Spellbound (Swe / Uppsala)

Not to be confused with Spellbound (Jönköping) or Spellbound (Umeå).

Spellbound evolved from the 70's band Rampljud featuring Hasse Fröberg, Janne Olander, Thomas Thompson & Janne Isaksson.

Official Biography
Swedish band Spellbound formed in 1983 by Hasse Fröberg, Thomas Thomson, Alf Strandberg, Ola Strandberg and JJ Marsh. The initial recordings are to be found on a compilation album called "Swedish Metal". This was the record that first brought the group to international attention. The debut album "Breaking the Spell" was released in 1984 and was hailed as one of the best records of 1984 by Kerrang Magazine: “Spellbound are without doubt the best metal band Scandinavia has ever produced…in fact, on an international scale they’re one of the most commercial HM bands I’ve heard……a fluently melodic yet ballsy and powerful outfit whose debut album embraces both colossal potential and substantial delivery…”

Spellbound attracted interest not only in the UK and other parts of Europe, "Breaking the Spell" was also released in South America and the first single Lovetaker was one of the tracks on the "ROCKHARD"-compilation album released in Australia together with bands like Deep Purple, Iron Maiden ,Whitesnake and AC/DC. Japans leading rock magazine Burrn showed great interest in the band with several articles and the album raised the import charts.

In 1985 the band went to London to put down tracks for their second album. The group emerged from the studio with some superb material on the album "Rockin..Reckless". Once again the album got enormous good reviews in Kerrang: “Spellbound, a swanky set of sparkling Swedish sorcerers, this album is a cracker - with a message inside which reads: Buy me!”. A video for the first single, the title track "Rockin..Reckless" was shot and the band embarked on a domestic tour to support the new album.

In 1990 the band members went their separate ways but in 1995 both "Breaking the Spell" and "Rockin.. Reckless" were released on CD and interest for the band rose again. In 1997 previously unreleased material was released on "Spellbound 1997". The CD included 13 songs among them the progressive rock opus "Paradise Ride". This song would also appeared on "The encyclopedia of Swedish Hard Rock & Heavy Metal" compiled by Janne Stark, among with other Swedish acts like Yngwie J Malmsteen, Electric Boys and Europe.

In the early 2001 the band met for discussions for a possible reunion, yet this time without guitarist Alf Strandberg. A promo CD was recorded and released in 2002, including 3 songs: "Drowning", "My poor brain" and "Psychonaut".

Spellbound The Story (1983-1997) by Janne Stark.
In December 1984 "Breaking the spell" the debut album by Uppsala Hard rockers Spellbound saw the light of day. Prior to this the band had also participated with two tracks on a Sonet compilation, suitably entitled "Swedish Metal". Spellbound was actually signed by Sonet after having won a band-competition where a record-deal was first price. But let's start from the beginning...

In May 1983 the bass-player Thomas Thompson and singer Hasse Froberg met in the northern Swedish town Boden. They decided to form a band, found Alf Strandberg and his brother Ola. As a four-piece they recorded their first demo. In December 1983 guitarist Jocke "JJ" Marsh was added to the line-up. The year after, in April, they participated and won the band-competition that lead to the deal with Sonet Records. In the summer of '84 the aforementioned compilation-album featuring Spellbound, Universe, Motherlode and Shed was released. After having spent three weeks in Studio Park the band's debut "Breaking the spell" saw the light of day in July 1984. The album was highly praised in English metal-bible Kerrang! Magazine and received great reviews in the influential Japanese magazine Burrn among others!

The band's second album was recorded in Riverside Studios, London. Producer Vic Maile (Girlschool, Tygers Of Pan Tang) went to Sweden to spend some time with the band, work on material and help out with the arrangements, before bringing the band over for three weeks to work in the recording-den. The album was entitled "Rockin' Reckless" and was released on July 2nd 1985. On the release-party the record-company brought over Motorhead's Lemmy Kilminster and Kerrang!-writer Paul Suter. The album was a step forward in the sense of the fivesome. Two singles were released, the title-track and "My Kinda Girl". Despite the great reviews the band, by some sick twist of fate, never received any greater success.

On December 14, 1986, Spellbound recorded a new demo live in the studio with the intention of getting as many songs as possible on tape. The style had now changed a bit more towards the Van Halenesque territory, with a bit more party-attitude and more emphasis's on the guitar. Unfortunately the demo didn't lead to a new deal and in March 1987 guitarist Alf left the band. They now tried working with a keyboard-player for some months, but as it didn't work out as planned he was asked to leave in May 1987. The group now continued as four-piece and in December 1987 another demo was recorded. This demo showed an even more guitar-oriented and musically experimental side of the band, still in the party-mode of course. These songs are some of the best that has ever emerged from this band, which might show in the selection of material for this CD. Despite the top-class material, sound and performance the band surprisingly enough didn't get a deal. With a never-creasing flow of song-material, the band went into the studio again in 1989 to record yet another demo. This time the material was not as party-oriented, but more similar to what was later found in bands like Mr.Big: great musical performance, well-arranged songs, great melodies and lots of nice musical twists. In April 1989, after having received some interest from a record-company they did a re-recording of ""Paradise Ride" (taken from 1989 demo). The record-company however wanted them to to appear on a compilation-CD that comes with the book "The Encyclopedia Of Swedish Hard Rock And Heavy Metal 1970-1996" (Premium Publishing).

In June 1989 Spellbound made their last live-appearance at Barowiak in Uppsala. The Foursome now lost their hope and interest in continuing and found it was now time to put the band to rest. Hasse went on to the more pop/rock-oriented band Solid Blue, who won the 1991 Swedish Rock championship. First price was the recording of an album, which was later released on Roine Stolt's Foxtrot label. Hasse is now also part of Roine Stolt's symphonic/progressive band The Flowerkings. He had also made some gigs with the party-cover band Highway Stars. Thompson continued doing cover-gigs and also played with Jocke for a few months, Jocke recorded two album with symphonic rocker Simon Steensland and is now part of Glenn Hughes backing-band. Jocke, Ola and former Crawley bassist Sampo Axelsson are also working with their new band Frog. Alf is now writing music on computer, working mostly with keyboards. Alf and his brother Ola are also playing jazz. On October 7, 1995, the five members from the original line-up made a highly memorable reunion gig at a party in Uppsala. The reason was partly because the bands albums had now been re-issued on CD.

Info from Janne Stark's Encyclopedia
A melodic hard rock band that made quite and impact on the English market. In Sweden the albums sold fairly well. After the second album they left Sonet and recorded some songs for another label, but nothing happened. In 1987 guitarist Alf Strandberg left the band, but the others recorded three more outstanding demos. After Spellbound split in the fall of 1989, Hasse formed his new band Solid Blue, a more pop-oriented band that released their debut in 1994. He also made several appearances with the cover band Highway Stars, a 70s cover band with glitter, boots and the works. He was also hired to sing on symph-rockers Roine Stolt's album 'The Flower King'. This later evolved into the band The Flower Kings, where Hans still is a full-time member. Jocke recorded an instrumental album with drummer Simon Stensland for a French label. Alf has done several session jobs as well as producing his father's jazz records. The first two Spellbound albums were reissued on CD in 1995. The band is also featured on the compilation albums 'Swedish Metal' on Sonet and the Australian Rockhard. The previously unreleased track "Paradise Ride", also the band's last studio recording, is found on the bonus CD for the first Encyclopedia.

In 1996 Jocke joined Glenn Hughe's backing band and was an active part in the recordings, live shows and songwriting of the former Deep Purple heroes albums. In 2002 he was also involved in the Hughes/Turner album, featuring Glenn Hughes and former Purple/Rainbow/Fandango singer Joe Lynn Turner. In 1997 some of the unreleased Spellbound demos were finally released. The album was simply entitled 'Spellbound' and features the demos recorded between 1987-1989. In 2002 the band reunited for some shows and a three-track demo featuring the songs "Drowning", "Psychonaut" and "My Poor Brain" was recorded. In 2006 Jocke released his first solo album 'Music From The Planet Marsh'. Hasse is still in The Flower Kings and formed his own progressive melodic band Hasse Fröberg & Musical Companion (H.F.M.C.), which also features Thompson and Strandberg. Jocke is now found in the melodic power trio Bridge To Mars. The first Spellbound album is planned to be reissued with bonus tracks by Liljegren Records.

Hasse Fröberg Official Bio
The Story (Part 1)
If you are familiar with the name Hasse Fröberg, I guess that’s because I have been a proud member of The Flower Kings since 1997. Before that I had been quite busy with different bands and projects. I formed my first group at the age of 10. It was a trio in true ELP style, at least when it comes to the line-up. HPP3: Patric Pettersson - drums, Patric Cohen - keyboards, Hasse Fröberg - vocals and guitar. With songs like “Do you know the monster” we really made an impact on schoolmates and neighbours. (By the way, what do you think of the hook “Do you know the monster from the black sea, he doesn’t want to eat you. He just wants to drink tea”?)

When I turned 15, we had a new band going. Rampljud: Janne Olander - Bass, Thomsson - rhythm guitar, Janne Isaksson - drums, Hasse Fröberg - vocals and lead guitar. In fact we had lots of gigs at schools, youth clubs and festivals within 150 km. Because of our age, my father and Isak's father used to drive us to the gigs. We were really ashamed to have two old men with us when we were trying to impress the girls. In fact they were about the age I am now, “huh”.

As I grew older and developed as a musician, the sound started to lean a bit more into hard rock, and in 1982 Thomsson (who just switched to bass) and I decided to form a band that eventually became Spellbound. As I remember it, the first time we rehearsed was October 1982. Spellbound: Al Strandberg - guitar, Ola Strandberg - drums, Thomsson - bass, Hasse Fröberg - vocals. Later in 1983 J.J Marsh joined our forces on guitar. There are thousands of stories from this period that I can’t tell you, but I am going to give you one. In 1985 when we arrived at Heathrow to record “Rockin' Reckless” with long hair and guitars, all the taxi drivers threw themselves at us in the arrival hall. Anyway, when we sat down in one of the cars and said the name of the hotel, the driver looked a bit disappointed “Oh I thought you were going to Wembley” he said. It was LIVE AID that day! I still to this day remember that gentleman’s name, Tom. He drove us between the hotel and the studio everyday for 3 weeks and he had cookies in a box under his seat, which he offered us regularly.

After Spellbound, I started Solid Blue, with me back on guitar again. We played some kind of straight forward (pub) rock I guess it could be called. We had lots of gigs and a unique friendship, everything was so smooth. Solid blue: Janne Olander - bass, Palle Isaksson (Janne Isakssons older brother) -drums, Sören Cederberg - leadguitar, Rikard Zander - keyboards, Hasse Fröberg - vocals, rhythm guitar. There’s lots of stuff to tell about Solid Blue as well, but the highlight was when we won the Swedish championship of rock n' roll among 2000 other bands and did national television a couple of times. After a 10-date English pub-tour that actually went down really well, the band sort of lost the will to fight and after a while Solid Blue was history.

In 1997 I got a phone call from Roine, who asked me if I wanted to join The Flower Kings. At first I almost said no, because I didn’t think I had the skills, but Roine convinced me otherwise. After 12 years with a band that has been around the world, how many times I don’t know, there are of course many things that have happened. The one thing that stands out the most, is in fact the first ever gig I did with the band. After 3 days of rehearsals and trying to get to know each other, we flew to Canada to play in Quebec City. The scene can only be described as a Flower Kings “Beatlemania!” When we arrived at the venue the people were screaming and cheering, I thought there was another famous and mega-successful band behind us, but I was wrong. During the set when we did the old Kaipa tune “Nothing New Under the Sun”, I had my little break. I stood beside the stage and watched the audience for a while. There were several grown men who were crying. It was at that point that I knew we were on to something.

The Story (Part 2)
That brings me up to date. In October 2008, I decided it was time to form a band again. There are several main reasons for this: T.F.K will have a year off 2009, except for some one off gigs, my career as a soccer coach has ended (1 gold medal 06/07) and of course there are songs that I have written through the years that don’t fit the T.F.K formula. Old fashioned as I am, I don’t want it to be like a project, I want a band with a certain sound. The key to that I believe, is to find enthusiastic musicians who love to play my music and are willing to rehearse and to create a unit that really works well together. That said, in November we rehearsed for the first time. Even though we don’t play as much as we would like, we rehearse on a regular basis and it feels fantastic. I am very proud to present my friends (old and new) in the band: Hasse Fröberg and the Musical Companion: Kjell Haraldsson - keyboards, Ola Strandberg - drums, Anton Lindsjö - leadguitar, Thomsson - bass, Hasse Fröberg - vocals, rythmguitar.

Biography from Musicmight
Uppsala based SPELLBOUND, fronted by ex-BARRELHOUSE singer Hasse Fröberg, received excellent reviews for their brace of Hard Rock albums, but failed to stay the course. The group frst appeared on the 'Swedish Metal' compilation album in 1984 and issued their first album, 'Breaking The Spell', the following year, produced by Anders Helmerson. However, progress was halted slightly when Fröberg and guitarist Alf Strandberg had to fulfill National Service duty, both being drafted into the military for a period.

The second album, 'Rockin' Reckless', appeared in 1986, after which the band lost Alf Strandberg but signed to a new label following a split from Sonet Records and recorded a good album's worth of material. However, these recordings remained unreleased until finally seeing the light of day through the Rock Treasures label in 1997.

The band broke up in 1989, Fröberg forming SOLID BLUE and dabbling in covers act HIGHWAY STARS. Whilst Strandberg has worked as a session musician since leaving the group guitarist Jocke 'J.J.' Marsh recorded an instrumental album for a French record label and activated a fun club act FROG. He would subsequently join ex-DEEP PURPLE frontman GLENN HUGHES solo band, first performing with the star at his wedding reception. Marsh featured on the 'Addiction' album and teamed up with Hughes once more in 2002. J.J. Marsh cut his first solo album 'Music From Planet Marsh' under the project heading ALBATROSS, first issuing it at concerts on GLENN HUGHES' Spring 2005 European tour.

Biography from Discogs
Swedish band Spellbound formed in 1983 by Hasse Fröberg, Thomas Thomson, Alf Strandberg, Ola Strandberg and JJ Marsh. The initial recordings are to be found on a compilation album called "Swedish Metal". This was the record that first brought the group to international attention. The debut album "Breaking the Spell" was released in 1984. Spellbound attracted interest not only in the UK and other parts of Europe, "Breaking the Spell" was also released in South America and the first single "Lovetaker" was one of the tracks on the "ROCKHARD"-compilation album released in Australia together with bands like Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Whitesnake and AC/DC. Japan's leading rock magazine "Burrn" showed great interest in the band with several articles and the album raised the import charts.

http://spellboundjp.web.fc2.com/int_2014_e.html