Ted Gärdestad

Ted Arnbjörn Gärdestad (Swedish: [ˈtɛdː ˈjæ̂ːɖɛˌstɑːd]; 18 February 1956 – 22 June 1997), known internationally as Ted, was a Swedish singer, songwriter, and actor. Gärdestad began his acting career in 1966 and began playing music in 1971, signing with Polar Music. Assigned with in-house producers Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, Gärdestad released his first single, "Hela världen runt," in late 1971 and worked closely with the four members of ABBA to create his debut album Undringar (1972). As Polar Music's best-selling solo artist (aside from ABBA), he continued to work with the group members throughout the 1970s, releasing three more albums Ted (1973), Upptåg (1974) and Franska Kort (1976), which were moderately successful. In 1978, Gärdestad released his first English-language album, Blue Virgin Isles, which did not have success internationally, as his predecessor albums had in his home country.

In 1979, Ted and his brother Kenneth Gärdestad played at Melodifestivalen, the competition to select Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Satellit." They won the competition which allowed them to represent Sweden at Eurovision held in Jerusalem. Gärdestad attempted once more to enter a song at Melodifestivalen but was unsuccessful. He left the music industry shortly thereafter, to try acting. By the 1990s, he played with other musicians such as Harpo. Gärdestad toured extensively starting in 1994 until he died by suicide in 1997. A biographical film about Gärdestad was released in 2018, called Ted: För kärlekens skull.

Early life

Ted Arnbjörn Gärdestad was born to Arne and Margit Gärdestad (née Sjöholm) on 18 February 1956 in Sollentuna, Stockholm County. He was the youngest of three siblings and had two older brothers: Kjell and Kenneth. The family lived in Sollentuna during Ted's childhood.

Career

1962–1974

Ted Gärdestad began his career as a musician in 1962, playing accordion on Swedish television at the age of six years. His debuted as an actor in 1966 when he landed a part in the television advent calendar series En småstad vid seklets början (A Small Town at the Turn of the Century). In 1970, Gärdestad had a minor role in the American film Story of a Woman alongside Bibi Andersson, Robert Stack and James Farentino. Gärdestad was also a promising tennis player. At 14 he ranked second in his age group in Sweden after Björn Borg, and once considered a career as a professional tennis player but instead chose a career in music. In 1971, 15-year-old Ted and his eight-year-older brother Kenneth Gärdestad contacted the record company Polar Music and showed an audition tape to Stig "Stikkan" Anderson, who would later manage the pop group ABBA. Ted was composer and singer, while Kenneth wrote lyrics to Ted's melodies, a collaboration that continued throughout Ted's career. Anderson subsequently signed Ted to the label and assigned him to in-house producers Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.

Debut single

In late 1971, Gärdestad released his first single, the gospel-influenced "Hela världen runt" ("All Over the World"). The follow-up single, an acoustic ballad "Jag vill ha en egen måne" ("I Want a Moon of My Own"), a song he wrote at age 12, brought him to the attention of the Swedish public. He quickly became the country's first teen idol, and toured on the folkpark circuit. Andersson and Ulvaeus produced Ted's debut album Undringar ("Wonderings"), which was released on Polar Music in early 1972 and spent 10 weeks at the top of the Kvällstoppen combined singles and albums chart. Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad providing backing vocals on the album, and all four members of ABBA continued to work with Gärdestad during the 1970s. His albums Undringar (1972), Ted (1973), Upptåg (1974) and Franska Kort (1976) were produced with the same recording and production techniques, engineers (including Michael B. Tretow) and musicians, as contemporaneous ABBA recordings.

In February 1973, Gärdestad entered Melodifestivalen 1973, the competition to select Sweden's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The song "Oh, vilken härlig dag" ("Oh What a Lovely Day") came joint fourth. A quartet known as Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid finished third with a song called "Ring Ring (Bara du slog en signal)." Gärdestad had another attempt in Melodifestivalen 1975 with the song "Rockin' 'n' Reelin'"; Svenne and Lotta placed third with "Bang-A-Boomerang" and Gärdestad finished seventh but the song became a hit single on radio charts Svensktoppen, Heta Högen and Kvällstoppen. Gärdestad and his brother Kenneth returned to Melodifestivalen in 1977 and performed the song "Det bästa som finns" ("The Best of All") with Polar Music labelmate Lena Andersson. They finished eighth out of ten entries, and Gärdestad did not record the track.

1975–1979

By 1975, Ted had become a noted star in Sweden. He was prominently featured in teen magazines Starlet, Mitt Livs Novell and Poster, his love life was covered by the national newspapers, he had a fan club, and all of his albums were certificated gold and sold well in the rest of Scandinavia. Aside from Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid/ABBA and Anni-Frid Lyngstad he was Polar Music's best-selling artist. Stikkan had plans to launch him internationally and Ted recorded both Swedish and English versions of "Rockin' 'n' Reelin'" as well as an English version of an earlier hit, "Jag ska fånga en ängel" ("I'm Going to Catch An Angel"), with the title "Gonna Make You My Angel," the latter with lyrics by Gary Osborne; neither were a significant hit. Australian pop singer Mark Holden did, however, have a major success in Australia with "Jag ska fånga en ängel" under the title "I Wanna Make You My Lady" in 1976.

By 1977, Gärdestad was faced with a dilemma common to many child stars and teen idols; as he grew up so did his audiences. The time of teen mania and screaming crowds in the folkparks was declining and Polar in-house producers Björn and Benny, who had played an important part in his early success were now busy writing, producing and promoting ABBA and could no longer give Gärdestad or other Polar artists their full attention. 1975 resulted in the release of one single, the Melodifestivalen entry "Rockin' 'n' Reelin'." In 1976, the label released the album Franska Kort ("French Cards" – an expression for a fairly innocent type of late 19th-century pornography), only partly recorded with Björn and Benny and co-produced by Tretow and Janne Schaffer. The album produced hit singles "Angela," "Chapeau-Claque" (French for top hat), "När showen är slut" ("When the Show is Over") and "Klöversnoa," a novelty folk dance parody with Benny and Gärdestad playing accordion. The album peaked at No. 3, making it his first album not to top the Swedish charts, and it left the chart after 22 weeks, a moderate success compared to his previous releases. In 1977, ABBA and most of the Polar Music crew including musicians and sound engineers went on their first world tour, making ABBA: The Movie and recording ABBA: The Album – as an indirect result, Gärdestad did not release an album that year.

International career

Stig Anderson still thought Gärdestad had some international potential, and he and his brother Kenneth travelled to Hollywood in late 1977 to record Gärdestad's first English-language album Blue Virgin Isles. The west coast rock orientated album featured contributions from American and English musicians including Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro, Jim Keltner, David Hungate, Jay Graydon, Dr. John and John Mayall, many of whom were Gärdestad's personal idols. Blue Virgin Isles was released worldwide in late 1978 on Epic Records, and produced the singles "Take Me Back To Hollywood," an English version of "Chapeau-Clacque," and "Love, You're Making All The Fools". Despite the expensive production and the big push to launch Gärdestad—including promotional appearances alongside ABBA—his Swedish success did not translate internationally. In Sweden, the album peaked at No. 29 and spent one week on the chart. Thirty years after its original release, Blue Virgin Isles remains Gärdestad 's only studio album that has not been re-released on CD by Polar Music/PolyGram/Universal Music Group.