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Progg

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For the rock music subgenre, seeProgressive rock.For the radio format, seeProgressive rock (radio format).

Proggwas aleft-wingand anti-commercialmusicalmovement inSwedenthat began in the late 1960s and became more widespread in the 1970s. Not to be confused with the English expressions "progressive music"or"prog rock,"progg is a contraction of theSwedishword for musicalprogressivism,progressiv musik.While there were progg bands playing progressive rock, the progg movement encompassed many different musical genres.

The political progg movement culminated around the 1975Eurovision Song Contest,which was held inStockholmafterABBAsvictory inBrightonthe year before. It was expressed that "music can't be a contest" and an "alternative festival" was held in protest.[1][2]Due to this debate, Sweden did not participate in the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest.

The progg movement was closely connected to similar movements in arts, theatre and design, as well as alternative lifestyles and left wing views. While being a political movement, some bands labelled as progg were nonetheless unaligned with any political agenda. The people playing and listening to this music came to be calledproggare(literally "proggers" ) in Swedish.

Gärdet festival 1971

History

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Alternative bands began to form in the late 1960s, but the movement emerged in full in the summer of 1970. A big alternative music festival was held at the fieldGärdetinStockholmbetween June 12 and June 14. The festival was illegal, as a permission for it had not been obtained[citation needed].The new independent record companySilencereleased a compilation record with music from the festival as their first record, and signed some of the bands that played, includingTräd, Gräs och StenarandGudibrallan.In 1971 MNW was formed. During this decade the progg movement had a strong position in the musical landscape of Sweden.

At the end of the 1970s, however, the movement started to decline, as many of the bands disintegrated and themusic forumswere closed. The left wing ideals became less dominating among young people, and the rock and folk music also became less popular than new genres such ashard rockandelectronic music.

The movement

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Many musicians and people working with music in the end of the 1960s were against the commercialism of pop music. Notably, the record companiesSilenceandMNWwere formed, and started to record and release this new music. They created a new distribution company,SAM-distribution,which distributed the records of the alternative record companies, and so calledmusic forums,places where concerts could be held without a commercial middleman such as ordinary concert arrangers were created in many Swedish cities. In the middle of the 1970s around 75 music forums existed. The word that was generally used about the movement wasmusikrörelsen,which means the music movement.

The music

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Progg did not have a uniform sound and featured a broad spectrum of musical styles. There were a wide range of artists as well, includingBo Hansson,Kebnekajse,Södra bergens balalaikor,Blå Tåget,Hoola Bandoola Band,Nationalteatern,Dag Vag,andJan Hammarlund. Most lyrics were in Swedish, while English was the common language for other pop and rock in Sweden at the time.

The two big progg record companies had a somewhat different musical profile.

Opinions

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Mikael Wiehe,one of the founding members ofHoola Bandoola Band.

The progg movement took a clear stance againstcapitalismand commercialism, but it was by no means a homogeneous movement. The political opinions ranged from everything fromanarchismandcommunismto less clearly pronounced general left-wing opinions. The relations with the governingSocial Democratic Partywere not that good, which can be exemplified by the song "Sosse" ( "Social Democrat" ) by Gudibrallan. Few people in the movement were members of anypolitical party,though the communist partiesthe Swedish communist partyandCommunist Party of Swedenstarted their own record companies which joined the movement.

TheUnited FNL groupswere a strong movement in support of theNational Front for the Liberation of Vietnam,and progg bands often played at their demonstrations. Progg bands also played at other big demonstrations at the time, such as the protest that managed to stop the cutting down of theelmsin the parkKungsträdgårdenin Stockholm, and the protests to stop thetennismatches against tennis players from thePinochet-ruledChileinBåstad1975.

In 1977 the record company Silence moved their studio to the small villageKoppomin the forests of the province ofVärmland.

Legacy

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BassplayerNikke Strömof Nationalteatern and singerMattias Hellbergperforming live in 2007

Some of the artists from the progg movement have continued to play music and managed to remain popular over the years, for exampleBjörn Afzelius,Mikael Wiehe,Totta NäslundandPeps Persson.

There has been a stereotypical image of progg as something out of date and spaced out from the 1970s. On the other hand, since the end of the 1990s, many progg bands have experienced some renaissance, with many old progg bands reuniting for concerts and new records, for example Träd, Gräs och Stenar andSamla Mammas Manna.Some bands, likeNationalteatern,still go on long tours in the 21st century performing their old songs for a new generation. Silence has re-released much of their catalogue from the 1970s onCD,and oldLPswith progg music are sold at high prices.

There are new musicians who have references to the progg music, and are sometimes callednyprogg(new progg), for exampleDungen,Hovet,Cirkus Miramar andDoktor Kosmos.

The filmTogetherfrom 2000 is set in Sweden during the progg era and features much progg music.

The Swedish comics artistDavid Nesslecreated the characterDen Maskerade Proggaren( "The Masked Progger" ) as apasticheon both the progg movement andSilver Agesuperhero comics.[3]

List of progg bands

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References

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  1. ^"Öppet arkiv".
  2. ^"Vi har vår egen sång - musikfilmen (1976) - SFDB".
  3. ^Den Maskerade Proggarenat "International Superheroes"
  4. ^abcdSegel, Jonathan (28 January 2013)."From The Desk Of Camper Van Beethoven's Jonathan Segel: Swedish" Progg, "Then And Now".Magnet.Retrieved9 February2017.
  5. ^abcdEnglish, Al (9 September 2016)."Al English - Swedish Progg Special".NTS Radio.Retrieved9 February2017.
  6. ^abcMyrstener, Mats (6 February 2013)."In the Rififi of time – the birth of Swedish progg music".Tidningen Kulturen(in Swedish).Retrieved9 February2017.
  7. ^abcdefghijklBjörnberg, Alf; Bossius, Thomas (2016). "5".Made in Sweden: Studies in Popular Music.London: Routledge.ISBN9781134858576.
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