Birgit Rose-Marie Anlert (née Carlsson, born 31 March 1936), known professionally as Towa Carson, is a Swedish schlager singer. She debuted in 1954 and had the most success in the 1950s and 1960s, with hits such as ''"De tre klockorna"'' (Swedish version of "

The Three Bells "The Three Bells", also known as "The Jimmy Brown Song", "Little Jimmy Brown", or simply "Jimmy Brown", is a song made popular by the Browns in 1959. The song is an English adaptation of the French language song "Les Trois Cloches" written by Jean ...

", which peaked at No. 4, ''"Spara sista dansen för mig"'' (" Save the Last Dance for Me"), which also peaked at No. 4, and her biggest hit "''Jag måste ge mig av''" (

Billy Grammer Billy Wayne Grammer (August 28, 1925 – August 10, 2011) was an American country music singer and accomplished guitar player. He recorded the million-selling " Gotta Travel On", which made it onto both the country and pop music charts in 1959. ...

's "

Gotta Travel On "Gotta Travel On" is an American folksong. The earliest known version was printed in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag in 1927 under the title "Yonder Comes the High Sheriff" and several variations were recorded in the 1920s, but the best kno ...

", Swedish lyrics by

Peter Himmelstrand Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

) which peaked at No. 3. She recorded many

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

s with

Lasse Lönndahl Lars Gunnar "Lasse" Lönndahl (; 19 August 1928 – 26 December 2022) was a Swedish singer and actor. He was considered the most well-known Swedish singer of the 1950s and 1960s with nicknames including "The Swedish Frank Sinatra" and "World's O ...

, the most successful being ''"Visa mig hur man går hem"'' (

Irving King Jimmy Campbell (born James Alexander Campbell-Tyrie; 5 April 1903–19 August 1967) and Reg Connelly (born Reginald John Connelly; 22 October 1895–23 September 1963) were English songwriters and Music publisher (popular music), music p ...

's "

Show Me the Way to Go Home "Show Me the Way to Go Home" is a popular song written in 1925 by the English songwriting team Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly, using the pseudonym "Irving King". The song is said to have been written on a train journey from London by Campbell an ...

") which peaked at No. 12. 25 of her songs have charted on

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 cha ...

. She has participated in the Swedish song contest

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song ...

(which serves as a national preselection for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

) in 1967 (''"Du vet var jag finns"'', third place) and in 1968 (two songs: ''"

Alla har glömt The Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1967 was Östen Warnerbring and the song "Som en dröm", composed by Curt Pettersson and Marcus Österdahl and written by Patrice Hellberg. The national selection was for the first time called "M ...

"'' took fourth place, while ''"Vem frågar vinden"'' took the fifth). Unlike many other Scandinavian schlager-singing stars, she never sought international career, despite allegedly receiving offers from the US and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In 2004, at the age of 68, she teamed up with fellow veteran Melodifestivalen participants,

Siw Malmkvist Siw Gunnel Margareta Malmkvist (born 31 December 1936) is a Swedish schlager singer and actress popular in Scandinavia and West Germany. She had a number one hit in West Germany in 1964 with "''Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht''" (''"Lovesickness ...

and Ann-Louise Hanson, to enter the contest again. The trio, under the name Hanson, Carson & Malmkvist, gained media attention due to the average age of the ladies far exceeding 60. Their song, ''"

C'est la vie C'est la vie may refer to: * C'est la vie (phrase), ''C'est la vie'' (phrase), a French phrase, translated as "That's life" Books * C'est la Vie (comic strip), ''C'est la Vie'' (comic strip), an English-language comic strip by Jennifer Babcock * ...

"'', written by the prolific Swedish composer Thomas G:son, was a mix of a typical schlager tune with uptempo dance beat. The ladies advanced from their semi-final round thanks to their popularity with televoters and took the tenth place on the final night, with an energetic performance including Siw's spectacular kicks. They also appeared at one of that year's

Allsång på Skansen ''Allsång på Skansen'' (''Sing-along at Skansen'') is a Swedish show held at Skansen, Stockholm, every summer on Tuesdays between 8pm and 9pm. The audience is encouraged to sing along with musical guest stars to well-known Swedish and internati ...

events. In 2006, Towa Carson celebrated her 70th birthday. She is married to

Bengt Anlert Bengt may refer to: People In arts, entertainment and media Actors * Bengt Djurberg (1898–1941), Swedish actor and singer * Bengt Ekerot (1920–1971), Swedish actor and director * Bengt Eklund (1925–1998), Swedish actor * Bengt Logardt (1914� ...

, a former soccer player for

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

. The unusual first name she uses on stage stems from her father calling her ''"Min lilla Tova"'' when she was a little girl, with reference to her tangled hair (''tova'' means 'tangle' in

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 ...

References

External links

Aftonbladet report on Hanson, Carson & Malmkvist advancing to the Melodifestivalen final

Helsinborgs Dagblad report on Towa's 70th birthday

Västerviks-Tidningen report on Towa's 70th birthday

Official Melodifestivalen 2004 contestant page for Hanson, Carson & Malmkvist
*
Music sample from Towa's 1976 record – ''Tillbaka Igen''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, Towa Swedish women singers Swedish pop singers Melodifestivalen contestants 1936 births Living people Schlager musicians People from Eskilstuna