Tages were a Swedish
rock band formed in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
in 1963. The group, whose original line-up consisted of
Tommy Blom
Tommy Albert Blom (3 March 1947 – 25 May 2014) was a Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, radio presenter, and voice actor. He was the lead vocalist of the rock band Tages (band), Tages in the 1960s, and later a member of Idolerna ("The Idols") ...
,
Göran Lagerberg
Göran Bertil Lagerberg (; born 20 September 1947) is a Swedish musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist in Swedish rock band Tages and later progressive rock act Kebnekajse. In the 1990s, he was a ...
,
Danne Larsson
Dan "Danne" Tage Bexér (né Larsson; born 11 January 1948) is a Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist and businessman who is best known for being the rhythm guitarist in the Swedish rock band Tages, and subsequently Blond, between 1963 and 1969. A ...
,
Anders Töpel
(Per-Inge) Anders Töpel (16 January 1947 – 10 April 2014) was a Swedish guitarist, best known for being the lead guitarist of the Swedish rock group Tages.
Early life
Töpel was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He befriended Tommy Blom as a child. ...
and Freddie Skantze, were one of the most successful Swedish bands of the 1960s. They achieved thirteen top-20 singles on
Kvällstoppen, such as "
Sleep Little Girl", "
I Should Be Glad", "In My Dreams", and "
Miss Mac Baren", as well as having two albums
certified gold, ''
Tages
Tages was claimed as a founding prophet of Etruscan mythology, Etruscan religion who is known from reports by Latin authors of the late Roman Republic and Roman Empire. He revealed a cosmic view of divinity and correct methods of ascertaining ...
'' (1965) and ''
Tages 2'' (1966).
Tages began their recording career as a
beat band, heavily influenced and inspired by
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
. Initially, the group garnered much criticism from other musicians, who considered them inexperienced. This led to them quickly developing as a group, drawing influences from British
mod artists, specifically
Small Faces
Small Faces were an English Rock music, rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966 ...
, and like them, were the center of Swedish male fashion from 1965 onward. The band would cover songs from virtually unknown artists in Sweden, such as
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...
,
Willie Dixon
William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...
and
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...
, but also from competitors, such as
the Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, ...
,
the Easybeats and Small Faces.
Between 1965 and 1967, Tages managed to record five
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
s, including ''
Extra Extra'' (1966), which was among the first
psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
albums recorded. During the later part of their career, Tages pioneered a genre of music, combining elements of
Swedish folk music
Swedish folk music is a genre of music based largely on folkloric collection work that began in the early 19th century in Sweden. The primary instrument of Swedish folk music is the fiddle. Another common instrument, unique to Swedish traditio ...
with contemporary rock music. In doing so, the group recorded their final studio album, simply titled ''
Studio
A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater.
The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal.
Types Art
The studio of any artist, esp ...
'' (1967), which solely contains original material and has oftentimes been considered among the best Swedish albums of the 1960s. In mid-late 1968, Blom departed the band, after which they renamed themselves Blond. After a line-up change leaving Lagerberg the only original member left, they released one album, ''The Lilac Years'', on the
Fontana label in 1969.
History
1963–1964: Formation and breakthrough
In the summer of 1963,
Tommy Blom
Tommy Albert Blom (3 March 1947 – 25 May 2014) was a Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, radio presenter, and voice actor. He was the lead vocalist of the rock band Tages (band), Tages in the 1960s, and later a member of Idolerna ("The Idols") ...
and
Anders Töpel
(Per-Inge) Anders Töpel (16 January 1947 – 10 April 2014) was a Swedish guitarist, best known for being the lead guitarist of the Swedish rock group Tages.
Early life
Töpel was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He befriended Tommy Blom as a child. ...
started a
skiffle
Skiffle is a music genre, genre of folk music with influences from American folk music, blues, Country music, country, Bluegrass music, bluegrass, and jazz, generally performed with a mixture of manufactured and homemade or improvised instruments. ...
group, originally named Alberts Skifflegrupp after Blom's
middle name. Töpel invited
Danne Larsson
Dan "Danne" Tage Bexér (né Larsson; born 11 January 1948) is a Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist and businessman who is best known for being the rhythm guitarist in the Swedish rock band Tages, and subsequently Blond, between 1963 and 1969. A ...
to join the band, who suggested they also invite
Göran Lagerberg
Göran Bertil Lagerberg (; born 20 September 1947) is a Swedish musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist in Swedish rock band Tages and later progressive rock act Kebnekajse. In the 1990s, he was a ...
to play the
washboard. The quartet then renamed themselves Tages Skifflegrupp after Larsson's middle name,
Tage, hoping the unusual name would help them stand out. The group initially sang mainly
sing-along
Sing-along, also called community singing or group singing, is an event of singing together at gatherings or parties, less formally than choir singing, sometimes with a songbook. Common genres are folk songs, patriotic songs, kids' songs, spirit ...
songs.
They usually performed at private events, but occasionally were scheduled to play at venues. In October of that year, the group entered a talent show called "Oktobersmällen" ("The October Bang"). The band was flat out panned by the jury, and ended up last place.
However, it gave them their first major performance, at
Kungälv
Kungälv () is a cities of Sweden, city and the seat of Kungälv Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It is also a part of Greater Gothenburg Metropolitan Area. It had 22,768 inhabitants in 2010. In 2021, the main Kungälv - Ytterby - ...
Folkpark
In Sweden, a folkpark (also called Folkets park; approximately "people's park" in English) is a public recreation space, usually featuring large grassed areas, trees, children's play facilities, etc. Most towns and cities have a folkpark. These pa ...
.
By early 1964, Tages Skifflegrupp had changed their name to simply Tages, as they quickly ventured away from skiffle due to the impact of
Beatlemania
Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles from 1963 to 1966. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom in late 1963, propelled by the singles " Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and " She Loves Yo ...
. Lagerberg received a bass guitar as a
Christmas present and the other members purchased electric guitars of their own. After recruiting drummer Freddie Skantze, Tages became a
beat group.
The group caught their first break during 13–17 August 1964, when they signed up for
Göteborgs-Posten's contest "Västkustens
Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
" ("The West Coast's Beatles"). The concept behind this was to sound similarly to the Beatles, with a requirement of four members. The prize was a free recording session to the victor. Tages however, consisted of five members at the time. This problem was solved since Blom was in London at the time, a two-week vacation he took to improve his
English skills, while connecting with other people at a
Youth Hostel.
Without Blom, Lagerberg, Larsson, Töpel and Skantze successfully made Tages into a quartet.
They won the contest, garnering 600 votes out of the 1300 voting members of the audience.
Blom had by now returned to Sweden, and the band were authorized to record their first single. For this release, they chose to record a song which was written by Blom, "
Sleep Little Girl". The first recording of the song was not recorded at a professional studio, but rather at Nylöse Ungdomsgård, where a makeshift studio had been created in the cellar.
The group entered the studio on 20 September 1964 to record the song. The song features Blom on lead vocals, while Larsson plays the acoustic guitar. Lagerberg sings backing vocals on the recording. The single was released on 16 October 1964, by independent record label
Platina Records. "Sleep Little Girl" became an immediate smash hit. It reached number 3 on
Kvällstoppen in December 1964, and topped radio chart ''
Tio i Topp'', staying eleven weeks on that chart. Due to its massive success, "Sleep Little Girl" was re-issued in January 1965.
Personnel
Classic line-up
*
Tommy Blom
Tommy Albert Blom (3 March 1947 – 25 May 2014) was a Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, radio presenter, and voice actor. He was the lead vocalist of the rock band Tages (band), Tages in the 1960s, and later a member of Idolerna ("The Idols") ...
– vocals, guitars, harmonica
(1963–1968; died 2014)
*
Göran Lagerberg
Göran Bertil Lagerberg (; born 20 September 1947) is a Swedish musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist in Swedish rock band Tages and later progressive rock act Kebnekajse. In the 1990s, he was a ...
– vocals, bass
(1963–1969)
*
Danne Larsson
Dan "Danne" Tage Bexér (né Larsson; born 11 January 1948) is a Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist and businessman who is best known for being the rhythm guitarist in the Swedish rock band Tages, and subsequently Blond, between 1963 and 1969. A ...
– vocals, guitars
(1963–1969)
*
Anders Töpel
(Per-Inge) Anders Töpel (16 January 1947 – 10 April 2014) was a Swedish guitarist, best known for being the lead guitarist of the Swedish rock group Tages.
Early life
Töpel was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He befriended Tommy Blom as a child. ...
– guitars, vocals
(1963–1969; died 2014)
* Freddie Skantze – drums, percussion
(1963–1966)
Discography
* ''
Tages
Tages was claimed as a founding prophet of Etruscan mythology, Etruscan religion who is known from reports by Latin authors of the late Roman Republic and Roman Empire. He revealed a cosmic view of divinity and correct methods of ascertaining ...
'' (1965)
* ''
Tages 2'' (1966)
* ''
Extra Extra'' (1966)
* ''
Contrast'' (1967)
* ''
Studio
A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater.
The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal.
Types Art
The studio of any artist, esp ...
'' (1967)
As Blond
* ''The Lilac Years'' (1969)
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tages, band
1963 establishments in Sweden
1968 disestablishments in Sweden
Beat groups
Swedish pop music groups
Swedish rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1963
Musical groups disestablished in 1968
Musical groups from Gothenburg
Parlophone artists
Platina Records artists
English-language musical groups from Sweden