Mecki Mark Men
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Mecki Mark Men
OR:
Mecki Mark Men on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Mecki Mark Men (MMM for short) were a Swedish rock band fronted by keyboardist Claes "Mecki" Bodemark. The group originally formed as a ''
dansband (; "dance band"), or in Norwegian and Danish, is a Swedish term for a band that plays ("dance band music"). ' is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired by ...
'' in the mid-1960s, then called Mecki Mark Five, before adopting elements of
psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
, and
experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...
. A breakthrough performance at
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
's Experimental Jazz Festival in July 1967 helped establish the group, placing them at the forefront of Swedish psychedelic rock and its fledgling ''
progg Progg was a left-wing and anti-commercial musical movement in Sweden that began in the late 1960s and became more widespread in the 1970s. Not to be confused with the English expressions "progressive music" or "prog rock," progg is a contraction ...
'' subgenre. Mecki Mark Men went on to collaborate with other artists in the genres of
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 ...
,
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
, and
musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
, and were one of the first Swedish rock acts to tour and release records in the U.S.


History


Origins

Mecki Mark Men were founded by Swedish keyboardist Claes Bodemark. Bodemark's career began after he acquired his first Hammond L-100 organ at age 17 and then landed a job as studio organist for a Stockholm television station in the early 1960s. By the middle of the decade he was known as "Mecki," a name the long-haired musician shared with the Mecki the Hedgehog, an impudent, bristle-haired, vest-wearing character who was often given to smoking
opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
in children's
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s and had appeared in
stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...
films shown to troops during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In the early 1960s Bodemark played in Stockholm groups The Adventurers and Nilla and the Blackbird, and a popular Finnish group called Savages. In 1966 he appeared on two singles by Örjan Englund's pop group Vat 66 before devoting himself as
bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...
on his own Mecki Mark Five, which would become the more
alliterative Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...
Mecki Mark Men (MMM).


First lineup: 1967–early 1968

Mecki Mark Men's original 1967 lineup was a
septet A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...
of two horns (Hans Nordström on
tenor sax The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the Alto saxophone, alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key ...
and
flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
, and Anders Sjostedt on
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
), two guitars (Claes Svanberg on six-string
electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
and Jan-Eric Olsson on bass), two drummers (Björn Fredholm and Thomas Mera Gartz, the latter of whom also played
vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...
,
bamboo flute The bamboo flute, especially the bone flute, is one of the oldest musical instruments known. Examples of Paleolithic bone flutes have survived for more than 40,000 years, to be discovered by archaeologists. While the oldest flutes currently kn ...
,
tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...
, and
sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...
), and Mecki Bodemark on
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
, vibraphone, flute and vocals. The group was one of the first big psych-rock bands in Sweden. MMM, along with the
improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
al rock trio Baby Grandmothers, served as a house band at Stockholm's famous Filips club run by
Janne Carlsson Jan Edvard Carlsson (12 March 1937 – 31 August 2017), known professionally as Janne 'Loffe' Carlsson, was a Swedish actor, musician, composer and artist. Early life Carlsson was born on 12 March 1937 in Katarina Parish, Stockholm, the son of ...
of the
instrumental music An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...
duo Hansson & Karlsson. MMM first entered the studio in September 1967 to record their premiere single, "Midnight Land" b/w "Got Together," after which Sjostedt and Olsson left the group. The following month Mecki Mark Men's residual five members went into Stockholm's Philips Studios to create their
eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...
ous debut album. A tour of the U.K. and an appearance on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television program ''Popside'' soon followed. By late 1967 the band had shrunk to the quartet of Bodemark, Nordstrom, Svanberg and Gartz for a tour of Finland with the Baby Grandmothers and Finnish singer Anki Lindqvist. In January 1968 Mecki Mark Men and Baby Grandmothers opened for the
Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
for the Swedish leg of Hendrix's European tour during a hiatus in the ''
Electric Ladyland ''Electric Ladyland'' is the third and final studio album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the final studio album released before Hendrix's death in 1970. A double album, it was the only record from the Experience produced by Hendrix. The ba ...
'' recording sessions.
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
had become acquainted with MMM on previous visits to Klubb Filips and he was regularly performing his own version of the Hansson and Karlsson tune "Tax Free." Hendrix played short sets on the tour due an injury from smashing a
plate glass Plate glass, flat glass or sheet glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows, glass doors, transparent walls, and windscreens. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is s ...
hotel window, but his forearm bandaged, he regularly jammed with the Mecki Mark Men when their bands were warming up for gigs. That year Mecki Mark Men also opened for
Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
and the
Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an R&B band ...
at Stockholm's Concert House. Because of Mecki Bodemark's Jimi-soundalike vocal style and his band's heavy, unpredictable and esoteric music, MMM often drew comparisons to both Hendrix and Zappa, even from those unaware of the artists' various associations. This iteration of Mecki Mark Men soon split up, with some members going on to found other Swedish bands. Gartz, who had been MMM's secondary songwriter, formed the quintet Pärson Sound, a project that originally came together to perform
Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for ...
's composition, '' In C''. Pärson Sound soon rebranded themselves as International Harvester, and then as Harvester, before settling on the name
Träd, Gräs & Stenar Träd, Gräs & Stenar ("Trees, Grass and Stones") is a Swedish rock band formed in 1969, from previous incarnations Pärson Sound, International Harvester and Harvester. The group was one of the front acts of the Swedish progg scene, although not ...
("Trees, Grass and Stones"), who became a staple of Swedish ''progg'' music in the early 1970s.


Second lineup: late 1968–1971

1968 marked a big shift in Swedish youth culture as political protests erupted all over Europe. Demonstrations against the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
had started in Sweden the previous year, and future
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Olof Palme marched against it in his capacity as Minister of Education. Many Swedes were also involved in campaigns in support of the environment or against
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
. On May 3 activists protested the participation of apartheid nations
Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in the international
Swedish Open 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 ...
tennis competition held in the resort town of Båstad, resulting in a violent clash between
Swedish police The Swedish Police Authority ( sv, Polismyndigheten) is the national police force (''Polisen'') of the Kingdom of Sweden. The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-19th century, and the police remained in effect under lo ...
and demonstrators. A calmer protest at
Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...
led students to occupy their Student Union Building at Holländargatan for four days.Claes Fredelius
Kårhusockupationen
From the book ''Det är rätt att göra uppror – Om klasskampen i Sverige.'' Stockholm 1970, Bonniers. Amidst all this Mecki Bodemark landed a role in a mainstream reflection of activist and
hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
counterculture when he, protest singer Hawkey Franzén, and the three members of Baby Grandmothers were musicians and cast members in ''Hår'', the Swedish version of the popular musical ''
Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...
''. The musical ran at Stockholm's Scalateatern from September 1968 through April 1969, playing a total of 155 shows, and the cast recorded a
Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, the fourth most spoken Germanic language and the first among any other of its type in the Nordic countr ...
version of the soundtrack with Bodemark and the others as the backing band. During ''Hår's''
Christmas break An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...
, Bodemark and the Baby Grandmothers toured again with
Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...
singer Anki Lindqvist, this time to
Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, accompanied by avant garde musician M. A. Numminen. They arrived to a city still occupied by
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
tanks from the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...
that had followed the
Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...
. The band played several clubs backing Lindqvist and then playing selected songs from ''Hair'' (in English) mixed with experimental music. Their last gig in Prague was a huge concert to some 10,000 people, ending with a sing-along to "
Let the Sunshine In "Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)" (commonly called "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In") is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical '' Hair'' by James Rado and Gerome ...
." Before returning to Sweden, the band made appearances on
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
n radio and TV as a follow-up to their concert success. Shortly after MMM's departure, Czechoslovakia's government began its campaign of Normalization. The country's
mánička Mánička (in plural: máničky) is a Czech term used for young people with long hair, typically men, in Czechoslovakia through the 1960s and 1970s. Long hair for males during this time was considered an expression of political and social attitu ...
(the Czech term for hippie) counterculture and affiliated music was persecuted by the state and forced underground. Meanwhile, MMM's first album had been issued in 40 countries, including an American edition released in the summer of 1968 by Mercury imprint
Limelight Records Limelight Records was a jazz record label and subsidiary of Mercury Records started in 1962. The catalogue included music by Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Milt Jackson, Gerry Mulligan, and Oscar Peterson. Originally headed by Quincy ...
. Earlier in the decade Limelight had been managed by
Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
, who booked luminary jazz artists like
Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...
, Dizzy Gillespie,
Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...
,
Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solo ...
,
Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...
, and
Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...
. To keep up with the rapid shifts in the
counterculture of the 1960s The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon that developed throughout much of the Western world in the 1960s and has been ongoing to the present day. The aggregate movement gained momentum as the civil rights mo ...
, Limelight's aesthetic and catalogue also shifted, expanding beyond its repertoire of
hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...
and
cool jazz Cool jazz is a style of modern jazz music that arose in the United States after World War II. It is characterized by relaxed tempos and lighter tone, in contrast to the fast and complex bebop style. Cool jazz often employs formal arrangements and ...
to include
Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...
and many European electronic and new music composers, such as
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
experimentalists
Tom Dissevelt Thomas Dissevelt (4 March 1921, Leiden – 1989) was a Dutch composer and musician. He is known as a pioneer in the merging of electronic music and jazz. He married Rina Reys, sister of Rita Reys, in 1946. Tom Dissevelt was also known as bass ...
and Kid Baltan,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
's Pierre Henry and
Les Percussions de Strasbourg Les Percussions de Strasbourg is a contemporary classical music percussion ensemble made up of six percussionists. Founded in 1962, the ensemble is still performing and commissioning music. The current lineup has played together for 15 years. Thei ...
, and Sweden's own
Bengt Hambraeus Bengt Hambraeus ( Stockholm, Sweden, January 29, 1928 – Glen Roy, Ontario, (in Glengarry County), near Montreal, Quebec, Canada, September 21, 2000) was a Swedish-Canadian organist, composer and musicologist. Biography Hambreaus studied organ ...
. Mecki Mark Men, who sang in English about politically relevant topics such as the
war in Vietnam The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, became the label's sole rock act. Limelight's remixed and repackaged U.S. release of ''Mecki Mark Men'' did reasonably well for an unknown European group, selling 20,000 copies stateside. After seeing a performance of ''Hår'', a Mercury Records A&R representative expressed interest in releasing a second Mecki Mark Men album for Limelight. Upon finishing their seven-month run with ''Hår'', Bodemark asked the Baby Grandmothers to become his new Mecki Mark Men, and the re-dubbed quartet returned for another tour of
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. This less jazzy-sounding band of Kenny Håkansson on guitar, Bengt Linnarsson ( a.k.a. Bella Fehrlin) on bass, and Pelle Ekman on drums backed Bodemark for MMM's sophomore release, ''Running in the Summer Night''. Recorded over the course of a few days in early 1969, the album mixes Bodemark's songs with material previously composed by the Baby Grandmothers. Critics have hailed the album, some citing it as an early work of proto- heavy metal, predating
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
's debut by one year. Mecki Mark Men made a promotional film for the songs "Running In The Summer Night" and "Being Is More Than Life," which aired on the Swedish TV program ''Kram: Tema Att Lyssna'' in May 1969. By the fall of 1969, the band's popularity in their home country garnered them numerous TV appearances, another U.K. tour, and a collaboration with the Royal Swedish Opera on
Lars Johan Werle Lars Johan Werle (23 June 1926 – 3 August 2001) was a Swedish modernist composer. Life and career Werle was born in Gävle, Sweden, and taught himself how to compose, before going on to study musicology at the University of Uppsala from 1 ...
's work ''Resan'' (translated as ''"Journey"'' or ''"The Trip''"). ''Rasan's''
libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
by Lars Runsten depicted a
suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
an woman's everyday life in contrast with the fantastic world of her childhood friend, reflecting the rifts between post-war European society and the burgeoning counterculture seeping in from America and Britain. In the program notes, Werle wrote that ''Resan'' was "An opera about people of today; about the children of the welfare state; our lack of contact with one another; our loneliness and blindness and pretensions. It also depicts the difficulties we experience in visualizing existence—our own and others." For the performance, the Mecki Mark Men and various orchestral soloists were situated in illuminated cubes and fit into a larger program of
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
. In 1970 Mecki Mark Men also performed the opera with the
Norrköping Symphony Orchestra The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra ( sv, Norrköpings Symfoniorkester) is a Swedish professional symphony orchestra. It is based at the concert hall De Geerhallen, in the center of Norrköping. History The orchestra was founded in 1912, a ...
. In 1970 Mecki Mark Men were heralded as the first Swedish rock band to embark on a tour of the U.S. For three months they made the city of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
their home base, from which they travelled to various other cities to play festivals with
Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...
, Jethro Tull, Pentangle,
Mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
,
Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succ ...
,
Paul Butterfield Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...
,
The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
, Bob Seger, and
Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
. The tour ended in disarray, as the band had overstayed their
visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...
s and racked up a considerable debt. The group's manager bailed them out financially by picking up the band's tab and arranging for the recording of their third album, ''Marathon'', at
Chess Studios Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and ro ...
in Chicago. Their manager also convinced
Finnair Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...
to fly the band home on credit. The group had hoped that their U.S. tour would help bolster sales and maintain their record deals with Limelight and Phillips, but it didn't, and both labels dropped the group. ''Marathon'' was released by the Swedish label Sonet, which had also issued the soundtrack to ''Hår'', and the royalties from this third Mecki Mark Men album were used to reimburse the Mecki Mark Men's manager. Ironically, ''Marathon's'' Lead track bears the title, "I've Got No Money." In 1971 Mecki Mark Men returned for a second collaboration with pianist
Lars Johan Werle Lars Johan Werle (23 June 1926 – 3 August 2001) was a Swedish modernist composer. Life and career Werle was born in Gävle, Sweden, and taught himself how to compose, before going on to study musicology at the University of Uppsala from 1 ...
and a handful of other musicians on Werle's ballet ''Stonehorse'', which was recorded but went unreleased for nearly 40 years. Also in 1971, MMM appeared in
Ingvar Kjellson Anders Ingvar Kjell Kjellson (20 May 1923 – 18 December 2014) was a Swedish stage and film actor.Ingvar Kjellson, biographic article in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' Kjellson was born in Kärna, Östergötland County. He was accepted at Dramatens ...
's documentary about Werle, ''En Saga om Sinnen'' ("A Tale of the Senses"). The group's second lineup soon dissolved, with all but Mecki Bodemark going on to play in the
folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers suc ...
progg Progg was a left-wing and anti-commercial musical movement in Sweden that began in the late 1960s and became more widespread in the 1970s. Not to be confused with the English expressions "progressive music" or "prog rock," progg is a contraction ...
group Kebnekajse.


Mecki Mark and third lineup: 1972–1980

In 1972 the Swedish Jukebox label issued the first three songs from ''Marathon'' on a split 7-inch EP with the British band Shakane, the last record to be released by MMM for several years. Mecki Bodemark teamed up with members of the Swedish band Red White & Blues under the name "Mecki Mark" (dropping "men" from their moniker) but that collaboration proved short-lived. Both Bodemark and bassist Bella Linnarsson returned as collaborators in a theatrical production based on
Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
's ''
Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
''. This was then adapted into the 1975 film ''Skärseld'' (''Purgatory'') with Bodemark playing the role of Casella and featuring music by
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
. In 1974 MMM's original trumpeter Anders Sjöstedt returned to work with Bodemark in a new version of Mecki Mark Men, gradually forming the group with Bosse Svenssonon playing
tenor sax The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the Alto saxophone, alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key ...
, Staffan Linros on guitar, Peter Sahlin on bass, and Janne Kullhammar at the drum kit for the recording of the 1979
soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...
,
smooth jazz Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s. History Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 19 ...
, and
soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
-inspired album ''Flying High''. Around the album's release, the group played concerts in protest of
nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
. A video for the song "Fly High" was released in conjunction with the album before this third iteration of the band dissolved in 1980.


Reissues and reunions

Between 2004 and 2008
Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...
reissued Mecki Mark Men's first three albums on compact disc. Universal included MMM's first single and two instrumental versions of songs with the first album, and added U.S. mixes of two songs as bonus tracks to the Swedish mix of the second album. In 2007 Bodemark and his wife, Tarja Omhav, reformed a new band under the Mecki Mark Men name. The group of Henry Uilli on guitar, Peter Sahlin on bass, Tommy Koverhult on sax, Anders Nilsson on trumpet, Daniel Wigstranol on
pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...
and Johan Sjokvist on drums joined Bodemark and Omhav in the studio to record the band's fifth album, ''Livingroom.'' This lineup also took part in a day-long boat concert on the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
between
Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...
and
Turku, Finland Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
. Mecki Mark Men reformed again in 2010 to support the CD release of ''Stonehorse'', MMM's 1971 collaboration with Lars Johan Werle. In 2015 the French Record label Lumpy Gravy re-reissued MMM's first three albums on CD, keeping Universal's four bonus tracks for ''Mecki Mark Men'', including five alternate versions of songs on ''Running in the Summer Night'', and adding six live tracks to the release of ''Marathon''. In 2016 much of the original 1968 cast of ''Hår'' reunited to reenact the musical in Stockholm, but no members of the Mecki Mark Men performed.


Discography

Group lineups on each release indicated as follows: :a First lineup (seven members) :a- First lineup, minus two members :b Second lineup (four members) :b+ Second lineup with additional musicians :c 1979 lineup (six members) :d 2007 lineup (eight members)


Albums

* ''Mecki Mark Men'' LP (Philips, 1967; Limelight, 1968)a- * ''Running in the Summer Night'' LP (Limelight, 1969)b * ''Marathon'' LP (Sonet, 1971)b * ''Flying High'' LP (Kompass, 1979)c * ''Living Room'' CD (Vesper, 2007)d * ''Stonehorse'' CD (Vesper, 2010)b+


Singles

* "Midnight Land"/"Got Together" (Philips, 1967)a * "Sweet Movin'"/"Love Feeling" (Philips/Limelight, 1968)a- * "Get Up"/"Sweet Movin'" (Philips Japan, 1968)a-


Extended plays

* Split with Shakane (Jukebox, 1972)b


Related

* ''Hår: American Hippie-Yippie Love-In Musical'' LP (Sonet, 1968)b+


Compact disc reissues

* ''Running in the Summer Night'' (Universal, 2004 +2 bonus tracks; Lumpy Gravy, 2015 +5 bonus tracks)b * ''Marathon'' (Universal, 2006 original track list; Lumpy Gravy, 2015 +6 live tracks)b * ''Mecki Mark Men'' +4 bonus tracks (Universal, 2008; Lumpy Gravy, 2015)a-/a


References


External links

* *
Bengt Linnarsson's band website
{{authority control Swedish psychedelic rock music groups Swedish progressive rock groups Musicians from Stockholm Musical groups established in 1967