Mascots, The

Formed in Stockholm in 1963, this successful Swedish group issued around twenty singles and two LPs between 1964 and 1968, reaching the Swedish Top Ten with five of their 45s.

Although they wrote much of their own material, most of their releases were imitative of British Invasion pop. The ultra-catchy, close-harmony number Words Enough to Tell You is a gem of the genre and reached #6 in Sweden in 1965. It’s the Mascots’ track non-Swedes are most likely to be familiar with, although.

Their 1966 single I Want to Live was a little tougher and weirder and has been included on some compilations of rare “Freakbeat”.

This direction wasn’t explored by the band on any other releases. In fact, their output was erratic and included most genres from Nordic folklore-influenced Merseybeat to middle-of-the-road pop-folk-rock.

Combined with their slight grasp of English, this almost ensured The Mascots remained unknown to the English-speaking world (like virtually all Swedish acts of the time).

The group called it a day in August 1969.

Stefan Ringbom
Vocals, guitar
Gunnar Idering
Guitar, vocals
Anders Forsslund
Bass, vocals
Rolf “Boffe” Adolfsson
Drums, vocals
Kjell Jeppson 
Drums, vocals

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