Tages were a Swedish rock band formed in 1963, initially as a skiffle group. [1] Their line-up during their breakthrough in 1964 consisted of Tommy Blom, Göran Lagerberg, Danne Larsson, Anders Töpel and Freddie Skantze. When they split up in 1970 during the name Blond, they consisted of Lagerberg, Lasse Svensson, Björn Linder, Björn Töpel and Mats Landahl.
Tages originally formed as a duo between childhood friends Tommy Blom and Anders Töpel, who would get together and play guitar to positive reactions from acquaintances. [1] Guitarist Danne Larsson was soon recruited on banjo that summer before Larsson himself only a few weeks later in turn recommended Göran Lagerberg to join the band. [1] Influenced by the Beatles, they set out to play beat music. [2] In doing so, they recruited drummer Freddie Skantze who debuted on stage with the group on 23 December 1963. [3] Being a few years older than the group, he acted as their official kapellmeister in formal situations. [4]
This was the lineup that played on the group's breakthrough single "Sleep Little Girl" in 1964, and would last until the early summer of 1966, when Skantze decided to quit the band that June. [5] His successor, Tommy Tausis, was initiated on 16 July 1966 during an episode of Popside where he and Skantze trade places during the song "In My Dreams". [6] Tausis stayed in group very briefly, playing and singing only on three releases by the band between August and November of that year. [7] In January 1967 he was invited to join the Spotnicks to replace Jimmie Nicol, which he promptly accepted. [8] Lasse Svensson from the Hi-Balls was urgently called and accepted a role in the band; he stayed with them until they broke up in 1970. [8]
The line-up of Blom, Lagerberg, Larsson, Töpel and Svensson stayed together until 31 August 1968, when Blom decided to leave the group for personal reasons. [9] The remaining quartet continued performing under the name Tages for the remainder of that year. [9] In May 1969, they changed their name to Blond and recorded the album The Lilac Years before Larsson and Töpel left the band during that summer due to the mandatory conscription Sweden had at the time. [10] Lagerberg instead recruited Björn Lindér on lead guitar, along with Anders Nordh who had already contributed to the recording sessions of The Lilac Years. [11] This line-up had the time for a formal photo session, though lasted less than half a year and split around the time that the album reached the markets. [11]
After taking a brief hiatus from the band for a month, Nordh decided to leave as he felt that the chemistry between him and the other members didn't work. [12] Lagerberg, Lindér and Svensson then recruited Anders Töpel's brother Björn as a rhythm guitarist and Mats Landahl on keyboards and harmonica, debuting this line-up in December 1969. [12] This line-up would record only one single, "Lost Child" (1970) before embarking on a tour of West Germany. [11] However, this tour proved unsuccessful, prompting the band to split up in July 1970, officially ending their career with a televised performance on Sveriges Television's channel TV 1. [13]
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Göran Lagerberg |
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| Tommy Blom |
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| Danne Larsson |
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| Anders Töpel |
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| Freddie Skantze |
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| Tommy Tausis |
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| Lasse Svensson |
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| Björn Linder |
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| Anders Nordh |
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| Björn Töpel |
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| Mats Landahl |
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| Lineup | Members | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| May – June 1963 [1] |
| None |
| June – July 1963 [1] |
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| July – 23 December 1963 [1] |
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| 23 December 1963 – 16 July 1966 [3] |
| All releases from "Sleep Little Girl" (1964) to Tages 2 (1966) |
| 16 July 1966 – January 1967 [6] |
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| January 1967 – 31 August 1968 [8] |
| All releases from "Every Raindrop Means Alot" (1967) to "I Read You Like An Open Book" (1968) |
| 31 August 1968 – July 1969 [9] |
| The Lilac Years (1969) |
| July – August 1969 [14] |
| "Balladen om killen" (1969) |
| September – November 1969 [15] |
| None |
| Hiatus November – December 1969 | ||
| December 1969 – 29 July 1970 |
| "Lost Child" (1970) |
Tages were a Swedish rock band formed in Gothenburg in 1963. The group, whose original line-up consisted of Tommy Blom, Göran Lagerberg, Danne Larsson, Anders Töpel 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 (1965) and Tages 2 (1966).
"If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" is a song written by British arranger John Cameron and initially recorded by Swedish pop band Blond (Tages) under the title "(I Will Bring You) Flowers in the Morning" in 1969. Cameron initially wrote the song in 1966 after signing with KPM Music and was inspired by a female friend he was feeling unreqruited love for. After unsuccessfully trying to get the song recorded for three years, producer Anders Henriksson was introduced to him and decided to record it with Blond at Advision Studios in London. It was initially released as the B-side for their single "I Wake Up and Call" on 20 June 1969.
Tommy Albert Blom was a Swedish singer-songwriter, musician, radio presenter, and voice actor. He was the lead vocalist of the rock band Tages in the 1960s, and later a member of Idolerna in the 1990s. He was later the voice of Mr. Krabs in the Swedish dub of the American television show SpongeBob SquarePants.
"Miss Mac Baren" is a song by the Swedish rock band Tages, released as a single in November 1966. It was written by all five members of the group and was recorded during the sessions for their third studio album, Extra Extra, but was ultimately excluded from it. The B-side, "Get Up An' Get Goin'", was however included as the fourth track on the album. "Miss Mac Baren" got its first album release on Tages Hits Vol. 3, a compilation album released in August 1967.
"Like a Woman" is a song written by Swedish producer Anders Henriksson, bassist Göran Lagerberg and guitarist Danne Larsson, originally recorded by Lagerberg and Larsson's band Tages in 1967. Tages recorded the track at EMI Studios in London. It was initially released on the band's fifth album Studio (1967), before being used as the B-side of their 1968 single "There's a Blind Man Playin' Fiddle in the Street". The title references a girl that Lagerberg knew and musically bases on characteristics of psychedelic pop, including guitars run through leslie speakers
"Bloodhound" is a song, initially written and performed by soul singer Larry Bright in 1961. Initially performed as a rhythm and blues song, it quickly garnered a reputation as a garage rock song following a cover by British rock band Downliners Sect. The most well-known and commercially successful rendition of the song was recorded by Swedish rock band Tages in 1965, who charted on both Tio i Topp and Kvällstoppen with their garage rock version of it.
Tages is the debut studio album by the Swedish rock band Tages, released on 3 November 1965 on Platina Records. Released during a period in which the band had accumulated four top ten singles in Tio i Topp and as many on Kvällstoppen. This led the band to become one of Sweden's first and foremost pop groups, along with Hep Stars.
Tages 2 is the second studio album by the Swedish rock band Tages, released on 4 August 1966 by Platina Records. Often considered their artistic breakthrough, six out of twelve tracks are original compositions.
Extra Extra is the third studio album by the Swedish rock band Tages, released on 28 November 1966 by Platina Records. Their third and final album on Platina, it was issued only four months after their second studio album Tages 2. The album was largely recorded during a period in which the band had started evolving into a psychedelic rock group, something that became evident on their two final efforts, Contrast and Studio. The album was recorded during a period in which Tages underwent several lineup changes. It's their first effort not to feature drummer Freddie Skantze, who left following the recording of Tages 2, and is the second and final album with drummer and vocalist Tommy Tausis, who'd played on several tracks on Tages 2. He left following the recording of Extra Extra, and was replaced by Lasse Svensson
"Sleep Little Girl" is the debut single by the Swedish rock band Tages. It was written by Tommy Blom and released on 16 October 1964. The initial recording was made at a Youth center at Nylöse, a neighborhood of Gothenburg, Sweden's second biggest city, and the song has professionally been re-recorded in a studio twice.
"Crazy 'Bout My Baby" is a song first written and recorded by musician Robert Mosley in 1963. His third solo single, it failed to chart, leading to it becoming his final single released. Initially an obscure single, it was brought to light by mainstream acts such as The Swinging Blue Jeans and Tages, the latter of which charted in Sweden with it.
Tages is the first seven-inch extended play by Swedish rock group Tages, a release which features four songs, two of which showcase the early songwriting talent of the band. It was initially released on 4 June 1965 in 1000 copies on Platina Records.
"I Should Be Glad" is a song by the Swedish rock band Tages, written by bassist Göran Lagerberg and rhythm guitarist Danne Larsson in 1964. Following bad press for their debut single "Sleep Little Girl", the group quickly recorded a follow-up which critics would consider good.
Göran Bertil Lagerberg 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 member of supergroup Grymlings together with Magnus Lindberg, Pugh Rogefeldt and Mikael Rickfors.
Dan "Danne" Tage Bexér 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. Additionally, Larsson briefly played keyboards with the group and gave them their name. Though not a very prolific songwriter for the group, he provided them with some of their more well-known songs and also sang on several tracks. After the group broke up, Larsson left Sweden to become a businessman in various countries across Europe, including Spain and France, where he currently still resides.
(Per-Inge) Anders Töpel was a Swedish guitarist, best known for being the lead guitarist of the Swedish rock group Tages.
"The One for You" is a song written by Swedish guitarist Danne Larsson and recorded by his group Tages in 1965. Following an intensive tour of the Sweden, while also previously having composed songs for the band, Larsson wrote the song inspired by their trip to London, allegedly about a girl he had met there. It was the first recording by Tages produced by Anders Henriksson, who would come to produce the majority of their coming output, along with being their first single recorded at Europafilm Studios in Bromma, Stockholm.
"Balladen om killen" is a song written by bass guitarist Göran Lagerberg, recorded by singer Örjan Ramberg. Inspired by the life of Ramberg, Lagerberg composed the song as a reflection over both their lives inspired by Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". The song, which is in the Swedish language, tells the tale of an unnamed narrator, who during a walk along a country road, details incidents that recently occurred in his life, including moving away from home, tongue-in-cheek references to acquaintances and the court proceedings after being caught with cannabis.
Studio is the fifth and final studio album by the Swedish rock band Tages, released on 4 December 1967 on Parlophone in Sweden. Following the success of their album Contrast, Tages began working on their follow-up to it. Hampered by a long summer tour, the album was largely recorded between October and November 1967 with sessions spanning back to April. It was primarily recorded at Europafilm Studios in Bromma, Stockholm with Anders Henriksson producing. The band took a break in recording the album in October for a tour of England organized by Parlophone, which allowed them access to EMI Studios in London, where two of the album's tracks were recorded. One single was released from the album, "She's Having a Baby Now" and the sessions also produced the non-album single "Treat Her Like a Lady".
Contrast is the fourth studio album by Swedish pop band Tages, released on 28 April 1967 through Parlophone Records. Contrast was preceded by a tumultuous period in Tages' career, in which drummer Tommy Tausis left the band for the Spotnicks only days before recording commenced. The album is the first to feature Tausis' replacement Lasse Svensson, who would stay with the group until 1969. It was also Tages' first album to be released through Parlophone, following three albums by independent record label Platina. Parlophone guaranteed Tages free studio time, resulting in the sessions for Contrast.
