Birgit Rose-Marie Anlert (née Carlsson, born 31 March 1936), known professionally as Towa Carson, is a Swedish schlager singer. She debuted in 1954 and had the most success in the 1950s and 1960s, with hits such as ''"De tre klockorna"'' (Swedish version of "

The Three Bells "The Three Bells", also known as "The Jimmy Brown Song", "Little Jimmy Brown", or simply "Jimmy Brown", is a song made popular by the Browns in 1959. The song is an English adaptation of the French language song " Les Trois Cloches" written by ...

", which peaked at No. 4, ''"Spara sista dansen för mig"'' ("

Save the Last Dance for Me "Save the Last Dance for Me" is a song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, first recorded in 1960 by American musical group the Drifters with Ben E. King on lead vocals. It has since been covered by several artists, including the DeFranco ...

"), which also peaked at No. 4, and her biggest hit "''Jag måste ge mig av''" (

Billy Grammer Billy Wayne Grammer (August 28, 1925 – August 10, 2011) was an American country music singer and accomplished guitar player. He recorded the million-selling "Gotta Travel On", which made it onto both the Hot Country Songs, country and Billboar ...

's "

Gotta Travel On "Gotta Travel On" is an American folksong. The earliest known version was printed in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag in 1927 under the title "Yonder Comes the High Sheriff" and several variations were recorded in the 1920s, but the best know ...

", Swedish lyrics by Peter Himmelstrand) which peaked at No. 3. She recorded many

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

s with

Lasse Lönndahl Lars Gunnar "Lasse" Lönndahl (; 19 August 1928 – 26 December 2022) was a Swedish singer and actor. He was considered the best-known Swedish singer of the 1950s and 1960s with nicknames including "The Swedish Frank Sinatra" and "World's Oldest ...

, the most successful being ''"Visa mig hur man går hem"'' (

Irving King Jimmy Campbell (born James Alexander Campbell-Tyrie; 5 April 1903–19 August 1967) and Reg Connelly (born Reginald John Connelly; 22 October 1895–23 September 1963) were English songwriters and music publishers. Writing together in ...

's "

Show Me the Way to Go Home "Show Me the Way to Go Home" is a popular song written in 1925 by the English songwriting team Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly, using the pseudonym "Irving King". The song is said to have been written on a train journey from London by Campbell and ...

") which peaked at No. 12. 25 of her songs have charted on

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing on Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982–1985. In the years leading up to the January 20 ...

. She has participated in the Swedish song contest

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...

(which serves as a national preselection for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

) in 1967 (''"Du vet var jag finns"'', third place) and in 1968 (two songs: ''" Alla har glömt"'' took fourth place, while ''"Vem frågar vinden"'' took the fifth). Unlike many other Scandinavian schlager-singing stars, she never sought international career, despite allegedly receiving offers from the US and

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. In 2004, at the age of 68, she teamed up with fellow veteran Melodifestivalen participants,

Siw Malmkvist Siw Gunnel Margareta Malmkvist (born 31 December 1936) is a Swedish schlager singer and actress popular in Scandinavia and West Germany (today's Germany). She represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 and West Germany in the Eurovi ...

and

Ann-Louise Hanson Ann-Louise Hanson (born in Kristianstad in 1944) is a Swedish singer who has been involved in the music industry since 1956. In 1960, she had her first hit, "Är du ensam i kväll?", a Swedish version of Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonigh ...

, to enter the contest again. The trio, under the name Hanson, Carson & Malmkvist, gained media attention due to the average age of the ladies far exceeding 60. Their song, ''" C'est la vie"'', written by the prolific Swedish composer Thomas G:son, was a mix of a typical schlager tune with uptempo dance beat. The ladies advanced from their semi-final round thanks to their popularity with televoters and took the tenth place on the

final night ''The Final Night'' is a 1996 comic book fictional crossover, crossover storyline published by DC Comics that ran through a weekly self-titled Limited series (comics), limited series and a score of tie-in issues spanning most of DC's ongoing titl ...

, with an energetic performance including Siw's spectacular kicks. They also appeared at one of that year's

Allsång på Skansen ''Allsång på Skansen'' (''Sing-along at Skansen'') is a Sweden, Swedish show held at Skansen, Stockholm, every summer on Tuesdays between 8pm and 9pm. The audience is encouraged to sing-along, sing along with musical guest stars to well-known ...

events. In 2006, Towa Carson celebrated her 70th birthday. She is married to Bengt Anlert, a former soccer player for AIK. The unusual first name she uses on stage stems from her father calling her ''"Min lilla Tova"'' when she was a little girl, with reference to her tangled hair (''tova'' means 'tangle' in Swedish).

References

External links

Aftonbladet report on Hanson, Carson & Malmkvist advancing to the Melodifestivalen final

Helsinborgs Dagblad report on Towa's 70th birthday

Västerviks-Tidningen report on Towa's 70th birthday

Official Melodifestivalen 2004 contestant page for Hanson, Carson & Malmkvist
*
Music sample from Towa's 1976 record – ''Tillbaka Igen''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Towa Swedish women pop singers Swedish pop singers 1936 births Living people Schlager musicians People from Eskilstuna