Songs From Sweden Advent Calendar [20] Quiz

Answer:

The ten correct answers were all top ten hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 for one of three Swedish bands: Roxette, Ace of Base and Europe.

Roxette was originally formed by the duo Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson and performed from the mid-1980s until Frederiksson's death at the age of 61 in 2019, following a long battle with cancer. They released their debut album 'Pearls of Passion' in 1986, which succeeded in reaching number two on Sweden's national record chart but didn't achieve similar results internationally. They had the peak of their success between 1989 and 1991, when they gained international recognition and had a total of six major hit singles, which reached either number one or number two on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band reformed in 2024 with Lena Philipsson (a former representative of Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest) replacing Marie Fredriksson as the female vocalist.

The singles 'The Look' and 'Listen to Your Heart' from their second album 'Look Sharp!' were their first to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. These were followed by a re-release of their song 'It Must Have Been Love' on the soundtrack to the 1990 film 'Pretty Woman' and 1991 release 'Joyride', which also made it to number one on the charts of Sweden, Australia, Canada and various other European nations.

Ace of Base first formed in the late 1980s but only took that name in 1991 when the band's line up consisted of three siblings - Jonas, Linn and Jenny Berggren - and Jonas' friend Ulf Elkberg. They had a string of top ten hits during the 1990s across Europe, Canada and the US, with singles taken from their albums 'Happy Nation' (released in North America as 'The Sign'), 'The Bridge' and 'Flowers' (released in North America as 'Cruel Summer').

Their 1992 single 'All That She Wants' was their first number one hit on the Canadian and UK singles charts and reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, while 'The Sign' became their first number one in the US a year later. 'Don't Turn Around' (1994) and 'Cruel Summer' (1998) both made it into the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Europe are a Swedish rock group who first performed under that name in 1982 but originated under the name 'Force' in 1979. The band later went through several changes of line up, with the only consistent factor being lead vocalist Joey Tempest - although John Norum, Mic Michaeli, John Leven and Ian Haugland are also long-serving members of the group.

Europe's biggest hit single was the titular track from their 1986 album 'The Final Countdown'. This song went to number one on the UK singles chart and 24 other countries worldwide (including in their native Sweden), as well as reaching the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100 (it peaked at number eight). Their 1987 single 'Carrie' - from the same album - reached number three in the US but was less successful elsewhere.

The red herrings by ABBA that you needed to avoid are mostly a selection of their well-known hits, such as 'Dancing Queen', 'Fernando', 'Take a Chance on Me', 'The Winner Takes it All', 'The Name of the Game' and 'SOS'. These also feature on the soundtracks of the jukebox musical films 'Mamma Mia' and 'Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again'. However, 'Summer Night City' and 'People Need Love' are more likely to be familiar to owners of the band's various greatest hits albums and 'Don't Shut Me Down' and 'I Still Have Faith In You' are both 2021 singles from their 'Voyage' album, which was released almost 40 years after ABBA split in 1982.