My love of Swedish pop music actually predates ABBA. Even though I didn’t know it was Swedish at the time, one of my earliest favourite songs was “Hooked On A Feeling” by the band, “Blue Swede” featuring Björn Skifs. I only discovered the Swedish link when Björn appeared in “Chess” the musical by Björn and Benny from ABBA, and I started looking into the back catalogue of the various artists. And that’s when I discovered the Swedish connection to one of my favourite childhood songs.… Read the rest “Artister spelar för livet”
It’s late in the afternoon, it’s four degrees and it’s sunny. In fact, you could almost say it was warm. The weather is in stark contast to yesterday when it snowed for most of the day. By late afternoon, the snow was no longer looking as exotic as it once did to a lad from downunder.
So I retired to my tiny room in Hotel Micro (the one without windows) for a few hours of watching Swedish television.… Read the rest “Sno och sol”
“I’ve got a spread-sheet listing accommodation, transportation and entertainment on a day to day basis”, I told Damien when we chatted online today. “I’m sure you have”, he replied. I think Damien thinks I tend to overplan things, whereas my friend Graeme thinks I underplan things. For example, I’m sure Graeme thinks I should have purchased thermal underwear by now, whereas I’m happy to wait until I get to Sweden to see if I need it, and then to purchase the right kind of thermal underwear for the climate.… Read the rest “Travel Planning”
There’s a fabulous new clip on Youtube of Helen Sjöholm singing “You Have To Be There” from the musical Kristina.
It’s a song I first became aware of in the mid 90s as a the Swedish song “Du Måste Finnas”, literally, “You Must Exist”.
It’s in the musical – based on the Vilhelm Moberg books – about a group of Swedish immigrants who move to the United States in the 1900s and who find life difficult there.… Read the rest “Swedish Concerts”