Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Sexual Revolution...



With the fabulous news about the return of Army Of Lovers, here is a quick look back at one of the most controversial and FUN groups of the 90s!

Army Of Lovers were founded in 1987 in Sweden. The founding members, who had all worked together in a band called Barbie, were Alexander Bard, Jean-Pierre Barda and Camilla Henemark (aka La Camilla).

Army of Lovers scored several Top 10 hits in Europe, the biggest being "Crucified", which was one of the biggest selling European singles of 1991, and stayed at #1 on the Eurochart for eight consecutive weeks. Their total album sales were seven million copies worldwide.

While Alexander Bard was the "brain" behind the band, Jean-Pierre Barda was the lead vocalist on hits such as "Crucified" and "Israelism". Bard and Barda were the only two band members who were present throughout all of the band's various line-ups. When La Camilla left the band in 1991, she was replaced by Michaela Dornonville de la Cour. In 1993, Dominika Peczynski joined, making the band a four-piece. In 1995, Dornoville de la Cour left and Henemark returned.


Third album, The Gods of Earth and Heaven was never published in the US due to its suggestive lyrical content. Record company Giant wanted the group to make a clean American version for US markets but they refused to make any modifications to the album. Giant reacted by abolishing their recording contact. Both the album and the single "La plage de Saint-Tropez" became highly successful in China and Japan and the single single received a plenty of radio play also in several European countries. The controversial single "Israelism" topped charts in Israel despite of being subject for criticism and the video being banned on MTV

During their time together, Army Of Lovers became famous for their outlandish visual appearance and music videos that were both hilarious and controversial.


Although both "Obsession" and "Sexual Revolution" reached the top spot of the Eurocharts, their presence in the US and the UK was limited to club chart successes (though "Crucified" reached the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1992). They released four studio albums, made over twenty music videos, and became successful across Eastern Europe before Bard disbanded the group to concentrate on his new group Vacuum in 1996. The band reformed briefly in 2001.


They also joined forces again in 2007 for two shows, one at G-A-Y in London and one in Moscow. Bard, Peczyniski and Barda were present, but Henemark was replaced by an inflatable doll. The original lineup are now back together to perform at the 2013 Melodifestivalen and to release a new greatest hits compilation.


The albums:

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Some of the singles:









The compilations:

File:AOLLGH.jpgFile:AOLLGD.jpg

The funniest collection of music videos you will ever see, released in DVD in 2005:



And last but not least: some of the clips:




And a short look into the demented minds of this lovely group:



Can't wait to see what they have in store next year!

5 comments:

ShineOnAndOn said...

Fabulous post! -nobody does retrospective posts like you do! Congrats xoxoMM

Barbarella's Galaxy said...

Thank you sweetums :) Let us sing in harmony now: "Iiiiiiiim Cruuucifiiiied..."

Jon said...

I'm singing! I'm singing...

Definitely one of the campest bands, ever! I adore them - thanks for an excellent retropective!

Jx

Thunderbitch said...

Have I heard of this group before? it does sound like something I might have danced to at one point or another...... Oh now I remember it is one of my all time favorite bands of which I have all their albums and shake my little tuus to on regular occasions :) and yes the dvd (which you gave me) if the funniest music video dvd you will ever watch :*

luv jú beib

Barbarella's Galaxy said...

I think we both may have danced to a couple of their tracks or so, back when we were young girls...

That DVD is a treat - "simply"!

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