The May episode of Nordic Rox on Sirius XM was partly dedicated to the Swedish band November. Sven tells it’s going to be another special, retrospective, extravaganza pop show from the Nordic countries. Per adds they have an exciting setlist.
PG remembers November from the time he was a kid in the late 60’s, early 70’s. The guys plan to play three of their songs which Per is sure we haven’t heard before. Sven tells the band didn’t stay together that long. They are considered to be Sweden’s first hard rock band. They were inspired by Cream and Led Zeppelin. Mr. G tells November was a trio, guitar, bass and drums and the bass player, Christer Stålbrandt wrote most of the songs and he was also the lead singer. There is lots of blues in the background and they were all great musicians.
Before getting down to those three November songs, Sven and Per play Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) by ABBA.
The next track is by The Soundtrack of Our Lives, one of their classic rock ’n’ roll songs, Nevermore. Per thinks it’s a great track. He says the drummer was probably out having lunch, because there is no drums in this one. Sven adds that the guitarist took over the mix and they just finished it. PG says „and they released the record without the drummer knowing it”. Haha. Per says it has a very special sound to it and it’s a wonderful track by a wonderful band.
The third song on the show is (Do You Get) Excited? by Roxette. Sven asks Per if he got excited when he heard the song now. Per tells it’s from the Joyride album and he thinks it’s one of the greatest Roxette tracks. Marie is singing just so beautifully. Jonas Isacsson plays the lead guitars here and he is doing an amazing job. It was recorded in 1990 at the EMI studio in Stockholm and sounds really cool. It’s one of the best tracks on Joyride, if you ask Per. That’s his humble opinion. Sven asks if he can zoom back in time when he hears the song, being in the studio and if he remembers anything from the recording. Per’s simple answer is „no” and the guys are laughing. But he remembers writing the song. They wrote it together with Mats MP Persson and he was really proud of all these modulations. They did that to make the song different. It was written for Marie to sing. Per loves the title and the whole thing about it. It was a great track from day 1, he thinks. „Says a visibly proud Per Gessle”, Sven says. PG’s reaction is „I’m blushing here”. Haha.
The next one is What Would Joan Jett Do? by The Launderettes, the Norwegian wonders, as Per calls them. Mr. G loves the title of the song and so does Sven. Sven asks „what would she do?” Per answers „she would love that song for sure”. PG also loves that guitar riff, it’s just amazing, he thinks and it’s impossible to play. He tried, but he couldn’t. Sven tells some say that a really great track should be able to play on an acoustic guitar, but he doesn’t think that applies to garage rock. The guys are laughing.
Starting the November special, Sven informs that the band got their name after the month, because they had their first gig in November. Their first album was En ny tid är här… (A new time has come…), released in 1970. The band was formed in Vällingby, a Stockholm suburb. The drummer, Björn Inge and the bassist Christer Stålbrandt formed the band with a British guitarist, Snowy White from Thin Lizzy. Sven doesn’t know what Snowy White was doing in Sweden. He asks Per what he thinks, if Snowy was chasing girls. PG says „probably. Everyone was doing that. Even them.” Sven tells they have to take a little break and listen to Snowy let the guitar loose in Thin Lizzy. So they play a bit of his guitar playing. Sven asks Mr. G if he bought the November album when it came out. PG tells his brother bought the debut album and Per bought the second album. He thinks the debut album is their best. It’s got some really great tracks. What was interesting at the time is that they were singing in Swedish. That was the period of time when suddenly everyone started to sing in Swedish. It was basically forbidden for some reason in the 60’s. Everyone was singing in English. Sven tells people thought it sounded a bit jerky to sing in Swedish. But it made sense, according to Per and suddenly there were bands like November and it sounded totally natural. The sound of the band is very raw, Per thinks, the mix is raw, but it sounds really cool. The guys play one of the band’s major hits, Mount Everest, the album opener on the first record.
Sven asks Per if he could see November live, but then he realizes that it was impossible, because Per was too small back then. PG confirms he was too young, but since Sven is much older than Per, he must have seen them. Sven tells he saw them in his hometown, Växjö in a tech gymnasium. He was 14, he was barely let in and he can’t remember that much. More than that he was severely impressed by the band and being there, trying to chat with some girls with moderate success. Haha.
The next November song is En annan värld (Another world). Sven says there is some serious frenzy from the drummer, Björn Inge. Per thinks he is a great technical drummer and he tells there is a lot of Ginger Baker inspiration here.
Snowy White went back to England, being disappointed by not getting success with the Swedish girls or whatever, Sven jokes. He was replaced by Richard Rolf, an amazing, young guitarist. Per tells he played an SG guitar. He got a great sound, Mr. G always loved his guitar sound. Richard is still around, still plays. His guitar sound was very much part of the distinctive sounds of the band. Sven tells the band toured endlessly for three years, they made three albums and then they ran out of gas. Per reacts „who can blame them”.
The third and last song by November is En ny tid är här on the show.
It’s time for some more contemporary rock, Sven thinks, so they play a song from 1998. They are lauging. Malmö band Wilmer X comes with För dum för pop. Per says Wilmer X is a great band. They are a blues band with a pop side to it. Nisse Hellberg writes the songs, he is a great pop guy, PG thinks. He writes wonderful pop ditties, once in a while. Haha. För dum för pop is one of Per’s favourite songs. He thinks it’s a great title and translates it into English as „Too stupid for pop”. Sven says „we can both recognize ourselves in that title”. PG’s reaction is „absolutely” and they are laughing.
Titiyo comes next with Lovin’ Out Of Nothing from 2004, written by Niclas Frisk from Atomic Swing. Per thinks it still sounds really cool.
The guys stay in southern Sweden, because there is so much good music coming out of there. The Men is a band formed from other garage bands, e.g. The Sinners and The Girls. When they grew up, they decided to get together, do business together and call themselves The Men. They are modsters, Sven tells, very hardcore, inspired by the Britih mod scene 1964-1966. The vespa thing, the clothing. The song the guys play, Don’t is a duet between the singer, Sven Köhler and his daughter who is rather disbelieving.
The last song is Big Big World by Emilia. Per really likes this track. It was everywhere on Swedish radio back then and it’s still got this instant hook in there. Sven says it couldn’t be simpler. Per agrees and thinks it’s just amazing. Everytime he hears it, he wishes he wrote it. The guys are laughing and say goodbye.
As usual, Anita Lindblom’s Cigarettes is closing the show.
Still is from the Bag of Trix comment videos recorded by Anders Roos.
Thanks for your support, Sven!