Blue Swede
| Blue Swede | |
|---|---|
 The band in 1974. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Genres | Pop rock |
| Years active | 1973–1975 |
| Labels | Capitol |
| Past members |
Björn Skifs Bosse Liljedahl Anders Berglund Hinke Ekestubbe Jan Guldback Michael Areklew Tommy Berglund |
Blue Swede was a Swedish rock band from the early to mid-1970s. Their most successful releases were cover versions.
Career
Blue Swede was first formed in 1973, when Björn Skifs, a top vocalist in Sweden, was looking for a band to accompany him during his concerts.[1] The band was originally called "Blåblus" (Swedish for "blue blouse", a pun on the word "blues") and featured Skifs singing the lead vocals. The band got their international breakthrough in 1974 with their cover of the 1968 B. J. Thomas song "Hooked on a Feeling." Blue Swede recorded Thomas' song in 1973, but based its rendition of the song on a 1971 version released by British pop eccentric Jonathan King, which used the ooga-chaka ooga-chaka background. Blue Swede released "Hooked on a Feeling" in Sweden in May 1973 and in the United States in February 1974. The song reached #1 in the U.S. for one week April 1974 and stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 18 weeks. The track also topped charts in Canada, Australia and the Netherlands, where it reached a peak chart position of 26.[1] To capitalize on the success of the song, Blue Swede also released an album of the same name.
The group also had a U.S. Top 10 hit with a cover of The Association's "Never My Love", peaking at #7. The group recorded a medley of "Hush" by Deep Purple and "I'm Alive" by Tommy James and the Shondells (not The Hollies' song of the same name), which achieved its greatest success in Scandinavia, only reaching #61 in the U.S. They also charted at #81 in the U.S. with "Silly Milly". Blue Swede also recorded a cover of Cher's "Half-Breed"