A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME

LUTHER VANDROSS
SONGWRITERS: BURT BACHARACH & HAL DAVID
COUNTRY: u. s. a.
ALBUM: never too much
LABEL: epic records
Genre: soul
YEAR: 1981
 
          Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr.(April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive Platinum albums and eight Grammy Awards, including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four different times. In 2004, Vandross won a total of four Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for a song recorded not long before his death, "Dance with My Father".
       Vandross worked as a backing vocalist in the 1970s, and appeared on albums by artists such as Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, Todd Rundgren, Judy Collins, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Ben E. King, Stevie Wonder, and Donna Summer. He later became a lead singer of the group Change, which released its Gold-certified debut album, The Glow of Love, in 1980 on Warner/RFC Records. After Vandross left the group, he was signed to Epic Records as a solo artist and released his debut solo album, Never Too Much, in 1981.
       His hit songs include "Never Too Much", "Here and Now", "Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power", "I Can Make It Better" and "For You to Love". Many of his songs were covers of original music by other artists such as "If This World Were Mine" (duet with Cheryl Lynn), "Since I Lost My Baby", "Superstar", "I (Who Have Nothing)" and "Always and Forever". Duets such as "The Closer I Get to You" with Beyoncé, "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey and "The Best Things in Life Are Free" with Janet Jackson were all hit songs in his career.
       Never Too Much is the debut solo studio album by American singer Luther Vandross, released on August 12, 1981, by Epic Records. Composed by Vandross himself, the album reached number 19 on the US Billboard 200 and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA). Never Too Much earned Vandross two Grammy Award nominations in 1982, including Best New Artist and Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male.
       The album's title track topped the Black Singles chart for two weeks. Vandross's rendition of Dionne Warwick's 1964 song "A House Is Not a Home" became one of his signature songs, and received attention for its transformation into an "epic", since its duration was extended to seven minutes. In 2020, the album was ranked number 362 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
A chair is still a chair, even when there's no one sittin' there
But a chair is not a house and a house is not a home
When there's no one there to hold you tight
And no one there you can kiss goodnight
Whoa, ohh, girl
 
A room is still a room, oh, even when there's nothin' there but gloom
But a room is not a house and a house is not a home
When the two of us are far apart
And one of us has a broken heart
 
Now and then I call your name
And suddenly your face appears
But it's just a crazy game
When it ends, it ends in tears
 
Pretty little darling, have a heart, don't let one mistake keep us apart
I'm not meant to live alone, turn this house into a home
When I climb the stairs and turn the key
Oh, please be there, sayin' that you're still in love with me, yeah
 
I'm not meant to live alone, turn this house into a home
When I climb the stairs and turn the key
Oh, please be there, still in love
I said still in love
Still in love with me, yeah
 
Are you gonna be in love with me?
I want you and need you to be, yeah
Still in love with me
Say you're gonna be in love with me
It's drivin' me crazy to think that my baby
Couldn't be still in love with me
 
Are you gonna be, say you're gonna be
Are you gonna be, say you're gonna be
Are you gonna be, say you're gonna be
Well, well, well, well
Still in love, so in love, still in love with me?
 
Are you gonna be
Say that you're gonna be
 
Still in love with me, yeah
With me, ohh
Still in love with me, yeah.

SAKTA VI GÅ GENOM STAN

MONICA ZETTERLUND
SONGWRITERS: FRED E. AHLERT
TRANSELATED BY: BEPPE WOLGERS
COUNTRY: SWEDEN
ALBUM: AHH! MONICA!
LABEL: PHILIPS RECORDS
GENRE: JAZZ
YEAR: 1962
 
       Monica Zetterlund(born Eva Monica Nilsson; 20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) was a Swedish jazz singer and actress. Through her lifetime, she starred in over 10 Swedish film productions and recorded over 20 studio albums. She gained international fame through her collaborative album with Bill Evans, Waltz for Debby.
         Zetterlund began by learning the classic jazz songs from radio and records, initially not knowing the language and what they sang about in English. Her hit songs included "Sakta vi gå genom stan" (Swedish cover of "Walking My Baby Back Home"; in Swedish a tribute to Stockholm town), "Visa från Utanmyra", "Sista jäntan", "Trubbel", "Gröna små äpplen" ("Little Green Apples"), "Monicas vals" ("Waltz for Debby"), "Stick iväg, Jack!" ("Hit the Road Jack"), "Att angöra en brygga", "Var blev ni av", "Måne över Stureplan" (cover of Sting's "Moon Over Bourbon Street") and "Under vinrankan!", among many others.
         She also interpreted the works of such Swedish singer-songwriters as Evert Taube, Olle Adolphson and Povel Ramel, as well as international jazz musicians/songwriters. She worked with leading American players including Louis Armstrong, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Steve Kuhn and Quincy Jones, and in the Scandinavian jazz world with people like Georg Riedel, Egil Johansen, Arne Domnérus, Svend Asmussen and Jan Johansson. Zetterlund and Hagge Geigert in 1967
       In 1964, she recorded the jazz album Waltz for Debby, featuring Bill Evans, a record she herself described and was the most proud of. Her professional skill was amply demonstrated in this album in performing the challenging Harold Arlen song, "So Long, Big Time".
Åh det är skönt när mitt Stockholm är grönt
sakta gå hem genom stan
En kyss sen går man sakta igen
sakta en tur genom stan
 
Åh det är natt och på avstånd hörs skratt
Och man går hem genom stan
En doft av hö från nån ljuv skärgårdsö
smyger sig tyst intill stan
 
Precis som din arm så lätt och så varm
känns sommarens vind mot min kind
Och natten står still den finns inte till
en tystnad en skugga en vind
 
Den är så kort och den glider tyst bort
när trastarna vakna i stan
Klockan är två hela himlen är blå
sakta vi går genom stan
 
Sakta hitåt ror en man i en båt
stannar och ser på en svan
Allt är tyst och jag tiger nyss kysst
sakta vi går genom stan
 
På Västerbron i den himmelska ron
en spårvagn går ensam och tom
Alla hus målar natten i ljus
hemligt går träden i blom
 
Här bor en miljon
säg hör de den ton som Stockholm nu spelar för dem
De far härifrån långt bort härifrån
men Stockholm det är ju vårt hem
 
Vart vi än går vet jag Stockholm är vår
när vi går hem genom stan
Här går vi med en tyst melodi
ensamma i hela stan
 
Så stannar vi till vid fåglarnas drill
vi känner en doft av viol
Och glada vi hör en jublande kör
då stiger en gnistrande sol
 
Åh det är skönt när mitt Stoclkholm är grönt
sakta en natt då i stan
En kyss sen börja vandra igen
sakta gå hem genom stan
sakta gå hem genom stan
sakta gå hem genom stan.

 STAD I LJUS

TOMMY KÖRBERG
SONGWRITER: Py Bäckman
COUNTRY: SWEDEN
WHERE: EUROVISION 1988
ALBUM: ...ÄR...
LABEL: LITTLE BIG APPLE RECORDS
GENRE: POP(SCHLAGER)
YEAR: 1988
 
   Bert Gustav Tommy Körberg(Swedish pronunciation:[ˈtɔ̌mːʏ ˈɕœ̂ːrbærj]; born 4 July 1948) is a Swedish singer, actor, and musician. English-speaking audiences know him best for his role as Anatoly/"The Russian" in the musical Chess. He played the role on the 1984.
           Körberg has also played the lead role in many Swedish productions of other musicals.
       From 1965 to 1968, Körberg was a singer in the Swedish pop group Tom & Mick & Maniacs, which went through several name changes. In August 1967, the group released the single "Somebody's Taken Maria Away", a cover of an Adam Faith song from 1965. The song went on to top the official Tio i Topp record chart for six consecutive weeks. The group had two additional hits on the chart: "Please, Please, Please" reached number five in April 1967 and "I (Who Have Nothing)" peaked at number eight in February 1968.
        Following Tom & Mick & Maniacs' break-up in 1968, Körberg released his first solo album Nature Boy.
     Körberg has represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest on two occasions. In 1969 he finished ninth with "Judy, min vän" and in 1988 he finished twelfth with "Stad i ljus".
         He has also appeared in the Swedish productions of other musicals, usually in a starring role, including The Sound of Music and Les Misérables. He was a supporting actor in the 1984 Swedish fantasy film Ronia, the Robber's Daughter, based on the novel by the same name by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.
          Körberg voiced the Beast in the Swedish dub of Beauty and the Beast, and also sang the Swedish version of the title song on the soundtrack. In the 1990s and 2000s, he took time off from other projects in order to recreate the role of Anatoly/"The Russian" in subsequent productions of Chess, including the 1994 tenth anniversary concert and the 2002 Stockholm production. For years, he collaborated with Monica and Carl-Axel Dominique in the experimental group Solar Plexus. In his own performances, he has worked extensively with Stefan Nilsson, and including songs by Jacques Brel.
       Stad i ljus is a ballad song written by Py Bäckman. Tommy Körberg sang it when he won the Melodifestivalen in 1988 and then came in twelfth place as a representative of Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988.
Min resa var mot solen, långt bortom alla slutna rum
Där allting är oändligt, och alla gränser har förevigt suddats ut
Jag ville se miraklet och höra ord som föder liv
Bli buren av en styrka, som bara växer när jag anat mitt motiv
 
Stad i ljus, i ett land utan namn
Ge mig liv, där allting föds på nytt
 
Och så när allt förändrats, när tiden inte längre finns
Så ser jag oss tillsammans, och då är resan slut
Det enda som vi minns
 
Stad i ljus, i ett land utan namn
Ge mig liv, där allting föds på nytt
Stad i ljus, i ett land utan namn
Ge, ge mig liv, där allting föds på nytt.

MJÖLNARENS IRENE

WIZEX
SONGWRITERS: LEON LANDGREN & AKE GERHARD
COUNTRY: SWEDEN
ALBUM: JORDEN SNURRAR
GENRE: POP
LABEL: WM SWEDEN
YEAR: 2006
 
        Wizex is a Swedish dansband formed in Osby in 1973. It purchased the rights to the name from a band that started as Ulrik Wittmans Kvintett in 1957. When Ulrik Wittman left the band in 1963 they started to use the name Wizex. When read out the name sounds like "The Six of Us", "vi sex", in Swedish, and it was six persons left in the band when they changed the name. Today's band had six founders and was allowed to purchase the name, and hence use 1973 as the starting point.
        Wizex broke through in 1977 when they performed on nationwide TV-show Nygammalt and got its first top ten on the Swedish charts same year with the song Vagabond. The following year they finished 2nd in the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1978.
          Big hits with Wizex were songs as Tusen och en natt, Djupa vatten, Miss Decibel, Älska mig, Om himlen och Österlen, Flickan, jägarn och priset, Jag måste nå min ängel, Som en symfoni and När vi rör varann.
            The record Take Me To Your Heaven sold 235.000 copies. The song was Charlotte Nilssons contribution to the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1999, and marked the starting point for her solo career. Wizex also had many Svensktoppen hits.
       In 1979, Wizex won the Rockbjörnen award by Aftonbladet as "dansband of the year". This was the only time this category was included
Den ene kom på hösten, just när isen bundit sjön,
den andre under vintern, muntert traskande i snön.
Fast båda hade tjänat kung och krona i armen.
Så blev de genast fiender om mjölnarens Irene.
Men flickehjärtan är ingenting att lita på,
de klappar stundom för en, lika ofta för två.
Och aldrig det händer när en flicka blir fru
att man är tre som blir ett utav tu.
För att få slut på tvisten, så sa mjölnar'n till sitt barn:
Den som ger tusen daler, får båd dej och halva kvarn!
Och friarna i världen drogo ut på flinka ben,
för att förtjäna daler och för mjölnarens Irene.
Men flickehjärtan är ingenting att lita på,
de klappar stundom för en, lika ofta för två.
Och aldrig det händer när en flicka blir fru
att man är tre som blir ett utav tu.
När fyra år var gångna, sågs en dag en ömklig syn
hur båda kommo traskande från var sitt håll mot byn.
Men inga daler hjälpte, ty för flera år se'n ren
en rikeman från grannbyn hämtat mjölnarens Irene.
Men flickehjärtan är ingenting att lita på,
de klappar stundom för en, men lika ofta för två.
Och aldrig det händer när en flicka blir fru
att man är tre som blir ett utav tu.
 
Ty flickehjärtan är ingenting att fästa sej ve'
de klappar stundom för en och två men också för tre.
Och friarna svor att aldrig mer ta' sej en fru
och är de trognaste vänner ännu.