Monica Törnell
Encyclopedia
Monica Kristina Ingeborg Törnell, (born June 3, 1954 in Trönö, Hälsingland
, Gävleborg County
, Sweden
) is a Swedish singer
and songwriter
. After being discovered by Cornelis Vreeswijk
1971, she was a prominent singer in several genres, mainly folk
and rock music
, for over two decades. Together with Lasse Holm
, she represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986
in Bergen
, Norway
. She was the mother of Tobias (born in 1973) and Mattias Törnell (born in 1980).
.
In this city, she started to visit Folkets Park, where she heard artists such as Lill-Babs
, Jerry Williams
, and many others.
Early in her life, Törnell had her public debut before audience of 700 people at the 1962 Ericsson
Christmas
party in Söderhamn, where her father Jöns Törnell was an employee.
followed by a series of performances in public parks at home.
She was also good at drawing, and in 1965, she became one of five first-prize winners in the drawing competition "Ung Fantasi" (Young Fantasy), in which 1500 schoolchildren took part.
In her early teens she played fiddle
and sang both solo and in choir
. In the late 1960s she was in the singing groups He, She and You and TJI. These groups consisted only of guitars and bass and sang mostly American folk music
. On 20 February 1971, she won a vocalist contest in society Ljusne
, Söderhamn Municipality
, where she sang the song Summertime
.
was across the street, which led to him discovering Törnell, although she was already relatively well-known in the area. After meeting Vreeswijk, quit as a photography student, which she had been for seven months after primary school. During the latter part of 1971 and beginning of 1972 she made a major tour in both Sweden
and Denmark
.
together with Vreeswijk. Other musicians on the tour were Björn J:son Lindh
, Palle Danielsson
, Kenny Håkansson, Björn Ståbi and Pers Hans Olsson.
Cornelis arranged a demo, which he presented to Göte Wilhelmson for his new record company Phonogram Records
. She offered a recording contract for a single, but she turned it down because she wanted to do an LP album
, which she did later in 1972. At the beginning of Törnell's time in the chaotic world of entertainment, Cornelis and his former wife Bim Warne gave her significant guidance. She also appeared on the television programmes Halvsju and Strapetz, and thus reached a wider audience.
Her real breakthrough came on 10 July 1972 at Visfestivalen in Västervik
.
The same year she made her record debut with a folk music
inspired LP, Ingica, which was issued by Phonogram with the label of Philips Records
. Other musicians on the disk were Björn J:son Lindh, Janne Schaffer
, and Vreeswijk himself. She also sang a duet with Cornelis in the song Jenny Jansson on his 1972 album Visor, svarta och röda, and a duet with Ola Magnell in the song, Man ska vara två from his first LP, Påtalåtar (published in 1974). She continued in the same style in their second LP, Alrik (1973), which was also a success. Both of her first albums were produced by Lill-Babs's brother Lasse Svensson, a former drummer in the bands Tages
and Blond. That same year, she made a number of appearances with Tomas Ledin
,. She also sang the leitmotif
to Per Oscarsson
's controversial film Ebon Lundin (1973) along with Arne Olsson's big band
Vieux Carré.
group Splash) on drum
s, Per Sydén on bass guitar
, and her brother, Bobo Törnell on guitar
. In 1975 came the English-language album Don't Give a Damn, which was produced by Björn J:son Lindh. Several members of Splash were involved with the album. Bobo was involved with some of Monica's later albums, both as a guitarist and songwriter. The album was a kind of revolt against the image of her as folksinger. During the Progg
movement, it was controversial for a Swedish artist to sing in English. She is often associated with this movement, but rarely sung in a progressive context, since she belonged to a commercial record company. However, she was critical of the movement, and said in 1977 that she hoped that Progg was the beginning of moving forward, instead of being simplistic, and music would be more open. The media compared her voice to that of Melanie Safka
and Janis Joplin
, but she said that the French Chanson
had been her inspiration. In 1977, Törnell released another English-language album, Bush Lady, recorded in the UK
and produced by the American jazz
trumpet
er Stephen Franckevich; however, this album was no more successful.
In October 1977, she participated in the feminist
Kvinnokulturfestivalen at the Riksdag building
in Stockholm
, arranged by, among others, Suzanne Osten. She had more successes in 1978 when she returned to the Swedish language and, together with the group New Band (with several members of the band Östan Sol, Västan Måne) published the LPs Jag är som jag är... (I am who I am...), produced by Björn J: son Lindh. This album included the song En kungens man, written by Björn Afzelius
in 1974 and the song Kavaljersvisa från Värmland, which became a huge success. The newspaper Dagens Nyheter
awarded her with the Kasper Prize for this album, and in July of the same year she sang again at Visfestivalen in Västervik. Like a number of other artists, she supported option 3 of the :sv:Folkomröstningen om kärnkraften (Referendum on nuclear power) and participated in a 1979 compilation titled :sv:Nej till kärnkraft! (No to nuclear power!) with the song We Will All Go Together When We Go by Tom Lehrer
. The same year, she also produced her own album, Ingica Mångrind, together with the New Band and mainly in English.
. The same year she also participated in a couple of songs on the album Z with, among others, Mats Zetterberg, known from the bands Fiendens musik and Bluesblocket from Lund
in southern Sweden. In addition to the rock music she showed on a 1983 album with trumpeter Weine Renliden that she also has great potential as jazz vocalist.
In 1984 came Törnell LP Mica, which in addition to the hit Vintersaga by Ted Ström, also included her own songs Heden and Känslan i maj, which was very successful (the latter came in 1989 also in the instrumental version of Putte Wickman
and Ivan Renliden). She had then changed to the record company Air Music, led by Sture Borgedahl, and was in the mid-1980s along with Adolphson-Falk
one of that company's most important artists. [12] She also participated in a couple of songs on Ströms own albums in the middle of the 1980s. In 1984 came a new album, Fri, including for example the title track Fri, written by Monica herself, and Nio liv. In 1985 she also sang the song Hav utan hamn of Lasse Wellander's album Full hand and a duet with Per Gessle
in the song Rickie Lee on his solo album Scener. She also participated in the ANC
Gala at Scandinavium
in Gothenburg
at the end of November the same year. [13]
In 1986 she made along with Lasse Holm
song E' de' det här du kallar kärlek?
(written by Holm), which became the winner of the Swedish Melodifestivalen
and came in fifth place in the Eurovision Song Contest
. To participate in this competition was not entirely uncontroversial, in view of her previous connection to the progg
movement. She had, moreover, 1977 described Melodifestivalen as "this damned pop competition." [7] Holm had get into touch with Törnell when he 1985 was one of the producers of the album by Lasse Wellander as Törnell then participated in [2].
The same year also came album Big Mama, in which even Steve Marriott
(from The Small Faces
and Humble Pie
) participated as guest artist. This album was produced by mainly Janne Schaffer
and Törnell herself. She became involved in this time of Kjell Alinge's radio show Eldorado, with songs that I can see you by Don Henley
and Mike Campbell with Swedish text by Peter R. Ericson (1987). The following year she sang three songs on a tribute album to Cornelis Vreeswijk
, Den flygande holländaren, including her interpretation of Vreeswijk's song Ågren. She released two further own albums in the 1980s, now back with Ulf Wahlberg as producer, Månfred (1988), including the successful song Vind skall komma, and Vive la Mystique (1989). During the latter part of the 1980s, she made four appearances on Visfestivalen in Västervik, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1989. From the mid-1980s, however, she had begun to have health problems, which later came to influence her career negative [14].
. In 1992, however, she released a CD with songs by Lennart Hellsing. These were set to music by Klas Widén and Georg Riedel. The same year she also participated in an album with the band Twang from Gävle
. She also made new appearances on Visfestivalen in Västervik 1991 and 1994. In 1997, she worked as an actor in the role of the woman weaver in Hans Klinga's stage-setting of Astrid Lindgren
's Mio, my Mio
at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
in Stockholm. [15] The following year she appeared in the television programme Livslust and told me about his illness and the diagnosis established only after ten years, chronic fatigue syndrome
. [14] In October 1999 she sang again for the audience at a charity gala in Gävle Concert Hall. [16] The same year she also participated with the song Pilträd gråt för mig (Willow, Weep for Me, Ann Ronell
-Fjellström / Bourne) on a tribute album to the then recently deceased guitarist Jan-Eric "Fjellis" Fjellström.
In 2001 she sang at the Cornelis Day on Mosebacke Etablissement in Stockholm along with jazz musician Thomas Jutterström from Söderhamn. [17] In 2004, she participated along with the British rock band Dr. Feelgood
on the compilation album Rendezvous with I'm So Happy, a previously unreleased song that she herself wrote in the early 1980s. She has in recent years also made a number of appearances, including during the Söderhamn Days, along with the cover band Rocktools from Söderhamn. In January 2005 she sang at a charity gala for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
, which was held in Gävle Concert Hall. [18] The same year she sang duet with Thorsten Flinck in the song Här och nu (by Björn Afzelius) on the album Vildvuxna rosor. In 2007 she sang the song When I Paint My Masterpiece on the compilation album Whatever Colors You Have in Your Mind, a tribute to Bob Dylan
. She has also (along with Björn Ståbi, Freddie Wadling, Karin Wistrand and others) participated in the music project Mother, which is led by the former punk rock
musician Per Forsgren from Gävle and has resulted in the album LP (2008). Continuing health problems have, however, have so far been an obstacle for a comeback on a larger scale. [19]
^ Björn Afzelius., Accessed 2007-11-24
^ Air Chrysalis Scandinavia., Accessed 2007-12-18
^ Mikael Wiehe., Accessed 2007-11-24
^ Karl-Erik Tallmo: När livet tog en annan väg. En sjukdomshistoria., Accessed 2007-11-24
^ "Monica Törnell gör comeback - på Dramaten", article by Annika Sundbaum-Melin, Aftonbladet, 1997-10-02, pp. 42
^ Sveriges inre., Accessed 2007-11-24
^ Cornelis Vreeswijksällskapet., Accessed 2007-11-24
^ De ställer upp för offren., Article by Johanna Jönsson, Gefle Dagblad, 2005-01-04, accessed 2007-11-24
^ Monica Törnell 50 år., TT-article by Monica Frima, Helsingborgs Dagblad 2004-06-01, accessed 2007-12-02
^ "Personnytt: SKAPs stipendier", article by Ove Säverman, Dagens Nyheter, 2003-05-22, p. B21
Hälsingland
' is a historical province or landskap in central Sweden. It borders to Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and to the Gulf of Bothnia...
, Gävleborg County
Gävleborg County
Gävleborg County is a county or län on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders to the counties of Uppsala, Västmanland, Dalarna, Jämtland and Västernorrland. The capital is Gävle.- Administration :...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
) is a Swedish singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. After being discovered by Cornelis Vreeswijk
Cornelis Vreeswijk
Cornelis Vreeswijk , was a singer-songwriter, poet and actor born in IJmuiden in the Netherlands.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 a journalist, but became increasingly involved in music, performing at...
1971, she was a prominent singer in several genres, mainly folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, for over two decades. Together with Lasse Holm
Lasse Holm
Lars-Eric Gustav "Lasse" Holm, born 9 December 1943 in Stockholm, Sweden, is known as a composer, lyricist and singer.Since childhood, he was interested in music and was a member of a lot of pop music and rock music groups in the 1960s: Doug and the Millsmen, The Spacemen and The Moonlighters...
, she represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986
Eurovision Song Contest 1986
The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 3 May 1986 in the Grieg Hall in Bergen, Norway. It was the first occasion on which Norway played host to the contest...
in Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. She was the mother of Tobias (born in 1973) and Mattias Törnell (born in 1980).
Childhood
Monica Törnell lived her first years in Trönö (in the Norrala municipality), but she later moved with her family to SöderhamnSöderhamn
Söderhamn is a locality and the seat of Söderhamn Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 12,056 inhabitants in 2005.The most popular tourist attraction is Oskarsborg, a tower built in 1895 on the top of a hill close to the town centre. The tower is built as a memorial over a visit of king...
.
In this city, she started to visit Folkets Park, where she heard artists such as Lill-Babs
Lill-Babs
Lill-Babs is a Swedish singer and actress.-Biography:Lill-Babs was born in Järvsö, Gävleborg County, as the first daughter of Britta and Ragnar Svensson...
, Jerry Williams
Jerry Williams (singer)
Jerry Williams, real name Sven Erik Fernström, is a Swedish rock and roll singer and actor.In 1963, Jerry Williams toured with the Beatles through Sweden. He has been lead singer in many Swedish rock and roll bands, but is mostly known as a solo artist...
, and many others.
Early in her life, Törnell had her public debut before audience of 700 people at the 1962 Ericsson
Ericsson
Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks...
Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
party in Söderhamn, where her father Jöns Törnell was an employee.
followed by a series of performances in public parks at home.
She was also good at drawing, and in 1965, she became one of five first-prize winners in the drawing competition "Ung Fantasi" (Young Fantasy), in which 1500 schoolchildren took part.
In her early teens she played fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
and sang both solo and in choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
. In the late 1960s she was in the singing groups He, She and You and TJI. These groups consisted only of guitars and bass and sang mostly American folk music
American folk music
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music or roots music. Roots music is a broad category of music including bluegrass, country music, gospel, old time music, jug bands, Appalachian folk, blues, Cajun and Native American...
. On 20 February 1971, she won a vocalist contest in society Ljusne
Ljusne
Ljusne is a locality situated in Söderhamn Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 2,155 inhabitants in 2005....
, Söderhamn Municipality
Söderhamn Municipality
Söderhamn Municipality is a Municipality in Gävleborg County, in east central Sweden. The seat is located in Söderhamn.The present municipality was created in 1971 when the former City of Söderhamn was amalgamated with two rural municipalities and parts of a third.- Localities...
, where she sang the song Summertime
Summertime (song)
"Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP....
.
Discovery
In 1971, Törnell sang at the opening of the local restaurant in Söderhamn that her father then opened along with a friend. At the same time, Cornelis VreeswijkCornelis Vreeswijk
Cornelis Vreeswijk , was a singer-songwriter, poet and actor born in IJmuiden in the Netherlands.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 a journalist, but became increasingly involved in music, performing at...
was across the street, which led to him discovering Törnell, although she was already relatively well-known in the area. After meeting Vreeswijk, quit as a photography student, which she had been for seven months after primary school. During the latter part of 1971 and beginning of 1972 she made a major tour in both Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
together with Vreeswijk. Other musicians on the tour were Björn J:son Lindh
Björn J:son Lindh
Björn J:son Lindh is a Swedish flautist, keyboardist and composer. Lindh has scored music for films including Mannen på taket, directed by Bo Widerberg and Jägarna, directed by Kjell Sundvall...
, Palle Danielsson
Palle Danielsson
Palle Danielsson is a Swedish jazz double bassist born in Stockholm, Sweden, perhaps most notable for his work done with Keith Jarrett from 1974 to 1979, becoming a member of his European quartet for that period.-Career:...
, Kenny Håkansson, Björn Ståbi and Pers Hans Olsson.
Cornelis arranged a demo, which he presented to Göte Wilhelmson for his new record company Phonogram Records
Phonogram Records
Phonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In 1972, Phonogram was merged with Polydor Records into PolyGram....
. She offered a recording contract for a single, but she turned it down because she wanted to do an LP album
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
, which she did later in 1972. At the beginning of Törnell's time in the chaotic world of entertainment, Cornelis and his former wife Bim Warne gave her significant guidance. She also appeared on the television programmes Halvsju and Strapetz, and thus reached a wider audience.
Her real breakthrough came on 10 July 1972 at Visfestivalen in Västervik
Västervik
Västervik is a city and the seat of Västervik Municipality, Kalmar County, Sweden with 20,694 inhabitants in 2005.- History :Västervik was first mentioned in 1275. The town was then located at the current location of Gamleby. In 1433 Eric of Pomerania decided to give it a charter and move it to its...
.
The same year she made her record debut with a folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
inspired LP, Ingica, which was issued by Phonogram with the label of Philips Records
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
. Other musicians on the disk were Björn J:son Lindh, Janne Schaffer
Janne Schaffer
Jan Erik Tage Janne Schaffer is a Swedish songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his work as a session guitarist for ABBA but he has also recorded with artists such as Bob Marley, Johnny Nash, Art Farmer and Tony Williams...
, and Vreeswijk himself. She also sang a duet with Cornelis in the song Jenny Jansson on his 1972 album Visor, svarta och röda, and a duet with Ola Magnell in the song, Man ska vara två from his first LP, Påtalåtar (published in 1974). She continued in the same style in their second LP, Alrik (1973), which was also a success. Both of her first albums were produced by Lill-Babs's brother Lasse Svensson, a former drummer in the bands Tages
Tages (band)
Tages was a Swedish rock and roll/psychedelic/folk band formed in the early sixties near Gothenburg.The band released a number of singles and LPs in their native Sweden to considerable success, making the Swedish Top Ten more than a dozen times. Though remembered as one of the finest non-English...
and Blond. That same year, she made a number of appearances with Tomas Ledin
Tomas Ledin
Tomas Folke Jonas Ledin is a Swedish singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He grew up in the town of Sandviken.Tomas Ledin started his career in 1972 when his first single, Då ska jag spela, was a big hit...
,. She also sang the leitmotif
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
to Per Oscarsson
Per Oscarsson
- External links :...
's controversial film Ebon Lundin (1973) along with Arne Olsson's big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
Vieux Carré.
1975–79
In the mid-1970s, Törnell oriented herself against rock, and toured for some time with her own band consisting of Henrik "Hempo" Hildén (from the jazz fusionJazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
group Splash) on drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, Per Sydén on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, and her brother, Bobo Törnell on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
. In 1975 came the English-language album Don't Give a Damn, which was produced by Björn J:son Lindh. Several members of Splash were involved with the album. Bobo was involved with some of Monica's later albums, both as a guitarist and songwriter. The album was a kind of revolt against the image of her as folksinger. During the Progg
Progg
Progg, a contraction of the Swedish word for "progressive music" was a left-wing and anti-commercial musical movement in Sweden that had its roots in the late 1960s, and its golden age in the 1970s. It should not be confused with the English expression progressive music or progressive rock. Progg...
movement, it was controversial for a Swedish artist to sing in English. She is often associated with this movement, but rarely sung in a progressive context, since she belonged to a commercial record company. However, she was critical of the movement, and said in 1977 that she hoped that Progg was the beginning of moving forward, instead of being simplistic, and music would be more open. The media compared her voice to that of Melanie Safka
Melanie Safka
Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk is an American singer-songwriter. Known professionally as simply Melanie, she is best known for her hits "Brand New Key", "Ruby Tuesday" and "Lay Down ".-Early career:...
and Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, but she said that the French Chanson
Chanson
A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...
had been her inspiration. In 1977, Törnell released another English-language album, Bush Lady, recorded in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and produced by the American jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
er Stephen Franckevich; however, this album was no more successful.
In October 1977, she participated in the feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
Kvinnokulturfestivalen at the Riksdag building
Riksdag building
The Riksdag building is the seat of the Parliament of Sweden. It is located on Helgeandsholmen in Stockholm.- History :...
in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, arranged by, among others, Suzanne Osten. She had more successes in 1978 when she returned to the Swedish language and, together with the group New Band (with several members of the band Östan Sol, Västan Måne) published the LPs Jag är som jag är... (I am who I am...), produced by Björn J: son Lindh. This album included the song En kungens man, written by Björn Afzelius
Björn Afzelius
Björn Svante Afzelius was a Swedish singer, song writer and guitar player. Politically he was a socialist. His songs are about love, politics and joys in life....
in 1974 and the song Kavaljersvisa från Värmland, which became a huge success. The newspaper Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It has the largest circulation of Swedish morning newspapers, followed by Göteborgs-Posten and Svenska Dagbladet, and is the only morning newspaper that is distributed to subscribers across the whole country. In 2009 DN had a circulation of 316,000, reaching 881...
awarded her with the Kasper Prize for this album, and in July of the same year she sang again at Visfestivalen in Västervik. Like a number of other artists, she supported option 3 of the :sv:Folkomröstningen om kärnkraften (Referendum on nuclear power) and participated in a 1979 compilation titled :sv:Nej till kärnkraft! (No to nuclear power!) with the song We Will All Go Together When We Go by Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater...
. The same year, she also produced her own album, Ingica Mångrind, together with the New Band and mainly in English.
1980s
In the early 1980s, Törnell returned to rock music and began to increasingly write her own songs. With the album Ängel (1982) began a long collaboration with the producer Ulf Wahlberg, who also played keyboard in the band Secret ServiceSecret Service (band)
Secret Service is a Swedish pop/New Wave band, popular in the early 1980s. In 1979, Ola Håkansson, a former vocalist of Ola & the Janglers and then a publishing manager at Sonet Records, teamed up with Tim Norell and Ulf Wahlberg to write a few songs that they submitted to the Melodifestivalen, a...
. The same year she also participated in a couple of songs on the album Z with, among others, Mats Zetterberg, known from the bands Fiendens musik and Bluesblocket from Lund
Lund
-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...
in southern Sweden. In addition to the rock music she showed on a 1983 album with trumpeter Weine Renliden that she also has great potential as jazz vocalist.
In 1984 came Törnell LP Mica, which in addition to the hit Vintersaga by Ted Ström, also included her own songs Heden and Känslan i maj, which was very successful (the latter came in 1989 also in the instrumental version of Putte Wickman
Putte Wickman
Putte Wickman was one of the world's leading jazz clarinetists.He was born Hans Olof Wickman in Falun, and grew up in Borlänge, Sweden, where his parents hoped he would become a lawyer. He nagged them to allow him to go to high school in Stockholm...
and Ivan Renliden). She had then changed to the record company Air Music, led by Sture Borgedahl, and was in the mid-1980s along with Adolphson-Falk
Adolphson-Falk
Adolphson-Falk is a Swedish synthpop band, fronted by Tomas Adolphson and Anders Falk . Greg Fitzpatrick and Dagge Lundquist were of importance for the successful electronical sound....
one of that company's most important artists. [12] She also participated in a couple of songs on Ströms own albums in the middle of the 1980s. In 1984 came a new album, Fri, including for example the title track Fri, written by Monica herself, and Nio liv. In 1985 she also sang the song Hav utan hamn of Lasse Wellander's album Full hand and a duet with Per Gessle
Per Gessle
Per Håkan Gessle is a Swedish pop singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonicist. He is the lead singer of the Swedish pop group Gyllene Tider and formed Roxette with Marie Fredriksson...
in the song Rickie Lee on his solo album Scener. She also participated in the ANC
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
Gala at Scandinavium
Scandinavium
Scandinavium is the primary indoor sports and event arena in Gothenburg, Sweden. Construction on Scandinavium began in 1969 after decades of setbacks, the arena was built in time for the 350th year anniversary celebration of the City of Gothenburg and was inaugurated on May 18, 1971.Scandinavium...
in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
at the end of November the same year. [13]
In 1986 she made along with Lasse Holm
Lasse Holm
Lars-Eric Gustav "Lasse" Holm, born 9 December 1943 in Stockholm, Sweden, is known as a composer, lyricist and singer.Since childhood, he was interested in music and was a member of a lot of pop music and rock music groups in the 1960s: Doug and the Millsmen, The Spacemen and The Moonlighters...
song E' de' det här du kallar kärlek?
E' de' det här du kallar kärlek?
"E' de' det här du kallar kärlek?" is a Swedish language song by Monica Törnell and Lasse Holm that won the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen 1986....
(written by Holm), which became the winner of the Swedish Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen is an annual music competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television and Sveriges Radio . It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almost every year since 1959...
and came in fifth place in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. To participate in this competition was not entirely uncontroversial, in view of her previous connection to the progg
Progg
Progg, a contraction of the Swedish word for "progressive music" was a left-wing and anti-commercial musical movement in Sweden that had its roots in the late 1960s, and its golden age in the 1970s. It should not be confused with the English expression progressive music or progressive rock. Progg...
movement. She had, moreover, 1977 described Melodifestivalen as "this damned pop competition." [7] Holm had get into touch with Törnell when he 1985 was one of the producers of the album by Lasse Wellander as Törnell then participated in [2].
The same year also came album Big Mama, in which even Steve Marriott
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott , popularly known as Steve Marriott, was an English musician, songwriter, and frontman of several notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades...
(from The Small Faces
The Small Faces
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...
and Humble Pie
Humble Pie (band)
Humble Pie was a rock band from England, finding success both in the UK and the US. They are remembered for songs such as "Black Coffee" "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor", and "Natural Born Bugie"...
) participated as guest artist. This album was produced by mainly Janne Schaffer
Janne Schaffer
Jan Erik Tage Janne Schaffer is a Swedish songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his work as a session guitarist for ABBA but he has also recorded with artists such as Bob Marley, Johnny Nash, Art Farmer and Tony Williams...
and Törnell herself. She became involved in this time of Kjell Alinge's radio show Eldorado, with songs that I can see you by Don Henley
Don Henley
Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
and Mike Campbell with Swedish text by Peter R. Ericson (1987). The following year she sang three songs on a tribute album to Cornelis Vreeswijk
Cornelis Vreeswijk
Cornelis Vreeswijk , was a singer-songwriter, poet and actor born in IJmuiden in the Netherlands.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 a journalist, but became increasingly involved in music, performing at...
, Den flygande holländaren, including her interpretation of Vreeswijk's song Ågren. She released two further own albums in the 1980s, now back with Ulf Wahlberg as producer, Månfred (1988), including the successful song Vind skall komma, and Vive la Mystique (1989). During the latter part of the 1980s, she made four appearances on Visfestivalen in Västervik, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1989. From the mid-1980s, however, she had begun to have health problems, which later came to influence her career negative [14].
In recent years
During the 1990s, became her state of health as well as her recordings and scene performances significantly fewer. From that time, she has mainly been active as a visual artist and has exhibited oil paintings, including in Söderhamn and SundsvallSundsvall
-External links:* - Official site from Nordisk Familjebok - Sundsvalls tourist information bureau. - The alternative guide to Sundsvall. - Blog with photos from Sundsvall....
. In 1992, however, she released a CD with songs by Lennart Hellsing. These were set to music by Klas Widén and Georg Riedel. The same year she also participated in an album with the band Twang from Gävle
Gävle
Gävle is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 71,033 inhabitants in 12/31 2010. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland , having received its charter in 1446 from Christopher of Bavaria.-History:It is believed that the name Gävle...
. She also made new appearances on Visfestivalen in Västervik 1991 and 1994. In 1997, she worked as an actor in the role of the woman weaver in Hans Klinga's stage-setting of Astrid Lindgren
Astrid Lindgren
Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren , 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish author and screenwriter who is the world's 25th most translated author and has sold roughly 145 million copies worldwide...
's Mio, my Mio
Mio, my Mio
Mio, My Son is a children's book by the author of the famous Pippi Longstocking books, Astrid Lindgren. It was first published in 1954 in Sweden, with the Swedish title Mio, min Mio. The writing is stylised and the story strongly reminiscent of traditional fairy tales and folklore...
at the Royal Dramatic Theatre
Royal Dramatic Theatre
The Royal Dramatic Theatre is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's eight running stages....
in Stockholm. [15] The following year she appeared in the television programme Livslust and told me about his illness and the diagnosis established only after ten years, chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome is the most common name used to designate a significantly debilitating medical disorder or group of disorders generally defined by persistent fatigue accompanied by other specific symptoms for a minimum of six months, not due to ongoing exertion, not substantially...
. [14] In October 1999 she sang again for the audience at a charity gala in Gävle Concert Hall. [16] The same year she also participated with the song Pilträd gråt för mig (Willow, Weep for Me, Ann Ronell
Ann Ronell
Ann Rosenblatt, known as Ann Ronell was an American composer and lyricist best known for the jazz standard "Willow Weep for Me" .- Biography :...
-Fjellström / Bourne) on a tribute album to the then recently deceased guitarist Jan-Eric "Fjellis" Fjellström.
In 2001 she sang at the Cornelis Day on Mosebacke Etablissement in Stockholm along with jazz musician Thomas Jutterström from Söderhamn. [17] In 2004, she participated along with the British rock band Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood may refer to:In music:*Dr. Feelgood , an album by American band Mötley Crüe**"Dr. Feelgood" , a single and the title track from that album*"Dr. Feel Good", a song by Travie McCoy on the album Lazarus...
on the compilation album Rendezvous with I'm So Happy, a previously unreleased song that she herself wrote in the early 1980s. She has in recent years also made a number of appearances, including during the Söderhamn Days, along with the cover band Rocktools from Söderhamn. In January 2005 she sang at a charity gala for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...
, which was held in Gävle Concert Hall. [18] The same year she sang duet with Thorsten Flinck in the song Här och nu (by Björn Afzelius) on the album Vildvuxna rosor. In 2007 she sang the song When I Paint My Masterpiece on the compilation album Whatever Colors You Have in Your Mind, a tribute to Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. She has also (along with Björn Ståbi, Freddie Wadling, Karin Wistrand and others) participated in the music project Mother, which is led by the former punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
musician Per Forsgren from Gävle and has resulted in the album LP (2008). Continuing health problems have, however, have so far been an obstacle for a comeback on a larger scale. [19]
Her albums
- 1972 - Ingica (Philips 6316 017)
- 1973 - Alrik (Philips 6316 033)
- 1975 - Don't Give a Damn (Philips 6316 052)
- 1977 - Bush Lady (Mercury 6363 011)
- 1978 - Jag är som jag är... (Philips 6316 108)
- 1979 - Ingica Mångrind (Philips 6316 123)
- 1982 - Ängel (6362 Mercury 088)
- 1984 - Mica (Air AIRLP 1013)
- 1984 - Fri (Air AIRLP 1015)
- 1986 - Big Mama (Air AIRLP 1019)
- 1986 - Förut ..., Monica Törnells bästa (selection from older albums, Air AIRLP 1021)
- 1988 - Månfred (RCA PD 71635)
- 1989 - Vive la Mystique (V.I.P. VCD 5001)
- 1992 - Äppelkväll, Monica Törnell sings Lennart Hellsing (Locomotion LOCO C-124)
- 1996 - Monica Törnell - svenska popfavoriter (selection from older albums, Karussell 552 566-2)
Participation in the compilation (selection)
- 1977 - Sånger och musik från Kvinnokulturfestivalen (Silence SRS 4647)
- 1978 - VisFestivalen Västervik 1978 (Polydor 2379167)
- 1979 - Nej till kärnkraft! (MNW 99P)
- 1985 - VisFestivalen i Västervik 20 år (Sonet SLPD-2098)
- 1985 - ANC-galan. Svensk rock mot apartheid (Amalthea NLP 2001)
- 1987 - Eldorado. Äventyret fortsätter... (Sonet SLP 2788)
- 1988 - Den flygande holländaren (EMI 7910922)
- 1995 - På ruinens brant. 30 år med VisFestivalen i Västervik (Gazelle GAFCD-1003)
- 1999 - Fjellis - till och från en blå man (Playground PGMCD 3)
- 2004 - Rendezvous (Darrow BAM-334-21573)
- 2007 - Whatever Colors You Have in Your Mind - A Tribute to Bob Dylan (Darrow BAM-334-41873)
The involvement of other artists, albums
- 1972 - Cornelis Vreeswijk: Visor, svarta och röda (Philips 6316 018)
- 1974 - Ola Magnell: Påtalåtar (Metronome MLP 15504)
- 1982 - Örjan Englund: Mamma, låt inte din grabb växa upp till cowboy (Election ELOLP 1101)
- 1982 - Zetterberg & Co.: "Z" (Tredje tåget TTLP 2)
- 1983 - Weine Renliden and His All Stars (Trumpet TLP 305)
- 1984 - Ted Ström: Ge mig mer (Sonet SLP-2753)
- 1985 - Per Gessle: Scener (EMI 1361911)
- 1985 - Lasse Wellander: Full Hand (CMM Records CMLP 102)
- 1986 - Ted Ström: Stråk (Frituna FRLP-218)
- 1987 - Björn Holm: Man överbord (EMI 1362591)
- 1989 - Putte Wickman & Ivan Renliden: Så skön som solen (only as a composer, AIRLP 1029)
- 1992 - Twang: Välkommen hit (Start Klart SKRCD-011)
- 2005 - Thorsten Flinck: Vildvuxna rosor (Bonnier Amigo Music BAM-334-22231)
Own singles
- 1974 - Long Long Weekend / Give It Back (7", Philips 6015 107)
- 1975 - I'm in Love with a Big Blue Frog / Sam Hill (7", Philips 6015 158, also released as promo, Phonogram 6015 158)
- 1977 - Katastrofen/ Snowcold Day (7", Mercury 6062 037)
- 1981 - En liten aning om helvetet / Ängel (7", Mercury 6016 053)
- 1984 - Vintersaga / Krig (7", AIRS 018)
- 1984 - Känslan i maj / Nu lever jag igen (7", AIRS 020)
- 1984 - Fri / Bidar min tid (7", AIRS 023)
- 1985 - Nio liv (club mix) / Nio liv (radio mix) / Nio liv (dubbmix) (12", AIRS 025 MAX)
- 1986 - Mellan raderna (Kom till mig) / Du måste så för att få skörd (7", AIRS 035)
- 1987 - Jag visste så väl / Ensam (7", RCA PB 60275)
- 1988 - Vind skall komma / En enda timma (7", RCA PB 60281)
- 1988 - På andra sidan midnatt / På kanten av ett stup (7", Bozz BOS 1016)
- 1989 - Vive la Mystique / Resan (7", V.I.P. VS 1002)
- 1990 - Någonting (get-down-mix, BPM 120) / Någonting (radio-version) / Kastar mina svärd (12", VIP VMX 1001)
- 1992 - Blå / Äppelkväll / Därför kan jag inte sova (promo-CD, Locomotion LOCO PRO-2)
Other singles
- 1985 - Roger Rönning: Cecilia / På samma hotell (RAIRS 004)
- 1986 - Lasse Holm & Monica Törnell: E' de' det här du kallar kärlek / En kärleksmagi (Mariann MAS 2454)
- 1986 - Lasse Holm: Canelloni, Macaroni (Pizzeria Fantasia) / Another Kind of Loving (Mariann MAS 2456)
- 1986 - Lasse Holm & Monica Törnell: Another Kind of Loving / E' de' det här du kallar kärlek (West German pressing Hansa 108 249, Dutch pressing Dureco Benelux 5127)
- 1989 - After Ski: Låt oss bygga en bro / Hermann (with Susanne Alfvengren, Peter Lundblad, Lisa Nilsson, Tommy Nilsson, Mikael Rickfors, Anne-Lie Rydé, Björn Skifs, Jerry Williams, Monica Zetterlund and others, published in support for Stenmarkfonden (Swedish Ski), Bozz BOS 1047)
- 1992 - Twang: Här för dig / Jag har en vän (Start Klart SKRCDS-011)
- 1995 - Lasse Holm In Da Mix (promo, maxisingel, medley of songs by Lasse Holm, Columbia)
Sheet music
- 1977 - En Alrik och sju andra visor [Alrik, Öje brudmarsch, Han gick på ängen, Suplåt, Jag går min väg, Näckens dotter, Morgonmarsch, Sam Hill] (Intersong-förlagen)
- 1984 - Mica (Air Music AIR 853)
- 1984 - Fri (Air Music AIR 923)
- 1986 - Big Mama (Air Music AIR 979)
- 1986 - E' de' det du kallar kärlek (Club Mariann Music)
Footnotes
^ Tomas Ledin., Accessed 2007-11-24^ Björn Afzelius., Accessed 2007-11-24
^ Air Chrysalis Scandinavia., Accessed 2007-12-18
^ Mikael Wiehe., Accessed 2007-11-24
^ Karl-Erik Tallmo: När livet tog en annan väg. En sjukdomshistoria., Accessed 2007-11-24
^ "Monica Törnell gör comeback - på Dramaten", article by Annika Sundbaum-Melin, Aftonbladet, 1997-10-02, pp. 42
^ Sveriges inre., Accessed 2007-11-24
^ Cornelis Vreeswijksällskapet., Accessed 2007-11-24
^ De ställer upp för offren., Article by Johanna Jönsson, Gefle Dagblad, 2005-01-04, accessed 2007-11-24
^ Monica Törnell 50 år., TT-article by Monica Frima, Helsingborgs Dagblad 2004-06-01, accessed 2007-12-02
^ "Personnytt: SKAPs stipendier", article by Ove Säverman, Dagens Nyheter, 2003-05-22, p. B21