Blue Swede

Blue Swede
The band in 1974
Background information
Origin	, Sweden
Genres	Pop rock
Years active	1973–1975
Labels	Capitol
Past members	Michael Areklew Anders Berglund Tommy Berglund Hinke Ekestubbe Jan Guldback Bosse Liljedahl Björn Skifs

Blue Swede was a Swedish rock band fronted by Björn Skifs which was active 1973–1975. Blue Swede released two albums of cover versions, including a rendition of "Hooked on a Feeling", which brought them international chart success. The band consisted of Anders Berglund (piano), Björn Skifs (lead vocals), Bosse Liljedahl (bass), Hinke Ekestubbe (saxophone), Jan Guldbäck (drums), Michael Areklew (guitar) and Tommy Berglund (trumpet). They disbanded after Skifs decided to embark on his solo career.

Blue Swede was first formed in 1973, when Björn Skifs, a top vocalist in Sweden, was looking for a band to accompany him during his concerts. The band was originally called "Blåblus" (Swedish for "blue blouse" or "blue jeans", a pun on the word "blues") and featured Skifs singing the lead vocals. The band got their international breakthrough in 1974 with their cover of the 1968 B. J. Thomas song "Hooked on a Feeling." Blue Swede recorded Thomas' song in 1973, but based its rendition of the song on a 1971 version released by British pop eccentric Jonathan King, which created the "ooga-chaka" introduction. Blue Swede released "Hooked on a Feeling" in Sweden in May 1973 and in the United States in February 1974. The song reached number one in the U.S. for one week in April 1974 and stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 18 weeks. The track also topped charts in Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands, where it reached a peak chart position of 26. To capitalize on the success of the song, Blue Swede released an album of the same name that same year.

Throughout the rest of 1974, two follow-up singles from the same album were released: "Silly Milly", which peaked at position 71 in the U.S., and a cover of The Association's "Never My Love", which made the Top Ten by peaking at position 7. From the band's 1975 follow-up album, Out of the Blue, they recorded a medley of "Hush" by Deep Purple and "I'm Alive" by Tommy James and the Shondells (not The Hollies' song of the same name), peaking at position 61 in the U.S, and achieving its greatest chart success in Scandinavia.