Mikael Wiehe
Encyclopedia
Mikael Christian Wiehe is a Swedish
singer, multi-instrumentalist
and composer
. As the main songwriter and driving force of Hoola Bandoola Band
he was also one of the most important people in the progg
movement.
. His father left the family when he was five, and when he was six his mother moved with the family to Malmö
, in the Scania region of southern Sweden, giving Wiehe his noticeable Scanian accent. He is a leftist folk musician, dealing with what he considers right and wrong in the society from the eyes of the proletariat
, but he also writes personal, non-political songs.
Wiehe was one of the lead singers and the leading songwriter of Hoola Bandoola Band
in the 1970s. After the split of the group in 1975, he was the leader of various other bands before becoming a solo artist in the beginning of the 1980s. He was a close friend of the late Björn Afzelius
, the other lead singer of Hoola Bandoola Band. They sometimes toured around Scandinavia
and recorded together in the 1980s and 1990s.
Today, Wiehe performs all around Sweden, using material from his 20-some albums (excluding various compilations). A recently published song book contains the lyrics and melodies to 220 of his songs. In 2000, he released the single
Det här är ditt land, a Swedish-language adaptation of the Woody Guthrie
song This Land Is Your Land
which received substantial play on Swedish radio. Wiehe has also translated many of Bob Dylan
's songs into Swedish some were performed by the late Totta Näslund
.
, Lars Winnerbäck
, Dregen
, Lisa Ekdahl
, Timbuktu
, Stefan Sundström, Idde Shultz, Anna Stadling, Ebba Forsberg, Thomas Wiehe and Peter Clemmendson, performed Wiehe's songs in front of approximately 20 000 people. At the end of the show, Wiehe himself took the stage and performed a set of his favorite songs. The concert was later broadcasted on Sveriges Television
with interviews and older footage of Wiehe.
On February 24, 2007, Wiehe performed at a festival in Malmö
, labeled as a "solidarity party for the Cuban Revolution
", which was organized by the Swedish-Cuban Association
, the Revolutionary Communist Youth
, the Swedish Communist Party
and others. The ambassador of Cuba to Sweden, Ernesto Meléndez Bachs, also held a speech at the festival. In an interview in Kvällsposten, Wiehe said that "Cuba has the best record on human rights
in the region" and in an interview with Sveriges Radio
he said that he would "hesitate" to label the country as a dictatorship
.
Mikael Wiehe och Kabaréorkestern
Mikael Wiehe, Nyberg, Franck och Fjellis
Mikael Wiehe och Co
Solo work
Björn Afzelius och Mikael Wiehe
Mikael Wiehe och Julio Numhauser
Totta och Wiehe
Mikael Wiehe & Ebba Forsberg
Åge Aleksandersen & Mikael Wiehe
Mikael Wiehe & Jacques Werup
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
singer, multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. As the main songwriter and driving force of Hoola Bandoola Band
Hoola Bandoola Band
Hoola Bandoola Band was a Swedish progg group from the 1970s with leftist political texts. Leading members were Mikael Wiehe and Björn Afzelius.-History:Hoola Bandoola Band was, together with Nationalteatern, the biggest band of the Swedish progg movement...
he was also one of the most important people in the progg
Progg
Progg, a contraction of the Swedish word for "progressive music" was a left-wing and anti-commercial musical movement in Sweden that had its roots in the late 1960s, and its golden age in the 1970s. It should not be confused with the English expression progressive music or progressive rock. Progg...
movement.
Career
Wiehe's father was Danish and he spent the first six years of his life in CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
. His father left the family when he was five, and when he was six his mother moved with the family to Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
, in the Scania region of southern Sweden, giving Wiehe his noticeable Scanian accent. He is a leftist folk musician, dealing with what he considers right and wrong in the society from the eyes of the proletariat
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
, but he also writes personal, non-political songs.
Wiehe was one of the lead singers and the leading songwriter of Hoola Bandoola Band
Hoola Bandoola Band
Hoola Bandoola Band was a Swedish progg group from the 1970s with leftist political texts. Leading members were Mikael Wiehe and Björn Afzelius.-History:Hoola Bandoola Band was, together with Nationalteatern, the biggest band of the Swedish progg movement...
in the 1970s. After the split of the group in 1975, he was the leader of various other bands before becoming a solo artist in the beginning of the 1980s. He was a close friend of the late Björn Afzelius
Björn Afzelius
Björn Svante Afzelius was a Swedish singer, song writer and guitar player. Politically he was a socialist. His songs are about love, politics and joys in life....
, the other lead singer of Hoola Bandoola Band. They sometimes toured around Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and recorded together in the 1980s and 1990s.
Today, Wiehe performs all around Sweden, using material from his 20-some albums (excluding various compilations). A recently published song book contains the lyrics and melodies to 220 of his songs. In 2000, he released the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
Det här är ditt land, a Swedish-language adaptation of the Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
song This Land Is Your Land
This Land Is Your Land
"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on...
which received substantial play on Swedish radio. Wiehe has also translated many of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's songs into Swedish some were performed by the late Totta Näslund
Totta Näslund
Erik Torsten "Totta" Näslund was a Swedish rock and blues musician, with leftist political views.- Biography :...
.
60th birthday tribute
On Wiehe's 60th birthday, a tribute show were held in his hometown Malmö. A number of high profiled Swedish artists, including Joakim ThåströmJoakim Thåström
Sven Joachim Eriksson Thåström , as an artist known as Thåström, is one of Sweden's best known rock musicians, he is mostly known for the bands Ebba Grön and Imperiet...
, Lars Winnerbäck
Lars Winnerbäck
Lars Mattias Winnerbäck , is a Swedish singer and songwriter. He was born in Stockholm, but spent his childhood in Linköping, where he attended Katedralskolan. He moved back to Stockholm in 1996, the same year he released his first album, Dans med svåra steg...
, Dregen
Dregen
Andreas Tyrone Svensson , is best known as the former guitarist The Hellacopters and current guitarist of Backyard Babies and the newest member of Michael Monroe's band, replacing Ginger as guitarist....
, Lisa Ekdahl
Lisa Ekdahl
Lisa Ekdahl is a Swedish singer and song writer in popular music. She has so far published 10 albums, most of them in the Swedish language but some entirely in English. Her voice has been described as "child-like" and "soft, supple and smooth"...
, Timbuktu
Timbuktu (artist)
Jason Michael Robinson Diakité , known under the stage name Timbuktu, is a Swedish rapper and reggae artist. Earlier in the mid-1990s, he started as part of rap Excel before going solo as Timbuktu.-Biography:...
, Stefan Sundström, Idde Shultz, Anna Stadling, Ebba Forsberg, Thomas Wiehe and Peter Clemmendson, performed Wiehe's songs in front of approximately 20 000 people. At the end of the show, Wiehe himself took the stage and performed a set of his favorite songs. The concert was later broadcasted on Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...
with interviews and older footage of Wiehe.
Political views
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
, labeled as a "solidarity party for the Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
", which was organized by the Swedish-Cuban Association
Swedish-Cuban Association
The Swedish–Cuban Association is a Swedish-based organization supporting strengthened political ties between Sweden and Cuba. The Swedish–Cuban Association presents itself as a "politically unrestricted friendship association" with the objective of "supporting the socialist revolution on Cuba and...
, the Revolutionary Communist Youth
Revolutionary Communist Youth (Sweden)
The Revolutionary Communist Youth is the youth wing of the Swedish Communist Party. It was founded in 1994 as a successor of the Young Communist League of Sweden , which existed 1972-1978. RKU publishes a magazine called Rebell....
, the Swedish Communist Party
Communist Party (Sweden)
The Communist Party is a Marxist-Leninist political party in Sweden.1970-1977 it was known as the Communist League Marxist-Leninists and during 1977-2004 it had the name Communist Party Marxist-Leninists ...
and others. The ambassador of Cuba to Sweden, Ernesto Meléndez Bachs, also held a speech at the festival. In an interview in Kvällsposten, Wiehe said that "Cuba has the best record on human rights
Human rights in Cuba
Human Rights Watch is among international human rights organizations accusing the Cuban government of systematic human rights abuses, including torture, arbitrary imprisonment, unfair trials, and extrajudicial execution....
in the region" and in an interview with Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio
Sveriges Radio AB – Swedish Radio Ltd – is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. The Swedish public-broadcasting system is in many respects modelled after the one used in the United Kingdom, and Sveriges Radio - like Sveriges Television - shares many characteristics with...
he said that he would "hesitate" to label the country as a dictatorship
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
.
Selected discography
Hoola Bandoola Band- Hoola Bandolla Export (1971)
- Garanterat Individuell (1971)
- Vem Kan Man Lita På? (1972)
- På Väg (1973)
- Stoppa Matchen (1975)
- Fri informationFri informationFri Information is a 1975 album by the Swedish progg and rock band Hoola Bandoola Band. It was recorded in August 1975 and released in October of the same year on the record label MNW Waxholm. The album is the band’s first with Björn Afzelius as a songwriter. Mikael Wiehe had previously written all...
(1975) - Ingenting Förändras Av Sig Själv - 5 cd box (1996)
- För Dom Som Kommer Sen - live (1999)
Mikael Wiehe och Kabaréorkestern
- Sjömansvisor (1978)
- Elden är Lös (1979)
Mikael Wiehe, Nyberg, Franck och Fjellis
- Gökungen (1981)
- Kråksånger (1981)
- Dom Ensligas Alle (1982)
Mikael Wiehe och Co
- Lindansaren (1983)
- Lillian Står i Hagen (1983)
- Mikael Wiehe Mitt i Sverige (1984)
- Hemingwayland (1985)
Solo work
- Mikael Wiehe (1986)
- Basin Street Blues (1988)
- 1989 - live (1989)
- Allt är förändrat (1991)
- Det Ligger Döda Kameler i min Swimmingpool (1992)
- Wiehe 30 sånger - compilation (1993)
- Trollkarlen (1994)
- Sevilla (1998)
- En Sång Till Modet (2000)
- Det Här Är Ditt Land (2000)
- Kommunal 90 År 2000 (2000)
- Kärlek och Politik (2004)
- Moccers (2004)
- Främmande Land (2005)
- Sånger från en inställd skilsmässa (2009)
Björn Afzelius och Mikael Wiehe
- Björn Afzelius och Mikael Wiehe (1986)
- Malmöinspelnigarna (2004)
Mikael Wiehe och Julio Numhauser
- Suecia - Chile (1989)
- Mikael Wiehe och Julio Numhauser (1991)
Totta och Wiehe
- Dylan (2006)
Mikael Wiehe & Ebba Forsberg
- Dylan På Svenska (2007)
Åge Aleksandersen & Mikael Wiehe
- 14 Akustiska Sånger (2008)
Mikael Wiehe & Jacques Werup
- Wiehe & Werup (2008)