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 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 released another single on the independent Aerco label, using "Another Day Gone" as the B-side, adding "Night Angel" on the A-side. After the 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 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

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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 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, Angel Witch) in 1983. The band also decided to add a second guitarist and eventually brought in future King Diamond 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) * "Night Angel" b/w "Another Day Gone" 7" (Aerco, 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