1975 in Scandinavian music

The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in Scandinavian music in 1975.

Events

• 22 March – The Eurovision Song Contest is held in Stockholm, Sweden, following ABBA's win the previous year, and is won by Dutch group Teach-In with the song "Ding-A-Dong". ^[1] Finland is the best-performing of the Scandinavian countries, finishing in 7th place. Sweden finish 8th and Norway 18th. ^[2]
• 17 June – Aulis Sallinen's opera, The Horseman , is premièred at the Savonlinna Opera Festival to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Olavinlinna Castle. ^[3] According to George Loomis, writing in The New York Times, the work "is widely credited for helping to precipitate a wave of Finnish operas". ^[4]

New works

• Ulf Grahn – Hommage to the Soap Opera ^[5]
• Einojuhani Rautavaara – String Quartet No. 4 ^[6]
• Aulis Sallinen – The Horseman (opera) ^[3]

Top hit singles

• ABBA
  • "Mamma Mia" (#1 Denmark, Sweden) ^[7]
  • "SOS" (#1 Australia, Belgium, NZ, South Africa, West Germany) ^[8]
• Benny Borg – "Arven" (#1 Norway) ^[9]
• Harpo – "Moviestar" (#1 Austria, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, West Germany) ^[10]
• Björn Skifs – "Michelangelo (#1 Sweden; #7 Norway) ^[11]

Hit albums

• ABBA – ABBA (#1 Australia, Norway, Sweden) ^[12]
• Gasolin' – Gas 5 ^[13]
• Kjell Vidars – Kjell Vidars Igjen... (#12 Sweden) ^[14]
• Kebnekajse – Kebnekajse III ^[15]
• Popol Ace – Stolen From Time ^[16]
• Inger Lise Rypdal – Feeling ^[17]

Eurovision Song Contest

• Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975
• Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975
• Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975

Film and television music

• Bent Fabricius-Bjerre – Flåklypa Grand Prix ^[18]
• Jojje Wadenius – Kalles klätterträd ^[19]

Musical films

• The Magic Flute , with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, starring Irma Urrila, Josef Köstlinger and Håkan Hagegård ^[20]

Births

• 23 April – Jónsi, Icelandic vocalist and multi-instrumentalist ^[21]
• 9 October – Anders Göthberg, Swedish guitarist (died 2008 ^[22]
• unknown date – Áki Ásgeirsson, Icelandic composer ^[23]

Deaths

• 5 February – Åke Persson, Swedish jazz trombonist (born 1932; drowned) ^[24]
• 24 August – Brita Bratland, Norwegian traditional folk singer (born 1910) ^[25]

See also

• 1975 in Denmark
• 1975 in Iceland
• 1975 in Norwegian music
• 1975 in Sweden

References

1. "Karin Falck". Mellopedia (in Swedish). Sveriges Television (SVT). Retrieved 10 April 2024.
2. "Stockholm 1975 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
3. Arni Erkki (1975). "Report from premiere of The Horseman". Opera Festival Issue: 65–68.
4. Loomis, George (12 July 2005). "A grim, uneven tale at Savonlinna festival". The New York Times . Retrieved 5 February 2014.
5. "Hommage to the Soap Opera - Dance for six birds and one sitting duck". Swedish Musical Heritage. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
6. Rautavaara, Einojuhani (1994). String Quartet No. 4 (1975) - Score. Espoo: Fazer Music. ISMN  9790042084878. OCLC   33018490.
7. Benjamin, Jeff (14 August 2017). "ABBA's 15 Best Songs: Critic's Picks". Billboard . Retrieved 28 March 2022.
8. Stanley, Bob (2014). "See That Girl: Abba". Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 280.
9. "Norsktoppen-lister 1975-76". Norsktoppen. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
10. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
11. "SVENSKTOPPEN". Sveriges Radio . Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
12. Rees, Dafydd; Crampton, Luke (1991). Guinness Book of Rock Stars. Enfield: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p. 1. ISBN   0-85112-971-4.
13. Niklas Olsen (2004). 1968: dengang og nu. Museum Tusculanums Forlag, Københavns universitet. p. 135. ISBN   9788772899961.
14. "KJELL VIDAR - KJELL VIDARS IGJEN (ALBUM)". Swedish Charts. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
15. "Kebnekaise III". Soundohm. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
16. K. D. Tilch, ed. (1988). Rock-Musiker: S - Z (in German). Taurus Press. p. 2096.
17. Larsen, Svend Erik Løken (13 February 2009). "Inger Lise Rypdal – Sanger og Skuespiller" (in Norwegian). Norsk Biografisk Leksikon . Retrieved 9 November 2015.
18. Kosmorama, Issues 237-240. Danske Filmmuseum. 2006. p. 139.
19. "Jojje Wadenius - Kalles Klätterträd Live Gomorron Sverige 07". YouTube. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
20. Wlaschin, Ken (15 November 2000). "The Glory of Opera Films That Hit the Right Notes". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 26 April 2020.(subscription required)
21. Colin Larkin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 2006. ISBN   9780857125958.
22. "Göthberg, Anders Willy". SvenskaGravar (in Swedish). Retrieved 11 September 2025.
23. "Áki Ásgeirsson". CafeOTO. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
24. Bowers, Jack (1 March 2006). "Bjorn Samuelsson: Jazz Formation: A Letter To Ake Persson". All About Jazz. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
25. Vårdal, Vegar (13 February 2009). "Brita Bratland". Norsk Biografisk Leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 18 March 2017.