E.F. Band was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

band that sometimes were mixed up with the

New wave of British heavy metal The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...

movement, even though they were Swedish. The band was formed in 1978 by bassist/vocalist Pär Ericsson and guitarist Bengt Fischer, two former members of the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band Epizootic, who were initially joined by Tommy Lager on drums. The "E.F." portion of the band's name was derived from the first letter of Ericsson and Fischer's last names. After recording their first (split) single, the band hired British drummer

Dave Dufort Dave du’Fort (also known as Hermien JD) is a British rock drummer who has played with Ian Hunter, Kevin Ayers, Mike Oldfield and Screaming Lord Sutch, and was a member of the new wave of British heavy metal bands E. F. Band, Angel Witch and ...

, who had played with

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

and

Screaming Lord Sutch Screaming Lord Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999), who had his name legally changed from David Edward Sutch, was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party an ...

to solidify the line-up. Dufort would record the "Self Made Suicide" and "Devil's Eye' singles and the '' Metal For Muthas, Vol. 1'' contribution "Fighting For Rock And Roll", with the band but left before the first album, ''Last Laugh Is On You'', produced by

Derek Lawrence Derek John Lawrence (16 November 1941 – 13 May 2020) was an English record producer, famous for his work for Joe Meek's Outlaws, Deep Purple, Flash, Machiavel and Wishbone Ash. Lawrence came in contact with Meek circa at the end of 1963, ...

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

fame. Dufort was replaced by Dag Eliason, thereby making the band an all-Swedish trio once again. E.F. Band supported the album by touring as openers for

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

on their European tour. Coming off the road, the band decided to expand to a four-piece adding Dutchman John Ridge as lead vocalist in 1982 who would feature on the second album, ''Deep Cut''. Again the band hit the road, this time as support for

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

on their European tour in addition to headlining their own shows. Tony Borg (Alien), was added as extra guitarist but he did not stay for long. Although things seemed to be going well, Ridge announced his departure from the band and was replaced by London-based Roger Marsden (ex-

Deep Machine Deep Machine were an English heavy metal band from the East London, England, that first came into existence in 1979. Founded by lead guitarist Bob Hooker, the band's music was influenced by other NWOBHM bands such as Iron Maiden and in partic ...

Angel Witch Angel Witch are a British heavy metal band which formed in London in 1976 as part of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) movement. Biography Formation The band formed, originally under the name of Lucifer, of guitarist and vocalist ...

) in 1983. The band also decided to add a second guitarist and eventually brought in future

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...

guitarist

Andy LaRocque Andy LaRocque (born Anders Allhage, 29 November 1962) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, and producer, best known as a member of the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band King Diamond (band), King Diamond since 1985. Biography LaRocque started in ...

, then known as Anders Allhage, to strengthen their sound. With Marsden and Allhage on board, the band recorded what would be their third and final studio album, ''One Night Stand'', released in 1985. After playing a few scattered shows to promote the record, E.F. Band broke up in 1986. 2003 saw the release of the two-disc retrospective ''Their Finest Hours'', which contained all three of the band's studio albums, the "Self Made Suicide" and "Devil's Eye" singles, and several unreleased studio and live bonus tracks. The album's final track, "Remembering You", is a tribute to E.F. Band co-founder Bengt Fischer, who succumbed to cancer on 5 April 2001, written and performed by John Boutkam, aka John Ridge. A live album, ''Live At The Mudd Club In Gothenburg 1983'', recorded by the ''Deep Cut'' line-up with John Ridge on vocals, was issued in 2005. Ridge died on 4 March 2003 after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. After his time with the E.F. Band, Ridge had been working in radio, as a presenter at OK Radio in Hamburg, Germany, calling himself John de Graaf, and at Radio Caroline where he hosted the "New Americana" program under his real name, John Boutkam.

Discography

Singles

* "October Friday" ynchromeshb/w "Another Day Gone" .F. Band7" split single (Rok, 1979) * "Self Made Suicide" b/w "Sister Syne" 7" (Redball, 1980) * "Devil's Eye" b/w "Comprende" (Redball, 1980; Mercury Sweden, 1980) * "Night Angel" b/w "Another Day Gone" 7" (Aerco, 1980)

Albums

* ''Last Laugh Is on You'' (Mercury, 1981) * ''Deep Cut'' (Ewita, 1982) * ''One Night Stand'' (Mausoleum, 1985) * ''Their Finest Hours'' (Sweden Rock, 2003) * ''Live at the Mudd Club in Gothenburg 1983'' (TPL, 2005)

Compilations

* '' Metal for Muthas, Vol. 1'' ("Fighting for Rock and Roll") (EMI, 1980) * ''Total Metal Attack'' ("Hard, Hot & Heavy") (Old School, 2004)

References

External links