Berndt Arvid Freddie Wadling (2 August 1951 – 2 June 2016) was a Swedish singer born in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, whose over-thirty-year musical career extended from punk to classical ballads.
Band member
Wadling played bass in a number of bands during the 1970s and early 1980s. One notable band was Liket Lever (which translates as The Corpse Lives). In the early 1980s, he joined the cult band Cortex. During this period, Cortex released the album ''Spinal Injuries'', in 1981. The track "The Freaks", sung by Wadling, became a signature song for him and was used in the soundtrack to ''
Tjenare Kungen''. He also played in the bands Straitjacket,
Leather Nun
The Leather Nun are a Swedish rock group. Careening from garage rock to goth and pop-rock, Leather Nun became cult heroes in their native land and wide abroad.
History
The Leather Nun (a.k.a. "Lädernunnan") was formed in 1978 in Gothenburg, ...
, and
Fleshquartet
Fleshquartet ( sv, Fläskkvartetten) is a Swedish band. Despite the band's name, Fläskkvartetten is in reality a quintet consisting of an electrical string quartet plus a percussionist. The band often collaborates with vocalists who comprise a v ...
.
Wadling was also featured in band Kingdom of Evol.
Blue for Two
In the 1980s and 1990s, Wadling was the vocalist of the alternative pop/rock duo
Blue for Two.
The duo, which also included
Henryk Lipp
Henryk Lipp is a well-known Polish-born Swedish musician, songwriter and music producer from Gothenburg, Sweden.
Beginnings
He started his musical career in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the Swedish band Extra alongside Anne-Lie Rydé, a ...
on synthesizers, was formed in Gothenburg in 1984. They released a string of albums, including ''Blue for Two'' (1986),
''Songs from a Pale and Bitter Moon'' (1988), ''Search & Enjoy'' (1992), ''Earbound'' (1994), and ''Moments'' (1997). For their live performances, they were often accompanied by
Sator guitarist Chips Kiesbye. Blue for Two made a comeback in 2012 and released the album ''Tune the Piano and Hand Me a Razor'', which reached No. 18 on the Swedish Albums Chart.
Solo career
Wadling developed a successful solo career, releasing a large number of albums. He recorded songs by
John Dowland
John Dowland (c. 1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", "Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", ...
with the Forge Players in 1998, as well as the acclaimed ''En skiva till kaffet'' (1999) and ''Jag är monstret'' (2005). The latter also contains collaborations with
Thomas Öberg,
Per Gessle
Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the Swedish pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was d ...
, and
Tomas Andersson Wij
Tomas Andersson Wij (born 6 February 1972, birthname: ''Tomas Per Andersson''), often abbreviated as TAW, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and journalist.
Early life
He was born on 6 February 1972 in Stockholm, Sweden and raised in the south sub ...
. He also recorded soundtracks with
Magne Furuholmen
Magne Furuholmen (born 1 November 1962) is a Norwegian musician and visual artist. He was named Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olav by King Harald for his services to Norwegian music and his international success. Furuholmen, better kno ...
and
Kjetil Bjerkestrand
Kjetil Bjerkestrand (born 18 May 1955 in Kristiansund, Norway) is a Norwegian musician (keyboards), composer, arranger and record producer, known as music arranger for artists like Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Keith Emerson, Ian Hunter, ...
.
He was awarded the
Cornelis Vreeswijk
Cornelis Vreeswijk (; ; 8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch-born Swedish singer-songwriter, poet and actor.
He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to become ...
Prize in 2005.
In 2011, Wadling released the album ''With a Licence to Kill'', featuring songs from the ''
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
'' franchise. It reached No. 12 on the Swedish Albums Chart. In 2016, he published ''Efter Regnet'', which reached No. 7 on the Swedish Albums Chart.
Death
Wadling died on 2 June 2016 at the age of 64.
Discography
Albums
;with Cortex
* ''Spinal Injuries'' (1981)
* ''You Can't Kill the Boogeyman'' (1986)
;with
Blue for Two
* ''Blue for Two'' (1986)
* ''Songs from a Pale and Bitter Moon'' (1988)
* ''Search & Enjoy'' (1992)
* ''Earbound'' (1994)
* ''Moments'' (1997)
* ''Tune the Piano and Hand Me a Razor'' (2012)
;with Mother
* ''LP'' (2008)
;Solo
* ''Something Wicked This Way Comes'' (1989)
* ''Picnic on a Frozen River'' (Compilation, 1991)
* ''The Dice Man'' (Compilation, 1991)
* ''A Soft-Hearted Killer Collection'' (Compilation, 1997)
* ''En skiva till kaffet'' (1999)
* ''Skillingtryck och mordballader'' (2000)
* ''Jag är monstret'' (2005)
* ''Den mörka blomman / The Dark Flower'' (2009)
* ''With a Licence to Kill'' (2011)
* ''Efter Regnet'' (2016)
;Featured in:
* ''Dark Passages – Nocturnal Incidents'' (
Kingdom of Evol featuring Freddie Wadling) (2012)
References
External links
*
Fansite(in Swedish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadling, Freddie
1951 births
2016 deaths
Swedish male singers
Swedish male actors
Rune Grammofon artists
People from Gothenburg