Monica Zetterlund

Monica Zetterlund
Background information
Birth name	Eva Monica Nilsson
Born	(1937-09-20)20 September 1937 Hagfors, Sweden
Died	Stockholm, Sweden
Genres	Vocal jazz
Occupation(s)	Singer, actress

Monica Zetterlund (20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) was a Swedish singer and actress.

Biography

Zetterlund, born Eva Monica Nilsson, was a Swedish singer particularly noted for her jazz work. She began by learning the classic jazz songs from radio and records, initially not knowing the language and what they sang about in English. Hit songs included "Sakta vi gå genom stan" (Swedish cover of "Walking My Baby Back Home"; in Swedish a tribute to Stockholm town), "Visa från Utanmyra", "Sista jäntan", "Trubbel", "Gröna små äpplen" ("Little Green Apples"), "Monicas vals" ("Waltz for Debby"), "Stick iväg, Jack!" ("Hit the Road Jack"), "Att angöra en brygga", "Var blev ni av", "Måne över Stureplan" (cover of Sting's "Moon Over Bourbon Street") and "Under vinrankan!", among many, many others.

She also interpreted the works of such Swedish singer-songwriters as Evert Taube, Olle Adolphson and Povel Ramel, and all through her life interpreted the works of international and American jazz musicians/song writers. She worked with some of the greatest international jazz names including Louis Armstrong, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Steve Kuhn and Quincy Jones, and in the Scandinavian jazz world with people like Georg Riedel, Egil Johansen, Arne Domnérus, Svend Asmussen and Jan Johansson.

In 1964 she recorded the critically acclaimed jazz album Waltz for Debby with Bill Evans, a record she herself described as "the best I've done" and was most proud of. Her long career also included the song "En gång i Stockholm" ("Winter City"); a jazz ballad with which she represented Sweden in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest. She finished last, however (mainly because the song genre was not suitable for the competition) and scored the infamous nul points, but still managed to remain successful in Sweden. Her collaboration with the comic duo Hasse & Tage (in the 1960s and 1970s) eventually led to a stage career in revues and films. Memorable are her parts in films Att angöra en brygga, Äppelkriget and Jan Troell's Utvandrarna (aka The Emigrants; with Liv Ullman and Max von Sydow in the leads) for which Zetterlund received a Guldbagge Award for Best Supporting Actress. She appeared in more than 20 films and television series throughout her life.

Health and death

She suffered from severe scoliosis, and as a result was forced to retire from performing in 1999. She made her last lengthy official tour in 1997, and gave one of her last concerts at Sweden's Hultsfred Festival (which usually is a festival for pop and rock bands; but she participated anyway - and the young rock audience loved her). In the last years of her life she used a wheelchair because of her scoliosis. On 12 May 2005, she died following an accidental fire in her apartment in Stockholm.

Discography

Albums

• Swedish Sensation (1958)
• Ahh! Monica (1962)
• Make Mine Swedish style (1964)
• Waltz for Debby (1964) (with Bill Evans)
• Ohh! Monica (1965)
• Monica Zetterlund. (1967)
• Monica – Monica (1971)
• Chicken Feathers (1972) (with Steve Kuhn)
• Den sista jäntan (1973)
• Hej, man! (1975)
• It Only Happens Every Time (1977) (with the Thad Jones / Mel Lewis Orchestra)
• Monica Zetterlund - Ur Svenska Ords Arkiv (1982)
• Holiday for Monica (1983)
• Monica Zetterlund sjunger Olle Adolphson (1983)
• For Lester And Billie (1983) (a tribute to Lester Young and Billie Holiday)
• Monica Z (1989)
• Varsamt (1991)
• Nu är det skönt att leva (1992)
• Topaz (1993)
• Ett lingonris som satts i cocktailglas (1995) (6 CD Collection Box)
• The Lost Tapes @ Bell Sound Studios NYC (1960/1996) (the lost American recordings from 1960)
• Det finns dagar (1997)
• Bill Remembered (2000) (tribute album to Bill Evans)
• Z - Det bästa med Monica Zetterlund (2005) (best of-album)

Notable songs

• "Va' e' de' där" ("Dat Dere" with Swedish lyrics by Beppe Wolgers.)
• "En gång i Stockholm"
• "Sakta vi gå genom stan" ("Walkin' My Baby Back Home" with Swedish lyrics by Beppe Wolgers.)

Selected filmography

• Swedish Portraits (1964) (Svenska bilder)
• Docking the Boat (1965) (Att angöra en brygga)
• Night Games (1966) (Nattlek)
• The Apple War (1971) (Äppelkriget)
• The Emigrants (1971) (Utvandrarna)
• The New Land (1972) (Nybyggarna)
• Stubby (1974) (Fimpen)
• Guttersnipes (1974) (Rännstensungar)
• Sweden for the Swedes (1980) (Sverige åt svenskarna)
• The Children from Blue Lake Mountain (1980) (Barnen från Blåsjöfjället)

External links

• Official site - Monica Zetterlund Society & Memory Fund (in Swedish)
• News report of her death (in Swedish)
• Monica Zetterlund at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by Inger Berggren with "Sol och vår"

Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963

Succeeded by Ingvar Wixell with "Absent Friend"