The best singer of them all turns 56 today! The Roxetteblog team wishes Marie Fredriksson a wonderful day with family and friends.
For us, her birthday is reason enough to go back some years. (Photo: Kirsten Ohlwein/Kiwein)
You’ll find more videos on an article we wrote about Marie in June 2013.
Marie in 1982:
Marie in 1983:
Marie in 1984:
Marie in 1988:
Marie in 1993:
Marie in 1995:
Marie in 2001:
Marie in 2009:
Marie in 2013:
The band Sandy Mouche, formed by Helena Josefsson, Martinique Josefsson and the brothers Per (drums) and Ola (guitar) Blomgren, just released their latest album “Glory And Grace”. (Release date: 8th May 2013).
Helena Josefsson has previously worked with Per Gessle and sang backing vocals on many of his albums and went on tour with Roxette in 2011 as backing vocals singer.
The album is in English, features a song in French (and sounds very French!) and contains these songs:
The Garden
Rainbow
Glory & Grace
L’elefant dans la Chambre
Jealous
Last Night
Turquoise Water
Centuries
Tears In Time
Hurt
You can buy the album on CDON, Bengans or iTunes or listen to it on Spotify:
Videos for Hurt and Glory & Grace are on YouTube.
It is one of my hobbies to keep a sort of database of Swedish artists and their connections. It is a fact that there are many many artists in Sweden, and many of them have worked together at a certain point in their career. I think specially the time of the 70ies – 80ies was a period of many collaborations. I started with this many years ago and I am trying to bring my paper-excel database into a better platform. Who knows where this will end.
I also have to mention that the fact that I started to listen to the Swedish Per & Marie material opened the doors for me to other Swedish music and some of these artists have become a fix part of my music collection. And this collection is growing year after year.
Gyllene Tider is, of course, no exception, so I wanted to share part of these findings here.
Marie Fredriksson – Sang backing vocals on “The Heartland Café” and duet with GT “Ingenting av vad du behöver” from “Puls”. She also sang “Vandrar i ett sommarregn” with GT on TV and joined GT on stage a couple of times before. On the other side, GT also joined Roxette in 2010 in Halmstad.
Eva Dahlgren – sang “Vandrar i ett sommarregn” in “Puls”. As far as I know, GT never played this song (or any other) live together. It’s about time!
Niklas Strömstedt – sang “Da’n före da’n” with Gyllene Tider, taken from Glitter, glögg & rock ‘n’ roll. Played as musician and sang backing vocals on “The Heartland Café” and other albums. On his TV program “Tack för musiken” he and Lasse Winnerbäck performed “Honung och guld”.
Christoffer Lundquist – Produced Gyllene Tider’s albums “Fin 5 Fel” and “Det är dags att tänka på refrängen”. Ex member of Brainpool. Brainpool and Gyllene Tider sang “My Sweet Lord (she’s so fine)” on TV together.
Wilmer X – joined GT on stage during Återtåget, sung “Marie i växeln” together. They also formed The Lonely Boys together with some of the GT-ers in 1995.
Anne-Lie Rydé – “When Love Is On The Phone” from “The Heartland Café”.
Lasse Lindbom – produced many GT songs and albums. He also recorded some songs written by Per, he performed “För dina bruna ögon skull” on Melodifestivalen in 1980. The song is also recorded by GT.
Clarence Öfwerman – like Christoffer, produced Gyllene Tider’s albums “Fin 5 Fel” and “Det är dags att tänka på refrängen”.
We interviewed Martin Sternhufvud (MaMas Barn), who just released an album “Från ingenting till någonting” (you can listen to it at the bottom of this article and buy it here) and talked with him about his music and many other things.
RXB/ Judith: Hi Martin, we would like to begin with the origins. How and when did you get into music? What instruments do you play?
Well, the impulse to express myself through music came very early in my life, when I was like 9 years old I did my first songs and recorded them on my mother’s cassette-player. But it was in the secondary school when I was 16 years old that I met other friends and we started a band. I remember when I met up with MP at that time and asked him if he wanted to play the drums in our first band. He said: Yes!
RXB/J: Who are your favourite artists and inspiration?
My current absolute favorite artist right now is a Swedish guy who calls himself “The tallest man on earth”. Check it out on Spotify or/and youtube. I enjoy all artists who move from the inner space in some sense – I think that is what touches me as a listener. I want to feel the soul of the other…
So genuine artists as Springsteen, Dylan, Lars Winnerbäck, Bon Iver, Fink, Ebba Forsberg among others may help me to awake to a more genuine reality. I think that’s what art is about.
RXB/J: Could you tell us about the 70ies, how did you get to know Per and Marie and start the band with her (Strul, MaMas Barn)?
Per and I went in the same school and he was kind of eccentric, walked around in suites and a hat (guess he found his inspiration from David Bowie…) which was kind of odd at that kind of post hippie-era! Per was a good friend of a friend of mine so we that was how we first met. Further on we shared the same facilities where our different bands rehearsed.
I remember how Per introduced me to Tom Petty in our chill-out room. I was very impressed by Tom Petty – Per was a great fan to him (and still is I guess).
Marie was the girlfriend of our drummer (not MP – now we are in the late 70’s…). So I asked him if he could bring Marie to the band as the rumor said that she sang very nice…And she did! She blew us all away with her voice…!
Two new wines have been added to the Per Gessle Selection. The Wine Agency, the company distributing the wines, sent out this press release yesterday:
Per Gessle is used to successes and since both critics and the audience loved his Italian wines “Furet” and “Kurt and Lisa” he was more than pleasedwith his debut in the wine business. Now it’s time for two delicious French sequels in the “The Per Gessle Selection”, the “Sommartider” wine boxes, a white and a rosé, which premiere to the world today, April 8th.
Nothing could be more longed for after an eternity long winter than the promise of brighter and warmer times! Per Gessle himself is the one behind the summery boxes’ design which make you think of the lovely, lasy summer days. Together with one of France’s most well-known wine producers, François Lurton, he has created two new wines of southern French grapes.
The white wine “Sommartider” is a delicious combination of gros manseng and souvignon blanc grapes. Fruity and fresh as a summer day with nice notes of citrus, line and blackcurrant. Lovely on its own and very nice with fish, chicken and salads.
The rosé “Sommartirder” is done from 100% Syrah. South France summer with fragance and flavours of raspberry, red currant and herbs. Refreshing and the best summer picnic wine that fits most of meals.
The press release goes on telling about Per Gessle as an artist and the previous two wines, “Furet” and “Kurt & Lisa” as well as about François Lurton.
The two wines can be bought at Systembolaget from now on at a price of 199 SEK / box. They are also available in bottles but only for restaurants.
The links to the wines: