Who knew that matching outfits could make a viewer's eyes bleed.
About halfway down the page, I could take no more pain. posted by datawrangler at 6:52 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
Good god, there are some awesomely hideous clothes there. I'd bet some could even qualify as Gitmo-level psych torture if forced to exposure during a full lenght concert. posted by Iosephus at 6:57 PM on November 13, 2008
Do Swedish people still look like that? posted by TheGoldenOne at 7:09 PM on November 13, 2008
Well, there goes the myth that all Swedes are ridiculously good-looking. posted by PlusDistance at 7:13 PM on November 13, 2008
These were taken from svenskadansband.se. There's a lot more covers there although I don't know if they're all from the 1970s. posted by puke & cry at 7:24 PM on November 13, 2008 [2 favorites]
I never knew that Swedes could be so dark. I totally bought the pale blond stereotype. I'm sorry, y'all.
These guys remind me so much of Milwaukee for some reason. Like, these are the cover bands that are going to play the fish frys at the Eagles Club for the next year version of 1970s Milwaukee.
And I was especially struck by the specs because windshields like those covered over half of my tiny child face back in the day, too. Imagine a 7 year old in those. And, ew! ewww!, I'm now reminded of the rust-colored polyester gauchos from Penney's with the G.A.S.S. knockoffs and Holly Hobbie-style tops I was dressed in. Yarn bows in my hair! White opaque knee socks! Acrylic Fair Isle sweaters in colors unknown in nature! ::shudders:: Thank Bob that I still look young enough to sport the latest clothes if I want to, but that I'm old enough to know which styles suit me best. And none of those styles involve elephant trousers. posted by droplet at 7:38 PM on November 13, 2008
If i ever have children, these images will be what i use to scare them into being good. The fear of a 70's Swedish dance band coming into your room at night would keep anyone in line. posted by thequietriot at 8:50 PM on November 13, 2008
ROFL!!! Thanks for the guffaws! Wonderfully awful. Truly a page of flinch inducement.
That's what benevolent socialism gets you -- you've been warned America! posted by mazola at 10:04 PM on November 13, 2008
Tellus was the coolest band. Some of the girls went for Jens because he was the funny one. Other girls liked Benny because he was the cute one. Magnus appealed to some due to his brooding intellect. Sture was mystical and into eastern religions. But Andreas - oh, Andreas - he was the bad boy of the bunch. posted by twoleftfeet at 10:46 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]
Who knew that in the 70s I could have moved to Sweden and been the good-looking guy instead of the goofy-looking guy?
Was there anybody left to dance? Seems as if everybody was in a band. posted by skyscraper at 11:31 PM on November 13, 2008
They all look at home, deep in some magical forest. All except Selex. I'm seriously thinking about naming my first boy Magnus. This is true entertainment. They look truck-fucked up, but they were doing their thing. I finally know where Ambrosia came from. They look like they came from Sweden. posted by Flex1970 at 11:37 PM on November 13, 2008
Man, I'd pay money to see a page showing a THEN column on the left with the 70s album and a NOW column on the right, showing what they look like now and what they're doing. posted by crapmatic at 12:48 AM on November 14, 2008
Man, I'd pay money to see a page showing a THEN column on the left with the 70s album and a NOW column on the right, showing what they look like now and what they're doing.
Oh, and crapmatic... I'll take a check or a money order. posted by twoleftfeet at 1:24 AM on November 14, 2008
Didn't you hear me? I told you to check the Schytts Myspace page! But you haven't done it yet! Do you have better things to do?
Seriously, CHECK OUT THE SCHYTTS MYSPACE PAGE! You will find wonderful videos and blog entries, I Schytt you not.
Our cuniform massage plows scissors in the field of noise majesty. Our chickens step in their pure gold like displays on notes of thoughts with the sound.
Still, the Swedish tax rates can not explain this: Cher and The Osmonds wearing matching, purple pantsuits (1975). posted by iviken at 2:16 AM on November 14, 2008 [2 favorites]
The past is another country, they do things differently there. In flares. posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:25 AM on November 14, 2008
CHECK OUT THE SCHYTTS MYSPACE PAGE!
Subscribe to the blog = get on the Schyyt list. posted by greenskpr at 4:19 AM on November 14, 2008
Ah yes, dansband. A really rather interesting phenomenon. To me at least. I mean, sure, you can draw similarities between that culture and others, but at the heart of it, dansband is one of the most "swedish" things there is.
And it's a culture that's still going strong! For instance, one of the most popular swedish TV shows right now is "Dansbandskampen" , a "battle between the dansbands" kind of thing. A few years ago the really rather wonderful and fictional show "Leende guldbruna ögon" (which translates into "Smiling golden brown eyes") was a huge success, it dealt with the first "black" swedish dansband. And, of course, people still go out dancing to dansbands.
Apart from shooting promotional photos to die for, swedish dansbands of the seventies also made wonderful record covers. The blog Katastrofala omslag ("Disastrous covers") has a nice selection. posted by soundofsuburbia at 4:41 AM on November 14, 2008
I was all ready to say "this is totally old", but this page appears to have a bunch of covers I've never seen before. Of course, they had to include the ultimate goofy-looking 70s Swedish band, Gert Jonnys (last one, all the way at the bottom), without which no collection of Swedish album covers is complete.
Man, how the hell did they go from this to extreme metal? posted by DecemberBoy at 5:35 AM on November 14, 2008
Man, how the hell did they go from this to extreme metal?
I think Europe is the missing link you're looking for! :) posted by soundofsuburbia at 5:43 AM on November 14, 2008
So, what does it say about me that I totally want some of these shirts?
Er, new that is. Not with 30+ years of Swedish Schytt funk on them. posted by bookwo3107 at 6:35 AM on November 14, 2008
So, what does it say about me that I totally want some of these shirts?
That you don't follow the herd mentality?
That you're color blind?
That you don't want to have to deal with fabrics that might biodegrade on you at some point in the next 10,000 years? posted by mattholomew at 8:59 AM on November 14, 2008
Man, how the hell did they go from this to extreme metal?
Well, the Moonlighters' logo seems to harbor a forerunner of Mayhem's inverted cross motif. posted by Wolfdog at 10:48 AM on November 14, 2008
Surpringly few umlauts, all things considered.
But on a serious note, I think we can finally say definitively what caused the oil shortages of the 1970s. posted by tommasz at 11:41 AM on November 14, 2008
you have just ruined every preconception i ever had about sweden, swedish people, and dance bands. no wonder i spent my disco years drunk as a skunk. posted by msconduct at 5:29 PM on November 14, 2008
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About halfway down the page, I could take no more pain.
posted by datawrangler at 6:52 PM on November 13, 2008 [1 favorite]