Stig Anderson - part of his life

This is taken from the book Fenomenet ABBA by Christer Borg, a biography of Stikkan which I find very good although it is only up until 1977....Gustav Sanderg

"He is dangerous and writes shit....He and others of the same kind makes life look better and spreads opinions that are, to me, disgusting" (the author Lars Forssell)

"Stikkan is the most dynamic guy in this business. He is commercial. His lyrics are on both good and bad...He is fair. He stirred up several people's bile." (Record Producer Anders Burman)

"The best thing about Stikkan is his complete honesty. Music is to him consumption articles, like butter and bread. Sometimes old bread. His music does not add anything to our musiclife, that's my opinion" (Roger Wallis from the record company MNW)

"He is one of the best people I know. Honest to 100%. He is very intelligent and always knows how things should be. I get mad when they treat him unfair on TV. They paint him that way just because they want him that way" (Anni-Frid Lyngstad)

"The president of Swedish gushmusic" (Aftonbladet)

"Stikkan has always questioned things. He always asks "Why?". He has often been ahead of his time. He has self confidence. He knows his job. (Chief of Liseberg, Bo Kinntorph)

The opinions are split about Stikkan Anderson, the record company Polar's dynamic boss and the man behind the world success ABBA. He is a person who doesn't hesitate to spill his guts, he says what he feels and thinks without embellished paraphrases. He has been given the doubtful honour to be a cut-out doll in the political popgroups own voice, The Power of Music, and when there's a debate on the TV about the bad influence of Schlagermusic they always go to Stikkan first.

But even Stikkan's strongest enemies have to, even if reluctantly, confess that he knows the record business on his five fingers. He has an instinctive feeling of what is a hit and he knows how to market a product in the best way. That's why Stikkan also is called "The Business".

He is to a high degree a "Self-made" man. From absolutely nothing Stikkan has worked his way up to the position as one of the most powerful men within - yes, why not the international - record business.

Stig Erik Leopold Anderson was born 25th January 1931 in Mariestad's BB. He grew up in Hova, three Swedish miles outside Mariestad, where his mother worked with different things; she was a hairdresser, a seamstress and had a kiosk. His father he has never met.

The home was poor, but Stikkan never suffered. And the music was there from the beginning. At the age of five, he got a travel-record player and some records, amongst others Zeppelinarvalsen. Soon he knew all the songs by heart.

His sense of smart business he showed on early stage. He quit school when he was 13 years old and started working as a errand-boy in the town's grocer's shop. At the same time he worked for Hova IF:

- I fixed the players shoes, painted the field. Mother washed the team's sweaters and socks. As a favour I got to handle the kiosk that was at the Sports Arena. I bought fudge, fruit and soda from the grocer's shop - and I got to keep the profit. If it was the B-team who were playing I had to struggle hard for only some kronor. But if it was the A-team and an important game I could get together between 30 and 35 kronor. It was as much as I made in 7 weeks working for the shop.

With the money Stikkan bought a guitar and a guitar course. He became interested in jazz at an early stage and in 1946 he joined Puttes Orchestra. The year after that it became Bobby's Orchestra from Töreboda, who were a little more professional and had gigs around north Västergötland. He also played amateur review and toured with IOGT's entertainmentpatrol.

- I fell heavily in love with a girl in another IOGT-show. She turned me down. After that I went home and wrote a song about her. That song I later performed during an IOGT-meeting and got a very good reception. It was then I discovered it was kind of fun writing songs.

- I was 16 years old when I wrote the first song I thought was something. It is called Tivedshambo, it became a classic in the old dancemusic and is still played a lot.

At 17 Stikkan got enough courage to send a handful of songs to Orkesterjournalen, who at that time looked at notemanuscripts. Not to his own surprise he got positive criticism - and that made him continue.

Stikkan sent some melodies to Ulf Peder Olrog, who had his biggest time at that point. He got a nice letter back. Olrog thought the songs were good but suggested that young Mr. Anderson should study harmony and read poetry. He also thought Stikkan ought to continue school. Today the letter is framed and hangs in Stikkan's office:

- It gives me something to think about when I sit and judge others stuff. Later I met Olrog in Örebro. He was very kind and invited me to strawberries and cream. That was the decisive meeting for me, meant a turning point in my life.

The autumn 1948 Stikkan started school again in Ingesund outside Arvika, where there also was a musicprogram. In Ingesund he met Bengt Bernhag and Börje Crona. The three of them formed the group Stig Anderson and Hans Mosiga Gräddklickar (Stig Anderson and his pulpy creampats). Stikkan played guitar and the others sang:

- The first gig we did almost closed the school. We put together a review which we called Grädde På Moset (Cream On The Mash), after a song I had written. The headmaster didn't like the review at all - it destroyed the schools good image, he said...

The summer 1950 Stikkan followed Börje Crona to Stockholm. He went up to the music publisher Nils Georg (Georg "Tuppen" Eliasson) with two songs he had written, Tivedshambo and Grädde på Moset. He thought the melodies were good. But he didn't like the lyrics for Grädde På Moset, he said it was too one-sided. The same afternoon I laid down on the lawn outside the town hall and re-wrote the lyrics. Eliasson was very impressed it had gone so fast and that I had understood what he meant.

Autumn 1950 Grädde På Moset was released with Harry Brandelius. To the composer the record was a disappointment:

- Harry sang it as a pure schottis and that was not what I had had in mind. When I was out with Bengt and Börje we did it in a sillier way. Nothing happened with the record.

Harry Brandelius also sang Tivedshambo the following spring. But what made Stikkan happy was that a friend of Börje Crona, Rolf Bengtsson, did the same song on record. Roffe was at that point at the starting point of his career and a public favourite in Kabaret Harlem on Nalen. He had been contacted by the newly started record company Metrenome and as his first record he chose not only Tivedshambo but also another one of Stikkan's melodies: Valsen Om Frans-Oskar (The Waltz about Frans-Oskar), which was a parody of seamenwaltzes.

- there were huge problems when Roffe was to make his record, Stikkan remembers. He had to jump around as he usually did on stage, and when he did that the microphone also jumped. It ended up with the producer placing him on a mattress.

In Ingesund Stikkan also met Gudrun, who was to be his wife and who today is public-finance expert at the Polar empire. The spring 1951 he quit the school and moved to Karlstad, where he was to graduate as a teacher.

- Then military service came and you got more time to think up songs. I wrote, for example, Flickorna som Kan Det, Finns På Landet (The Girls Who Knows It Are In The Country Side), which I recorded myself. It became a terrible record.

After military service Stikkan moved to Stockholm and started Teacher Training School there instead. It was in 1953 a certain Gösta 2Snoddas" Nordgren put the Swedish people in Haderian-fever after having sung Flottarkärlek at Lennart Hyland in the radiosuccess Karusellen. Snoddas had seized Harry Brandelius's act and came to Karusellen with two Brandelius songs: Flottarkärlek and Stikkan's Grädde På Moset. It was Hyland who suggested he should use the first of the two.

- The natural thing would've been to put Grädde På moset as a b-side on the record Snoddas recorded, says Stikkan. But sadly he ended up on the same record company as Brandelius and because he had already done Grädde På Moset they chose another song. That annoyed me. Flottarkärlek sold an incredible number of record and I really needed the money.

1964 and 1955 Stikkan toured the Folkparks together with Börje Crona. They wrote Det Blir Inget Bröllop På Lördag (There Is No Wedding On Saturday), which was recorded by seven (!) artists and reached the charts with George Adelly. He was beginning to get established as a schlagercomposer.

When Börje Crona quit to work with other things Curt "Minimal" Åström, most famous from Casino-review and as 91:an Karlsson, became Stikkan's partner and later he also toured with Akke Carlsson.

1957 Stikkan was ready as a teacher and the year after that he got his first big success. The world Soccer Championship was held in Sweden and Nacka Skoglund was the idol of the day. Of course he had to make a record and Stikkan wrote the cheery Vi Hänger Med, which became a big hit.

The definitive breakthrough was to be in 1959. Stikkan had by then started writing some songs for Vecko-Revyns touring artistparade Flugan (the Fly). One of the melodies was titled Är Du Kär I Mig Änny Klas-Göran (Are you still in love with me Klas-Göran?). The old friend Bengt Bernhag, who now was recording chief on Karusell, went to the boss of Karusell, Simon Brehm and said "this song Lill-Babs is gonna do". Lill-Babs was Simon's new find and in the start of her career.

Klas-Göran hit bullseye both for the composer and for Lill-Babs. The melody was a huge hit during the Flugan-tour and, when Lill-Babs later got to sing Klas-Göran in the TV-program Ett Skepp Kommer Lastat, the success was given.

- Bengt came up with the idea of dressing Lill-Babs up in native clothes and that was surely a big component, says Stikkan. With Klas-Göran Stikkan did all the work himself which normally was taken care of by a music publisher. He had placed it with Lill-Babs and gotten it recorded. He had also written both the music and the lyrics.

- When it became a hit, many wanted the notes. I thought I might as well print them myself. I borrowed 500 SEK for the printing from a highly suspicious friend.

- Then I went to my good friend Gnesta-Kalle. He was a publisher in the smallest scale and he told me how I should do it. I soon understood I needed some sort of company and I came up with Sweden music. It sounded international and good...

Klas-Göran wasn't only a hit in Sweden. In Norway, Denmark and Finland it was also a huge hit and in Holland he got a gold record. The success with Klas-Göran brought international contacts. 1960 a big Belgian music publisher asked Stikkan to be his representative in Scandinavia.

- I said I didn't know anything about this but he promised to teach me everything.

- It was a heavy step to take. We had a home, car and two children. My wife Gudrun was in fact an educated weave-seamstress but had no job. But Gudrun supported me and said she thought I ought to try it. Therefore I left my job as a teacher. after the autumn season 1960 I was through teaching.

- Then a tough time started. 1961 was a disgusting year. The business didn't go well at all and Gudrun had to work extra at nights. That time I don't want back.

Sånt Är Livet, which Anita Lindblom sang, became a turning point. Stikkan got the melody from the American music publisher Ivan Mogull - and wrote the Swedish lyrics himself.

- Sånt Är Livet became a good start. But it wasn't until 1963 things straightened out so you could start breathing again...

1963 Stikkan started the record company Polar with the old companion Bengt Bernhag:

- I understood already at that time that records were the future. To be only a publisher is very hard. There's not enough money in it.

Polar got a lucky start through Hootenanny singers.

- The next big thing was Letkis Jenka, Stikkan remembers. My publishing friends in Finland told me that this Jena thing could grew to be as big as something possibly could. I listened and thought it was so corny it had to be something. I bought the rights for the song in all the countries I could, that is all the world except for England and USA.

Stikkan worked hard on launching the jecka-bug. In Brussels he gave shocked radio people Finnish vodka and showed them how to do the new fashion dance.

- but in West Germany they corrupted everything. They thought Letikis meant Let's Kiss and started kissing each other whilst dancing. At that point the department of public health interfered. It became a big deal and the records sold even better.

1967 Stikkan got to hear Stig Olins and his son Mats sing Jag Tror På Sommaren (I believe in the summer) on Frukostklubben. Stikkan liked it immediately and bought the melody from daddy Stig. He let Ann-Louise Hanson sing it but wasn't happy with the result. Stikkan had thought about doing a different version and persuaded young Mr Mats to do Daddy's song. Jag tror På sommaren became that summers biggest hit and Mats became an idol.

1969 Stikkan and Bengt thought of the idea of recording the lead motive of Nana - Offenbachs Metellas Rondo - with the trumpetman Arne Lamberth. Bengt had during his time at Karusell produced Lamberth big hit Russian folksong. Nana became the beginning of a new era for Arne Lamberth and brought many wonderful kronor to Polar.

In January 1971 a young girl from Halmstad got an entire half hour for herself on the radio's Midnight Hour. She was called Lena Andersson and was described by the reviewers as a crossing between Joan Baez and Judy Collins. A co-worker at Polar, Jörgen Mortenson, happened to have the radio on, and called immediately to Stikkan and said "if you hurry up and turn on the radio you'll get to hear a girl who doesn't sound bad at all".

Stikkan threw himself on the radio, and got to hear the last 30 seconds - and knew again it was a success! After a couple of hours detective work he got in touch with Lena in Halmstad, a couple of days later the contract was signed. "the biggest find I have ever made!", said Stikkan. But this was before ABBA. Anyway: Lena made a small sensation by going in at number one on Svensktoppen with her first record Är Det Konstigt Att Man Längtar Bort Nån gång? (is it strange that you long away some times?).

Ted Gärdestad and his older brother Kenneth had already, in 1969, approached Stikkan and Bengt Bernhag with a bunch of songs. Ted was at that stage only 13 years old and sang in English. "This sounds good", we said, "but you have the future ahead of you. You have time to grow. Go home, rewrite the songs in Swedish. That thing with singing in Swedish I have nagged about ever since Hootenanny singers".

In October 1971 Ted came back. Björn and Benny got very excited as did Stikkan. Ted got to do an LP immediately, Undringar, and in the TV's Halvsju the newcomer was honoured with a documentary program.

Stikkan Anderson is a man with many strings on his guitar. He is a business man, manager, music publisher, composer and a lyricwriter in one person. and he can stay on track for an eternity, with the help of black coffee and cigarettes.

- I am a happy cross of a bohemian and an organiserperson, he says himself. I am bohemian to the extent that I can listen to music with an "artists" ears. I am both lyricwriter and composer and I have been an amateur musician - that's why I have the entire creative background.

- But at the same time I have been blessed with being able to organise things around me. My company often get praised out in the musicworld because they get things when they expect them. Many says we are one of the best companies ever to deal with. But I'm also surrounded by good people.

Stikkan sometimes seems to have extra-ordinary feelings for what songs will become hits. This sixth sense of his was documented a long time before ABBA.

- You can never be entirely sure that you have a hit, he says. You are so sure you can say "I feel for this". And through the years it has showed that the people feel the same.

- Sometimes you see it as if I am speculating. But those statements and thoughts are badly built. It's not at all that way.

- It just happens to be that way that I have the same feeling as many, many other people. I just see myself as an indicator of what people think. I have the ability to immediately judge if a song means something or not. It has to do with feelings, not intelligence. It's this feeling which is the base of everything I do. And also a terribly lot of hard work both day and night.

- It's the same thing with Björn and Benny. The most incorrect thing said about us is that we speculate. It's exactly the last thing we would do. We sit down and write and when we are happy with a song we say that "we stand for this, this is what we think is good". the it has proven itself to be that way that not only people in Sweden feel the same but also around the world.

- I don't think anyone can speculate in the way the media says we do. It wouldn't work because then it would be a false feeling. It is the same with artists trying to be "folky". They can't. People feel at once that they are not really folky.

- Sure, some artists try to speculate. But I don't think they succeed because people have this gut feeling about what is for real and what is wrong. You can't let Monica Zetterlund sing Kära Mor. Besides the fact that she never would have done it.

Stikkan was Sweden's most productive and most successful composer and songwriter. He wrote both days and nights. During the eleven most productive years, Stikkan wrote more than 2000 song lyrics. There wasn't a week without him having a song in Svensktoppen.

In 1969 he was awarded a Grammis for the lyrics to Gröna Små Äpplen, Mamma Är Lik sin Mamma and Ljuva 60-tal.

The best lyric according to himself he has written is the one for Lycka. And the worst is Min Pullover.

1974 he was awarded as Mr. Trendsetter by the U.S. music industry magazine Billboard, only the second European person ever to get that award, the first one was Beatle's manager.

- I defend the majority's right to like the music they want. It doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with something just because ordinary people like it.

Frida once said :

- He isn't an easy person. there is so much about him that people have no idea about. When you spend so much time with him as we have done you get to know sides of him he doesn't show to the world.

That's it...the whole thing is taken from the book Fenomenet ABBA, but I have edited some which I didn't think needed to be included.....Gustav

(minor editing for grammar and spelling/Graeme Read)