Ace of Base
Ace of Base, 2010. L-R: Ulf Ekberg, Jonas Berggren, Julia Williamson, Clara Hagman
Background information
Origin	Gothenburg, Sweden
Genres	Pop, dance, eurodance, europop, reggae-pop
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Universal/Playground (2008–present) Arista Records/BMG (Americas/Japan, 1993–2000) Barclay (France 1993–95) Metronome (Europe, 1993–98) Polydor (Europe, 1998–2002) Mega Records (Scandinavia, 1992–2002)
Website	www.aceofbase.com
Members
Jonas Berggren Ulf Ekberg Clara Hagman Julia Williamson
Past members
Malin Berggren Jenny Berggren

Ace of Base is a pop band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Its original lineup consisted of Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, and three siblings, Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Malin "Linn" Berggren and Jenny Berggren. They released four studio albums between 1993 and 2002, which sold in excess of 37 million copies worldwide.

Happy Nation / The Sign is one of the best-selling debut albums of all time, and was certified nine times platinum in the United States.^[1] It was the first debut album to produce three number 1 singles on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart: "All That She Wants", "The Sign" and "Don't Turn Around".^[2]

Following the formal departure of singer Linn in 2007, the band performed a series of concerts as a trio in Europe and Asia from 2007 through 2009, before Jenny revealed in November 2009 that she would be taking indefinite leave from the band to focus on her own solo career.^[3] Jonas and Ulf have since recruited two new female vocalists, Clara Hagman and Julia Williamson. The new line-up released their first album together The Golden Ratio in September 2010.

Career[link]

Formation[link]

In 1987, following a number of years as part of a new romantic and punk covers band called G Konrad, Jonas Berggren formed a band with two friends, Johnny Lindén and Niklas Tränk for a school project; his sisters Linn and Jenny joined as singers. The new band went through several names: Kalinin Prospect (after an avenue in Moscow); CAD (Computer-Aided Disco); and Tech-Noir (French for black technology, after a nightclub in the film The Terminator).^[4] They toured the clubs of Sweden with their new self-written material, techno inspired by the likes of The KLF and Snap!.

Johnny left the group in 1989. Niklas made his departure known by failing to appear at a gig at Bältesspännarparken on 6 August 1990; he preferred to attend a Rolling Stones concert on the other side of town.^[5] Jonas asked his friend Ulf Ekberg to stand in for Niklas. The new quartet sought a new name to make a fresh start; Linn was reported saying: "No one could pronounce the name of the group and nobody could remember it". They settled on Ace of Base, because they were the "masters of their studio", the basement of a car-repair shop.^[6]

However the band continued to struggle to gain any recognition, partly due to the preference of heavy metal over techno in their home town, according to singer Jenny.^[7] In 1991 they responded to a newspaper ad by producer John Ballard who was looking for new talent. He was somewhat unsure about their potential, but did pass them on to Klas Lunding at Telegram Records who helped them record an early demo for the song "Wheel of Fortune" in their newly renovated studio. But it did not convince Telegram to sign the band, and other labels in Sweden still showed no sign of interest. In the end, the unfinished demo was sold for a small price to the independent Danish label Mega Records in March 1992.^[8] "Wheel of Fortune" was re-recorded and released as a single in Denmark in May but failed to hit the charts. A small-budget music video was shot and directed in a small studio by Viking Nielsson^[9] and in September, after two failures, the single finally reached the charts.

[edit] International success and Happy Nation (1993–1994)

It was another song that was to help Ace of Base's career take off internationally. After hearing Swedish top 20 hit "Another Mother" by Kayo, the band decided that was exactly the sound they wanted to create.^[10] They contacted the song's producer Denniz PoP and sent him a demo of a song called "Mr Ace". Coincidentally, the tape got stuck in the cassette tape player in his car, so he was forced to listen to it over and over again, which helped him decide to produce the track. The song became All That She Wants, a dark fusion of dub-reggae with pop which became the band's trademark sound. On release in October 1992, it quickly climbed to #1 on the Danish chart while the previous single was still sitting at #2. Keen to rush out an LP for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album and it was hastily recorded, mixed, and released within a few weeks.

Preceded by a single of the same name, the album, titled Happy Nation was an instant hit in Denmark, and its success prompted interest elsewhere in Europe. A Pan-European license was signed with Metronome/PolyGram (now Universal Music) but they were turned down by the American division. Within a few months, "All That She Wants" had reached number 3 in Sweden and had spent eight weeks at number 1 in Germany.

In April 1993 the band performed alongside Inner Circle and Dr. Alban in Tel Aviv, Israel at what would be their biggest audience ever, 55,000 people.

In May, "All That She Wants" continued to be a hit all around the world and topped the chart for three weeks in the United Kingdom. However, despite Mega Records' hard efforts to secure a distribution deal in the United States the response was always the same: "this band will never work in the States". Eventually, however, Clive Davis, founder of Arista Records, thought otherwise, and by the end of 1993 "All That She Wants" had made its way to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In order to freshen up the album for US release, Davis insisted that some new tracks were recorded, including "The Sign" which became the new title for the album and the second American single. It was even more successful than the first, spending six weeks at #1 and becoming the best-selling single of 1994. It was also a major hit in Europe, peaking at #2 in the UK and Sweden and doing one better in Germany. PolyGram re-released the album under the name Happy Nation (US Version).

Two more singles were released: "Don't Turn Around" and "Living in Danger", by Diane Warren. The former was originally recorded by Tina Turner on the b-side of a single she released which went on to become a UK #1 hit for the reggae band Aswad. Davis suggested that the band record the song and it was yet another worldwide hit. By the end of 1994, they were an international commercial success. The Ace of Base version of "Don't Turn Around" is distinguished from other versions by its use of a minor key

Ace of Base on 1994 European Music Awards[link]

In 1994 Ace of Base performed on the first ever MTV Europe Music Awards held in Germany. Ace of Base performed "Living in Danger" in the front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. They were also nominated for Best Cover with "Don't Turn Around" this year.

[edit] The Bridge (1995–1996)

Even though the band was exhausted from two long years of international promotion, they could hardly believe how successful they had become. In April 1994, a crazed German fan broke into the Berggren family's home brandishing a knife.^{[citation needed]} After managing to restrain her, the band decided that from then on they needed bodyguards. However, they were not allowed to take time to reflect before starting work on a second album because their record companies all over the world were demanding a swift follow-up. To speed up the process, instead of Jonas and Ulf writing the bulk of the album, each member was encouraged to submit his or her own tracks for consideration.^{[citation needed]}

In the end, 17 tracks made the cut of the second album titled The Bridge. It marked a considerable change of direction in sound; out were the reggae and club sounds that made the group so popular in favour of a more experimental sound and several ballads. The lead single "Lucky Love" however was a mainstream pop record and on release in October 1995 became the band's first number 1 single in Sweden, which came as a pleasant surprise as they had found that their fellow Swedes had been their harshest critics. It charted at a more modest number 13 in Germany and number 20 in the United Kingdom, but Arista Records decided that it wasn't appropriate for US release so they opted for the pulsating dance beat of "Beautiful Life" which peaked at number 15 both in the US and UK. The album was still certified platinum but the phenomenal success of the band's first album proved difficult to follow. In February 1996, the band performed at the Viña del Mar Festival de la Cancion in Chile, topping the bill alongside 2 Unlimited.

[edit] Flowers (1997–1999)

After this, Ace of Base disappeared from the limelight for a while, only emerging in July 1997 to perform at a concert to celebrate the 20th birthday of Princess Victoria of Sweden. They were given as much time as they wanted to produce their third album, much of it being recorded in Jonas' own studio "The Barn". When it was finally released in June 1998, the band declared it their best album yet. It was titled Flowers because they believed that the songs, wildly different in style including Motown and gospel influences, resembled a varied bouquet of flowers. Fans were surprised to see that blonde singer Linn had relinquished lead vocal duties to sister Jenny, and on many promotional photos Linn's face was blurred. They were reassured that Linn was happy with her new backing role in the group, and many reasons were given for her decision including her having damaged her voice, fear of flying putting her off from travelling round the world, and her dislike of fame.

The radio-friendly single "Life Is a Flower" was certified the most-played track on European radio for 1998 and sold more than 250,000 copies in the UK, peaking at number 5; the colorful video of the same name was produced and directed by Andreas Neumann. British label London Records had requested the band record the 1983 hit "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama and it was selected as the second European single. Deciding that "Life Is a Flower" was "too European in nature", Clive Davis pushed "Cruel Summer" as the lead-off single for the United States and it took Ace of Base back into the US Top 10 for the first time in four years, being certified gold. The album was also renamed Cruel Summer and featured a different tracklist to the European release. Davis persuaded a reluctant Linn to record a Billy Steinberg ballad "Everytime It Rains" and "Life Is a Flower" was re-recorded as "Whenever You're Near Me" and was the second single, but it could only peak at number 76. "Travel to Romantis" and "Always Have, Always Will" were further hits in Europe while "Everytime It Rains" was issued as a single in the UK along with a re-packaged edition of Flowers released only in the UK.

[edit] Singles of the 90s and Greatest Hits (1999–2000)

Singles of the 90s, a compilation of sixteen hit singles was released in November 1999. Its first single, "C'est La Vie (Always 21)," went on to become a surprise number 1 hit in Spain. Attempting to capitalize on the success of the previous single, "Hallo Hallo" was released with special remixes just for the Spanish market. The album's marketing push closed with the limited radio-only single release of "Love in December". "Everytime It Rains", previously included on the Cruel Summer album was released as a radio single in the US the following year in remixed-form (pushed by Clive Davis) in order to promote a new Greatest Hits album for the American market, which failed to chart, selling fewer than 5,000 copies in its first week. It completed the band's four-album contract with Arista Records and was not renewed. "Hallo Hallo" was planned initially to be the first single from this American compilation, but in the end it was not included on the album at all. "C'est La Vie (Always 21)" was the only new recording included on the U.S. release. Two old remixes of both "Lucky Love" and "Beautiful Life" were also included.