PsychepediA

From: Stockholm, Sweden

This popular Swedish outfit formed in 1962 as the Janglers, but in 1963 lengthened their moniker to Ola & The Janglers when frontman Ola Håkansson (lead vocals) joined the fold. Other members at this time included Christer Idering (guitar), Åke Eldsäter (bass), Leif Johansson (drums) and Johannes Olsson (organ). The group honed their skills playing live in the Stockholm clubs and during the spring of 1964 took second place in Nalens Pop Artists Competition, which helped them score a record deal on Warner Bros. to release a debut 45 ('Little Girl' b/w 'I'll Stand By Your Side') that summer. Both songs were originals written by Idering, but the record unfortunately failed to make any notable impact.

The band's breakthrough finally came in early 1965 with their second single issued on the local Gazell label (a nicely done cover of the Zombies' 'She's Not There' b/w 'Don't Ask Me What I Say'), which peaked at the #10 spot on the Kvällstoppen Swedish chart. A second local hit followed in the summer of '65 with the release of the outstanding single 'No No No', which was again penned by Idering and climbed even higher on the Swedish charts to the #5 position. A debut LP titled Surprise Surprise was issued at around this time as well. The autumn of 1965 surprisingly saw Idering split and quickly get replaced by Claes "Clabbe" af Geijer (guitar), who then became the group's primary songwriter. Not long after, the band issued a cover of Chris Kenner's now classic 'Land Of A Thousand Dances', which became a Swedish #1 smash and remained in the local Top 10 for two months. At this point, the band had become one of the hottest acts in Sweden, alongside the likes of the Hep Stars and Tages.

From 1966 through 1967, the group released another 11 singles with many of them ending up in the Swedish Top 10. The band also issued another four LPs during this time frame. During the autumn of 1968, Ola & The Janglers scored their biggest hit with a cover of Jim Lee's 'Let's Dance', which was also released in the U.S., peaking there at the #93 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The group continued on into 1971 releasing more singles and LPs until finally calling it quits that year. In 1976, the band reunited briefly for another album titled Jet Leg, but soon after broke up for good.