BWO (band)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2012) |
BWO | |
---|---|
Bonnier Music (Scandinavia and Eastern Europe) Universal Music Domestic (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) Magic Records (Poland) Shell Records (UK) | |
Past members | Martin Rolinski Alexander Bard Marina Schiptjenko |
BWO was a Swedish electropop group, formed in 2003. Prior to early 2006 they used the name Bodies Without Organs. In Sweden they have enjoyed considerable commercial success throughout their career, so far notching up 15 Top 40 singles, including a Number 1 with "Temple of Love", and five Top 10 albums including a Number 1 with Halcyon Days, and have won several major Swedish music awards. The group scored major successes in countries like Russia.[1]
Since the mid-2000s, BWO have had significant chart success in several
Origins
There was initially a suggestion that the band would be a four-piece including Jean-Pierre Barda from Army of Lovers, but this did not come to fruition, and Barda's explicit involvement extended as co-writing the songs "Living In A Fantasy" [4] (BWO's first single) and "European Psycho", both included on BWO's first album "Prototype" (It's odd that a picture of Barda turned up in the inner booklet of this album), and appearing on the videos "Conquering America", "Sixteen Tons of Hardware", "Open Door" and "The Bells of Freedom", in which Dominika Peczynski, also from Army of Lovers did make a cameo too.
The name of the band derives from the philosophical term
At no point has BWO been a full-time project for any of the band's members - Bard continues his other career as a philosopher, while Schiptjenko remains an art dealer in Stockholm and Rolinski has a Master of Science in Engineering and works in that field.
Chart and airplay success
2004-2005: Prototype
BWO's debut single release was "Living in a Fantasy" in May 2004. This was only a moderate Number 44 hit in Sweden, and the style and production of the song differ somewhat from those of any BWO song released subsequently. Subsequent releases were more successful in Sweden, particularly third single "Sixteen Tons of Hardware" (Number 11) in February 2005. BWO's debut album Prototype, first released in Russia in November 2004, was released in Sweden in March 2005, reaching Number 2 in the album charts and attaining platinum status. Eventually no fewer than seven tracks from the album went on to be Swedish hit singles, with sixth single "Sunshine in the Rain" (Number 12) being another high point. Peter Ashraf.
"Sixteen Tons of Hardware" and "Voodoo Magic" were both hit singles in Finland. Two singles off the album, "Living in a Fantasy" and "Sixteen Tons of Hardware" went Number 1 in the Europa Plus Airplay Chart in Russia, and the album soon crossed over to neighboring countries, generating no less than five Top 5 hit singles in Ukraine and two Top 5 hit singles in Hungary.[citation needed] The track "Gone" was a Number 1 hit in Lebanon.[citation needed]
2006: Halcyon Days
BWO's second album Halcyon Days, released in April 2006, entered the Swedish Album Chart at Number 1, shipping gold and generating four further hit singles, of which the first single "Temple of Love" was a Number 1 smash in Sweden and charted across Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.
Halcyon Days was followed by a remix collection called
2007-2008: Fabricator
A third studio album, Fabricator, was released in Sweden on September 19, 2007, entering the Swedish charts at Number 6. A pre-release single "Save My Pride", was released in May 2007, becoming BWO's fourth Top 20 single in Sweden. It also went Number 1 on major Turkish radio station Radio Mydonese's Top 40 Countdown in July 2007.[5] The singles "Let it Rain" and "Rhythm Drives Me Crazy" were released simultaneously in August 2007. "Rhythm Drives Me Crazy" was chosen as the theme for the Swedish team in the Women's Football World Cup in China in September 2007, and was a fourth Top 20 hit for BWO in Finland. A fourth single "The Destiny Of Love" was released in October 2007. A fifth, "Give Me the Night", was released at the end of December 2007, but became the only BWO single (as of August 2008) to fail to reach the Swedish singles chart.
2008: Pandemonium - The Singles Collection
A "greatest hits" album called
A DVD by the same name, containing all video clips, was released in the fall of 2008.
2009: Big Science
Big Science is the fourth studio album of BWO and was released on April 1, 2009. It features 12 brand new songs, but the album has a total of 14 tracks (two remixes are included). The first single is "You're Not Alone", which was released as a ballad and as a disco version (like they did with Open Door). The ballad version also served as BWO's entry in the 2009 Melodifestivalen. "Right Here Right Now" is the second single and was released on May 27, 2009. The third single. "Rise To The Occasion" was released in Scandinavia in the fall.
2010: Band hiatus and future projects
In early 2010, BWO announced they were temporarily departing ways after an intensive career of five albums released in less than six years.
In the United Kingdom
BWO are mainly well known and popular in the gay community (but not only) in the UK, due to the attention they receive via the gay media. Signed to small independent record label Shell Records in the UK, BWO have achieved moderate success with a few single releases. Initially two of their Swedish hit singles, "Sixteen Tons of Hardware" and "Chariots of Fire", reached the Top 10 of the British club charts.[citation needed] With a more concerted UK release including physical CD singles, the remixed 2005 single "Sunshine in the Rain" hit number 1 in the UK indie chart and reached Number 69 in the main UK singles chart in March 2008. "Lay Your Love On Me" was released in the UK in late July 2008, charted also at Number 69 in the main singles chart, and Number 2 in the UK indie charts. BWO's third physical single release in the UK was to be "Will My Arms Be Strong Enough", the single was released on 22 September 2008, and failed to make the top 100.
All three single releases by BWO have been playlisted by
"Right Here Right Now" was released in 2009 and peaked at #19 in the UK Commercial Pop Charts Top40. The track has been remixed the UK market, with additional vocals from Swedish artist Velvet.
In the United States
BWO made their way to the USA with their singles "Lay Your Love On Me," "Chariots of Fire", "Temple of Love" and "The Destiny of Love" being played in the popular clothing store
Melodifestivalen participation
BWO competed in the Swedish Melodifestivalen 2005 with the song "Gone", written by the band's co-producer Anders Hansson, but failed to qualify for the final, finishing fifth out of eight in one of the four semi-finals.
In 2006, they competed once again in
During 2007 BWO stated in interviews that they had no intention of returning to Melodifestivalen, but might consider instead seeking to enter Eurovision for Martin Rolinski's homeland of Poland.[7] However, there was a change of heart, and BWO entered Melodifestivalen for a third time in 2008 with a song called "Lay Your Love on Me". This was co-written by Bard and Hansson together with Bobby Ljunggren and Henrik Wikström, ironically the two composers who wrote Carola's winning song which beat BWO in 2006. Going into their semi-final as heavy bookmakers' favourites to qualify,[8] the song duly progressed directly to the final, held at the Stockholm Globe Arena on 15 March 2008, where the song finished in third place behind winner Charlotte Perrelli and second-placed Sanna Nielsen.
In 2008, it was also rumoured that BWO were approached by the BBC to appear in Eurovision: Your Decision, the UK's version of Melodifestivalen, however BWO turned them down in favour of participating once again at Melodifestivalen.
BWO entered Melodifestivalen once again in 2009 with their fourth studio album's first single, You're Not Alone, which was co-written by Bard and Hansson with Fredrik Kempe.[9] The song did not qualify directly for Globen and was sent to 'Andra Chansen'. They did not go through in that round either.
Recognition
BWO won the prestigious Rockbjörnen award in both 2005 and 2006, voted Sweden's most popular band, all categories. In 2006 they received a Grammis Award for Sweden's most popular band of the year. BWO were nominated for four Grammis Awards in 2005 for the Prototype album and five Grammis Awards in 2006 for the Halcyon Days album. BWO were also nominated for dance act of the year in 2006 at the NRJ Scandinavian Awards in Helsinki and won the category for the most popular band.[10]
Discography
Bodies Without Organs discography | |
---|---|
Studio albums | 4 |
Compilation albums | 1 |
Video albums | 1 |
Music videos | 18 |
Singles | 23 |
Remix albums | 1 |
Studio albums
Release | Album | Sweden Albums | Japan Albums | Sales/Certification | Additional information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 9, 2005 | Prototype | 2 | - | GLF: Platinum (January 2006) | First studio album |
April 19, 2006 | Halcyon Days | 1 | - | GLF: Gold (April 2006) | Second studio album |
September 19, 2007 | Fabricator | 6 | - | Third studio album | |
April 1, 2009 | Big Science | 9 | - | Fourth studio album |
Singles
Year | Release | Song | Sweden Singles | Sweden Tracks[11] | Finland Singles[12][13] | Ukraine Singles[14] | Russia Singles[14] | UK Singles | UK Indie | Europe 100[14] | US Dance
|
Japan Singles | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | May 7 | "Living in a Fantasy" | 44 | 20 | - | 1 | 2 | - | - | 30 | - | - | Prototype |
September 24 | "Conquering America" | 27 | 15 | - | 2 | 16 | - | - | 35 | - | - | ||
2005 | February 3 | "Sixteen Tons of Hardware" | 11 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 10 | - | - | 28 | - | - | |
March 31 | "Gone" | 40 | 16 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
May 12 | "Open Door" | 28 | 4 | - | 2 | - | - | - | 41 | - | - | ||
September 15 | "Sunshine in the Rain" | 12 | 6 | - | - | - | 69 | 1 | - | - | 26 | ||
December 10 | "Voodoo Magic" | 38 | 14 | 12 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2006 | March 15 | "Temple of Love" | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Halcyon Days |
May 24 | "We Could Be Heroes" | 18 | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
September 13 | "Will My Arms Be Strong Enough" | 39 | 16 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
November 22 | "Chariots of Fire" | 45 | 14 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 40 | - | ||
2007 | May 7 | "Save My Pride" | 14 | 18 | 6 | - | - | - | - | 62 | - | - | Fabricator |
August 22 | " Let It Rain "
|
23 | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
August 22 | " Rhythm Drives Me Crazy "
|
35 | - | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
October 17 | "The Destiny of Love" | 56 | - | 18 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
December | "Give Me the Night" | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2008 | March 12 | " Lay Your Love on Me "
|
2 | 1 | - | - | - | 69 | 2 | 91 | - | 44 | Pandemonium – The Singles Collection |
May 28 | "Barcelona" | 56 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
July 21 | "The Bells of Freedom" | 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
October 8 | "Gomenasai" | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
2009 | March 1 | " You're Not Alone "
|
11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 96 | - | - | Big Science |
May 27 | "Right Here Right Now" | 28 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | ||
August 31 | "Right Here Right Now" (UK version) (feat. Velvet) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
September 14 | "Rise to the Occasion" | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
November 30 | "Kings of Tomorrow" | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
- The UK chart placing of "Sunshine in the Rain" was attained in March 2008, and that of "Lay Your Love on Me" in August 2008.
- The U.S. Billboard chart placing of "Chariots of Fire" was attained in December 2008 after promotional re-issue of the single in U.S. clubs.
Videography
Music videos
Year | Video | Director |
---|---|---|
2004 | "Living in a Fantasy" | Calle Stotz |
"Conquering America" | Fredrik Boklund | |
2005 | "Sixteen Tons of Hardware" | |
"Open Door" | ||
"Sunshine in the Rain" | ||
2006 | "Temple of Love" | |
"We Could Be Heroes" | ||
"Will My Arms Be Strong Enough" | ||
"Chariots of Fire" | Kamisol | |
2007 | "Save My Pride" | Kalle Haglund |
"Let It Rain" | Kamisol | |
"The Destiny of Love" | Kalle Haglund | |
"Give Me the Night" | Fredrik Boklund | |
2008 | "Lay Your Love On Me" | Kamisol |
"Barcelona" | Mauricio Molnari | |
"The Bells of Freedom" | Kamisol | |
2009 | "You're Not Alone" | |
"Right Here Right Now" | ||
"Rise to the Occasion" |
DVD
Year | Title | Details | Format |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Pandemonium - The Video Collection | Compilation of music videos from 2004–2008 | DVD |
References
- ^ Zendry Svärdkrona (15 January 2006). "Bodies Without Organs" (in Swedish). Nöjesbladet. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- ^ "Parkerad hos Loopia". www.gylleneskor.se. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ RAMBARRAN, SHARA (2022-07-06). "Alexander Bard: The "King Midas" of Scandipop?". Medium. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
- ^ a b "Exclusive interview with Bodies Without Organs: Music History". Strelna.ru. 2004-01-12. Archived from the original on 2006-05-23. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
- ^ "Metro FM - Karnaval.com Müziğini Keşfet". Radyomydonose.com.tr. 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2022 news by esctoday - Turin Italy". Archived from the original on 2008-02-26.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest Serbia 2008 | Review - BWO Push Euro claim". Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest Serbia 2008 | News - Tonight: third semi final in Sweden". 2008-02-23. Archived from the original on 2008-02-26. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
- ^ "svt.se - Melodifestivalen 2009". Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
- ^ Sandra Wejbro (2007-01-11). "Aftonbladet: Lars Winnerbäck årets manlige artist". Aftonbladet.se. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
- ^ "Sveriges Radio - Sidan finns ej". Sr.se. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
- ^ "YleX". Archived from the original on 2007-10-13.
- ^ "Lista - Suomen virallinen lista". Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
- ^ a b c "BWO Biography, Discography, Chart History @ Top40-Charts.com - Songs & Videos from 49 Top 20 & Top 40 Music Charts from 30 Countries". Top40-charts.com. Retrieved 2012-11-06.