Blue Swede

Blue Swede
The band in 1974
Background information
Origin	Stockholm, Sweden
Genres	Pop rock, glam rock
Years active	1973–1979
Labels	EMI
Past members	Michael Areklew Anders Berglund Tommy Berglund Hinke Ekestubbe Jan Guldback Bosse Liljedahl Björn Skifs

Blue Swede (Swedish: Blåblus) were a Swedish rock band fronted by Björn Skifs which was active between the years 1973–1979. Blue Swede released two albums of cover versions, including a rendition of "Hooked on a Feeling", which brought them international chart success.^[1] The band consisted of Anders Berglund (piano), Björn Skifs (lead vocals), Bosse Liljedahl (bass), Hinke Ekestubbe (saxophone), Jan Guldbäck (drums), Michael Areklew (guitar), and Tommy Berglund (trumpet).^[2] They disbanded after Skifs decided to embark on his solo career.

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.^[3]

The band was originally called "Blåblus" (Swedish for "blue blouse" [could be made out of denim], a pun on the word "blues"^[4]) 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".^[5] Blue Swede recorded Thomas's song in 1973, but based its rendition of the song on a 1971 version released by British pop eccentric Jonathan King, which created the "ooga-chaka" introduction.^{[clarification needed]} The producer at the recording sessions was Bengt Palmers. Blue Swede released "Hooked on a Feeling" in Sweden in May 1973 and in the United States in February 1974. The song reached number one in the U.S. for one week in April 1974 and stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 18 weeks. The track also topped charts in Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands, where it reached a peak chart position of 26.^[3] To capitalize on the success of the song, Blue Swede released the album Hooked on a Feeling that same year.

Throughout the rest of 1974, two follow-up singles from the same LP were released: "Silly Milly", which peaked at position 71 in the U.S., and a cover of The Association's "Never My Love", which made the Top Ten by peaking at position 7.^[5] From the band's 1974 follow-up album, Out of the Blue, they 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), peaking at position 61 in the U.S., and achieving its greatest chart success in Scandinavia. Skifs left the band in 1975 and the band continued as Blåblus, releasing a further two albums.

Discography

Albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		SWE [6]	AUS [7]	CAN [8]	US [9]
Pinewood Rally	Released: December 1973 Label: EMI Formats: LP, MC	5	—	—	—
Hooked on a Feeling	Released: March 1974 Label: EMI Formats: LP, MC, 8-track International revised version of Pinewood Rally	—	53	84	80
Out of the Blue	Released: October 1974 Label: EMI Formats: LP, MC, 8-track	4	—	—	—
Better Days Are Coming	Released: 1976 Label: EMI Formats: LP, MC	—	—	—	—
De' e vi som spelar på skivan	Released: 1978 Label: EMI Formats: LP, MC	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions										Album
		SWE [6]	AUS [7]	BE (FLA) [10]	CAN [11]	GER [12]	NL [13]	NZ [14]	UK [15]	US [16]	US AC [17]
"Hooked on a Feeling"	1973	2	4	18	2	22	26	7	90[A]	1	31	Pinewood Rally / Hooked on a Feeling
"Silly Milly"		9	—	—	50	—	—	—	—	71	—
"Half Breed"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Pinewood Rally
"Sally var en reko brud"	1974	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Non-album single
"Doctor Rock 'n Roll"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Out of the Blue
"Never My Love"		—	52	—	7	—	—	—	—	7	—	Pinewood Rally / Hooked on a Feeling
"Hush"/"I'm Alive" (medley)	1975	—	—	—	90	—	—	—	—	61	—	Out of the Blue
"Boo, Boo Don't Cha Be Blue"	1976	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Better Days Are Coming
"Låt mej lära känna dej"	1977	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	De' e vi som spelar på skivan
"Har jag gjort bort mig nu igen?"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Non-album single
"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye"/"Galaxy Take-Off" (medley)	1978	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	De' e vi som spelar på skivan
"Då dansar Angela"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"När inga ord räcker till"	1979	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Non-album single
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

See also

• List of Swedes in music
• Dancing baby, a.k.a. The ooga-chaka baby

Notes

1. Charted in 2014.

References

1. Caulfield, Keith (20 February 2014). "Blue Swede's 'Hooked On a Feeling' Sales Soar Thanks To 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Trailer". Billboard.com. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
2. Listing on Discogs.com.
3. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. pp. 325. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
4. Schaefer, John (April 1, 2014). "That Was a Hit?!?: Blue Swede, 'Hooked On a Feeling'". SoundCheck. NPR. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
5. Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 281. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
6. "Björn Skifs Och Blåblus - Se alla låtar och listplaceringar". NostalgiListan (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-01-17.
7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 39. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
8. "Image : RPM Weekly". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
9. "Blue Swede". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2022-01-17. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
10. "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
11. "Results: RPM Weekly". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. 2013-07-17. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
12. "Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
13. "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
14. "flavour of new zealand - search listener". www.flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
15. "BLUE SWEDE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
16. "Blue Swede". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2022-01-17. Retrieved 2022-01-17.
17. "Blue Swede". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2022-01-17.