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Spotnicks Long before ABBA became the most famous Swedish international act, Sweden had already had their first international music breakthrough: The Spotnicks. Way back in the early 60's the Gothenburg band climbed up to the top of the European, Australian and Japanese charts Sweden’s first international musical export The Spotnicks were a Swedish band that became internationally famous in the 1960's with their own brand of instrumental surf-rock, in a way that could be compared to other bands like "The Shadows" from England or "The Ventures" from the USA. The Gothenburg based rockers had their golden years in the early sixties, with four UK Top 50 chart hits in 1962 and 1963 and many popular tours across Europe, the US and Japan. The band has actually neved stopped playing and are still active today, performing mainly in their homeland Sweden. The Spotnicks were famous for wearing spacesuits during their performances and also for their innovative "space sound" which they obtained adding an anti-feedback device and echo machine to their guitars. Since The Spotnicks were created in 1961, the band has released over 700 songs on 42 albums and have sold more than 18 million records. From Sweden to the World: The Spotnicks in the sixties The Spotnicks' musical career of took off in 1958 when lead guitarist Bo Winberg formed a band called "The Frazers" with Bo Starander on the rhythm guitar, Björn Thelin on the bass, and Ove Johansson on the drums. The band soon started playing regularly in the Gothenburg club scene. Three years later, in 1961, the band changed its name to The Spotnicks, signed a contract with a Swedish record company, released their first record, and went on to perform in Germany, France and Spain. In 1962 they also toured England and Russia, where they met the famous Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin. Before this, The Spotnicks had already started wearing astronaut outfits on stage as their artistic trademark. By 1963 the Swedes were enjoying a true international career with several of their their songs climbing up the English, French, US, and, of course, the Swedish charts. In Australia, their song "Orange Blossom Special" reached the number one. The Spotnicks were now touring many countries around the world, performing in TV and radio shows, and featuring in the 1963 music movie “Just for Fun”. The Spotnicks continued riding the wave of success during 1964 and 1965, recording new albums and expanding their popularity onto Germany and Japan. Their first number one in Japan arrived in early 1966 with the song “Karelia”, which gave the band a gold record. Japan was one of the countries where the Swedish band was the most popular. The first Swedish band to achieve worldwide fame As time passed, The Spotnicks kept on playing, touring, releasing more records, and even enjoying a comeback in Japan during the 1970s. Almost from the very beginning, the band had been characterised by continuous changes in their line-ups, starting as early as in 1963, when drummer Ove Johansson decided to leave the band to become a priest. Along with changing their musicians the band has also changed their original “space“ sound, yet always sticking to their instrumental guitar-based style. The Spotnicks are still lead by band founder Bo Winberg. The Gothenburg group is still playing and remains one of Sweden's most successful and internationally famous bands, with nearly 700 songs recorded in 42 different albums since 1961, and with more than 18 million records sold until today.
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