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John Cady

John Cady


Last Updated: 11/17/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Married
Age: 46
Sign: Sagittarius

City: Baltimore
State: Maryland
Country: US
Signup Date: 12/8/2006
Tuesday, May 05, 2009 

Current mood:  artistic
Category: Music
Scandanavian Music Celebrities

A little bit of diversion here on the blogosphere...instead of my usual commentaries on current events and Biblical topics, I am going indulge myself a little bit in the field of music.

I am not a musician, but I enjoy many different styles, plus was exposed to a wealth of musical formats from my youth up.  As a result, my taste can be unpredictable at times.  How does this tie in to my topic?

When most folks hear of Scandanavian pop musicians, a few names come to mind: ABBA (Sweden), Ace of Base (Sweden), and Bjork (Iceland).  These are the most successful of the North countries' music stars in the USA, and unfortunately that is the extent of most listeners' knowledge of Scandanavian music.

Thanks to YouTube and Project Playlist, I have the opportunity to revisit some of the more obscure names I am familiar with, plus some I knew little or nothing about until recently.  Some of the songs are pure cheese, but after a while they can be guilty pleasures just for the sheer campiness of it all.  Here are a few faves:

Rednex: Sweden definitely has a unique interpretation of country music.  Blending country with electronica, Rednex has been a popular band throughout Europe, especially in Sweden and Norway.  In 1995, Rednex scored their first and only US hit with a remake of "Cotton Eye Joe"; the video is fun to watch, as are two other videos they made, "Old Pop in an Oak" and "The Way I Mate".  I shared these with my mother, and she got a real kick out of this fun bunch of Swedes.

Aqua: In my opinion, Denmark is #1 in creating campy music peopl don't want to admit they enjoy listening to.  I was overseas in 1997 when "Barbie Girl" was on the airwaves, and it sounded too campy to resist...I even played the song at work last night just to mess with a couple buddies.  "Lollipop" is another campy classic worth watching, though not the classic "Barbie Girl" is.  What strikes my funny bone is Mattel had no sense of humor and sued MCA Records for allowing these happy-go-lucky Danes to poke fun at their cultural icon!  In the end, MCA Records and Aqua won the suit.

Toy-Box: This is my other prime example of top grade Danish cheese that is too fun to resist.  The duo, a man and a woman, produced some cool tunes but were the victims of poor marketing.  "Tarzan and Jane", a campy Euro tune, would have been a bigger hit - and maybe even crossed over to our shores - had their producers chosen to release it as the group's first single instead of "Best Friend".  "Best Friend" was not their best track, and thus their success was limited.  "Sailor Song" strikes a chord with me simply because I am an old Navy guy, and any video showing sailors having a good time is cool with me.

Madcon: A rap group from Norway?  No way!  Yes way!  These Norse rappers are actually better than a lot of our own hip-hop stars, and have established a following throughout Europe.  Their biggest hit so far is a remake of the Four Seasons' song "Beggin'", which has been a top 10 smash throughout Europe and is finally making headway in the USA and Canada.  We will see if Madcon can gain an audience here.

Leila K: Sweden had a potential superstar with this fireball of a female pop star.  Her high energy delivery quickly set Leila on a path to success following a brief tour with Rob N Raz; her biggest hit in the USA was "Got to Get" in 1990, which was also a top 10 hit internationally.  She would continue to produce hits throughout the 1990s including "Ca Plane Pour Moi" (Plastic Bertrand's 1978 classic), and "Electric"; unfortunately, by the dawn of the millenium Leila K had fallen into a self-destructive path that caused her to wind up homeless and a mere shell of her previous pop star glory.  Leila made a surprise appearance in June 2007 when she performed at a club in Sweden, her first gig in almost a decade; we will see if and when Leila will make a full-on comeback.

Enjoy!
John 
Currently listening:
Sailor Song
By Toy Box
Release date: 1999-09-20
4:27 PM
 
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