Blue Swede - Hooked On A Feeling (1974) + Bonus Singles

(Swedish 1973 - 1979)

Blue Swede was first formed in 1973, when Björn Skifs, a top vocalist in Sweden, was looking for a band to accompany him during his concerts.

The band was originally called "Blåblus" (Swedish for "blue blouse" [could be made out of denim], a pun on the word "blues") and featured Skifs singing the lead vocals. The band got their international breakthrough in 1974 with their cover of the 1968 B. J. Thomas song "Hooked on a Feeling". Blue Swede recorded Thomas's song in 1973, but based its rendition of the song on a 1971 version released by British pop eccentric Jonathan King, which created the "ooga-chaka" introduction.

The producer at the recording sessions was Bengt Palmers. Blue Swede released "Hooked on a Feeling" in Sweden in May 1973 and in the United States in February 1974. The song reached number one in the U.S. for one week in April 1974 and stayed in the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 18 weeks. The track also topped charts in Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands, where it reached a peak chart #26. To capitalize on the success of the song, Blue Swede released the album 'Hooked on a Feeling' that same year.

Throughout the rest of 1974, two follow-up singles from the same LP were released: "Silly Milly", which peaked at #71 in the U.S., and a cover of The Association's "Never My Love", which made the Top Ten by peaking at #7. From the band's 1974 follow-up album, 'Out of the Blue', they recorded a medley of "Hush" by Deep Purple and "I'm Alive" by Tommy James and the Shondells (not The Hollies' song of the same name), peaking at #61 in the U.S., and achieving its greatest chart success in Scandinavia. Skifs left the band in 1975 and the band continued as Blåblus, releasing a further two albums. [extract from Wikipedia]

Note: The LP "Hooked On A Feeling" is basically an international version of the Sweden-only album 'Pinewood Rally', when the band still named themselves Björn Skifs & Blåblus.
The song "Gotta Have Your Love" is the only "new" song on this album (actually, the American B-side to the single "Hooked On A Feeling"). All other songs can be found on the Swedish released album.

The Song: Hooked On A Feeling

“Hooked on a Feeling” was Blue Swede’s first and only song that reached number one in the United States, where the song saw the most success. The tune remained on the Billboard chart for an impressive 18 weeks. The band, however, didn’t have the same longevity. 

This song was written in 1968 by Mark James and originally performed by B.J Thomas. But this version of the song, with the earwiggy “Ooga Chaka”, was actually based on a fairly successful 1971 cover by English performer Jonathan King where the intro was first created. Blue Swede’s version also had slight lyrical changes to remove even a hint of drug use.

Not only was it the main background music of the Dancing Baby meme (see above), which was a 3D animation of a… dancing baby, it was also used in the great Marvel film 'Guardians of the Galaxy'.

Furthermore, it is also used in Quentin Tarantino’s hit 1992 crime thriller “Reservoir Dogs”. The soundtrack for the film has selections of songs from the 1960s to ‘80s, therefore it is quite essential to include a classic such as “Hooked on a Feeling”.

The song was a US Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit and Billboard later ranked it as the #20 song for 1974. [extract from genius.com]

This post consists of MP3's (320) ripped from Vinyl (thanks to Ozrebel at Midoztouch) and includes full LP artwork and label scans. This release has been re-released on CD under the title of 'The Golden Classics of Blue Swede' which includes two bonus tracks "Dr. Rock and Roll" and "Hush / I'm Alive" which were both released as seperate singles in 1975. I have included these two tracks here for your "ooga-chaka" pleasure.

Track List:
01 Hooked On A Feeling 2:52
02 Pinewood Rally 2:53
03 Silly Milly 2:53
04 Lonely Sunday Afternoon 3:12
05 Gotta Have Your Love 3:26
06 Destiny 2:31
07 Something's Burning 3:42
08 Working In The Coal Mine 2:33
09 Never My Love 2:27
10 Always Something There To Remind Me 3:39
11 Dr. Rock And Roll [Bonus Track] 2:30
12 Hush / I'm Alive [Bonus Track] 3:28

Band Members:

Björn Skifs (lead vocals),
Anders Berglund (piano),  

Bosse Liljedahl (bass), 

Hinke Ekestubbe (saxophone), 

Jan Guldbäck (drums), 

Michael Areklew (guitar),

Tommy Berglund (trumpet)

Blue Swede Link (88Mb)