neon Rose) was brought in for their last two commercial rock albums, Till attack and Schack matt, before the band broke up in December 1979. "Dr Åke" Eriksson formed pop band Attack with Björn Uhr (Solid Ground) while Cary Sharaf el Din moved to the USA and played with AOR rocker Billy Squier. Wasa Express reformed briefly in 1986 as a hard rock band and then again in 2003 as a jazz-rock band. They have since made two albums with new material, the second was 2005's Goes To Hollywood, recorded directly in 5.1 surround sound.
| 1977 | ■ | Wasa Express | Sonet SLP-2594 | ★★2 |
| 1977 | ■ | Wasa Express (Finnish release) | Love LRLP239 | ★★★3 |
| 1977 | ■ | On With The Action | Sonet SLP-2608 | ★★2 |
| 1978 | □ | On With The Action (Finnish release) | Love LRLP279 | ★★★3 |
| 1978 | ■ | On With The Action (UK release, with different tracks) | Sonet SNTF-771 | ★★★3 |
This guitarist was only sixteen when he joined Örebro band Blues Quality in 1968. They recorded one album with Peps Persson before evolving into Nature two years later. Wellander's first solo album Electrocuted was produced by Claes af Geijerstam and contained mostly funky jazz-rock. The highlights were the progressive instrumentals "Knutstorp Sparkling" and "Overnight In Neaples", which featured UK organist Dave Greenslade (Colosseum). There was also Wellander's beautiful composition "Lingonskogen", previously known in Pugh's vocal version as "Slavsång". Lasse Wellander went on to inherit Janne Schaffer's throne as Sweden's leading studio guitarist and has appeared on over 1500 different records. He did many sessions for ABBA and also toured the world with them alongside Nature partner Mats Ronander. This connection led to the release of the commercial rock album Wellander & Ronander on the Polar label in 1978. Lasse Wellander resumed his solo career in 1985 with the album "Full hand".
| 1976 | ■ | Electrocuted | Sonet SLP-2574 | ★★2 |
Bo Anders Holm formed Malmö band White already in the late 60's. Bassist Göran Prahl joined ship in 1978. Thomas Grün is credited on the album cover, but the drums were actually played by his predecessor Göran Olsson. The album was reportedly recorded in three different versions, with vocals either in Swedish, English or Danish. Only the Swedish version was relased, with the opening track "Hit The Sky" sung in English. It is a heavy progressive album with some mellow passages of harmony vocals. The band broke up in 1981. Göran Olsson is now with psychedelic rockers Drahk von Trip.
| 1979 | ■ | I denna samling | Polydor 2379 155 | ★★★★★5 |
See also Compilations
Leading Movement spokesman Mikael Wiehe had first recorded already in 1963 as a saxophonist with Cooling's Trad Jazzmen, a band which included future cohorts Povel Randén (trombone) and Frans Sjöström (saxophone). When Wiehe dissolved Hoola Bandoola Band in 1976, he embarked on an extraordinarily successful solo career. His new band, Kabaréorkestern, enabled him to experiment with many different musical styles. Their first release was actually as a backing band for troubador Finn Zetterholm. Then followed Sjömansvisor, which included Wiehe's most famous song "Titanic". Their last album, Elden är lös, is credited as Kabaréorkestern only and showcases great symphonic rock with musical maturity and earnest Swedish lyrics. Unusually, the album was not entirely written by Wiehe, but also featured contributions from Möller and Lindberg. The band released a split single with Björn Afzelius in 1980 before calling it quits. Wiehe then formed the cumbersomely named band Mikael Wiehe, Nyberg, Franck & Fjellis and has had continued success into the new Millennium. Chico Lindvall, who was a former member of Lotus, joined Tolvan Big Band, while Göran Skytte went on to become a TV personality. Multi-instrumentalist Ale Möller is nowadays known as Sweden's foremost champion of world music.
| 1977 | ■ | Längtans blåa elefant * | YTF 50183 | ★1 |
| 1978 | ■ | Sjömansvisor | MNW 82P | ★1 |
| 1979 | ■ | Eitlen är lös ** | Amalthea AM10 | ★1 |
See also Compilations
Thomas Wiehe started his career with the Moccers in 1966. The band included older brother Mikael Wiehe and reached the final of the nationwide talent contest, Sveriges Radios Popbandstävling, in 1969. Singing in English at the time, they declined a record deal as the conditions forced them to sing in Swedish. Moccers was finally heard on disc when a retrospective CD was released in 2004. Thomas Wiehe's solo albums are more experimental than those of his brother's. I rummet intill is a quiet affair with mellow songs and poetic Swedish-language lyrics that match the dreamy soundscape. Drömskugga was recorded together with Första Förbandet and included the experimental "Raga vid det relativas nollpunkt". Another highlight was the progressive instrumental "Leve de vilda strejkerna". This was written by the late guitarist Jan-Erik "Fjellis" Fjellström, who went on to play with Raj Montana Band, Mikael Wiehe and Peps Persson. In 1975 Thomas Wiehe wrote the music for an album based on the classic children's TV show Vilse i pannkakan. On his subsequent albums, Wiehe developed a pronounced left-wing stance with shorter songs. Mögel featured contributions from Tomas Forssell, while Ale Möller and Anita Livstrand helped achieve an eastern feel for Tårta och raketer. His last 70's album, Två vindar, was recorded live. The instrumental track "Vårvind" effectively displays Thomas Wiehe's phenomenal prowess on acoustic guitar. He went on to release four more albums until 1990.
| 1973 | ■ | I rummet intill | Silence SRS 4614 | ★★★3 |
| 1974 | ■ | Drömskugga | Silence SRS 4626 | ★★★3 |
| 1975 | ■ | Vilse i pannkakan * | Silence SRS 4631 | ★★★★4 |
| 1975 | ■ | Mögel | Silence SRS 4632 | ★★★3 |
| 1977 | ■ | Tårta och raketer | Silence SRS 4644 | ★1 |
| 1978 | ■ | Två vindar | Silence SRS 4650 | ★1 |
See also Compilations
Blues guitarist and singer Rolf Wikström made his first vinyl appearance by guesting on Underground Failure's album. They returned the favour by releasing his first single on their Tibet-46 label. Wikström was a member of Slim's Blues Gang and Löpande Bandet and also played on sessions for the likes John Holm, Kjell Höglund, Ola Magnell, Risken Finns and Turid. For his first album, Rolf Wikström dropped the Cool Hambone moniker used for his début in favour of his real name for a long and successful solo career that is still going strong. His Swedish lyrics are political but not nearly as much as other Movement artists. Wikström's backing band between 1976 and 1988 was named Hjärtslag and included long-serving drummer Ali Lundbohm (Vildkaktus, Contact), who first appeared on 1978's Jävla måndag and stayed until the end. The last 70's album, Ljudklapp från studio Decibel - Digitalinspelade, was only pressed in 400 copies and given away as Christmas gifts. It gained a proper release in 1980 as Digitalis. When personalized license plates were introduced in Sweden in the late 80's, Wikström quickly registered "BLUES" for his SAAB.
| 1972 | ■ | I'm So Tired Of It / Supervisor Blues * (S) | Tibet-46 TS-2 | ★★★★4 |
| 1975 | ■ | Sjung svenska folk | Ljudspår EFG-5012117 | ★★★3 |
| 1976 | □ | Sjung svenska folk (Reissue) | MNW 61P | ★1 |
| 1977 | ■ | Hjärtslag | Alternativ ALP-8 | ★★2 |
| 1978 | ■ | Jävla måndag | MNW 85P | ★★2 |
| 1979 | ■ | Den åttonde dagen | Metronome MLP 15.642 | ★★2 |
| 1979 | ■ | Ljudklapp från studio Decibel - Digitalinspelade (Promo) | Decibel db-79-01 | ★★★3 |