Moderna Tider (english: Modern Times) is the second studio album by Swedish pop group Gyllene Tider, released on 10 March 1981 through Parlophone. In 1980, Gyllene Tider became nationally famous, with their debut album and debut single reaching number one on the Topplistan chart. Shortly after this success, the production of a follow-up album was started, with vocalist Per Gessle presenting several songs to EMI A & R man Kjell Andersson, who rejected them for being too formulaic and imitative of their debut album. Recording sessions for the album started in July 1980 at EMI Studios in Skärmarbrink, Stockholm with producer Lasse Lindbom. The bulk of the album was recorded in August 1980, wrapping up in January 1981. By that point, the album had been pre-ordered in 140,000 copies in Sweden, an impressive number at the time.
Unlike the band's debut album, Moderna Tider is entirely self-composed, with the bulk of the material penned solely by Gessle, but features creative contributions from the entire band. The composition of the album was largely inspired by the pop rock and power pop by Elvis Costello and the Attractions along with the jangle poppy Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, whilst the sound was inspired by the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Phil Spector. The album was named after the Charlie Chaplin movie Modern Times, following several rejected title ideas relating to male ejaculation. In conjunction with Moderna Tider, Gyllene Tider also recorded an extended play consisting of Swedish language-covers of the band's favorite British and American pop songs called Swing & Sweet!, which was issued with original copies of the album.
Largely fueled by Gyllene Tider's third single "När vi två blir en" ("When We Two Become One"), which became the band's biggest hit singles and a television appearance for Sweden's Television, Moderna Tider was extremely anticipated once it was released. It debuted at number one on the Swedish album chart, remaining on the top for three weeks. By the end of 1981 the album had sold over 400,000 copies in Sweden. Upon release, Moderna Tider received mainly positive reviews in the press, with most critics noting the more refined production compared to their debut album. It has since been re-issued on CD several times, occasionally with bonus tracks.
During the band's tour in support of the album, at a performance in Kristianopel, three people were killed during a stampede when attempting to enter the concert area.
Background and recording On 18 February 1980, Swedish pop band Gyllene Tider released their debut album Gyllene Tider through Parlophone Records. Fueled largely by the success of their number-one debut single "Flickorna på TV2" (1979) and supporting single "Ska vi älska, så ska vi älska till Buddy Holly" (1980), the album reached number one on the albums chart for one week in June 1980, propelling Gyllene Tider to national stardom. Amidst the band's first national tour, EMI Records A & R man Kjell Andersson contacted the band's lead vocalist Per Gessle regarding a follow-up album. Gessle responded by stating that he had solely written "Instant Hits"; a statement he had had spoken to Andersson in January 1979 prior to their recording contract. Following this, Gessle sent Andersson a demo tape containing songs intended for the follow-up album, the latter having high-expectations for the recordings. However, the recordings disappointed Andersson, as they "followed the same lyrical formula that had worked on previous albums", mostly regarding sexual intercourse. Andersson believed that these demos went overboard "to the point the band pariodied themselves.Despite Andersson's opinions regarding the tracks, recording of the album commenced on 15 July 1980 at EMI's Studios in Skärmarbrink, Stockholm together with producer Lasse Lindbom, almost "a year after the band stepped into the studio to record their debut album". Unlike Gyllene Tider, which's sessions were held in EMI's studio 2, these sessions were held in studio 1 which was bigger, allowing for the band to achieve an ambience in drummer Micke "Syd" Andersson's drum kit. Initially, attempts were made to produce a suitable single in time for the Christmas market and by August of that year, Gyllene Tider had recorded six songs that they and Andersson agreed on: "Vänta på mej!" ("Wait for me!"), "Kärleken är inte blind (Men inte närsynt)" ("Love is Not Blind (But Rather Nearsighted)"), "När vi två blir en" ("When We Two Become One"), "(Kom så ska vi) Leva livet" ("(Come On, Let's) Live Life") and "Det hjärta som brinner" ("The Heart That is Burning"). Despite this, Andersson forced the band to discard the songs he rated lowly; they carried titles such as "Cilla, söt som socker" ("Cilla, Sweet as Sugar") and "Min tjej läser Playgirl" ("My Girl Reads Playgirl").
This put the band in a creative crisis, something that especially affected Gessle's self confidence, as he had composed most of the band's songs. According to Gessle, it was a "devilish hit, two months of work discarded when we're the biggest band in Sweden". In response, the band returns to their rehearsal space in Harplinge, where they start writing new songs for the upcoming album, which is when "Moderna Tider starts to take shape". According to Gessle, his and guitarist Mats "MP" Persson's writing required a "lot of sweat from the band". Recording of a few new songs commence in September, whilst Parlophone who were building up hype for the album, released "När vi två blir en" as the band's third single on 29 October 1980. "När vi två blir en" became Gyllene Tider's biggest hit during the 1980s, holding the top spot on the singles chart for four months between December 1980 and March 1981, selling 80,000 copies by April 1981. As a direct result, demand for Gyllene Tider's second album increased, with their debut LP reaching the top-ten in the Swedish albums chart once more.
By the time the recording of the album wrapped up in January 1981, the band had additionally come up with the idea of issuing a covers-only bonus extended play accompanying the album; they were inspired by Rockpile's EP Nick Lowe & Dave Edmunds Sing The Everly Brothers, which had accompanied their 1980 album Seconds of Pleasure. Two songs recorded during the sessions for Moderna Tider were "För dina bruna ögons skull" ("For Your Brown Eyes Sake") and "Vem tycker om dig" ("Who Likes You"); however, the band felt that they were unfinished, so they were instead released on a fan club single in February 1982. During a meeting between the band and EMI executives during a dinner at Operakällaren, Stockholm, the Swedish CEO of EMI Rolf Nygren stood up and proclaimed that Moderna Tider had been pre-ordered in roughly 140,000 copies. According to Gessle, the band members had "expected 30,000 pre-orders" and realized the "scale of the band's popularity" for the first time at the time, describing it as a "strange" feeling.
Content and songs
Overview In contrast to Gyllene Tider (1980), where nine out of the ten songs were co-penned by Per Gessle with guitarist Mats "MP" Persson, Moderna Tider instead was largely exclusively written by Gessle, who received sole writing credit on eight of the album's 13 tracks. However, Persson is featured as a co-writer on most songs composed after Kjell Andersson's rejection in July 1980, and as such is credited as a co-writer on five tracks. Excluding the contents found on the Swing & Sweet EP, Moderna Tider is the first album by Gyllene Tider to be entirely self-composed and lack covers. Despite Gessle's songwriting dominance over the content, most of their bandmembers were included in the creative process; keyboardist Göran Fritzon, without credit, wrote the Farfisa organ intro and hook to the hit single "När vi två blir en". Singer-songwriter Niklas Strömstedt was also a large part of Moderna Tider's development, inspiring the band members with various phrases. Strömstedt thus sings backing vocals on several songs found on the album. The acoustics for the album were in large part derived from Bruce Springsteen's 1980 single "Hungry Heart" which is especially evident on Micke "Syd" Andersson's drum performance throughout the album. Inspired by Tom Petty, Gyllene Tider avoided using distortion on the guitar parts, instead opting for a "clean sound".
The album's title and album cover was additionally conceptualized and revised on several instances. Andersson rejected the initial title Varför vill ingen kyssa Ragnar? (Why Does Nobody Want to Kiss Ragnar?). The album cover where Gyllene Tider are depicted through a camera lens instead had origins in one of the discarded early titles for the album, Självutlösning, (Self Ejaculation) which is a Swedish language-pun regarding the fact that the words for camera shutters and ejaculation are the same. This idea was scrapped by the band themselves, as EMI would most likely ban it for the overtly sexual message. Instead, the band took the title Moderna Tider, which is the Swedish translation of the Charlie Chaplin Modern Times (1936). The band members took the back cover photos themselves at EMI Studios during the recording of the album, whilst Kjell Andersson was in charge of the graphic design.
The concept behind the Swing & Sweet EP was more straightforward. It solely contains four covers of both British and American pop groups, described by producer Hasse Huss as being the member's "four favorite songs", all of whom were translated with Swedish language-lyrics penned by Gessle. The EP opens with "Gyllene Tider för rock'n'roll", a cover of Mott the Hoople's 1974 single "The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll", which is where Gyllene Tider took their band name from. Additionally, "Jag vill ha ett svar" is more contemporary, being a cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 1977 single "I Need to Know"; retrospectively Gessle allegedly received a telex from Petty's manager, who stated that Petty liked the Gyllene Tider recording of the song. Side two of the EP are dedicated to cover songs by the Beatles and the Beach Boys, whom the Gyllene Tider members were fans of during their childhood. In "Ge mej inte det där", a cover of Beach Boys "Girl Don't Tell Me" (1965), Gyllene Tider were especially influenced by the production of Phil Spector.
Side one Moderna Tider opens with the song "Vänta på mej!" ("Wait For Me!"), which is an "Elvis Costello and the Attractions-esque song" that features a "start-stop" guitar rhythm, alongside feigned stuttering during the vocals. Lyrically, the song is about a man buying a train ticket "towards rock and roll", but accidentally purchases a ticket in the wrong direction, where everybody "was jamming jazz", to which the character gets allergies and dysentery. The lyrical content about buying a train ticket to a "mythical location" is comparable to Gyllene Tider's song "Himmel no. 7" ("Heaven Number Seven)", which had appeared on their debut album. "Tuff tuff tuff (Som ett lokomotiv)" ("Choo Choo Choo (Like a Locomotive)") is lyrically another pun in the Swedish language; "Tuff" meaning both "tough" and "choo" in the context of a steam locomotive, the double entendre being utilized as the narrator encourages another person to "toughen up like a locomotive". Musically, it heavily features Fritzon's brief fills on his farfisa organ.