Earlier this week we were reminded of a minor cultural institution that has sustained itself in Sweden for the last 15 years – the Graaf Sisters! ‘Give It Up’ started playing on our iPod and we were instantly stopped in our tracks thanks to THAT intro! ‘Give It Up’ was the second single taken from their first and only album, ‘Graaf’. Released in 1998, it also spawned the number one single ‘You Got (What I Want)’, which is equally up our bunting clad street. The whole album is a joy though. It’s a wonderful snap shot of cheesy, manufactured eurodance in the late nineties. Fisher price beats, identikit synths, a serotonin teasing bpm, and charmingly weak vocals – with an album sleeve unmasking said vocalists as blonde stunners with massive racks of breastage! How we’ve missed that era.
Here’s ‘Give It Up’ to give you a taste of exactly what we mean. Unfortunately, it cuts out the stunning intro that we’re treated to on the album, but the visuals more than make up for it! Our favourite part is the club scene. Although we’re not quite sure why they stopped off on the way to the club, to have a mini pyjama party, when they’d set off in style in a limo, sipping champagne!
The album was a success, partly due to their notoriety in Sweden by that stage. The youngest sister Hannah had become a glamour model in the early nineties, but once Magdalena got in on the game, their stars really shot through the roof. Their habit of doing nude shoots together caused much excitement around the country, both of the positive and negative kind. So whilst every young Swedish gentleman had enjoyed a spunk (we mean that tasty brand of Scandinavian licorice candy, get your minds out of the gutter!!!) over pictures of the pair flaunting a faux lesbian pose, many more Swedes were up in arms over the incestuous style photos. Thankfully, rather than shying away from such criticism, the Graaf sisters instead used the video for their debut single ‘You Got (What I Want)’, to depict themselves as high class prostitutes who then turn out to be honey traps!
Here it is for your audio and visual pleasure;
Unfortunately, they threw in the musical towel (covered in fake tan stains no doubt) after only one album to pursue marriage and children. We had a brief reminder of their brilliance when Hannah Graaf competed in Melodifestivalen with the sixties pastiche (well ahead of her time, obviously – Duffy and Amy Winehouse take note) ‘Naughty Boy’. Magdalena Graaf competed in the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing this year, but so far her only brush with Melodifestivalen is when her husband allegedly cheated on her with Linda Bengtzing. 🙁
Here’s Hannah’s ‘Naughty Boy’ though;
A regrettable loss to music that we’ll hopefully get back one day.
