Ok, pop quiz!
What is the one common thing in the following group of words?
[ All that she wants, The Sign, It’s a Beautiful life, Cruel Summer, Happy Nation, Don’t turn around ]
Well, aside from possibly interesting movie titles, these are actually songs of the 1990’s music group Ace of Base and were in fact great dance hits during their time.
And as proof of how timeless music is; it has not lost its touch because even if you listen to these tunes in this “Gangnam Style” music era, they still make you want to dish out those groovy dance moves!
Go and have a listen! If you were born during the 80’s and 90’s, then have fun reminiscing the good old days but if you’re from a younger generation, then enjoy the time travel! 🙂
Ace of Base is a Swedish pop group, originally consisting of Ulf “Buddha” Ekberg and three siblings, Jonas “Joker” Berggren, Malin “Linn” Berggren and Jenny Berggren. They released four studio albums between 1992 and 2002, which sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making them the third-most successful band from Sweden of all time, after ABBA and Roxette.
Happy Nation / The Sign is one of the best-selling debut albums of all time, and was certified nine times platinum in the United States.[1] It was the first debut album to produce three number 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: “All That She Wants“, “The Sign” and “Don’t Turn Around“.[2]
Following the formal departure of singer Linn in 2007, the band performed a series of concerts as a trio in Europe and Asia from 2007 through 2009. Jenny revealed in November 2009 that she would be taking indefinite leave from the band to focus on a solo career.[3] In 2009, Jonas and Ulf recruited two new female vocalists, Clara Hagman and Julia Williamson, and released The Golden Ratio in September 2010.
Formation
In 1987, following a number of years as part of a new romantic and punk covers band called G Konrad, Jonas Berggren formed a band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and Niklas Tränk for a school project; his sisters Linn and Jenny joined as singers. The new band went through several names: Kalinin Prospect (after an avenue in Moscow); CAD (Computer-Aided Disco); and Tech-Noir (French for black technology, after a nightclub in the film The Terminator).[4] They toured the clubs of Sweden with self-written material, techno inspired by the likes of The KLF and Snap!. Johnny left the group in 1989, and Niklas made his departure known by failing to appear at a performance, instead attending a Rolling Stones concert on the other side of town.[5] Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to stand in for Niklas. The new quartet sought a new name to make a fresh start. Linn was reported saying: “No one could pronounce the name of the group and nobody could remember it”. They settled on Ace of Base, because they were the “masters of their studio”, the basement of a car-repair shop.[6]
However, the band continued to struggle to gain any recognition, partly due to the preference of heavy metal over techno in their home town, according to singer Jenny.[7] In 1991 they responded to a newspaper ad by producer John Ballard who was looking for new talent. He was somewhat unsure about their potential, but did pass them on to Klas Lunding at Telegram Records who helped them record an early demo for the song “Wheel of Fortune” in their newly renovated studio. Despite this, it did not convince Telegram to sign the band, and other labels in Sweden still showed no sign of interest. The demo was eventually sold for a small price to the independent Danish label Mega Records in March 1992.[8] “Wheel of Fortune” was re-recorded and released as a single in Denmark in May but failed to hit the charts. A small-budget music video was shot and directed in a small studio by Viking Nielsson[9] and in September, after two failures, the single finally reached the charts.
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Now that our history trip is done, let’s get on with our music trip for today! 🙂
Hope you enjoyed that music trip down the 1990’s music lane.
Don’t Turn Around to the Cruel Summer and instead look forward to a Happy Nation because All That She Wants is The Sign that It’s A Beautiful Life! 😉
Don’t mind John..he’s just chilling with us for a bit! hehe..
musiCOOLogy 101 