Surprise Surprise (album)

Surprise Surprise is the 1982 studio album of Mezzoforte on Steinar.^[1] Their fourth album – originally released in Iceland as 4 with a different cover – made the band famous worldwide when, after the international release, the single Garden Party hit the charts.^[2]

Background

Earlier in 1982, the second keyboard player, Bjorn Thorarensen who's been with them for their previous two albums, left Mezzoforte. The saxophone player Kristinn Svavarsson became a full member after playing as a guest on the band's first two albums. Surprise Surprise was recorded at PRT Studios, London in July–August 1982 and mixed at Red Bus Studios in September. It was the second time the band worked with producer Geoff Calver in London after the recording of their second album Í Hakanum – released internationally as Mezzoforte and re-released as Octopus in 1996 – in 1980. Despite gaining some popularity and playing concerts in the UK, the album was first released in Iceland in 1982 simply named 4 and then renamed Surprise Surprise for the international release.

Cover

Surprise Surprise was originally released in Iceland as 4 with a different cover, but the record company decided to use the cover of Mezzoforte's third album – Þvílíkt Og Annað Eins, released only in Iceland – for the international release.^[1]^[2] The 1996 remastered version was released with the slightly modified international cover. This edition has a few discrepancies:^[3] Chris Hunter and Bill Eldridge are credited as trumpet and saxophone players respectively – this mistake was even present on the band's official website for a while^[4] – Eirikur Ingolfsson is not credited as percussionist, and Shady Calver is credited on her maiden name: Shady Owens.^[5]

Mezzoforte 4 Icelandic cover art

Garden Party

Garden Party was chosen to be released as a single, even though the band wasn't sure whether to include the song on the album. It became Mezzoforte's biggest hit and charted in most European countries and Japan. After its success the band moved to England and started touring in Europe.^[2] Garden Party has been featured in TV programmes and commercials, gaining even more publicity for Mezzoforte through the years.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Icelandic title	Length
1.	"Surprise"	Eythor Gunnarsson	Fyrsta Paragraf (a)	1:25
2.	"Garden Party"	Eythor Gunnarsson	Sprett Úr Spori	6:00
3.	"Gazing At The Clouds"	Kristinn Svavarsson	Spáðu Í Skýin	6:30
4.	"Early Autumn"	Fridrik Karlsson	Undur Vorsins	6:17
5.	"Action Man"	Eythor Gunnarsson	Fjörkálfur	4:58
6.	"Funk Suite No.1"	Mezzoforte	Fönksvíta Nr. 1 Fyrir Trommur Og Hljómsveit	5:49
7.	"Easy Jack"	Fridrik Karlsson	Rólegur Jakob	4:45
8.	"Fusion Blues"	Fridrik Karlsson	Fusion Blues	5:40
9.	"The Old Neighborhood"	Fridrik Karlsson	Tilhugalíf Í Gamla Bænum	5:32
10.	"Surprise, Reprise"	Eythor Gunnarsson	Fyrsta Paragraf (b)	0:50

Personnel^[3]

Mezzoforte:

Fridrik Karlsson – Guitars (Yamaha and Ibanez electric, Ramirez acoustic), Percussion
Eythor Gunnarsson – Keyboards (Rhodes, MiniMoog, Grand Piano, OBX-A, Jupiter 8, Prophet V, Roland Vocoder), Percussion
Johann Asmundsson – Bass Guitars (JA-Special, Yamaha, Fender fretless), Percussion
Gulli Briem – Drums (Premier drums), Percussion
Kristinn Svavarsson – Saxophones (Yamaha alto, Selmer MK VI '58 tenor), Percussion

Additional musicians:

Louis Jardim – Percussion
Eirikur Ingolfsson – Percussion
Shady Calver – Voice
Chris Cameron – Voice
Steve Dawson – Flugelhorn on Garden Party
Winston Sela – OBX programming

Horns Section:

Chris Hunter – Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Bill Eldridge – Trumpet
Martin Dobson – Tenor Saxophone
Stuart Brooks – Trumpet

Technical:

Ernst J. Backman: Original International Artwork
Geoff Calver: Producer, Engineer
Jonatan Gardarsson: Editor
Eirikur Ingolfsson: 1996 Liner notes
Seventh Heaven: 1996 Artwork and design
Oskar Pall Sveinsson: 1996 Digital Remaster

Charts

**Album charts (weekly)**
Chart (1982)	Peak position
UK Album Chart^[6]	23
Dutch Album Top 100^[7]	10
German Top 100 Albums^[7]	33

**Song charts**
Year	Title	Chart peak positions
Year	Title	UK^[6]	NL^[8]	GER^[8]	BEL^[9]
1983	"Garden Party"	17	5	36	10

Release history^[10]

Year	Format	Label	Country	Note
1982	LP	Steinar (Steinar 062)	Iceland	Titled 4
	LP	Steinar (Steinar LP02)	UK	—
	MC	Steinar (Steinar STEC02)	UK
	LP	Polydor (28MM0275)	Japan
		Plaza Records (PZ001)	Australia, New Zealand
		Polydor (811 724-1)	Germany
	CD	Polydor (811 724-2)	Germany
1983	LP	CGD (INT 20359)	Italy
		CBS (S 25456)	Spain
		Jump And Shout (JS 3301)	Belgium
1989		RCA (NL 74131)	Germany
1989	CD	BMG (ND 74131)	Germany
1996		CNR Music (2002973)	Netherlands	Remastered
		ZYX Music (ZYX 10024-2)	Germany
		Record Express (REC 255103-2)	Hungary
		SPOR Records (MEZZCD04)	Austria
—		Steinar (CD STE 02)	Germany	—

References

1 2 "Mezzoforte". Retrieved 18 September 2014.
1 2 3 liner notes
1 2 as on album cover
↑ "Surprise Surprise". Retrieved 17 July 2001.
↑ "Shady Owens". Discogs. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
1 2 "MEZZOFORTE - Artist - Official Charts". Retrieved 18 September 2014.
1 2 Steffen Hung. "Mezzoforte - Surprise Surprise". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2014-09-18.
1 2 Steffen Hung. "Mezzoforte - Garden Party". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2014-09-18.
↑ "Mezzoforte - Garden Party". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2014-09-24.
↑ "Mezzoforte – Surprise Surprise". Discogs. Retrieved 2014-10-01.

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