Jul igen - Christmas Again

Christmas in the local pizzeria

2011-01-30T08:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over, but I rather share this video now than wait until next Christmas. It is performed by Grotesco, my absolut favourite Comedy group right now. This song about Christmas in a local pizzeria in a trashy suburb is from the last season and was sent in Swedish TV just before last Christmas.

Fantastisk hjul med kulstötaren Jimmy Nordin

2010-12-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

Kulstötaren Jimmy Nordins julskiva är en av mina verkliga favoriter. Den kom en gång i ett kuvert från en tjej som berättade i brevet att hon var tillsammans med en sportjournalist som fått den av Jimmy själv i samband med en intervju. Hon hade sett mig i TV och insåg att hon satt på en ovanlig skiva som jag kanske skulle vara intresserad av. Den låt som gått mest på Sunkits julfester är "En officiell låt för den svenska julen" (..."hoppas det blir en kul en" - bra rim). Men där är det Sören Tallhem som sjunger. Jimmy har en ljus röst som han i den här intervjun oblygt jämför med Niel Youngs. Kommentarer överflödiga. I Fantastiska jul är det han själv som sjunger.

God Jul önskar jag er alla!

Merry Christmas also to my english spoken readers. The interveiw is unfortunately in Swedish. But it is about a shot-putter that made a Christmas Record a few years ago. You can hear one of the songs in the second film. He has a tiny voice but no lack of self confidence, in the interveiw he compares himselves with Neil Young. Judge for yourselves.

Dags för Jul-Sunkit

2010-12-09T02:36:00.000-08:00

Så var det snart dags för årets Jul-Sunkit. Spelar liksom förra året med Trampe och datumet är i år som oftast sista måndagen före jul, alltså den 20.e december. Hjärtligt välkomna till Bröderna Olsson alltså, alla som älskar udda, konstiga, lustiga, ovanliga och mer eller mindre njutbara julskivor.

I år utlovas t ex liveversionen av Lotta Engbergs och Sven Wollters uppskattade nyinspelning av Fairytale of New York, Klasse Möllbergs orytmiska julrapp, Loa Falkmans insjungning av Bella Notte från Lady och Lufsen och mycket mer.

My Favourite Christmas Songs

2010-11-27T04:47:00.000-08:00

I Just Got a Letter from Magnus Nilsson at Sunkit with a request from a journalist looking for the best Christmas Songs ever. He asked me to send my favourites. A difficult task to put up just a small list of favourites. There are so many. Then of course most people would say: Do you consider this to be Good Music? In fact I do. The letter is in Swedish, but you can all read the list of songs (and some of the songs can also be found in You Tube, follow links):

"Hörde av Magnus Nilsson på Sunkit att du söker tips på bra jullåtar, han tyckte jag skulle höra av mig. Vet inte om mina tips passar in, jag sysslar ju mest med "Jul-Sunkit" (om det nu blir något sådant i år, verkar lite osäkert vad jag förstår). Alltså hellre än bra, fast just därför bra (tycker jag). Men här är i alla fall en lista med förslag:
(A rought translation: I heard from Magnus Nilsson at Club Sunkit that you are looking for great Christmas songs, he suggested I should get in touch with you. I don't know if I would pick the right kind of songs, I am mostly interested in Incredible Strange Music, songs that might not be so good, but maybe good just becouse they are not if you understand. This is a list of Christmas Music that I like. Some of the songs you can listen to at You Tube, just follow the links.)

"Jul i vilda västern" med Cacka Israelsson

"Julen är här" med Thore Skogman

"Nisses juljoddel" med Klasse Möllberg (finns tyvärr inte på You Tube så ni får hålla till godo med "Den deppiga granen" från samma julkalender)

"Jul i Las Palmas" med Harry Brandelius

"Jag vill inte va din pepparkaksgubbe" med Lasse Berghagen

"Mr Russian, Please Don't Shoot Down Santas Sleigh" med Shana Lynnet

"En officiell låt för den svenska julen" med Jimmy Nordin och Sören Tallhem

”Bjällerklang” med Anna-Lisa Ingemansson

"Skinnknuttarnas hjulafton" med Johnny Svängman Showband

"Come on Santa Let's Have a Ball" med Kay Martin and her Body Guards

"Julkortslåten" med Lasse & Morgan

"Santa Baby" med Mae West (eller för all del Eartha Kit)

"Skinkan är för stor morsan" med Totte Wallin och Gunnar Svensson

(framfördes endast i TV-programmet Totte på TV den 5 dec 1987, något svåråtkomlig med andra ord)

"I am a Christmas Tree" med Wild Man Fischer

"Come All Ye Faithful" med Slim Spincter (mannen som pruttar fram sina låtar, troligen i armvecket men ändå)

"Jag vill ha en Beatles i julklapp" med Anita Lindblom (heter egentligen Beatlesbossa)

"En julaftonskväll på Hawaii strand" med Kurt på Tappen

"En bling bling jul" med Dogge Doggelito

"Jinge Bells" med Don Charles and his Singing Dogs

"Vart tog tomten vägen?" med Loket

"Jag önskar er alla en riktigt god jul" med Paul Paljett

"Jul i främmande hamn" med Erik Källquist

"Kom hem till jul pappa" med Jigs

Ett axplock, säkert mer än vad du orkar och behöver.

Lycka till!"

The Worst Christmas Ever

2009-12-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

Sufjan Stevens made the only Christmas Record that I can play without my daughter complaining. "Songs for Christmas" is a beutiful box with five records originally made 2001-2006, they are all individually packed with nice covers. A strong recommandation, buy it and save it for many a Christmas to come.

Christmas Mix 2009

2009-12-18T05:24:00.000-08:00

I promised to give you some examples from my Christmas Mix 2009:(The Swedish version of this list was published at Kulturbloggen.)

1) ”Bling, bling jul” with Dogge Doggelito, hip-hop and suburbs brings Christmas Joy. Listen at You Tube.
2) New for this year: ”En julsaga” is a Swedish version of Fairytale in New York with an odd couple, Lotta Engberg, singer and Bingo-hostess in television and well known actor Sven Wollter. Listen here.
3) ”I’m a Christmas Tree” with Wildman Fischer – 28 seconds with a man that got his first record produced by Frank Zappa. Live version here.
4) ”Bjällerklang” with Anna-Lisa Ingemansson must be the best version of Jingle Bell that ever was (vote and listen at Radio Östergötland).
5) ”Det var så länge länge sen” (It was long, long time ago) with Mats Hagberg Band is an odd song from Ljudolf Studio, they produced a Christmas Records even last years. A song that deals with the problem of too little fun and too little sex at Christmas. Listen at Ljudolf Studio.
6) ”Skinkan är för stor, morsan” (The Pork is too Big, mum) with Totte Wallin and Gunnar Svensson was never recorded, I got it from somebody that copied it from at TV-program. Everything is too big when it's Christmas, even the food.
7) “Mister Russian, Please Don't Shoot Down Santa's Sleigh” with The Sensational Little Shana Lynette takes us back to Cold War. Listen here.
8) ”Jag ger dig julen” (I give you my Christmas) is the closest you would get to a Swedish version of ”Do they know it’s Christmas” with Klasse Möllberg. (You might still find it in certain shops but I can't find at netshop that sells it.)

Old Music Usually Better Than New

2009-12-18T05:16:00.001-08:00

Sorry Swedish again. This is an article that I have written for another blogg, Kulturbloggen:

Bästa julskivan är gammal – ju förr desto bättre
Julmusik är extremt enformigt, ofta handlar det om nya versioner av 8-10 välkända låtar som återvinns på skiva efter skiva. ”Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”, ”Dashing throught the snow..” … (slipper man själva bjällerklangslåten – som för övrigt är den äldsta av dessa standards - så har de i alla fall lagt på lite bjällror i bakgrunden”, bjällror är julljudet framför andra).

När man handlar julklappar får man den definitiva överdosen. Då spelas smetig julmusik så att sirap rinner ur öronen, för några år sedan gick facket ut och vädjade för sina medlemmars räkning att de skulle slippa höra julmusik mer än 2 timmar om dagen.

Med detta sagt så får jag ändå medge att jag älskar julmusik. En annan sorts julmusik. Jag älskar det sakrala, vackra och klassiska. Som riktigt bra inspelningar av brittiska Christmas Carols. Eller när London Symphony Orchestra med kör tar hela Albert Hall i besittning och sopranerna klarar alla höga tonerna i "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" med den självklarhet som bara en av världens bästa körer har.

Jag älskar också det som väl kan beskrivas som raka motsatsen: när Sufjan Stevens sätter sig i vardagsrummet med sina vänner och skapar lägereldsstämning på sina fem underbart söta julplattor inspelade under början av 2000-talet, senare samlade till ”Songs for Christmas”. Här är det snarare närhet och innerlighet som utvinns ur samma sång. Att höra "Det är en ros utsprungen" med Sufjan är som att höra den för första gången.

Andra nödvändiga julplattor för mig är den avstressande Ital Skurks ”Fira jul i fred” (reggaeband från Stockholm) och sist men inte minst Blind Boys of Alabamas fantastiska energkick ”Go Tell it on the Mountain”.

Det tar tid att lyssna in en julplatta liksom andra bra plattor och man brukar dem ju bara en kort tid per år. Därför är det inte säkert att det som just landat håller i längden. Jag har ännu inte skaffat mig och lyssnat in mig på Bob Dylans julskiva, men en gissning är att den kan bli en sådan favorit. Jag trodde Chris Isaacs julskiva var en klassiker, men den spelar jag aldrig någonsin längre, det där visar sig alltså med tiden.

Nytt är ingen fördel i min julvärld, helst ska det vara gammalt och gärna mycket gammalt. Jag har en back med stenkakor som går varm varje jul och där finns favoriter som ”Julgranen från mina barnaår” med Harry Brandelius och Thor Modéns klassiska ringlekar på Skansen med Skansens kör.

Avslutningsvis älskar jag det fåniga, tramsiga och löjliga. Låtarna som spelas när jag är jul-DJ på klubb Sunkit veckan före jul och som går varma även här hemma under julstöket. Falsksång, pretentiösa försök att skapa nya julhits och udda artister vars mission få förstår (utom vi på Sunkit) gör mig alltid på gott humör. Återkommer med en lista över årets favoriter.

Read about Christmas records at Sunkit

2009-12-14T01:51:00.000-08:00

I just wrote an article in swedish about Christmas Records at klubb Sunkit. It starts like this:

"Det är något särskilt med julen. Och det är något väldigt särskilt med alla julskivor. Anna-Lena Lodenius är samlare, ständig gästdiscjockey på Sunkits julfester – och här berättar hon om några av sina favoriter.

Någon gång i början av december skickade Fredrik af Trampe ett mail:

Du måste gå in på Spotify och lyssna på Sven Wollters och Lotta Engbergs svenska version av Fairytale in New York. Vad ska man säga?

Sven Wollters eventuella sångförmåga och märkliga skivutgivning är ett kärt samtalsämne, och hans första (?) julrelaterade skivinspelning ger nya infallsvinklar. Det är något med kombinationen Bingo-Lotto-Lotta som sjunger om att vinna på lotteri och raspiga Wollter som föremålet för hennes stora kärlek.

En annan jul rätt nyligen var det Lasse Berghagen som fick mailboxen att fyllas i december. Han framträdde precis som Lotta Engberg med egen julshow i TV4 och gav samtidigt ut en julskiva. Urvalet av låtar kändes relativt normalt, med ett undantag: Jag vill inte va’ din pepparkaksgubbe. En text som man kan grubbla mycket över och för varje gång blir man mer och mer rosig om öronen. Exempel:

Jag vill inte va din strut med karameller
som du kan gå och suga på
en julbock vill ja inte vara heller
nej jag vill va nåt mycket bättre än så…
Dessa två exempel visar att det, som Magnus Nilsson påpekat, inte är all musik som kräver några års karantän för att platsa på Sunkit."

A Christmas-rap

2009-12-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

Two rather old men, known from television, tries to sing in modern hip hop-style about Christmas. The result is rather amazing. Harald Treutiger was presenting the first Swedish version of "Robinson", amongst other things. Leif "Loket" Olsson is mainly known for "Bingo-Lotto", a program that was raising money for sports.

This is from the same album as another video that I shared last ("Father Christmas meets Adolf Hitler").

New Christmas-favourites for 2009

2009-12-07T01:56:00.000-08:00

I am a slow starter this year, so far little has been done to my Christmas Music Collection. It is so big right now that I rather need time to listen to what I have than finding new songs. Still there are some new records that I want to recommend. Unfortunately they are all in Swedish.

The first record was out already last Christmas, but somehow I never got hold of it. Swedish Hip Hop-legend Dogge Doggelito performs "Bling Bling jul". A song that I will certainly play at Klubb Sunkit. This year the Christmas Party will be at the 21 of December and I will play records together with my friend Trampe who also is a great lover of Christmas Music.

Another of my favourites this year I found on a CD with Christmas Music, "Ljudolfs Julblandning" that I got from Monica at Sunkit. She is also represented with a song on that CD, a nice song. But at Sunkit I will rather go for "Länge länge sen" with Mats Hagberg Band. A rough translation: It was a long, long time ago since I had some fun, and soon it's Christmas and things will get messed up, it was a long, long time ago since I had sex...

Last but not least Trampe pointed out to me that we finally got a Swedish version of "Fairytale in New York" (Pouges and Kirsty McColl) with a rather odd Swedish Couple Sven Wollter and Lotta Engberg. "En julsaga" is too good to be true if you ask me, and Sven Wollter proves yet another time that he is not a singer and never was. Try it out here. (He is a legend from stage and film and apparently still a Communist, she is a popular singer and leads various TV-programs.)

Let's hope there will be a White Christmas

2008-12-21T22:26:00.000-08:00

I don't think we will have a White Christmas this year, but there is always a possibility of celebrating with the classical version of White Christmas with Bing Crosby together with Marjorie Reynolds from the movie "Holiday Inn" 1942.

The second videoclip is from the finale of the movie "White Christmas" 1954. I was lucky to just get it almost for free on DVD.

I will also share a couple of Swedish versions of the song. Last time I did it was 2006 but these are slightly different. Hope you enjoy it:

* "Jag drömmer om en jul hemma" (I'm dreaming of a Christmas at home") - Bertil Boo, "the singing farmer" known in Sweden from the films with Åsa Nisse. I think this is from the end of the 40ies or possibly beginning of the 50ties.

* "Jag drömmer om en jul hemma" - Bengt Westin, should be about the same time as Bertil Boo but I don't know anything about the singer.

* "Jag drömmer om en jul hemma" - Lasse Lönndahl, wellknown singer in Sweden, this recording is from the 60ties.

* "White Christmas" - Hep Stars, popband from the 60ties. Benny Andersson, the organist, later was known as one ot the members of ABBA.

* "White Christmas" - another popversion with Lena Maria and Sweet Wine from the 70ties.

* "White Christmas" - Vikingarna (The Wikings), thypical Swedish dancemusic, I think this recording might be from the 70ties.

* "White Christmas" - Vit Aggression (White Aggression). The last one is probably the most disgusting version there will ever be. This is a White Power-band and they put a racist message into the song. Remember I warned you: This is certainly not very nice.

Christmas Music in Swedish Channel Four

2008-12-18T04:32:00.000-08:00

This morning I visited the morning program in Channel 4 and played some of my Christmas records. This is of course in Swedish but the rest of you might still be able to listen to some music and look at some of my covers.

They had some severe technical problems and I didn't get any information at all about what they wanted from me. I was spending the whole morning in the studio and played music 4 times. They show the first three times at their websajt:

First time

Second time

Third time, together with Triad

Nostalgic Christmas in Denmark

2008-12-17T03:04:00.000-08:00

This is a nostalgic videoclip from Denmark. I never heard of "Julebal i Nisseland", but it looks like a traditional TV-show to me. I found it quite amusing. Hope you like it as well. And I would be grateful if anybody happens to have information about the film.

This is some information I got from "Anders":

Anders said...
The clip is from the film "Far til fire i sneen" (1954). It's the second film of a whole bunch of "Far til fire" films. They're hugely popular in Denmark and are still being produced today (but obviously with a different cast.)

The original "Lille Per" (the brat who sings the song) was a popular child actor, and they continued to use him for way too long, which made him look totally ridicolous in his boyish outfit. And as the story goes with child actors, he developed an addiction for hard narcotics, tried his luck as a pop singer, and ended up as a photographer for a hard porn magazine.

More info here:
http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_til_fire

and here:
http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_til_fire_i_sneen

Six different versions of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

2008-12-12T04:32:00.000-08:00

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is of course one of the most well known Christmas Songs. Interesting also because the invention of the song is so closely linked to the commercial side of Christmas celebration. The poem was printed in a book that was distributed to customers visiting Montgomery Ward, a big American warehouse, 1939. The author was a copy writer named Robert L.May.

A few years later May came up with the idea of composing a melody and asked his brother in law who was a composer, Johnny Marks. The record was an immediate success; 2 million copies were sold more or less at the same time as the records hit the stores. The first Swedish versions appeared in 1950.

I share six versions of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and as a bonus you also get a different Swedish song about a Reindeer:

• “Rudolf med röda mulen”, Lou Sandy, the first Swedish version from 1950.

• “Rudolf med röda mulen”, Alice Babs, famous and brilliant singer, also recorded during the 50ties.

• “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”, Melodeers, recorded at the dance hall Nalen in Stockholm during the mid 50ties.

• “Rudolf med röda mulen”, recorded for Indiska, a Swedish chain of shops selling clothes and other stuff from India, a modern instrumental version with traditional Indian instruments.

• “Rudolf med röda mulen”, Janne Andersson, Swedish popstar. The song is from the album “Glitter, Glögg and Rockn’roll” (Glitter, Glühwein and Rockn’roll) recorded during the 70’s as a Swedish answer to Phil Spectors legendary Christmas Records. The result? Judge for yourselves!

• "Rudolf med röda mulen", Micke B Tretow, legendary producer that used to work with ABBA. This is a strange experimental version that might amuse somebody. I don't think it was ever sold in ordinary records stores.

• “Rolf Ren” with Torsson, a different song about a reindeer by a slightly ironic but very charming band from southern Sweden. The story is basically that the reindeer has too short legs but in the end of the song they will still bring him along because they need someone to carry the youngest son of Father Christmas. From the middle of the 80ties.

Christmas Special with German favourite Heino

2008-12-10T00:38:00.000-08:00

Almost 24 minutes with the German singer Heino is maybe more than most people need. But here is a film that I found at You Tube that will certainly provide a German touch to your Christmas celebration. Heino is walking around in a wintry landscape surrounded by well behaved and singing German children; together they present a number of Christmas Songs. He sings German translations of the most well known songs as well as local German favourites. I've tried a few times to upload it to the blog but didn't have any success, probably because it' too big. I also had problems with uploading this Medley with Christmas songs, so I might as well give you the links instead.

Until Yesterday I only had one Christmas-song with Heino but then I discovered a full album that was shared at falalalala.com, a Mecka for people that are interested in Christmas Music.

Four versions of Frosty the Snowman

2008-12-09T06:04:00.000-08:00

"Frosty The Snow Man" is one of the most silly Christmas-songs that I know of. Still you find it in so many different versions. I want to share some very different Swedish versions. Two of them are old, I particularly like Margret Jonsson when she flips out in the "hopp lalalala hopp lalala..." towards the end of the song. The Spotnicks were quite famous during the early 60ties, partly becouse of their costumes (se picture, this is not their Christmas Album - it's the small green cover - but the other one I show just to give you an idea of what they looked like). Ultima Thule is a patriotic skinheadband. They made at least two Christmas Records with different skinheadband and both contains this version of Frosty The Snowman. As I said last time I shared something with Ultima Thule: Not very enjoyable but maybe of some interest. Last I want to share another song about a Snowman. Cacka Israelsson was Swedens first artist performing in a country style.

Four different versions of Frosty the Snowman and one bonus song:
Snögubben Froste - Monica Lind (from the 50ties)
Snögubben Froste - Margret Jonsson (from the beginning of the 60ties)
Frosty The Snowman - Spotnicks (60ties, instrumental)
Frosty the Snowman - Ultima Thule (skinheadsband)
Snögubben (The Snowman) - Cacka Israelsson (50ties)

Norwegian version of Yngve Stoor

2008-12-07T04:10:00.000-08:00

Can't help sharing this video that I found at You Tube. Sputnik is is a musician and truck driver from Telemark in Norway. He plays country music, but in this video he sings a popular Swedish Christmas Song that I shared just recently: "Sjömansjul på Hawaii". And he does it in a lovely and unexpected way. Enjoy!

For more information about Sputnik, visit his website.

Klasse Möllberg brings back childhood memories

2008-12-05T03:14:00.000-08:00

One of the most wicked Christmas Songs that I know of is "Nisses juljoddel" (A Christmas Gnomes Yodel). It was an instant success during the Christmas Party at Sunkit, it's a song that makes you smile and dance at the same time.

Klasse Möllberg is a multi talented person (Wikipedia for more information, all of this is in Swedish). Many children know him as "Banarne", regular partner of Trazan Apansson in Childrens programs and from "Electric Banana Band". It's impossible to translate but it a paraphrase of Tarzan, Trasan in Swedish means cloth. Banarne is supposed to be some kind of monkey; his name is combined of the Swedish word for banana and Arne, a common male name.

Klasse Möllberg also made a program for Children before Christmas 1992 and recorded the songs from the program, Klasses julkalender. There is a tradition in Sweden with a Christmas Calendar in radio and TV.

Listen to 3 songs from "Klasses julskiva":

* Nisses juljoddel (A Christmas Gnomes Yodel)

* Jul med Fantomen (Christmas with the Phantom)

* Snögubben är naken (The Snowman is naked)

Christmas in the Brothel

2008-12-04T03:36:00.000-08:00

This year I was thinking of sharing the whole album "Bordellmammas visor" that I shared some parts of last year. But now I found out that they are selling it as a CD. So my suggestion would be that those that are interested are bying it instead, it's rather cheap by the way if you by it at the Internet, e g Ginza.

If anybody wonders: I have a similar policy as other similar blogs, I share music that can not be bought on a CD. Most of it is ripped from e g an LP, EP or sometimes even 78's. Most of the music I share has no commercial value, and if somebody thinks differently please tell me and I remove the links.

For more information about "Bordellmammas julvisor", please read my posting from 2006.

New information about the Christmas Party at Sunkit

2008-12-03T01:49:00.000-08:00

Important information for those heading for the Christmas Party at Sunkit: The time is changed to Monday the 15th of December. The Christmas Music will start at 8 pm as usual and continues for an hour or two. Then the regular party is on until 1 am, same as usual. I suppose there will be ham and mustard, I will se if I can find the red hats but usually it gets too warm anyway. We have a lot of new music but we will also play all the old favourites.

I am not quite sure about the pictures but they are probably from Erik Brodin that uses to take pictures at Sunkit. I hope it's OK that I'm using them. If not, please tell me and I will remove them. Apart from me (hiding in the shadow back of the bar) and Per you can se Ahrvid, a regular at Sunkit, and Magnus, one of the DJ:s.

Father Christmas meets Adolf Hitler

2008-12-01T07:18:00.000-08:00

How can it be that Father Christmas suddenly disappeared? He is not under the Christmas Tree, maybe he took a ride with his car? Leif "Loket" Olsson (lok = locomotive in Swedish, don't ask med why he got this name) is a Swedish TV-personality, he introduced a Lotto-program in Channel Four but was replaced by younger faces a few years ago. During his most popular period he also recorded a Christmas Record together with Hans Edler, a legend in Swedish entertainment.

Hans Edler appears in the video and puts on a Hitler-mustasch for some reason. The lyrics are of course in Swedish but the story basically is about trying to find Father Christmas and rumours that he took his old car (a Ford) downtown and joined the line of unemployed. The message is that he should know that he is badly needed when Christmas is approaching.

For those with an interest for Hans Edler and a knowledge of Swedish I would also recommend Sunkit, you can even listen to music examples from his early experiments with electronic music, Elektron Kukesi.

Dances Around the Christmas Tree

2008-11-27T09:28:00.000-08:00

Skansen in Stockholm is an open air-museum founded already in 1891 by Arthur Hazelius. The traditional Christmas has been celebrated here ever since and they have a nice Christmas Fair. When I was younger I used to work and sell things. It was nice but had the disadvantage that you needed to put traditional dresses on and they didn't really protect you from the cold. My memories are mainly that I was freezing all the time. Still it can be quite nice to come here for a visit some time in December.

The music I will share with you are from the 30ties of possible 40ties, I'm not sure. They are singing melodies for dances around the Christmas Three and the lead singer is Thor Modén, at that time a well known comedian appearing in many films. He performs together with Skansens womens choir. There are probably children dancing around the three as they are singing, that's the way it used to be.

The pictures shows a modern poster for Skansen, an old picture from Skansen in the 20ties and the third one, as you probably already guessed, is Thor Modén. There are many records with dances around the Christmas Tree but this is my all time favourite, it really puts me in the right Christmas mood.

Dans kring granen, part 1 (Dances around the Christmas Three)

Dans kring granen, part 2 (Dances around the Christmas Three)

Download the whole record in one zip-file.

Celebrate Christmas with Snoddas

2008-11-24T03:35:00.000-08:00

Today it's simply impossible to understand how somebody like Karl Gösta Nordgren, “Snoddas”, once could have such a tremendous success. Of course it was another time in the early fifties when everybody looked at the same TV-channel and most Swedes still lived in the countryside.

Karl Gösta Nordgren was born in December 1926 outside Bollnäs in Dalarna, he died suddenly in February 1981 only 54 years old. The nickname Snoddas refers to the fact that his father sold condoms, he was named Gummi-Kalle (gummi = rubber) and the son was named "gummisnodden" (rubber band) or Snoddas.

He was a rafter and played bandy in the local team in Bollnäs. His first legendary performance was in the famous TV-program “Hylands hörna” (Hylands corner) named after Lennart Hyland, a popular TV-personality in Sweden for decades. In this program he performed the song Flottarkärlek (Rafters love). That started a "Snoddas-fever" all over the country and Snoddas performed constantly for a long period of time. In every place he had to sing "Flottarkärlek" that is still the most well known of his recordings.

But Snoddas also made other records and some have a Christmas Theme. "Min barndomsjul" is a sentimental song about childhood and "God jul, ni svenska sjömän" is about Swedish seamen working far away and sending them wishes of a Merry Christmas. Enjoy!

Music Examples:
Min barndomsjul (My Childhood Christmas)
God jul, ni svenska sjömän (Merry Christmas Swedish Seamen)

Boths songs in one zip-file.

A new chance to listen to Thore Skogman this Christmas

2008-11-18T09:47:00.000-08:00

People have already been asking me to repost my favourite Christmas Songs by Thore Skogman. And of course I will do so.

This is what I wrote last Christmas:
In the beginning of December this year we got to know that Thore Skogman is dead. Quite a big thing in Sweden, I don't think there is one single person that can not sing a couple of his songs. The absolute all time champion of fast singing and incredible strange lyrics. A fantastic productivity - he made something like 1 000 songs during his life.

Nobody could write songs about so many odd things as Thore Skogman. We will never forget his songs for advertisements for loafs of bread, learning how to swim, eating rotten fish (Surströmming, a Swedish speciality) etc. Some of the best, and sometimes neglected, ones are about Christmas.

The first one, that I shared already last year, is "Julen är här". It tells about how people are eating too much food and keeps the doctor busy. Kids are fighting about presents, grownups are arguing etc. A tragic event worthy a native of the country known for many suicides, a musical companion of Ingmar Bergman or maybe rather Lars Norén.

The last ones are short songs for dancing around a Christmas tree, he made small changes in the traditional lyrics. If you wonder why the pig starts to fight it's because he doesn't want to get into the car just before Christmas. But suddenly they managed to take him to the butcher after all, sings Thore Skogman as cheerful as ever. Cold ham is a version of Kalinka, the Russian song, Kalinka in Swedish is close to "kall skinka" = cold ham.

* Julen är här (Christmas is here)
* Klappa på (Knock on the door)
* Tomtens renar (Father Christmas Reindeers)
* Två små röda luvor (Two small red hats)
* Skära, skära grisen (Cutting ham)
* Kall skinka (Cold ham)
* Så går vi runt kring ett julgrislår (So we are walking around a pigs leg)
* Ritsch Ratsch (Impossible to translate)
* Hej alla svin (Hello all pigs)
* Grisen börja bråka (The pig started to fight)

Zipfile with all the songs: Some people have problems with downloading the songs one by one so I also made a zip-file with all the songs. It differs a little as I decided to include the full versions of a number of medleys.

Yngve Stoor - king of Swedish Hawaii-music

2008-11-14T02:30:00.000-08:00

Yngve Stoor was playing hawaiiguitarr and almost all his songs are in the hawaii-style. He is mainly known for one song: "Sjömansjul på Hawaii" (Seamens Christmas in Hawaii). But the Christmas Theme is present in many of his other songs as well.

Yngve Stoor was born 1912 i Dalarna and died 1985. During the 50ties he often performed together with the finish vocal group Harmony Sisters. He had a music shop in central Stockholm towards the end of his life and there people could also buy his own records. There are two LP-compilations with Christmas Music, the first one you can se a picture of, the cover of the second look exactly the same apart from a green background instead of a blue. Yngve Stoor often used his own record label LANI, e g for his two Christmas Records.

Some music examples:
Jul i Norden (Christmas in the Nordic Countries)
Jul på Julön (Christmas on the Christmas Island)
Godjulvisa på Hawaii (Merry Christmas Song in Hawaii, this is a Swedish version of a song that originally was performed by Bing Crosby)
Sjömansjul på Hawaii (Seamens Christmas in Hawaii)
Julens klockor (Christmas Bells)
Fridfull jul (Peaceful Christmas)
Tre små ljus (Three Small Candles)

Another option is to download all the songs in one zip-file.

Welcome to the Christmas Party at Klubb Sunkit

2008-11-07T14:47:00.001-08:00

Information for those living in Stockholm:
The Christmas Party at Klubb Sunkit will be Monday the 22nd of December at 8 pm to 1 am. Garlic and Shots, Folkungagatan, close to tube station Medborgarplatsen as usual. No entrance fee. We are playing records for an hour or two, all depending on the interest from the audience. Sometimes people are dancing and Magnus and Burt prefers to go on drinking beer, and then we play longer. Sometimes people are begging to hear the usual music played at Sunkit and we have to stop earlier. So be there early if you want to listen to really unusual Christmas music.

Still no activity on this blog

2008-10-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

There has been very little activity on this blog for quite some time. For obvious reasons. I know there are American Christmas blogs operating all year around (as well as Christmas shops, I visited one in August in Brevard North Carolina and bough some interesting stuff that I migh show later on). But for me I have no ambitions running this blog more than for a short period of time a few weeks before Christmas.

Normally I start to write about Christmas Music at the end of November. Some people have asked me about renewing old links. I might do that, I haven't decided what I will start with this year. So please come back. This year I will probably write some articles about my music in other places and probably we will have the yearly DJ-session at Klubb Sunkit. I will give you more information about this later.

4 versions of "I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus"

2007-12-25T02:47:00.000-08:00

I will rapidly try to share a few more Christmas-songs before the Christmas ends. Last year I shared different versions of the same song, and today I give you different old and new versions of "I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus".

* My first choice is a classic recording from 1953 with Margret Bienert . I have a few copies, all pretty worn out. They must have a sold a lot of these, and people must have liked it.

* Lisbeth Bodin was a child actriss and could sing with a childs voice even when she grew older. She appeared in a radio show during the 40ties with American songs, sometimes with Swedish lyrics. My favourite from her production is a song called "There's a cowboy rolling down Kungsgatan" - you get it as a bonus, even though it has nothing with Christmas to do. (The picture at the right shows her together with Henry Lindblom.)

* Heroes is a Swedish skinheadband and their version i rather out of pitch and not very enjoyable, but maybe of some interest. The name of the album is "Easter Sucks Xmas Rules".

* Troll was a girls group that recorded the song in the 80ties. It appears on many of the Christmas collections, and most people in Sweden have heard it.

New favourites this year

2007-12-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

Today I want to share some new favourites that I just found this, or sometimes last, year. Unfortunatly I think they will be mostly appreciated by a Swedish audience. But give it a try:

* "Jul i Las Palmas" (Christmas in Las Palmas) with Harry Brandelius. A song about going to a warm country celebrating Christmas with a lot of drinking and prostitutes.

* "En officiell låt för den svenska julen" (the official song for the Swedish Christmas) with Jimmy Nordin and Sören Tallhem. Jimmy Nordin is a shotputter that possibly soon will be more known for his weird records.

* "Julkortslåten" (The song of Christmas Cards) with Lasse and Morgan, a duo that performs for children. This song tells that licking stamps for postcards is tasty and fun, which I really doubt. (This year I haven't sent one single card.)

For those that already downloaded "Christmas in Las Palmas":

By mistake I shared a Wav-file instead of the mp3 that I intended to. I have now replaced it with an mp3 instead (and it has some noise- and click-reduction that was not on the other one).

Discussion about Christmas Music i TV

2007-12-18T15:19:00.001-08:00

This night I visited a TV-program to talk about Christmas Music. It's a local show distributed in the Stockholm area (similar programs are shown in other parts of the country as well).

I particularly liked that they showed some videos. Thore Skogman is singing "Klappa på" and the best of all: Don Bennechi and Angelique Widegren with "Jul i Gamla stan" (Christmas in Old Town) with big furcoats in a sleigh, artificial snow and smiling children. They were regular guests in TV-programs for a couple of years but disappeared suddenly after an internal conflict that ended with that she was put in jail for having somebody to get rid of him (the person she hired didn't suceed). He is apparently still an artist and was recently presenting a new single that I still haven't heard.

The program is in Swedish but I worth seeing for the musical parts, try the websajt for Swedish Television-program Eftersnack. The second half of the program is about Christmas Music.

Reposting old links

2007-12-14T11:11:00.001-08:00

I also want to tell that I reposted some old links from last year:

* 5 different versions of White Christmas.

* 7 different versions of Jingle Bells.

* Come home for Christmas Daddy

* Christmas at the Brothel

* Homsesick Seamen at Christmas

* Christmas in the Wild West

A tribute to Thore Skogman

2007-12-14T05:40:00.000-08:00

In the beginning of December this year we got to know that Thore Skogman is dead. Quite a big thing in Sweden, I don't think there is one single person that can not sing a couple of his songs. The absolute all time champion of fast singing and incredible strange lyrics. A fantastic productivity - he made something like 1 000 songs during his life.

Nobody could write songs about so many odd things as Thore Skogman. We will never forget his songs for advertisements for loafs of bread, learning how to swim, eating rotten fish (Surströmming, a Swedish speciality) etc. Some of the best, and sometimes neglected, ones are about Christmas.

The first one, that I shared already last year, is "Julen är här". It tells about how people are eating too much food and keeps the doctor busy. Kids are fighting about presents, grownups are arguing etc. A tragic event worthy a native of the country known for many suicides, a musical companion of Ingmar Bergman or maybe rather Lars Norén.

The last ones are short songs for dancing around a Christmas tree, he made small changes in the traditional lyrics. If you wonder why the pig starts to fight it's because he doesn't want to get into the car just before Christmas. But suddenly they managed to take him to the butcher after all, sings Thore Skogman as cheerful as ever. Cold ham is a version of Kalinka, the Russian song, Kalinka in Swedish is close to "kall skinka" = cold ham.

* Julen är här (Christmas is here)
* Klappa på (Knock on the door)
* Tomtens renar (Father Christmas Reindeers)
* Två små röda luvor (Two small red hats)
* Skära, skära grisen (Cutting ham)
* Kall skinka (Cold ham)
* Så går vi runt kring ett julgrislår (So we are walking around a pigs leg)
* Ritscht Ratsch
* Hej alla svin (Hello all pigs)
* Grisen börja bråka (The pig started to fight)

Christmasparty at Club Sunkit

2007-11-13T09:06:00.000-08:00

Some information for everyone in the Stockholm-area: The yearly Chrimastparty at Club Sunkit (Bröderna Olsson, Folkungagatan) will be Monday 17th of December. It starts at 8 pm, we will be playing music the first one or possible 2 hours (depending on the response and how eager Burt and Magnus are to get on with playing their music).

The day after, Tuesday 18th, I will talk about Christmas Records in Eftersnack, a local talkshow in stately television SVT2 (distributed locally in greater Stockholm area). I think it starts somewhere around 10 pm.

What could be a better choice if you want to celebrate that Christmas is approaching than showing a cover from a Christmas record with the German singer Heino (favourite all year around). Thanks to bizarrerecords.com.

Merry Christmas All Of You

2006-12-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

This Year I have collected more Christmas Music than I ever will get the time to listen to. The amount of files you can download has really grown (but if you only want one place I will recommend Ernie not Burt, what a collection!). Still, the most interesting music I find at flee markets, and this year there simply was no time for visiting such places. Even less time to transfer to mp3 (we have loads of records that I listen to but can't share with you, one is above). But maybe next year will be more relaxed since I just got a big grant for writing (I don't think anybody thought of Christmas Records when they gave me this award but never mind).
The annual Christmas Party at Club Sunkit was an ever greater success this year, people arrived early, many of them knew the lyrics of the songs and we continued for longer than we ususally do.
Merry Christmas All of You! See you next year!

5 different versions of White Christmas

2006-12-19T10:52:00.001-08:00

Today I will share diffent versions of White Christmas. In Swedish: "Jag drömmer om en jul hemma" ("I'm dreaming of a Christmas at home"). Supposedly they thought we don't need to dream about snow. But I don't agree. Most winthers in Stockholm are green.

* Jag drömmer om en jul hemma with Lasse Löndahl, from the beginning of the sixties.
* Jag drömmer om en jul hemma with Bengt Westin, old time favourite originally 78s.
* Jag drömmer om en jul hemma with Bertil Bo, 78s.
* White Christmas with Vikingarna traditional dancehallmusic, not sure when they recorded it but possibly during the seventies.
* White Christmas with the Hep Stars, not extremely talented favourites for most girls including myself in the sixties. ABBA-member Benny Andersson was an original member in this band and plays organ on their record with Christmas music.

Jingle Bells in 7 different versions

2006-12-14T04:20:00.000-08:00

It seems to be more and more popular to collect many different versions of the same melodies. Jingle Bells must be the most common Christmas Song that ever was (Bjällerklang in Swedish). Here are a few Swedish versions, for your pleasure:

* Bjällerklang - Towa Carson(popular artist from early sixties)
* Jingle Bells - Danny's(traditional dance hall music from the seventies)
* Bjällerklang - Thore Skogman. For more information about this artist try here.
* Bjällerklang - Indiska(produced by a store selling clothes and other stuff from India)
* Jingle Bells - Loket (known mostly becouse he introduced a Bingo-competition in TV)
* Bjällerklang - Nils Kihlberg (old 78s-version)
* Bjällerklang - Harmony Sister(this one I shared already last year, they are from Finland, apparently)

The illustration is a post card, possible from the seventies

Come Home for Christmas, Daddy

2006-12-10T23:58:00.000-08:00

Today I will share a few tracks from the first album in my collection of Christmas Music. We had a Christmas Party and told everyone to bring their worst Christmas Records. This one was left behind (can you imagine?) and has for many years been a favourite amongs us. It's standard dance music from the seventies´. The cover is probably made by a pupil in a local school (wonder why, they sold a lot of these).
The first song is:
* Kom hem till jul,pappa (Come Home for Christmas, Daddy with Jigs, a sentimental song about how they are crying for daddy around the Christmas Tree.
The second song is:
* Jag önskar er alla en riktigt god jul (A Merry Christmas to All of You). The singer called himself Paul Paljett (paljett = sequin) as he wanted to be part of the era of Bowie-inspierad pop music with lots of glimmering details in scene costumes as well as in hair and faces (very modern at that time, but his music is not at all popmusic, as you can hear for yourselves).

Additional information for those that lives in Stockholm:
Our annual DJ-night at Club Sunkit will be Monday 18th of December at 8 pm, downstairs in the cellar at Bröderna Olsson, Folkungagatan, as usual. No entrance fee(but be there early, it usually gets crowded).

Christmas at a Brothel

2006-12-01T09:02:00.000-08:00

This is quite an obscure thing from the seventies, the cover gives a good idea about the lyrics. The music is not very interesting, the singers and the musicians (some of them later got quite wellknown) sounds rather bored but they are doing their job. A speculation in bad taste (still I think it never sold very much, you find loads of these in Salvation Army stores).

In this version of the Lucia song (in my country it's considered as a Christmas song and we are celebrating the bride of lightness, Lucia, the 13th of December) is about a drugaddict selling her body for ten swedish crowns (a litle bit more than an american dollar).
"Hej tomtegubbar" (Cheers all Father Christmas) is a well known drinking song,not only sung at dances around the Christmas Three but also when you drink Snaps (vodka) at the dinner table at Christmas Eve. In this version Father Christmas is asked to pull down his trousers (and the rest you can guess). Last I give you a totallly different version of a traditional song "Nu är det jul igen" (Now it's Christmas again): "Nu e jag kåt igen!".

Additional information about the inspiration of this record:
Bordellmamma (Mama San in charge of the Brothel)was a well known theme from a couple of records with a totally different artist. He has nothing to do with this Christmas record. His name was Johnny Bode, well known in the 30ties and 40ties as a singer but also for many other things (such as fraud and other criminal activities, sympathies for the Nazi Party, a couple of peculiar Gay Records - some of them for the German market etc). Towards the end of his life he was getting more and more miserable, constantly in need of money and willing to do all sorts of odd things that would give him some cash. His pornografic records was a great success and many others tried to copy the idea, the Christmas Record is a result of such a project. (There are a few eccellent books about Johnny Bode, the latest one was written by the journalist Ingemar Norlén. Those that know Swedish might try to read here).

Homesick Seamen at Christmas

2006-11-20T00:27:00.000-08:00

There are plenty of Christmas songs about Seamen longing to go home for Christmas.In fact they had an entire Radio Show for those at Christmas Eve where they played all these songs and presented greetings from their relatives. Here are some of my favourites. "Jul i främmande hamn" has been recorded with several artist. Erik Källquist (on the picture) that is singing on this one was actually a hairdresser. But he recorded many records as well and performed all over the country. For many years he made an annual Christmas Record. Those that can understand Swedish might notice that the girls they are inviting for a Christmas party in this song most certainly are prostitutes.

"Jul ombord" with Harry Persson is my second choice. He was a stage performance artist, as you might tell from his way of singing. In this case they are not in a warm and sunny country but in the middle of the Atlantic Sea, and the wind is pulling their gloves (according to the song).

Christmas in the Wild West

2006-11-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

In the 50ties Sweden was still a country were most people lived in the countryside, farming, working with animals etc. So when country music was discovered we felt at home. Cacka Israelsson was probably the first artist trying to sing country music in Swedish. He was not very good at english, as you can hear when he tries to sing e g Emily Fords old songs (later I will upload Cool Water). But most of his songs were in Swedish,as this song about celebrating Christmas in the Wild West, "Jul i vilda västern".
(By the way, the old links below should work, so try to download again if you missed some of the tracks I shared last Christmas. If you tried a couple of days ago try again, I found a hopefully better solution this morning.).

Christmas DJ in December

2006-10-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

It might feel as if it's long until Christ-mas. Here in Sweden we have an amazing autumn, the weather is dry and sunny, the temperature around 20 degrees. This weekend we went swimming in the sea.

Still - in just two months the preparations for Christmas begins. We have already had some calls from people wanting us for Christmas DJ. The first occasion will be in Haninge Folket Hus, just outside Stockholm, the 10th of December. We have promised to play some of our favourites.

As a service to newcomers I have downloaded the mp3-files that I shared last year again. This means the links should no longer be expired. Wish you all a great pleasure. Here are the links:
1) Older Swedish version of Frosty the Snowman and "Tre små tomtar".
2) Thore Skogman sings one long and two very short songs.
3) Yngve Stoor sings Christmas in Hawaii and a remake of a Bing Crosby-song.
4) Old dances around the Christmas Tree.
5) Old american favourites in Swedish.
6) More dances around the Christmas Tree.

Welcome back in Christmas 2006

2006-05-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

As some people seems to be worried about the lack of action on this blogg I might as well tell you all: I will provide you with more Christmas Records later on. But as the weather is getting warmer and we get summer at last in Sweden I will wait another few months.

Meanwhile I suggest you try my Summerblog instead with various findings of kitsch, weird pieces of handicraft, odd cookerybooks a.s.o. And Yes, there are some music too.

I would particularly recommend some old Scandinavian records from the 40ties, e.g. some of Zarah Leanders Swedish Recordings, pretty hard to find outside Sweden.

The picture is a detail from a cover with the band Vikingarna (The Wikings), one of Swedens most selling band in the field of popular dancehall music (not my piece of cake but I like the cover somehow).

Merry Christmas Everybody

2005-12-23T01:20:00.000-08:00

The man on this cover once spent a long time in a hospital (for what reason I don’t know). He later decided to start and save up money for children without a home, as he knew what it was like to be longing for home. This EP was made to gather money; in one of the songs he sings that he wants to give all human beings a happier world. Quite an ambitious project.

This week we, me and my husband, was DJ:s as usual at the annual Christmas Party at Sunkit, a club for Incredible Strange Music in Stockholm. The website is all written in Swedish, but they just put up a new presentation in English, where you can also read about our annual contribution.
Last week I talked about my collection of Christmas Music in morning television, and this week I was talking in two different radio programmes (but then I got tiered of myself and cancelled a third programme). There is undoubtedly a growing interest for unusual Christmas Music.

More Dances Around The Christmas Tree

2005-12-21T03:38:00.000-08:00

"Postflickorna" was a group of girls all working at postofficies. This record contains old Christmas songs, unfortunatly I can´t yet provide you with this particular songs. But instead I want to share some other Christmas Songs. This is filmactor Thor Modén, well known from many comedies. This time he takes the part as Father Christmas ("Tomten" in Swedish) at the main stage of the outdoor center Skansen in Stockholm, it´s just before Christmas and he sings together with a laides choir. There are two parts, part one and a part two.
Hope you enjoy it!

Old American Favourites in Swedish

2005-12-16T06:32:00.000-08:00

This time I want to share some old American favourites with Swedish artists. These recordings were made in the 40ties, when we first discovered some of these well known songs. There are a lot of versions of both songs, but these are my favourites.
The first one is Jingle Bells with Harmony Sisters, a Finish very popular ladies group singing in Swedish with a slight fínish accent (the Swedish titel is Bjällerklang). My second example is "I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus" with Margret Bienert ("Jag såg mamma kyssa tomten").
I don´t have any pictures of these artists, so I decided to give you one of the worst postcards I have in my collection instead. There is not much to say about it, apart from that I figure it was made in the 70ties.

Old Dances Around the Christmas Tree

2005-12-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

Kvartetten Synkopen was a male choir and they recorded a legendary EP wíth dances around the Christmas Tree. The last bit of it was sampled by "Just D", a Swedish hip hop-group, for their record "Juligen" (apparently the same name as this blog). Please listen to part one and part two of this very traditional Swedish Christmas Record from the 50ties.

Scandinavian Christmas in Hawaii

2005-12-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

Yngve Stoor was a Swedish singer performning music in Hawaiian style. His most famous song is "Sjömansjul på Hawaii"(Christmas for Seemen in Hawaii), a very sentimental and extremely popoular Christmas song in my country, also performed by many other artists. It is all about longing for going home (a common theme in Christmas music).
He also translated american songs into Swedish. This is his version of a song that was made popoular by Bing Crosbys: "God julvisa på Hawaii".

Kalinka turns into cold ham

2005-12-07T13:45:00.000-08:00

My old favourite Thore Skogman made his first Christmas-EP in 1963. This is another version of the cover (another one is shown below). The song Klappa på is telling about the exitement when Santa is knocking on the door. Thore is also an excellent writer of new lyrics to old songs. He turned all the old songs used for dancing around the Christmas Tree into barbaric butcher-songs (suffering pigs are hunted up and down with big knives). This song from 1985 is called Ritsch Ratsch. For another tune, "Kall skinka", he used the russian melodi Kalinka. Kalinka almost sounds like "cold ham" in Swedish, and ham is the main dish on our Christmas table.

Christmas With Evie

2005-11-21T06:16:00.000-08:00

It´s getting towards winter. In Stockholm we just had the first snow of the year. It’s freezing cold. Discovered this LP from 1974 with religious songbird Evie Tornqvist: "Jul med Evie" (“Christmas With Evie”). She had a peculiar American accent, I remember. No idea what she is doing these days, but she had a nice hat on, don’t you think?.
Hemmets Härold LP 503 979

2005-10-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

Glennmarks - a perfect family

The Glenmark family were not really a family, Ann-Louise were a famous singer, her husbound Bruno had an orchestra and was promoting his wife, Anders and Karin were brother and sister - Bruno was a brother of their father. They sang perfectly in thune but with a lack of temperament that made it rather boring. They also made a Christmas Album in the seventies.

2005-09-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

Sing along with Egon

Egon Kjerrman is the unconquerable champion in Sweden when it comes to making many editions of the same recordings. Always with different covers, sometimes really strange covers. Look down below for a detail with two kids from another cover.

The setup is always the same; the poor kids are dancing around the Christmas tree together with Egon who is shouting and singing (rather false) as load as he can making them speed up. You often find these records in Salvation Army stores and flee markets for less than 2 dollars. Normally they are in perfect condition, meaning nobody ever wanted to listen to them. No wonder why, if you ask me.

Happy Holiday in Sweden

2005-09-15T03:07:00.000-07:00

This record contains a bunch of wellknown Swedish artists from the beginning of the sixties. I particularly like the way they are imitating the sound of tripping small "tomtenissar", as we call them in Sweden. The song is called "Tre små tomtar"(meening there are three of these small men).
We have a slightly different Christmastradition, originally Father Christmas was not an old man with beard at all, he was rather a small, grey grumpy and rather mean supernatural being known from fairytales. For various reasons somebody found out it would be nicer with a red cap. And then he turned out to be part of the Christmas celebrations, which was never ment to be.
The record contains some national and some international favourites, my favourite amongs the american songs is a hilarious version of "Frosty the Snowman".

2005-05-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

Svensk julidyll -
Idyllic Swedish Christmas

Why are the children so miserable when it is Christmastime? Why are they not looking at the camera? Why are they having the same ugly slippers and stockings as I had myself when I was at their age? Section of frontcover "Julefrid och julefröjd" (traditional dances around the Christmas Tree) with Egon Kjerrmans orchestra and choir.
LP Telestar TR 11013

Varför samlar man julskivor? - Why would anybody collect Christmas Records?

2005-05-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

I have been collecting Christmas Records for many years. It started off as a an event during an annual Christmas party. Everybody was asked to bring along their worst Christmas Records. Most of these were of course left behind. This was the beginning of my collection. Me and my husband Per Wikström are DJ:s every Christmas at "Klubb Sunkit", a club for incredible strange music in Stockholm. I am also working on a book about Christmas Records, hopefully in print at Christmas 2006.
EP: "Eva Luva sjunger Tomten av Victor Rydberg".
EW Ton ETC 96

Songs about "The Smörgåsbord"

2005-05-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

On this websajt I will present selections from my collection of Christmas Records. I will write about Christmas Music, show interesting covers and later on I might even present audio-files with music. This cover is one of my favourites. It is an EP from the early sixties with a wellknown Swedish artist (and a personal favourite): Thore Skogman. As you can tell from the cover the lyrics focuses on food. In one of the songs he sings about people that are eating so much that there are shuttletraffic to nearest hospital. Which I would say is not a very unlikely thing to happen during a Swedish Christmas Celebration. Our traditional Christmas food, the "Smörgåsbord", is rather fattening.
(EP "Klappa på", Odeon GEOS 198)