Biography
Electric Banana Band supplied the music for Sweden's all-time favorite children's television program, yet the group's roster of highly skilled players, sharp songwriting, and deliberately absurd jungle aesthetic secured them a durable following. During the series they cut numerous tracks that later earned minor-classic status, and after the final season concluded the musicians reconvened for several well-received tours.
In the mid-1970s national television commissioned Lasse Åberg to create a children's series. The project became Trazan Och Banarne; its earliest installments featured Åberg and Möllberg accompanying themselves on ukulele. For the 1981 season Åberg recruited an ensemble of leading session players that included drummer Per Lindvall. Guitarist Janne Schaffer, widely regarded as Sweden's foremost guitarist and the composer of the show's original theme, directed the band and wrote the bulk of its material while Åberg and Möllberg remained its public faces. Schaffer's rock-and-roll pastiches meshed effectively with Åberg's words, and numbers whose subject was urban youth—such as "Alf Lundin"—extended the appeal beyond a juvenile audience. The debut album, Electric Banana Band, appeared in 1981 and featured several songs by James Hollingworth, an earlier Åberg collaborator.
A follow-up, Livet i Regnskogarna, arrived in 1984, yet Electric Banana Band never operated as a full-time unit. Its members maintained separate careers, Åberg achieving particular success directing film comedies, most notably Sällskapsresan. The final Trazan Och Banarne season aired in 1986, after which the band disbanded. Interest revived with the 1993 compilation The Golden Years 1981-1986, prompting multiple reunion tours that included a performance at the Hultsfred Festival. Electric Banana Tajm (1998) and Nu E're Djur Igen (2000) each combined newly written material with re-recorded older songs.
In the mid-1970s national television commissioned Lasse Åberg to create a children's series. The project became Trazan Och Banarne; its earliest installments featured Åberg and Möllberg accompanying themselves on ukulele. For the 1981 season Åberg recruited an ensemble of leading session players that included drummer Per Lindvall. Guitarist Janne Schaffer, widely regarded as Sweden's foremost guitarist and the composer of the show's original theme, directed the band and wrote the bulk of its material while Åberg and Möllberg remained its public faces. Schaffer's rock-and-roll pastiches meshed effectively with Åberg's words, and numbers whose subject was urban youth—such as "Alf Lundin"—extended the appeal beyond a juvenile audience. The debut album, Electric Banana Band, appeared in 1981 and featured several songs by James Hollingworth, an earlier Åberg collaborator.
A follow-up, Livet i Regnskogarna, arrived in 1984, yet Electric Banana Band never operated as a full-time unit. Its members maintained separate careers, Åberg achieving particular success directing film comedies, most notably Sällskapsresan. The final Trazan Och Banarne season aired in 1986, after which the band disbanded. Interest revived with the 1993 compilation The Golden Years 1981-1986, prompting multiple reunion tours that included a performance at the Hultsfred Festival. Electric Banana Tajm (1998) and Nu E're Djur Igen (2000) each combined newly written material with re-recorded older songs.
Albums
Singles
