The Wannadies
Encyclopedia
The Wannadies were an alternative rock
band formed in 1988 in Skellefteå
, northern Sweden
. The band's initial line-up featured Pär Wiksten (vocals, guitar
s), Christina Bergmark (born 1 March 1963) (keyboards
, vocals), Stefan Schönfeldt (born 5 June 1965) (guitars) and his younger brother Fredrik Schönfeldt (bass
) with Gunnar Karlsson (drums
) and Björn Malmquist (violin
).
Early influences included The Go-Betweens
, The Sisters of Mercy
, John Lennon
, The Pixies and The Clash
.
, a festival in support of the Nicaragua
n Sandinistas
, in October 1988 and only weeks later entered local studio KN to record the three tracks that would become their debut release - the Smile EP
.
Smile was released in February 1989 and managed to pick up several 'single of the week' accolades from national newspapers as well as airplay on indie radio shows such as 'Bommen' despite little or no marketing. Following the band's appearance at the Hultsfred Festival
in August 1989, The Wannadies signed a recording contract
with MNW Records, releasing their debut single, "My Hometown", in May the following year.
The band's eponymous debut album was released in August 1990 and was supported by tours of Sweden
, Finland
and Norway
. A highlight for the group was 1991s Nordic music festival in Paris
where they shared the bill with Finland's 22 Pistepirkko and Iceland's
The Sugarcubes
.
Second album, Aquanautic
was released in October 1992 on Snap Records, MNW's indie label. Not without controversy the album saw videos
for the singles "Things That I Would Love To Have Undone" and "Cherry Man" banned by MTV
the former for featuring a foam animal cadaver, the latter for the allusions to paedophilia in both the songs lyrics and video which featured a middle-aged man surrounded by young girls and boys.
In the summer of 1993 Björn Malmquist moved to Stockholm
and left the band (he did make a contribution to The Wannadies next album however, playing violin on the track "Dreamy Wednesdays").
, proved unsuccessful - first choice producer Dagge Lunquist took paternity leave late in 1993 and a second attempt with producer Micke Herrström had to be abandoned after just a week and a half when, first engineer Adam Kviman, then Herrström were taken sick with hearing injuries.
"Love In June", the only song to be completed with Micke Herrström, was released as a single while the band tried again to record Be A Girl, this time with producer Nille Perned. The album was finally finished by autumn
1994 and was released along with second single, "You and Me Song
", to critical acclaim in their native country. Shortly afterwards the band came to the attention of Indolent Records in the UK
who signed The Wannadies in the summer of 1995.
The group's first UK gig followed soon after, a sold out show at London's
Dublin Castle in the autumn of the same year.
Throughout winter the band toured extensively with labelmates Sleeper
and The 60 ft Dolls as well as with Lightning Seeds
and Frank Black
. At the same time they were regularly commuting to studios in Gothenburg
, Skellefteå and Stockholm to record tracks for their next album, again with producer Nille Perned.
Further singles "Might Be Stars" and "How Does It Feel?" were taken from Be A Girl but it was not until the re-release of "You And Me Song" that the band really made an impact on the UK Singles Chart
, scoring a #18 hit
. The track later appeared on the soundtrack
to Baz Luhrmann
's Romeo + Juliet, further increasing their popularity.
(a translation of the Swedish children's expression 'Pax jag!'), which was eventually released in January 1997 on Sony/BMG Records
. The album included the hit singles "Someone Somewhere", "Friends", "Hit" (which made #20 in the UK Singles Chart) and "Shorty". "You And Me Song" was also included to capitalise on The Wannadies post-Romeo + Juliet success.
A revised version of the album (with two more singles from Be A Girl replacing two album tracks) was later released in America under the title The Wannadies.
The next few years were a turbulent time for the group. In Spring 1997 drummer and founder member Gunnar Karlsson left, to be replaced by Erik Dahlgren (born 25 August 1965), a long-term friend of the band.
After sorting out problems with their Swedish record label The Wannadies now felt they were suffering from a lack of support from BMG in the UK and went on strike. A compilation album
of the best of their first three albums featuring tracks chosen by the band and entitled, appropriately, Skellefteå
, was released in Scandinavia in the spring of 1998 with the band touring the region in support while their problems with BMG were being resolved.
Relations with the label had sufficiently improved for the band to begin recording their next album in the autumn of 1998 with a ten-day session at the Chateau De La Rouge Motte studio in Normandy
, France
with producer Mike Hedges
.
Only one track, "String Song", was completed however and it was not until the winter of 1998/99 that the band recorded the bulk of the tracks for fifth album Yeah. With former Cars
frontman Ric Ocasek
at the helm The Wannadies began recording at Electric Lady recording studio
s in New York
and continued work at studios in Stockholm and London.
Yeah was released in the autumn of 1999 in Scandinavia and early spring 2000 in the UK. BMG decided not to release the record in America
however, refused permission for the band to release it on another label and eventually dropped the band altogether.
and Carling
festivals in the UK, Roskilde
in Denmark
, Hultsfred and Arvika
in Sweden and completed a mini-tour of Japan
.
The latter half of 2000 and much of 2001 saw the band construct their own recording studio
in which they would record much of their sixth album.
With Nille Perned again producing, the band released Before & After in 2002 in Scandinavia through the National
record label and on 8 September 2003 in the UK on Cooking Vinyl
records (who also handled distribution for the rest of the world). The album featured the singles "Skin", "Disko" and "Little By Little".
In 2003, "You and Me Song" was used in the climax to an episode of Coronation Street
where Richard Hillman
drove his new wife, Gail Platt
and her family into a canal (in which he died), and later in 2007 where his stepson, David Platt
, drove his car into that same canal as a suicide attempt, only to have survived, which ruined his sister Sarah's wedding day.
In 2006 "You and Me Song" was used as the theme song to the BBC Three
TV series I'm With Stupid
.
The band were thought to be writing and recording songs for their seventh album, and are preparing to release a twenty track best of
, however in April 2009 they announced they had split with Pär Wiksten going solo.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band formed in 1988 in Skellefteå
Skellefteå
-Industry:*Boliden AB, a big mining and smelting company*Alimak*Natural User Interface Technologies AB - NUITEQ, a promising emerging technology start-up company-Sports:*Skellefteå AIK, an ice hockey team in the highest Swedish league, Elitserien....
, northern 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....
. The band's initial line-up featured Pär Wiksten (vocals, 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...
s), Christina Bergmark (born 1 March 1963) (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, vocals), Stefan Schönfeldt (born 5 June 1965) (guitars) and his younger brother Fredrik Schönfeldt (bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) with Gunnar Karlsson (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) and Björn Malmquist (violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
).
Early influences included The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens
The Go-Betweens were an indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Australia in 1977 by singer-songwriters and guitarists, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan. They were later joined by Lindy Morrison on drums, Robert Vickers on bass guitar and Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, guitar, and backing vocals,...
, The Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company...
, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, The Pixies and The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
.
Early days (1988-1993)
The Wannadies played their first concertConcert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
, a festival in support of the Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
n Sandinistas
Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas in both English and Spanish...
, in October 1988 and only weeks later entered local studio KN to record the three tracks that would become their debut release - the Smile EP
Smile (The Wannadies EP)
Smile is an EP by Swedish band The Wannadies. Their debut release, the EP lead to the band being signed by MNW records in Sweden....
.
Smile was released in February 1989 and managed to pick up several 'single of the week' accolades from national newspapers as well as airplay on indie radio shows such as 'Bommen' despite little or no marketing. Following the band's appearance at the Hultsfred Festival
Hultsfred Festival
The Hultsfred Festival is an annual music festival held in Hultsfred, Sweden. It takes place at the lake Hulingen during three days in the June or July, from Thursday to Saturday. Since the first festival in 1986, its attendance has increased from 7,500 visitors to approximately 32,000 people in...
in August 1989, The Wannadies signed a recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with MNW Records, releasing their debut single, "My Hometown", in May the following year.
The band's eponymous debut album was released in August 1990 and was supported by tours of 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....
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and 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...
. A highlight for the group was 1991s Nordic music festival in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
where they shared the bill with Finland's 22 Pistepirkko and Iceland's
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes were an Icelandic alternative rock band formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. They received critical and popular acclaim internationally.-History:...
.
Second album, Aquanautic
Aquanautic
Aquanautic is the second album by Swedish band The Wannadies, released in October 1992.-Track listing:...
was released in October 1992 on Snap Records, MNW's indie label. Not without controversy the album saw videos
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the singles "Things That I Would Love To Have Undone" and "Cherry Man" banned by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
the former for featuring a foam animal cadaver, the latter for the allusions to paedophilia in both the songs lyrics and video which featured a middle-aged man surrounded by young girls and boys.
In the summer of 1993 Björn Malmquist moved to 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...
and left the band (he did make a contribution to The Wannadies next album however, playing violin on the track "Dreamy Wednesdays").
Be A Girl and UK success (1993-1996)
Initial recording sessions for third album, Be a GirlBe a Girl
Be a Girl is the third album by Swedish band The Wannadies, released in 1994 in Sweden and 1995 in the UK. It includes the hit single "You and Me Song" as featured on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film, Romeo + Juliet.-Track listing:...
, proved unsuccessful - first choice producer Dagge Lunquist took paternity leave late in 1993 and a second attempt with producer Micke Herrström had to be abandoned after just a week and a half when, first engineer Adam Kviman, then Herrström were taken sick with hearing injuries.
"Love In June", the only song to be completed with Micke Herrström, was released as a single while the band tried again to record Be A Girl, this time with producer Nille Perned. The album was finally finished by autumn
Autumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
1994 and was released along with second single, "You and Me Song
You and Me Song
"You and Me Song" is a song by Swedish band The Wannadies. Originally released as a single in 1994, it became the group's biggest UK hit two years later when it reached number 18 in the singles chart in April 1996....
", to critical acclaim in their native country. Shortly afterwards the band came to the attention of Indolent Records 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...
who signed The Wannadies in the summer of 1995.
The group's first UK gig followed soon after, a sold out show at London's
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Dublin Castle in the autumn of the same year.
Throughout winter the band toured extensively with labelmates Sleeper
Sleeper (band)
Sleeper were a British Britpop band in the 1990s fronted by Louise Wener. The band had eight UK Top 40 hit singles and three UK Top 10 albums. Their music was also featured in the soundtrack of Trainspotting.-Career:...
and The 60 ft Dolls as well as with Lightning Seeds
Lightning Seeds
The Lightning Seeds are an English alternative rock and pop band from Liverpool, England formed in 1989 by Ian Broudie , formerly of the Big in Japan band....
and Frank Black
Frank Black
Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black...
. At the same time they were regularly commuting to studios 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...
, Skellefteå and Stockholm to record tracks for their next album, again with producer Nille Perned.
Further singles "Might Be Stars" and "How Does It Feel?" were taken from Be A Girl but it was not until the re-release of "You And Me Song" that the band really made an impact on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, scoring a #18 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
. The track later appeared on the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to Baz Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann
Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann is an Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer best known for The Red Curtain Trilogy, which includes his films Strictly Ballroom, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge!...
's Romeo + Juliet, further increasing their popularity.
Troubled times (1997-1999)
Problems with Swedish record company MNW lead to delays with the release of the group's fourth album, Bagsy MeBagsy Me
Bagsy Me is the fourth album by Swedish band The Wannadies, released in 1997.It includes the hit singles "Someone Somewhere", "Shorty", "Friends", "Hit" and "You and Me Song", the last being originally available on previous album Be A Girl...
(a translation of the Swedish children's expression 'Pax jag!'), which was eventually released in January 1997 on Sony/BMG Records
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was a recorded music company, which was a 50–50 joint venture between the Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann AG...
. The album included the hit singles "Someone Somewhere", "Friends", "Hit" (which made #20 in the UK Singles Chart) and "Shorty". "You And Me Song" was also included to capitalise on The Wannadies post-Romeo + Juliet success.
A revised version of the album (with two more singles from Be A Girl replacing two album tracks) was later released in America under the title The Wannadies.
The next few years were a turbulent time for the group. In Spring 1997 drummer and founder member Gunnar Karlsson left, to be replaced by Erik Dahlgren (born 25 August 1965), a long-term friend of the band.
After sorting out problems with their Swedish record label The Wannadies now felt they were suffering from a lack of support from BMG in the UK and went on strike. A compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of the best of their first three albums featuring tracks chosen by the band and entitled, appropriately, Skellefteå
Skellefteå (album)
Skellefteå is an album by Swedish band The Wannadies, named after the band's home town Skellefteå in northern Sweden.A compilation of the best of their releases for MNW Records/Soap, the album also features the previously unreleased track, "Easier To Sing", and was released in 1998.-Track...
, was released in Scandinavia in the spring of 1998 with the band touring the region in support while their problems with BMG were being resolved.
Relations with the label had sufficiently improved for the band to begin recording their next album in the autumn of 1998 with a ten-day session at the Chateau De La Rouge Motte studio in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
with producer Mike Hedges
Mike Hedges
-Career:Mike Hedges started as a tape-op at Morgan Studios in London in the late 1970s. Having graduated to engineer, he went freelance in 1981 and became an engineer/producer....
.
Only one track, "String Song", was completed however and it was not until the winter of 1998/99 that the band recorded the bulk of the tracks for fifth album Yeah. With former Cars
The Cars
The Cars are an American rock band that emerged from the early New Wave music scene in the late 1970s. The band consisted of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead singer and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton, keyboardist Greg Hawkes and drummer David Robinson...
frontman Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....
at the helm The Wannadies began recording at Electric Lady recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
s in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and continued work at studios in Stockholm and London.
Yeah was released in the autumn of 1999 in Scandinavia and early spring 2000 in the UK. BMG decided not to release the record in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
however, refused permission for the band to release it on another label and eventually dropped the band altogether.
Recent times and break-up (2000-2009)
Despite not having a record company The Wannadies toured extensively throughout the summer of 2000, played the GlastonburyGlastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
and Carling
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...
festivals in the UK, Roskilde
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...
in 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...
, Hultsfred and Arvika
Arvika Festival
Arvika Festival is an annual music festival held in Arvika, Sweden. It takes place during three days in the middle of July, from Thursday to Saturday, with camping available from the beginning of the week. The non-profit association "Galaxen" arranges the festival.Since the nineties, the...
in Sweden and completed a mini-tour of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
The latter half of 2000 and much of 2001 saw the band construct their own recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in which they would record much of their sixth album.
With Nille Perned again producing, the band released Before & After in 2002 in Scandinavia through the National
National Records
National Records was a record label that was started in New York by Albert Green in 1945 and lasted till early 1951.Big Joe Turner was signed at the outset and remained until 1947. Billy Eckstine was also a big seller for the label as were The Ravens...
record label and on 8 September 2003 in the UK on Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl is a UK-based independent record company, founded in 1986. Its original orientation was toward contemporary folk music—notably Billy Bragg, and Michelle Shocked's Texas Campfire Tapes, recorded on a Sony Walkman, one of its first releases...
records (who also handled distribution for the rest of the world). The album featured the singles "Skin", "Disko" and "Little By Little".
In 2003, "You and Me Song" was used in the climax to an episode of Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
where Richard Hillman
Richard Hillman
Richard Charles Hillman was a fictional character in the British television soap opera Coronation Street, played by Brian Capron. Hillman is now rated as one of the best soap villains of all time.-Development:...
drove his new wife, Gail Platt
Gail Platt
Gail McIntyre is a long-standing fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actress Helen Worth, the character first appeared on screen on 12 July 1974...
and her family into a canal (in which he died), and later in 2007 where his stepson, David Platt
David Platt (Coronation Street)
David Daniel Platt is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. The character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 26 December 1990 and is portrayed by actor Jack P...
, drove his car into that same canal as a suicide attempt, only to have survived, which ruined his sister Sarah's wedding day.
In 2006 "You and Me Song" was used as the theme song to the BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
TV series I'm With Stupid
I'm With Stupid (UK TV series)
I'm with Stupid is a British television programme starring Paul Henshall and Mark Benton.The series was created by BBC Comedy North. Peter Keeley was series consultant and it was written by Danny Peak...
.
The band were thought to be writing and recording songs for their seventh album, and are preparing to release a twenty track best of
Greatest Hits
A Greatest hits album is a compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular music artist or band.Albums entitled Greatest Hits, or similar titles, listed alphabetically by band name or artist's last name, include:-0-9:...
, however in April 2009 they announced they had split with Pär Wiksten going solo.
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE | UK |
||
| 1990 | The Wannadies
|
26 | – |
| 1992 | Aquanautic Aquanautic Aquanautic is the second album by Swedish band The Wannadies, released in October 1992.-Track listing:... |
39 | – |
| 1994 | Be a Girl Be a Girl Be a Girl is the third album by Swedish band The Wannadies, released in 1994 in Sweden and 1995 in the UK. It includes the hit single "You and Me Song" as featured on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film, Romeo + Juliet.-Track listing:... |
34 | – |
| 1997 | Bagsy Me Bagsy Me Bagsy Me is the fourth album by Swedish band The Wannadies, released in 1997.It includes the hit singles "Someone Somewhere", "Shorty", "Friends", "Hit" and "You and Me Song", the last being originally available on previous album Be A Girl... |
7 | 37 |
| The Wannadies
|
– | – | |
| 1999 | Yeah!
|
13 | 73 |
| 2002 | Before & After
|
30 | – |
Compilation albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE | UK | ||
| 1998 | Skellefteå Skellefteå (album) Skellefteå is an album by Swedish band The Wannadies, named after the band's home town Skellefteå in northern Sweden.A compilation of the best of their releases for MNW Records/Soap, the album also features the previously unreleased track, "Easier To Sing", and was released in 1998.-Track...
|
31 | – |
Singles and EPs
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 1989 | "Smile Smile (The Wannadies EP) Smile is an EP by Swedish band The Wannadies. Their debut release, the EP lead to the band being signed by MNW records in Sweden.... " |
– | – | The Wannadies |
| 1990 | "My Home Town" | – | – | |
| "Heaven" | – | – | ||
| 1992 | "Things That I Would Love To Have Undone" | – | – | Aquanautic |
| "So Happy Now" | – | – | ||
| 1993 | "Cherry Man" | – | – | |
| 1994 | "Love In June" | 38 | – | Be a Girl |
| "You and Me Song You and Me Song "You and Me Song" is a song by Swedish band The Wannadies. Originally released as a single in 1994, it became the group's biggest UK hit two years later when it reached number 18 in the singles chart in April 1996.... " |
– | - | ||
| 1995 | "Might Be Stars" | – | 51 | |
| "How Does It Feel?" | – | 53 | ||
| 1996 | "You and Me Song You and Me Song "You and Me Song" is a song by Swedish band The Wannadies. Originally released as a single in 1994, it became the group's biggest UK hit two years later when it reached number 18 in the singles chart in April 1996.... " (Re-issue) |
– | 18 | |
| "Someone Somewhere" | – | 38 | Bagsy Me | |
| "Friends" | – | – | ||
| 1997 | "Hit" | – | 20 | |
| "Shorty" | – | 41 | ||
| 1999 | "Yeah" | – | 56 | Yeah! |
| 2000 | "Don't Like You (What The Hell Are We Supposed To Do)" | – | – | |
| "Big Fan" | – | – | ||
| 2002 | "Skin" | – | - | Before & After |
| "Little By Little" | – | – | ||
| 2003 | "Disko" | – | - | |