The Spotnicks were an

instrumental rock Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes musical instruments and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style. Instr ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

from

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 ...

that formed in 1961. They were known for wearing "

space suit A space suit or spacesuit is a garment worn to keep a human alive in the harsh environment of outer space, vacuum and temperature extremes. Space suits are often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, ...

" costumes on stage and for their innovative electronic guitar sound. They released 43

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 ...

s and sold more than 18 million records.

History

The Spotnicks originated from a duo, "The Rebels" (1956), formed by Bo Starander (11 March 1942 – 3 May 2020

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

), and Björn Thelin (27 June 1942 – 24 January 2017;

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

). They were joined by

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

Bo Winberg Bo Fredrik Winberg, (27 March 1939 – 3 January 2020) was a Swedish singer and guitarist in the band The Spotnicks. Early life Winberg was born in Gothenburg. The Spotnicks The Spotnicks originated from a duo, "The Rebels" (1956), formed b ...

(born in Gothenburg,

; 27 March 1939 – 3 January 2020), and became "Rock-Teddy and the Blue Caps" in 1957 in Gothenburg. In 1958 they added Ove Johansson ( drums) (born 30 March 1940), changed their name to "The Frazers", and began playing regularly in local

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

. They signed a recording contract in 1961, and changed their name to "The Spotnicks", a play on the

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Sputnik as suggested by their

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

, Roland Ferneborg. Starander was later known as Bob Lander. They soon became the first Swedish group to have significant international success, in a similar style to

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

and

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

. They toured

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, and one of their early

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

, "Orange Blossom Special", became their first big international

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

, making the Top 30 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1962 on the Oriole

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

, and reaching No. 1 in Australia. Around this time they began wearing their trademark "space suits" on stage. They recorded their first

, ''The Spotnicks in London, Out-a Space'', in 1962. Further hits included "Rocket Man" (based on the Soviet/Russian folk march "

Polyushko-polye ''Polyushko-polye'' ( rus, По́люшко-по́ле, p=ˈpolʲʊʂkə ˈpolʲɪ) is a Soviet Russian-language song. ''Polye'' means " field" in Russian, "''polyushko''" is a diminutive/hypocoristic form for ''"polye"''. It is also known as ''Me ...

"), and "

Hava Nagila Hava Nagila ( he, הָבָה נָגִילָה, ''Hāvā Nāgīlā'', "Let us rejoice") is a Jewish folk song. It is traditionally sung at celebrations, such as weddings. Written in 1918, it quickly spread through the Jewish diaspora. History ...

" (their biggest UK hit, where it made No. 13). Winberg also recorded

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, credited as 'The Shy Ones'. In 1963, "Amapola" became one of their most successful singles in their home country, staying at No. 1 in Sweden for eight weeks. They appeared in the film ''Just for Fun'', continued to tour widely, and recorded their second album, ''The Spotnicks in Paris''. That year, drummer Ove Johansson left and was replaced by an

Englishman The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...

, Derek Skinner (born 5 March 1942, London). Two years later, Skinner was replaced briefly by

Jimmie Nicol James George Nicol (born 3 August 1939) is an English drummer and business entrepreneur. He is best known for replacing Ringo Starr in the Beatles for eight concerts of the Beatles' 1964 world tour during the height of Beatlemania, elevating h ...

, who had drummed with

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

on the Danish, Dutch and Australian leg of their 1964 tour, while Ringo Starr recovered from having his

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removed. In 1964 and 1965, The Spotnicks expanded their popularity in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Japan, reaching No. 1 in Japan in 1966 with "Karelia". Elsewhere, however, they became less successful as popular music tastes changed. In 1965 the band was joined by organist, vocalist Peter Winsnes (born 9 March 1944, Molndal, Sweden). Nicol left in February 1967 and was replaced by Tommy Tausis (22 March 1946–30 March 2022). Thelin also left in 1967 and was replaced by Magnus Hellsberg (born 6 November 1944). Winsnes left in 1968 and organist Goran Samuelsson joined in 1969. The group, having undergone many personnel changes, split up in 1970 after releasing their fifteenth album, ''The Spotnicks Back in the Race''. Yet the band was still popular in Japan, and it soon reformed under Winberg's control in 1971 at the request of a Japanese record label. Winberg continued to lead versions of The Spotnicks, occasionally including Lander and/or Thelin, on tour and in recordings. In 2013, Winberg and Lander announced that they would be undertaking a final tour, finishing in May 2014. The Spotnicks played their very last concert on 30 March 2019, at Musikens Hus, Gothenburg. Winberg died on 3 January 2020. Lander died on 3 May 2020. Tommy Tausis died on 30 March 2022.Tommy Tausis
Retrieved 21 September 2022

Discography

Albums

#1962, Karusell KALP 1012 (Mono)/KALPS1012 (electronisk stereo/electronical stereo), ''The Spotnicks in London, Out-a Space'' (LP): re-released, 2014, on CD: Hallmark 715542. #1962, Karusell KSEP 3272 (Mono), The Spotnicks on the Air (EP) #1963, Karusell KALP 1014 (Mono)/KALPS1014 (Stereo), The Spotnicks in Paris, Dansons avec les Spotnicks (LP) #1963, SweDisc SWELP 1 (Mono) SWELPS1 (Stereo), The Spotnicks in Spain "Bailemos con los Spotnicks" (LP) #1963, President KVP 162, Devenez soliste des Spotnicks (LP) #1964, SweDisc SWELP 20 (Mono) SWELPS20 (Stereo), The Spotnicks in Stockholm (LP) #1964, SweDisc SWELP 22 (Mono), The Spotnicks in Berlin (LP) #1965, SweDisc SWELP 33 (Mono) SWELPS33 (Stereo), The Spotnicks at Home in Gothenburg (LP) #1966, SweDisc SWELP 38 (Mono) SWELPS38 (Stereo), The Spotnicks in Tokyo (LP) #1966, SweDisc SWELP C 42, The Spotnicks Around the World (LP) #1966, SweDisc SWELP C 48, The Spotnicks in Winterland (LP) #1967, Karusell KP 3001, The Spotnicks (LP) #1967, SweDisc SWELP C 53, The Spotnicks Live in Japan (LP) #1967, SweDisc SWLS 501, The Spotnicks (LP) #1967, SweDisc SWLS 502, The Spotnicks (LP) #1967, SweDisc SWELP C 54, Den Röda Brandbilen (LP) #1967, SweDisc SWELP C 60, The Spotnicks in Acapulco Mexico (LP) #1968, SweDisc SWELP C 63, The Spotnicks in the Groove (LP) #1968, SweDisc SWELP C 67, The Spotnicks By Request (LP) #1970, Polydor 2379 005, The Spotnicks "Back in the Race"(LP) #1971, Canyon Y-1005, The Spotnicks "Ame no ballad" (LP) #1972, Polydor 2379 032, The Spotnicks "Something Like Country" (LP) #1973, Karusell 2499 056, The Spotnicks in Japan (LP) #1973, Polydor 2379 060, Bo Winberg & The Spotnicks "Today" (LP) #1973, "Okänt bolag" MC 12 CPP 227, The Spotnicks Plays Great Hits of Japanese Tunes" (LP) #1974, Polydor 2480 201, The Spotnicks Live in Berlin '74 (LP) #1976, Polydor 2480 328, The Spotnicks "Feelings - 12 Brandnew Songs" (LP) #1977, Polydor 2310 568, The Spotnicks "Charttoppers Recorded 77" (LP) #1978, Marianne Records MILP 1300, The Spotnicks "The Great Snowman" (LP) #1978, Polydor 2344 116, The Spotnicks "Never Trust Robots" (LP) #1979, Marianne Records MILP 1304, The Spotnicks " Saturday Night Music" (LP) #1979, SweDisc SW25-6005, The Spotnicks "Pink Lady Super Hits" (LP) #1980, Polydor 2344 156, The Spotnicks "20th Anniversary Album" (LP) #1982, Mill Records MILL 5004, The Spotnicks "We Don't Wanna Play Amapola No More" (LP) #1983, Mill Records MILL 5019, The Spotnicks "In the Middle of Universe" (LP) #1985, Mill Records MILL 5028, The Spotnicks "Highway Boogie" (LP) #1986, Mill Records MILL 5036, The Spotnicks "In Time" (LP) #1987, Europa 100 423.9, The Spotnicks "Love Is Blue" (CD) #1987, Imtrat IMT CD 100.052, The Spotnicks "Happy Guitar" (CD) #1987, Koch Records H 321 859, The Spotnicks "16 Golden World Hits" (CD) #1989, Mill Records MILL 5040, MICD 5040, The Spotnicks "Unlimited" (LP),(CD) #1993, RCA/BMG 74321 12590 2, The Spotnicks/Bo Winberg #1 (CD) #1995, RCA/BMG 74321 26465 2, The Spotnicks "Tracks" (CD) #1997, Riverside Records RRCD 101, The Spotnicks 1997 (CD) #1999, WISTA & The Spotnicks Records TSRCD 001, The Spotnicks Live 1999 (CD) #2002, WISTA & The Spotnicks Records TSRCD 002, The Otherside (Of the Moon) (CD) #2003, WISTA TSRCD 003, Back to the Roots (CD) #2006, WISTA TSRCD 004, Still on Tour (CD) #2009, Riverside Records RRCD 130, Bo Winberg / My Own Favorites (CD) #2011, WISTA TSRCD 005 The 'Real' Amapola (CD)

Chart singles

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spotnicks, The Swedish rock music groups Musical groups established in 1961 Instrumental rock musical groups Musical groups from Gothenburg 1961 establishments in Sweden