Jan Torsten Svensson, known professionally as Harpo (born 5 April 1950), is 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 ...
pop singer.
[Harpo sjunger ut på Galgberget](_blank)
Hallandsposten
''Hallandsposten'' is a Swedish local morning newspaper printed in Halmstad, Sweden. It is the major newspaper of Halmstad, Hylte and Laholm municipalities
History and profile
''Hallandsposten'' was established in 1850. The first issue appe ...
2009-06-30 He was popular in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and around
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
in the 1970s and is best known for his worldwide
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
"
Moviestar" (1975) and "Horoscope" (1976). Harpo continued to work in the
music business
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
into the 2000s, releasing an
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
of new material in 2005 and continued to tour. He remains popular in Germany and has toured there since 2007.
Career
Jan Svenssons artist name ''Harpo'' is a bow to American comedian
Harpo Marx
Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Grou ...
of
The Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...
. Harpo started his career in the late 1960s as an
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
in children's theatre. While touring around Sweden, he started to write
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
s. In 1972, he signed a
recording contract
A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...
with
Stig Anderson
Stig Erik Leopold Anderson (25 January 1931 – 12 September 1997), better known as Stikkan Anderson, was a Swedish music manager, lyricist and music publisher. He was the co-founder of Polar Music, and is best known for managing the Swe ...
at
Polar Music
Polar Music is a Swedish record company founded in 1963 by Stig Anderson and his friend Bengt Bernhag.
Background
The first act that Polar Music signed was the Hootenanny Singers featuring Björn Ulvaeus. Polar eventually gained prosperity pr ...
. Anderson assigned him to in-house
record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
s,
Benny Andersson
Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma M ...
and
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, producer, a member of the musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma Mia!'' He co-produced the films ...
.
The plan was that Andersson and Ulvaeus would work with Harpo on an album of his
child
A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
ren's songs in Swedish. The collaboration did not work out and Anderson released Harpo from his contract. Harpo then signed with
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
and formed a successful creative partnership with producer Bengt Palmers.
Harpo released his first two
singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
in 1973 - "Honolulu" and "Sayonara". Both were hits and reached the
Top Ten on the
Tio-i-topp chart. "Sayonara" held the number one spot for five consecutive weeks between January and February 1974.
On 27 February 1975, Harpo
recorded the song for which he would become most famous - "Moviestar". One of the
backing vocalist
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...
s on that session was
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen (born Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad on 15 November 1945), also known by her nickname "Frida", is a Norwegian-born Swedish singer, songwriter and environmentalist, who is best known as one of the foun ...
(Frida) from
ABBA
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...
. It has sometimes been reported that
Agnetha Fältskog
Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...
also sang on the song but this is incorrect. The second female singer is Frida, who also provided backing vocals on the song "Pin Up Girl" on Harpo's second album, ''Harpo & Bananaband''.
"Moviestar" went on to become a huge hit. It reached number 1 in Sweden, Norway, Austria, Switzerland and West Germany,
[The German chart positions are taken from Günter Ehnert (ed.): ''Hit Bilanz. Deutsche Chart Singles 1956-1980''. Hamburg: Taurus Press 1990, p. 93] number 3 in Australia, number 9 in New Zealand, number 13 in Ireland and number 24 in the UK. A Swedish language version was also released in Sweden which went to number 1 on the ''Svensktoppen'' radio
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
. He made many
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
and
TV appearances around Europe.
Harpo released a number of follow up singles, notably "Motorcycle Mama" (number 9 in Germany) and "Horoscope" (number 1 in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
and number 3 in Germany).
In 1977, Harpo travelled to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, U.S. with his wife and producer Bengt Palmers. The result was the album ''The Hollywood Tapes'' which spawned the hit single "Television". Also, in 1977, Harpo made the news when he refused to take part in the
Swedish Military Service. As a result, he went to
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
for one month.
In 1978, Harpo revisited the songs he was originally going to work on with Andersson and Ulvaeus in 1972. The result was the children's album ''Jan Banan och hans flygande matta''. He followed this with an album of his favourite
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
songs. Both these projects were in the Swedish language.
In 1980, Harpo was ready to get back into mainstream
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
. He signed to
Mickie Most
Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate ...
's label,
RAK and released one single, "She Loves It Too". In fact, Harpo had the chance to be on RAK as far back as 1973. He met with Most in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, but decided not to move to London at that time.
Harpo had an accident in August 1980.
As well as being a
musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
, he is also a horse trainer and one of his horses, Starter, suddenly lashed out and kicked Harpo in the face several times. The injuries were so severe that Harpo lost his sense of smell and the sight in one eye. To show there were no hard feelings, Harpo dedicated his next album to his horse, ''Starter''.
Harpo continued to record throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s. During 1985, he produced several Swedish groups including
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, Suzzies Orkester and +1. In 1987, he set up his own record company, Igloo Records.
After his 1992 album, things were quiet on the recording front. He released a single, "Sounds Like Love", in Germany only in 1994. In 1997, Harpo contributed two new songs to a greatest hits
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
, ''Harpo Hits!''
Harpo released his latest album of new material, ''Jan Harpo Svensson 05'' in April 2005. He had an extensive tour of Germany in 2007.
Discography
Singles
Albums
* ''Leo the Leopard'' (1974)
* ''Harpo & Bananaband'' (1975)
* ''Moviestar'' (1975) - AUS #65
* ''Smile'' (1976)
* ''The Hollywood Tapes'' (1977)
* ''Jan Banan och hans flygande matta'' (1978)
* ''Råck änd råll rätt å slätt'' (1979) (credited to Jan Harpo Svensson)
* ''The Fool of Yesterday (Will Be the Fool of Tomorrow)'' (1981)
* ''Let's Get Romantic'' (1984)
* ''Harpo'' (1988) (sometimes incorrectly referred to as ''Igloo'' or ''London'')
* ''Hemliga låden'' (1990) (credited to Harpo Show)
* ''Harpo'' (1992) (not to be confused with the 1988 album of the same name)
* ''Jan Harpo Svensson 05'' (2005) (credited to Jan Harpo Svensson)
Compilation albums
* ''Harpo Hits'' (1977)
* ''20 Bästa'' (1980)
* ''Portrait of Harpo'' (1991)
* ''Moviestar Greatest Hits'' (1993)
* ''Samlade Hits'' (1995) (
CD that contains the whole ''Let's Get Romantic'' album plus four other hits)
* ''Moviestar'' (1996)
* ''Harpo Hits!'' (1997)
* ''Premium Gold Collection'' (1999)
* ''Moviestar: The HitStory of Harpo'' (1999)
* ''The Collection'' (2001)
* ''Klassiker'' (2003)
References
External links
harpo.infoofficial site
harpo-svensson.de- fan site (in German)
harpo-fan.de- fan site (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harpo
1950 births
Living people
Singers from Stockholm
Swedish male singers
Swedish pop singers
Swedish rock singers
Rak Records artists
Swedish conscientious objectors
Swedish singer-songwriters
English-language singers from Sweden