Jan Torsten Svensson, known professionally as Harpo (born 5 April 1950), is a Swedish

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

singer.Harpo sjunger ut på Galgberget

Hallandsposten ''Hallandsposten'' is a Swedish local morning newspaper printed in Halmstad, Sweden. It is the major newspaper of Halmstad, Hylte and Laholm municipalities History and profile ''Hallandsposten'' was established in 1850. The first issue app ...

2009-06-30 He was popular in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

and around

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in the 1970s and is best known for his worldwide

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

" Moviestar" (1975) and "Horoscope" (1976). Harpo continued to work in the music business into the 2000s, releasing an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

of new material in 2005 and continued to tour. He remains popular in Germany and has toured there since 2007.

Career

Jan Svenssons artist name ''Harpo'' is a bow to American comedian

Harpo Marx Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Grou ...

The Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

. Harpo started his career in the late 1960s as an

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

in children's theatre. While touring around Sweden, he started to write

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...

s. In 1972, he signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with

Stig Anderson Stig Erik Leopold Anderson (25 January 1931 – 12 September 1997), better known as Stikkan Anderson, was a Swedish music manager, lyricist and music publisher. He was the co-founder of Polar Music, and is best known for managing the Sw ...

at Polar Music. Anderson assigned him to in-house

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma M ...

and

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, producer, a member of the musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals '' Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamma Mia!'' He co-produced the films ...

. The plan was that Andersson and Ulvaeus would work with Harpo on an album of his

child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...

ren's songs in Swedish. The collaboration did not work out and Anderson released Harpo from his contract. Harpo then signed with EMI and formed a successful creative partnership with producer Bengt Palmers. Harpo released his first two

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

in 1973 - "Honolulu" and "Sayonara". Both were hits and reached the Top Ten on the Tio-i-topp chart. "Sayonara" held the number one spot for five consecutive weeks between January and February 1974. On 27 February 1975, Harpo recorded the song for which he would become most famous - "Moviestar". One of the

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

s on that session was

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen (born Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad on 15 November 1945), also known by her nickname "Frida", is a Norwegian-born Swedish singer, songwriter and environmentalist, who is best known as one of the foun ...

(Frida) from

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

. It has sometimes been reported that

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...

also sang on the song but this is incorrect. The second female singer is Frida, who also provided backing vocals on the song "Pin Up Girl" on Harpo's second album, ''Harpo & Bananaband''. "Moviestar" went on to become a huge hit. It reached number 1 in Sweden, Norway, Austria, Switzerland and West Germany,The German chart positions are taken from Günter Ehnert (ed.): ''Hit Bilanz. Deutsche Chart Singles 1956-1980''. Hamburg: Taurus Press 1990, p. 93 number 3 in Australia, number 9 in New Zealand, number 13 in Ireland and number 24 in the UK. A Swedish language version was also released in Sweden which went to number 1 on the ''Svensktoppen'' radio

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

. He made many

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and TV appearances around Europe. Harpo released a number of follow up singles, notably "Motorcycle Mama" (number 9 in Germany) and "Horoscope" (number 1 in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and number 3 in Germany). In 1977, Harpo travelled to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, U.S. with his wife and producer Bengt Palmers. The result was the album ''The Hollywood Tapes'' which spawned the hit single "Television". Also, in 1977, Harpo made the news when he refused to take part in the Swedish Military Service. As a result, he went to

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

for one month. In 1978, Harpo revisited the songs he was originally going to work on with Andersson and Ulvaeus in 1972. The result was the children's album ''Jan Banan och hans flygande matta''. He followed this with an album of his favourite

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

songs. Both these projects were in the Swedish language. In 1980, Harpo was ready to get back into mainstream

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...

. He signed to

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Ch ...

's label, RAK and released one single, "She Loves It Too". In fact, Harpo had the chance to be on RAK as far back as 1973. He met with Most in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, but decided not to move to London at that time. Harpo had an accident in August 1980. As well as being a

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wr ...

, he is also a horse trainer and one of his horses, Starter, suddenly lashed out and kicked Harpo in the face several times. The injuries were so severe that Harpo lost his sense of smell and the sight in one eye. To show there were no hard feelings, Harpo dedicated his next album to his horse, ''Starter''. Harpo continued to record throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. During 1985, he produced several Swedish groups including

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

, Suzzies Orkester and +1. In 1987, he set up his own record company, Igloo Records. After his 1992 album, things were quiet on the recording front. He released a single, "Sounds Like Love", in Germany only in 1994. In 1997, Harpo contributed two new songs to a greatest hits

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

, ''Harpo Hits!'' Harpo released his latest album of new material, ''Jan Harpo Svensson 05'' in April 2005. He had an extensive tour of Germany in 2007.

Discography

Singles

Albums

* ''Leo the Leopard'' (1974) * ''Harpo & Bananaband'' (1975) * ''Moviestar'' (1975) - AUS #65 * ''Smile'' (1976) * ''The Hollywood Tapes'' (1977) * ''Jan Banan och hans flygande matta'' (1978) * ''Råck änd råll rätt å slätt'' (1979) (credited to Jan Harpo Svensson) * ''The Fool of Yesterday (Will Be the Fool of Tomorrow)'' (1981) * ''Let's Get Romantic'' (1984) * ''Harpo'' (1988) (sometimes incorrectly referred to as ''Igloo'' or ''London'') * ''Hemliga låden'' (1990) (credited to Harpo Show) * ''Harpo'' (1992) (not to be confused with the 1988 album of the same name) * ''Jan Harpo Svensson 05'' (2005) (credited to Jan Harpo Svensson)

Compilation albums

* ''Harpo Hits'' (1977) * ''20 Bästa'' (1980) * ''Portrait of Harpo'' (1991) * ''Moviestar Greatest Hits'' (1993) * ''Samlade Hits'' (1995) ( CD that contains the whole ''Let's Get Romantic'' album plus four other hits) * ''Moviestar'' (1996) * ''Harpo Hits!'' (1997) * ''Premium Gold Collection'' (1999) * ''Moviestar: The HitStory of Harpo'' (1999) * ''The Collection'' (2001) * ''Klassiker'' (2003)

References

External links

harpo.info
official site
harpo-svensson.de
- fan site (in German)
harpo-fan.de
- fan site (in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Harpo 1950 births Living people Singers from Stockholm Swedish male singers Swedish pop singers Swedish rock singers Rak Records artists Swedish conscientious objectors Swedish singer-songwriters English-language singers from Sweden