Imperiet

were a Swedish 1980s rock band from Stockholm, that existed from 1983 to 1988. They can be argued the most influental band in Sweden for a while, but definitely dominated the new wave scene, which at the time was seen as the same as the punk rock scene.

History

, poster from the South American tour 1986

started as , a side project to the most popular punk band in Sweden, , and included three of its members. When broke up in 1983, re-emerged as ; with Joakim Th?str?m (lead vocals, guitar), Anders "Stry" Sj?holm (vocals, guitar) and Gunnar "Gurra" Ljungstedt (drums), all three originally from . They were joined by Christian Falk (bass) and Per H?gglund (sax, keyboards). Stry left in 1984 and Gurra left the following year, but was replaced by Fred Asp (drums). In 1987 Per H?gglund left and in 1988 disbanded.

With some fame inherited from , got off to a flying start. Their songs were inspired by punk, rock and synthpop, and their lyrics were left-wing and anti-imperialist, with songs like "C. C. Cowboys", "" (Always Red, Always Right), and "" (Where?s the Wolf?) inspired by Russian Communist poet Mayakovsky.

Widely successful in Sweden and Scandinavia, even toured overseas, playing in the United States and in Cuba, Central America and South America. In 1988, released their only album in English, under the name , containing translated versions of their old songs. But in spite of an intensive promotional tour through Europe, the album was only a success in Sweden, and this put an end to plans for an international career.

Their original name (meaning The Space Empire), was taken from the Star Wars movie The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Swedish title being .

Line-ups

(1983-1984)
Joakim Th?str?m - lead vocals, lead guitar
Stry Terrarie - lead vocals, organ, guitar
Christian Falk - bass, backing vocals
Gunnar Ljungstedt - drums
Per H?gglund - syntheziser, saxophone
(1984-1985)
Joakim Th?str?m - lead vocals, lead guitar
Christian Falk - bass, backing vocals
Gunnar Ljungstedt - drums
Per H?gglund - syntheziser, saxophone
(1985-1987)
Joakim Th?str?m - lead vocals, lead guitar
Christian Falk - bass, backing vocals
Per H?gglund - syntheziser, saxophone
Fred Asp - drums
(1987-1988)
Joakim Th?str?m - lead vocals, lead guitar
Christian Falk - bass, backing vocals
Fred Asp - drums

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperiet