| Blue Swede | |
| Origin: | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Genre: | Pop rock, glam rock |
| Years Active: | 1973–1979 |
| Label: | 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.
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. 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.
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE [6] | AUS [7] | CAN [8] | US [9] | |||
| Pinewood Rally | 5 | — | — | — | ||
| Hooked on a Feeling |
| — | 53 | 84 | 80 | |
| Out of the Blue |
| 4 | — | — | — | |
| Better Days Are Coming |
| — | — | — | — | |
| De' e vi som spelar på skivan |
| — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE | AUS | 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 | 1 | 31 | Pinewood Rally / Hooked on a Feeling | |
| "Silly Milly" | 9 | — | — | 50 | — | — | — | — | 71 | — | |||
| "Half Breed" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Pinewood Rally | ||
| "Sally var en reko brud" | 1974 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "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?" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "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 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||||||
. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. illustrated. St Ives, N.S.W.. 39. David Kent (historian).
