Progg
Encyclopedia
Progg, a contraction of the Swedish
word for "progressive music" (progressiv musik) was a left-wing and anti-commercial music
al 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 is not a genre. There were progg bands playing progressive rock, but the progg movement encompassed many other genres.
The progg movement was closely connected to similar movements in arts, theatre and design, and to alternative life styles and left wing views. The people playing and listening to this music came to be called proggare (Lit. proggers) in Swedish.
and MNW
were 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 called music forums, places where concerts could be held without a commercial middleman such as ordinary concert arrengers 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 was musikrörelsen, which means the music movement.
, Kebnekajse
, Södra bergens balalaikor, Blå Tåget
, Hoola Bandoola Band
, Nationalteatern
, Dag Vag
, and Jan 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.
in Stockholm
between June 12 and June 14. The festival was illegal, as a permission for it had not been obtained . The new independent record company Silence released a compilation record with music from the festival as their first record, and signed some of the bands that played, including Träd, Gräs och Stenar and Gudibrallan. 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 the music forums were 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 as hard rock
and electronic music
.
The progg movement took a clear stance against capitalism
and commercialism, but it was by no means a homogeneous movement.
The political opinions ranged from everything from anarchism
and communism
to less clearly pronounced general left-wing opinions. The relations with the governing Social Democratic Party
were not that good, which can be exemplified by the song Fy på dig sosse (Shame on you, Social Democrat) by Gudibrallan. Few people in the movement were members of any party
, though the communist parties the Swedish communist party
and Communist Party of Sweden (1967)
started their own record companies which joined the movement.
The United FNL groups were a strong movement in support of the National 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 the elm
s in the park Kungsträdgården
in Stockholm
, and the protests to stop the tennis
matches against tennis players from the Pinochet-ruled Chile
in Båstad
1975.
In 1977 the record company Silence moved their studio to the small village Koppom
in the forests of the province of Värmland
.
Some of the artists from the progg movement have continued to play music and managed to remain popular over the years, for example Björn Afzelius
, Mikael Wiehe
, Totta Näslund
and Peps 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 and Samla Mammas Manna
. Some bands, like Nationalteatern
, 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 on CD, and old LP
s with progg music are sold at high prices.
There are new musicians who have references to the progg music, and are sometimes called nyprogg (new progg), for example Lars Winnerbäck
, Dungen
, Hovet
, Cirkus Miramar
and Doktor Kosmos
.
The film Together
from 2000 is set in Sweden during the progg era and features much progg music.
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
word for "progressive music" (progressiv musik) was a left-wing and anti-commercial music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
al movement in Sweden
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....
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
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
. Progg is not a genre. There were progg bands playing progressive rock, but the progg movement encompassed many other genres.
The progg movement was closely connected to similar movements in arts, theatre and design, and to alternative life styles and left wing views. The people playing and listening to this music came to be called proggare (Lit. proggers) in Swedish.
The movement
Many musicians and people working with music in the end of the 1960s were against the commercialism of pop music. Notably, the record companies SilenceSilence Records
Silence , is a Swedish record company located outside Koppom, Värmland in Sweden.Silence was started in 1970 in Stockholm and released records by, amongst others: Bo Hansson, Philemon Arthur and the Dung, Samla Mammas Manna, and other progressive rock acts...
and MNW
MNW
MNW is a Swedish record company. MNW originally stood for Musiknätet Waxholm, but was later changed to Music Network Records Group and is now MNW Music.- Current:*Blå Tåget*Tore Berger*Bosson*Fläskkvartetten*Toni Holgersson*Masayah...
were 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 called music forums, places where concerts could be held without a commercial middleman such as ordinary concert arrengers 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 was musikrörelsen, which means the music movement.
The music
Progg did not have a uniform sound and featured a broad spectrum of musical styles. There were a wide range of artists as well, including Bo HanssonBo Hansson
Bo Hansson was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental albums released in the 1970s.-Early life and musical career:...
, Kebnekajse
Kebnekajse
Kebnekajse are a Swedish band that was most active during the 1970s. The band were greatly influenced by both traditional Swedish folk music and African music. Their name is taken from Kebnekaise, the highest mountain in Sweden...
, Södra bergens balalaikor, Blå Tåget
Blå Tåget
Blå Tåget is a Swedish progg-band, that used to go under the name Gunder Hägg, the name of a legendary Swedish runner, but after name conflicts occurred they changed name to Blå Tåget in 1972.Their lyrics cover a wide range, frommarxist analysis and...
, 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...
, Nationalteatern
Nationalteatern
Nationalteatern is a Swedish progg rock group from the 1970s that featured leftist political lyrics. It was originally a traveling theater ensemble with many members, most notably Ulf Dageby, Anders Melander, Totta Näslund, Nikke Ström, Hans Mosesson and Pale Olofsson.-History:Initially formed as a...
, Dag Vag
Dag Vag
Dag Vag, Swedish pop, reggae, punk band formed in 1978. Main singer Stig Vig. The bands early punk sound became more and more reggae-style, and the band itself calls it transcontinental rock-reggae...
, and Jan 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.
History
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 field GärdetGärdet
Gärdet is a part of Stockholm east and northeast of Östermalm. Its official name is Ladugårdsgärdet. It is renowned for its large number of modernist apartments...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
between June 12 and June 14. The festival was illegal, as a permission for it had not been obtained . The new independent record company Silence released a compilation record with music from the festival as their first record, and signed some of the bands that played, including Träd, Gräs och Stenar and Gudibrallan. 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 the music forums were closed. The left wing ideals became less dominating among young people, and the rock and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
also became less popular than new genres such as hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
.
Opinions
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
and commercialism, but it was by no means a homogeneous movement.
The political opinions ranged from everything from anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
and communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
to less clearly pronounced general left-wing opinions. The relations with the governing Social Democratic Party
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
were not that good, which can be exemplified by the song Fy på dig sosse (Shame on you, Social Democrat) by Gudibrallan. Few people in the movement were members of any party
Party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....
, though the communist parties 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 Communist Party of Sweden (1967)
Communist Party of Sweden (1967)
Kommunistiska Förbundet Marxist-Leninisterna was formed at the 1967 party congress of VPK, when a pro-Chinese group left the party.-1967–1980:...
started their own record companies which joined the movement.
The United FNL groups were a strong movement in support of the National 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 the elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
s in the park Kungsträdgården
Kungsträdgården
Kungsträdgården is a park in central Stockholm, Sweden. It is colloquially known as Kungsan.The park's central location and its outdoor cafés makes it one of the most popular hangouts and meeting places in Stockholm. It also hosts open-air concerts and events in summer, while offering an ice...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, and the protests to stop the tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
matches against tennis players from the Pinochet-ruled Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
in Båstad
Båstad
Båstad is a locality and the seat of Båstad Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 4,793 inhabitants in 2005.-Geography:The town of Båstad is located in a sheltered bay with the Hallandian ridge stretching behind it...
1975.
In 1977 the record company Silence moved their studio to the small village Koppom
Koppom
Koppom is a locality situated in Eda Municipality, Värmland County, Sweden with 633 inhabitants in 2005....
in the forests of the province of Värmland
Värmland
' is a historical province or landskap in the west of middle Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland and Närke. It is also bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are Vermelandia and Wermelandia. Although the province's land originally was Götaland, the...
.
Legacy
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....
, Mikael Wiehe
Mikael Wiehe
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 proggmovement.-Career:...
, Totta Näslund
Totta Näslund
Erik Torsten "Totta" Näslund was a Swedish rock and blues musician, with leftist political views.- Biography :...
and Peps Persson
Peps Persson
Peps Persson is a Swedish blues and reggae musician from Tjörnarp, Scania. Throughout his career he has mostly made music in Swedish and is well known for his Scanian dialect...
.
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 and Samla Mammas Manna
Samla Mammas Manna
Samla Mammas Manna was a Swedish progressive rock band, often characterized by its virtuoso musicianship, circus references and silly humour, similar in many ways to the song-writing styles of Frank Zappa. They were one of the founding members of the Rock in Opposition movement in the late 1970s....
. Some bands, like Nationalteatern
Nationalteatern
Nationalteatern is a Swedish progg rock group from the 1970s that featured leftist political lyrics. It was originally a traveling theater ensemble with many members, most notably Ulf Dageby, Anders Melander, Totta Näslund, Nikke Ström, Hans Mosesson and Pale Olofsson.-History:Initially formed as a...
, 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 on CD, and old LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
s with progg music are sold at high prices.
There are new musicians who have references to the progg music, and are sometimes called nyprogg (new progg), for example 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...
, Dungen
Dungen
Dungen is a Swedish rock band based in Stockholm. Often classified as progg or psychedelic rock, Dungen is also influenced by Swedish folk music, classic rock, progressive rock, garage rock and alternative rock....
, Hovet
Hovet (band)
Hovet is most known to be the backup band to Swedish singer/songwriter Lars Winnerbäck.-History:The band was composed of musicians that Winerbäck had worked with through the years and was officially formed in 2003. The band toured with Winnerbäck during 2001 when he recorded his first live record...
, Cirkus Miramar
Cirkus Miramar
Cirkus Miramar is a Swedish popband from Trollhättan founded in 1994, whose music can be described as progg. The music originates from pop, punk and rock. Lead singer is the poet Pär Mauritzson. The concerts always starts with at least one poem read by Johan Lindblom...
and Doktor Kosmos
Doktor Kosmos
Doktor Kosmos is a pop band best characterized by the unique style of their humorous lyrics. The lyrics often have social or political themes, and the band is socialist, although not above making fun of their own opinions....
.
The film Together
Together (2000 film)
Together is a 2000 comedy/drama film. It is Swedish director Lukas Moodysson's second full length film. Set in a Stockholm commune called "Tillsammans" in 1975, it is a satirical view at socialist values and a bittersweet comedy....
from 2000 is set in Sweden during the progg era and features much progg music.