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![]() There are plenty of amusing anecdotes from this period, such as "The story "Of The WheelFfalling Off The Bus On The Way To The Hultsfred-festival" and "The Story Of The Band Arriving Two Days Early For That Festival In Austria". The episodes of "Free Booze in Freiburg" and "Meeting M-Rock Of The Stonefunkers Aboard the German Ferry, Whereupon Much Frolic Takes Place" are also fairly entertaining. Oh well. However, Radium Records proves to be deep in financial shit, despite having succesful bands like Sator, The Stonefunkers, Union Carbide Productions and Blue For Two on their hands; thus, the release of the intended summer single "It Won't Be Long Before We See The Sun Shine" is postponed to February, 1991. At least there's a sunny video, made by Henrik Schyffert, shown infrequently on Swedish television. Oh well. In the spring of 1991, the Psychotic Youth starts working on their fourth album, BEáINáTHEáSUN. Produced by Per Edwardsson, who functioned as an engineer and general cheer-up-guy during the making of SOMEáFUN, this record is somewhat more relaxed than its precursors, what with everybody being older, more mature, more successful and everything. Perfectionist Edwardsson polishes the Beatle-ish harmony arrangements to an almost absurd perfection. The single "Nice Girls" is a modest radio hit, and BEáINáTHEáSUN, released in February, 1992, sells pretty well. The Psychotic Youth Tour Machine rolls on; however, by autumn its gears are beginning to show signs of wear. Guitarist Magnus starts the hardcore band Mary Beats Jane; Gunnar gets a gig playing theatre music for a stage play; Kent's building trucks; Jörgen locks himself into an old sailmaker's factory out by the sea trying to straighten out his private life. The bathing bays are freezing, the conservatives rule sweden and the never ending summer seems to be over. But... |
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![]() The Psychotic Youth CDáJUICE! takes form in the Music-A-Matic studio in the summer of 1993. Jörgen Westman has spent a good deal of the last year in used record stores rummaging through the nickel-and-dime bins, searching for obscure new wave from 1979-80; findings such as the Plimsouls, Paul Collins Beat and the Knack cut-outs will leave a distinctive mark on his new songs. The first single, "Elevator Girl", gets its fair share of airplay on Swedish radio and is tried out for the national listeners' poll (alas, it's disqualified when Gunnar calls in to vote for himself, is put on the air and happily introduces himself with his name...); the band appears on a pre-teen pop music TVáshow, demonstrating their "beautiful" show dance routine. A second single, "MTV", is subsequently released, complete with grooovy video clip. After touring Scandinavia in the autumn and winter of 1993, the band, deciding that they'd better make hay while the sun shines, go to work on what turns out to be an eight-song "medium play" CD called POP. Nille Perned, engineer during the JUICE! sessions and a good friend of the band, having worked as the Psychotic Youth's live sound engineer for several years, is called in to produce. POP is recorded in about a week under jovial circumstances in the Swedish National Radio studio in Gothenburg, with successful results. Ulf has grown into the band naturally, and the whole record is more or less recorded live, giving it an extra amount of energy and presence. POP is released in May 1994, to good reviews. The German disco band Aneka's 1981 hit"Japanese Boy" is, in the Psychotic Youth power pop version, a radio hit once more. |
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![]() After their "1994 Summer Festivals-Swimming In Every Lake In Sweden-Tour", along with a couple of visits to Denmark and Norway, the band once again seems to fall to pieces. Jörgen joins the "girl" band Incka &áWilliam , the other band members start to engage in other projects ; Gunnar is playing pedak-steel with honky tonk heroes Gillis Jordan & The Bad Lovers, along his work as a theater musician; Ulf is recording a CD along with the band Wish and Kent has gotten a big shot jobb at the carfactory. At this point, (December 1994) the band decides to close the curtain. A week later they appear on a National TV show with two songs of the POP CD, along with their annocement that from now on the Psychotic Youth is only considered a hobby project for the band members. But no peace for the wicked... The story continues on the next page... |