Benny Anderssons orkester på svt.se

January 28, 2012 7:15 PM

Benny Anderssons Orkester has been creating their own special blend of pop, big band jazz and Swedish folk music for over a decade now. See them in a delightful 2-hour concert recorded last summer courtesy of SVT Play. Part 1 [59m, expires Feb 7], Part 2 [59m, expires Feb 14]

Benny Andersson is most famous for being the piano player and co-songwriter from ABBA. His orchestra is made up of a veritable who's who of Swedish folk and contemporary musicians. Their song Du är min man spent a record-smashing 278 weeks (over 5 years, 4 months) on the Svenkstoppen radio charts, including an astounding 65 weeks at number one. Here is the song in English as You Are My Man.

The singers for the band are Tommy Körberg, who was brought to world attention singing the part of The Russian on the original concept album Chess (by Andersson & Ulvaeus of ABBA and Tim Rice of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita), a role he created for the original stage production of Chess in London. Here he is singing "Anthem" from that show.

The other singer is Helen Sjöholm, who had her big break singing the lead in Kristina från Duvemåla, another show from Andersson & Ulvaeus. Here she is singing the show-stopping number from that show "Du Måste Finnas" in English: "You Have To Be There".

posted by hippybear (8 comments total)

Does his mother know?
posted by marienbad at 2:59 AM on January 29

Their song Du är min man spent a record-smashing 278 weeks (over 5 years, 4 months) on the Svenkstoppen radio charts, including an astounding 65 weeks at number one.

What are the demographics for that chart? Because judging by the audience for that concert film, Benny Andersson really has his finger on the pulse of Swedish pensioners.
posted by pracowity at 4:25 AM on January 29

"Dancing Band Music" is a cultural phenomenon in Norway, Sweden and Finland.

The general gist of it is what pracowity noticed. A mostly older, mostly not-particularly urban fan base (from the generation that went out specifically for dancing).
posted by flippant at 4:55 AM on January 29

"Dancing Band Music" is a cultural phenomenon in Norway, Sweden and Finland.

I'm a big BAO fan, and sadly missed their only US concert thus far. :(

I wonder sometimes... If the nearest American equivalent to BAO would be if The Brian Setzer Orchestra were to tour with a dance floor and if as part of their set they included traditional New England reels and bluegrass waltzes other such tunes. Which obviously doesn't happen, but seems about as close as we'd come to what BAO does over here.
posted by hippybear at 8:16 AM on January 29

My parents went to the concert in their town this past summer. From their description, the audience consisted of a complete cross-section of their tiny town - not just pensioners/retirees but everything from 15-year-olds practicing their best "Våga Stuffa"* dance moves to middle-aged couples away from their kids and reliving their youth on the dance floor.

I think the key may be a non-urban demographic, and possibly skewing younger in the north than in the south. In my experience, the dansband (dancing band) tradition is still being kept alive in smaller Northern Swedish towns, much more so than around the urban centers in the south.

*A type of dance class for young people
posted by gemmy at 8:57 AM on January 29

Fantastic post. Not sure I'll ever listen to it again but the type of thing I come to the Internet, specifically Metafilter, to learn. The (western) world has gotten so much smaller culturally that it is always great to have a previously unknown rock overturned.

However the fact that any American fan, let alone one who I (online) know, missed an opportunity to see a band on their one American tour date is definitely a sad emoticon worthy moment.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:00 AM on January 29

However the fact that any American fan, let alone one who I (online) know, missed an opportunity to see a band on their one American tour date is definitely a sad emoticon worthy moment.

Yeah, I knew about it and everything, and just couldn't get myself there to see it. It was in Minneapolis in March of 2006, as a fundraiser gala for the American Swedish Institute. Apparently a dinner and dance concert, in total lasting many hours.

I'll be at the next one, if it ever happens.
posted by hippybear at 9:10 AM on January 29

In the 60's, Tommy Körberg was in a pop band called Tom, Mick & Maniacs. They had one huge hit - Somebody's taken Maria away (YT).
In the 70's he was a member of the jazz rock band Solar Plexus, with some of the most talented musicians in Sweden at the time.
In 1969 he represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Judy, min vän (Judy, my friend), and again in 1988 with Stad i ljus (City in lights).

He is by now one of the most famous people in Sweden.
posted by mr.marx at 10:14 AM on January 29