- History - |
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1956 - 1998 |
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| The '70s | ||
| 1970 | ||
| The band releases its fifteenth
album, The Spotnicks Back in The Race, and album with a live feeling, lacking the perfection of their
previous works, but still very good! It is unbelievable that this LP still isn’t
re-released on CD! It has been in the air for a while, that the members of The Spotnicks have started to get tired of each other and of touring and that they all want to do other things. Sure enough, after having released yet a couple of singles, they confirm that the group breaks up. |
Bo Winberg lead guitar
Bob Lander rhythm guitar and vocal Göran Samuelsson keyboard and vocal Magnus Hellsberg bass Tommy Tausis drums |
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| On the b-side of one of the
singles, Balladen om Efraim Killer (with Swedish lyrics) sung by Peter Winsnes, there is the song Käre Lars i Afrika which is more or less a joke...
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| 1971 | ||
| A Japanese record label ask Bo Winberg to reunite The Spotnicks in the studio to record some Japanese songs, and he accepts. These songs are released on the album Ame No Ballad plus a single with the tracks Rosaria In Blue and Winter Story. | ||
| A single with the songs Go Go Frölunda
and Iskrigarnas Inmarsch/Western Blue
Stars is released on the label MBC-Music. This record
is sold as a souvenir for the fans of the icehockey team of Västra Frölunda.
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| 1972 | ||
| Bo Winberg wants to play again and he records the LP Something Like Country. | ||
| Except Bo and Magnus Hellsberg,
the musicians on this album are Juri Wijk, Lennart Hermansson, Bernt Andersson, Claes
Pettersson, Calle Ahrman, Hans Jenbratt, Leif Nyström and Janne Persson. This album is
confirmed to be one of The Spotnicks’ best ever. Parts of this line-up record 13 more Japanese compositions at the request of the Japanese record label. |
Bo Winberg lead guitar
Juri Wijk lead/rhythm guitar and vocal Lennart Hermansson rhythm guitar Calle Ahrman rhythm guitar Hans Jenbratt rhythm guitar Bernt Andersson keyboard, accordion and harmonica Janne Persson piano Magnus Hellsberg bass Claes Pettersson drums Leif Nyström drums |
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| Bo Winberg take part in the orchestra for the Swedish production of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, where Peter Winsnes plays the part of Jesus and where a man named Peter Wiberg also is part of the ensemble. | ||
| During the Olympic Games of
Munich, If You Could Read My Mind is used as signature tune for a daily German TV-show about the
Olympics. The songs turns incredibly popular and is probably The Spotnicks greatest hit in
Europe ever.
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| 1973 | ||
| 12 of the Japanese tracks recorded 1971-72 are released on the LP The Spotnicks in Japan. | ||
| The Spotnicks recieve the award of The Bronze Lion for If You Could Read My Mind. Together with Peter Wiberg, Bo Maniette, Matz Nilsson and Johann Dielemans,
Bo Winberg goes to Dortmund to perform the song on the ceremonious attendance on the 3rd
of March in Westfalenhalle. The same group record some songs, which at first are released as singles, but later together with other songs form the new LP Bo Winberg and The Spotnicks Today. |
Bo Winberg lead guitar Bo Maniette rhythm guitar Peter Wiberg keyboard Matz Nilsson bass Johann Dielemans drums |
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| Also playing on this album are Lennart Hermansson and Anders Kjellberg. | Bo Winberg lead guitar Bo Maniette rhythm guitar Lennart Hermansson rhythm guitar Peter Wiberg keyboard Matz Nilsson bass Johann Dielemans drums Anders Kjellberg drums
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| Late this year Bo Winberg forms
a new band for a concert in Berlin. The group records Wichita Lineman and Theme from For A Few Dollars More.
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Bo Winberg lead guitar
Håkan Mjörnheim lead/rhythm guitar Mats Björklund lead/rhythm guitar and vocals Peter Wiberg keyboard Matz Nilsson bass Anders Kjellberg drums
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| 1974 | ||
| The mentioned songs from 1973 are released on a single in Germany. Tommy Tausis rejoins the band as a drummer in January, when their next tour begins in Germany. | Bo Winberg lead guitar
Håkan Mjörnheim lead/rhythm guitar Mats Björklund lead/rhythm guitar and vocals Peter Wiberg keyboard Matz Nilsson bass Tommy Tausis drums
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| During the tour (in February)
bass player Matz Nilsson leaves the group and is replaced by Leif Paulsen. On the discoteque Badewanne in Berlin, on the 6th and 7th of March, material for The Spotnicks second (!) live album The Spotnicks Live In Berlin ‘74 is recorded. 13 other songs/versions of this recording are released in 1988 on an LP with the same name on the label Star-Club Records. The group do another tour of Germany later this spring. During the summer The Spotnicks do a tour of Swedish amusement parks and they also record a single with the songs Maple Leaf Rag and Daydream.
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Bo Winberg lead guitar
Håkan Mjörnheim lead/rhythm guitar Mats Björklund lead/rhythm guitar and vocals Peter Wiberg keyboard Leuf Paulsen bass Tommy Tausis drums |
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| The guitarist Håkan Mjörnheim
quits in August and is replaced by Torgny "Todde" Stoor, who already in 1963 had
replaced Bo Winberg on some concerts in Sweden. During the autumn The Spotnicks do another tour of Germany. |
Bo Winberg lead guitar
Torgny Stoor lead/rhythm guitar and vocals Mats Björklund lead/rhythm guitar Peter Wiberg keyboard Leuf Paulsen bass Tommy Tausis drums
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| 1975 | ||
| Early this year The Spotnicks go to Japan again for a month-long tour, including several TV appearances. | ||
| This is followed by some concerts in Germany again and, after that, a tour of Sweden. | ||
| In May they release a new single with Love Said Goodbye and The Taste Of Your Love and they begin to work on a new album. | ||
| During the autumn The Spotnicks do another tour of Germany. | ||
| In November they enter Olympic
Studios in Munich to complete the new LP.
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| 1976 | ||
| In February the LP Feelings, in my opinion one of their better albums, is released. It is notable, to say the least, that this album too is still not re-released on CD! | ||
| Now reduced to a quartet, they do another tour of Germany during March/April. Once coming home again, the group breaks up. | Bo Winberg lead guitar
Torgny Stoor lead/rhythm guitar and vocals Leuf Paulsen bass Tommy Tausis drums
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| The Olympic Games are this year held in Canada and in Germany they once again use If You Could Read My Mind as signature tune for their TV programme about the games. | ||
| Once again the record label derive advantage of the big interest for the song. In August a compilation LP named after the song is released and this is followed by two more compilations. | ||
| During the autumn Bo Winberg,
Bob Lander, Björn Thelin and Tommy Tausis meet to discuss a new collaboration. They begin
the recording of a new album before doing one of those countless tours of Germany.
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Bo Winberg lead guitar
Bob Lander rhythm guitar, vocal Björn Thelin bass Tommy Tausis drums |
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| 1977 | ||
| The Spotnicks complete the recording of the new LP in January and then the band breaks up again. | ||
| Bob Lander adapts and mixes the recorded material in his studio in a way that Bo Winberg dislikes. The release, which is going to be on the label Marianne Records, is delayed. | ||
| In Germany no interest for the latest tracks is shown. Instead they re-release The Spotnicks in Spain and in France they also take the dust of earlier recordings and re-release them. | ||
| In June, Bo Winberg and Björn Thelin, together with the drummer Peter Milefors, record old hits, that later this year are released on the LP Charttoppers Recorded 77. | Bo Winberg lead guitar Björn Thelin bass Peter Milefors drums |
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| This LP is also released in, among other countries, England where it’s renamed The Very Best of The Spotnicks. This is the first Spotnicks album released there for 12 years! | ||
| In Germany, Polydor releases a series of compilations with different bands, including a double-LP named The Story of The Spotnicks. | ||
| Later this year the LP The Spotnicks in Winterland is released in Germany for the first time. | ||
| In August it is time for the next visit to Germany and joining Bo Winberg and Björn Thelin are Gunnar Winald and Anders Erixon. | Bo Winberg lead guitar
Gunnar Winald rhythm guitar, vocal Björn Thelin bass Anders Erixon drums
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| 1978 | ||
| At last, in January Marianne Records release the LP The Great Snowman, i.e. the songs recorded during the winter 1976/77. | ||
| In May it is once again time for a tour of Germany. This time Tommy Tausis is back behind the drums. | Bo Winberg lead guitar
Gunnar Winald rhythm guitar, vocal Björn Thelin bass Tommy Tausis drums
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| Bo Winberg goes to France and
together with French studio musicians he records the album Never trust robots, consisting
of songs on the space theme especially written for this purpose.
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Bo Winberg lead guitar
French studio musicians |
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| In October the "original members" assemble to record the LP Saturday night music... | Bo Winberg lead guitar
Bob Lander rhythm guitar, vocal Björn Thelin bass Tommy Tausis drums
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| ...and in November the album Pink Lady Superhits is recorded with a new band personnel. | Bo Winberg lead guitar
Göran Samuelsson keyboard Kenth Andersson bass Stefan Möller drums
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| On the concerts that follow, The Spotnicks have a new line-up again. | Bo Winberg lead guitar
Ove Lindell lead/rhythm guitar, vocal Kenth Andersson bass Lasse Öhberg drums
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| 1979 | ||
| This year the albums Saturday night music and Pink Lady Superhits are released in Sweden and Japan respectively. | ||
| In Germany an LP named Indigo is released, which among other songs include the two new songs Bonanza and Indigo, recorded in 1978. | ||
| During the autumn Bob Lander returns to The Spotnicks who among other things appear in several German TV shows. | Bo Winberg lead guitar
Bob Lander rhythm guitar, vocal Ove Lindell lead/rhythm guitar, vocal Kenth Andersson bass Lasse Öhberg drums |
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Sören Alverfeldt 1998 |
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