Amerikanen Reacts To Svenska Klassiker: Michael B Tretow - Den makalösa manicken

[@paulknight9998]

Michael B Tretow was ABBA's sound engineer and was an integral part in shaping their sound.

[@ThomasVanhala]

He is also one of the guys behind the group Caramba that only sing nonsense lyrics, the other guy was Ted Gärdestad. Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot is a classic.

[@loevet2]

You must remember WHEN this song came. The sound was way before its time. Yes, we thought it was silly, but at the same time it was fascinating. We danced, we sang and all kids tried to learn the lyrics perfectly. The adult Swedes hated it when they were sober but loved it when they had had a beer.

[@johnwikfors5310]

What? My dad played this like a drug in our family, but yeah engineering family.

[@johnwikfors5310]

Perhaps dad was more of an alcoholic than I remember?

[@ronnymatalalampi9770]

ISSA BANGER! Det är ju förihelvete en evighetsmaskin!

[@MayaShantiSoulpeace]

Fun fact: Michael B Tretow was the sound technician for ABBA!

[@vansting]

This is the man behind ABBAs sound, without him ABBA would never been a world hit!

[@ThomasVanhala]

I consider him to be the fifth member of ABBA.

[@BerishStarr]

I haven't laughed this hard to any of your reactions. But this one was hilarious! This song was unescapable, thus a "landsplåga". Everyone had this song stuck in the head, no matter what you thought about it. xD

[@sannaolsson9106]

You took it too seriously lol. This is just a fun goofy(and catchy) song and it should be treated that way.

[@johnwikfors5310]

What do you mean? Det är ett svenskt underverk

[@katam6471]

Loved your confusion! I was around at the time. What I would do when it was played on the radio? Sing along of cours! Yes, it's silly, but a little silliness every now and then makes life a whole lot better. :-)

[@susannes7023]

We knew all the lyrics back then... Everyone did! 😆

[@amarissas9108]

Alldeles för lite rock. Vi har en helt underbar sångerska vid namn Louise Hoffsten som du har missat. Lyssna och reagera på ”Let the best man win” 😉

[@tangfors]

Another Swedish classic you really really will not understand is In Kommer Gösta, Philemon Arthur and the Dung. I would like to see a reaction to it: D

[@johankaewberg8162]

Oh Jesus, I can imagine the blank face :-) Good suggestion.

[@kattahj]

Åhh, nostalgiminnen från gamla sommarläger... Men den vi verkligen skrattade ihjäl oss åt klockan 2 på natten var deras Djurvisa för barn.

[@killerdude-hz2bb]

yes, please react to Philemon Arthur and the Dung.

[@veraekberg]

Älskar dom!

[@Motbilder]

That would be hilarious!

[@jonashansson2320]

So you think it was a little silly? :D How we reacted when we heard it? Pretty much the same way you did. We sat there dumbfounded, wondering what the hell we were listening to, while at the same time bobbing our heads and letting out a little laugh. And it felt nice and we wanted to do it again. :) And the next one is pretty much a collegue to you. Povel was more a comedian than a musician. Great wordsmith. :)

[@volvoblues]

1985. I was 7. Yes we had the record. It was wonderfully silly, I liked it and still do.

[@susannes7023]

Hahahaha, that totally un-understanding face of yours all the way through this one is hilarious! 😂😂😂 I laughed out loud, thanks for the entertainment. I can see why you don't get this one. I'm not sure anyone does. I just remember that back then we loved it and it still puts a big smile on my face (even without your reaction to it). I was 11 at the time so that may be the reason why I loved it, I don't know. But it was sure a "landsplåga". It's hard to understand why sometimes a silly song like this can reach the charts. But it happens. Another very silly song that became a landsplåga is "Hej hej, hemskt mycket hej" by Hemliga byrån. Try that one! 😆

[@SweetTorment72]

So confused! Jonathan doesn't understand how the manick works either. :D

[@susannes7023]

@@SweetTorment72 I think he got the part about "en evighetsmaskin" 😊

[@JonathanRollinssthlm305]

Hahaha

[@lisakovanen1975]

Åh! Nu är du redo för "Köppäbävisan, Fån't ja en körv".

[@gubbenpersson]

tryck ner den i halsen på han ba!!!

[@salcin70]

Utsätt honom inte för den! Det är ren tortyr!

[@lisakovanen1975]

@@salcin70 sant men kanske är det nödvändigt

[@HugoLindmark]

Fantastisk låt! Fantastisk reaktion, klart roligast hittills. Solklar banger! Svänger satan!

[@g83ster]

"Landsplåga" has both good and bad connotations when talking about songs. It means that it's a hit all over the country, but also that it's inescapable.

[@g83ster]

Also, I don't know if Tretow did drugs, but he did smoke a pipe while working in ABBAs studio. Also, if you think THIS is weird, do check out Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot like some have suggested. The fact that Ted Gärdestad was part of that project boggles the mind...

[@g83ster]

And yes, this was made for kids. He was making an entire record about Santa Claus' workshop for a theme park.

[@jonasaman9104]

Det var en landsplåga på samma sätt som Gyllenetiders Sommartider har varit en sommarplåga sedan den kom 1982 :)

[@listonheinz9103]

Why so serious? Du är ju komiker! 😂 Låten är ett skämt. Att han är Abbas ljudtekniker är en del av skämtet.

[@Huxteble]

Att maskinen inte har nåt syfte är också en del av skämtet.

[@torbjornkallstrom2316]

When this comes on the radio you smile and repeat all the silly lines ;)

[@oscarl.3563]

Hahaha he hates it! He's so confused. Exploring culture can be very painful.😂

[@volvodashcam]

It's a fantastic song.. making music of everything. 😂 I play this in the car for my kids. 🤣

[@pon1]

Jag tror att folk gillar den för att den är lite rolig och inte allvarlig. Vi svenskar blir ibland lite trötta på allvaret och mörkret :)

[@gronahannah8829]

You might hate it, but please do check out the cover of this song by "The Real Group" here on KZbin! They are an incredible accapella group!

[@Goddybag4Lee]

The sampling of this song is almost as great as the best sampling album ever (Zoolook by Jean-Michel Jarre) and I hear so much inspiration from Jarre in this one. The text is silly, but not extremely childish. And besides that, I can hear how other Swedish artists have been influenced by this song. It's so fresh for it's time that it still feels fresh. Very few people have been able to sample music in this way and make it seem cool no matter what year you play it.

[@raymondengstrom1078]

When it came out, people were curious with the sounds.... Sampling sounds was not that common back then....

[@SteamboatW]

You should listen to Caramba's "Hubba Hubba Zoot Zoot". ... and you could try Philemon Arthur and the Dung: "In kommer Gösta". Another hit was Köppäbävisan. I should recommend Bröderna Djup: "Vi bor på landet" also. Simon Brehm had a lot of hits, like "Dunder och Snus", not to forget the popular Johnny Bode.

[@Er.L.]

Ah, "in kommer Gösta", där har vi en riktig jäkla klassiker.

[@T1hitsTheHighestNote]

All of them true classics!

[@erikahlander3489]

Many interesting comments! I can add that I remember Tretow from the 60s as a producer making experiments with sounds. And a "fun fact" a connection between this song and your next: in 1966 he made a song under the name "Mikael & Michael" together with Mikael Ramel, son of Povel Ramel. I think Tretow also worked for Povel.

[@FredAlert]

This is genious! Having fun with music and new technology. Gotta love the dry humour! 🤣

[@torbjornkallstrom2316]

All the songs/sketches on "Makalösa manickar" are pretty hilarious imo. Other than being ABBAs sound engineer he also produced Trafiktrolle which taught traffic safety and rules to young children and had a similar type of humor. A tragic aspect of his life is that he's suffered permanent memory loss and have no memories of his time with ABBA.

[@volvojonas9563]

And he did trolles trafikskola. Fun way for the young ones to learn trafikvett😄

[@MrZe0x]

Michael B Tretow is a legend in so many ways in the music industry! Guess this is such a thing like "if you know you know" right :)

[@satanihelvetet]

It IS a silly song! No doubt about that. But you've got to get the point of it... The lyrics is about a machine that in some way are amazing but no one understand what it's good for and most of the sounds are just mecanic sounds. It's not serious at all, wierd but funny and it's arrangement is pretty genius for it's time, typical for a guy like M B Tretow. It's also includes a hilarius "some-kind-of-rap" singing were he managed to make a tecnical descripton to match the rytm and melody, wich definitly not is easy done. No, it's not a banger! A Swedish classic - Yes. Perfect to give people a smile wile on work with the radio going in the back ground.

[@JonathanRollinssthlm305]

I got the point of it. It just doesn't ever seem worthy of being a #2 song

[@satanihelvetet]

@@JonathanRollinssthlm305 Fair enough. I agree.

[@Ciofey]

Swedes love to play, and are encouraged to "do your thing". This sometimes creates odd, wacky and beloved songs, moments, events, etc. Michael B Tretow was a sampling god at the time, and he produced many weird and wonderful songs. "Den makalösa manicken" is his most successful song. And now I can't get it out of my head. Again. Thank you!

[@ingemojonsall3402]

If I heard it on the radio I would sing a long or talk along, still love this one, and obviously tought my kids to like it as well.

[@tommiejonsson8952]

A landsplåga (verbatim translation Country scourge) in musical definition is a song that is played all the time everywhere untll pretty much everybody is so sick of it, they feel like throwing up.

[@vansting]

It was a summer hit and yes it was played on the clubs. Listen to the record Caramba and you might understand what he was doing.

[@grymkaft]

My 9 year old self loved this when it came out. Definitely silly.

[@johnnyhagman4556]

I had it on repeat for a few days :)

[@susannes7023]

I was 11 and it was the big hit, it was played everywhere.

[@fromSweden4u]

Michael B Tretow is a national icon when it comes to sound engenering. Lyssna på hans fantastiska grupp Caramba! Stora hits när albumet kom ut.

[@Veronica-dj6qo]

Din bästa reaktion hittills 😂 Röstar också på Köppäbävisan!

[@johnwikfors5310]

Mycket bra recension! Keep up the good work mate fun to see how people from other cultures look on Swedish works :)

[@staffan66]

Michael B Tretow är en legendarisk ljudtekniker! På 70-talet skapade han ABBAs unika sound med sina genialiska idéer i studion och han är en stor del av "hemligheten" bakom ABBAs succé.

Keep in mind that back in 1986 when it was a hit we had only three radio channels and only one of those played any kind of hit-music every now and then. Michael B Tretow made comedy stuff, intro themes and radio jingles for many of those pop programs, including Trackslistan, and i guess got a lot of airplay with this through that and that made the selling of the single. His reputation through working on all ABBAs albums also helped of course. Then i agree that it is indeed one of the most weirdest and odd songs to ever hit any chart in Sweden, but i see that as a positive thing as it proved back then that not everything was so predictable in Swedish music. ;)

[@fridasoderstrom7116]

So much fun watching you listen to this! Thank you for uploading :)

[@JonathanRollinssthlm305]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@JonWillis1]

Michael B Tretow was a brilliant studio technician and a lot of his musical output (including stuff with his daughter) is noodling around with studio equipment. His work with Abba was groundbreaking, particularly the technique that he used to record Agnetha and Frida’s vocals.

[@zekevarg1656]

It was in the discothecs to and we danced

[@nocturne7371]

A song like this getting extrmely popular is indeed the definition of a Landsplåga unless you are a kid or drunk. So people think the machine is a moonshine maker.

[@momma636]

Love love this song. It's hilarious. I think he made a video for it as well. In this case it means that it get stuck in your head.

[@Jontor11]

I remember this. It was an irritating inclusion on the radio channels playlists. But still I was jamming along...after all it was an Evighetsmaskin.

[@helenascheele5922]

“Det går hit, det går dit, det går runt en liten bit” finns kvar i det svenska språkminnet. Används fortfarande.

[@birgittalagerstrom6264]

Man måste lyssna med mycket humor 🤣🤣 Jättekul!

[@adriangussolovskiworld9440]

Tretow is a Genius

[@timahlqvist]

Haha, love this!

[@tobiasthor5636]

I loved it when I was a kid and this was on the radio. 😊

[@sofielindeberg3920]

Your face was priceless, you can almost se your brain working to understand what your listening to 😅

[@sofielindeberg3920]

Another song from Tretow, silly as this. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6nPhIqAgderbLM

[@grossteilfahrer]

Remember that the Sampler was a new thing, and midi was *just* getting affordable. Oh and the song featured on kids TV. And rap wasn't heard in state media at all..

[@Frankysan]

Sweden has a long tradition of incredibly silly songs becoming major hits 🙂 One of my favorite bits of trivia is that the number 1 song on the radio in Sweden when I was born was Bobby Brown by Frank Zappa 🙂

[@bettism9236]

The song its about a moonshine machine 😂, we couldn’t stop singing it when we was partying 😅

[@catharinarooth7442]

Love your reaction 🤣. So confused.

[@lbdhedlund]

I would like you to react to Robert Broberg ”Öken” i think you would like that.

[@Tore_Hedenberg]

Tretow had a stroke 2001. He couldn't speak for ten years and all his memories of his career disappeared. Today he is the same Michael B. Tretow but without memories of ABBA or anything from his musical life.

[@waeress]

Du borde reagera på "Hej Hej Hemskt Mycket HEJ" med Hemliga Byrån. When I was 8 my little brother and I got banned by the local radio station by calling in and requesting that song too many times.

[@JonathanRollinssthlm305]

I may have to do this one. It's been recommended a lot

[@juanitooctavio9023]

Loved it then and still love it!

[@kicki5387]

Jag var 11 år 1985. Och då var den jätterolig! 😁 Verkar mest vara en lek med olika ljud av producenten. Men visst blev det en klassiker! 🤣

[@tangfors]

It made me smile, it's been so long since I heard it. It's a humor song. So little like a standup comedian would do a song. Considering that it's 70s, it's quite advanced tenkinkal speaking. Teknink that they were joking around with

[@tangfors]

Think of it as a popcorn song. So it is the sounds themselves that were innovative, then add a playful text.

[@Huxteble]

80's

[@OliviaSthlm]

Well, atleast you now know the difference between a "Hit" and a "Plåga". 😅

[@JonathanRollinssthlm305]

Haha I found out the hard way

[@78rpmblog]

I don't think Tretow took any drugs ... but he got quite a lot of electrical shocks when he was building music equipment in his youth.

[@cognomen9142]

The joke is that he was probably one of the best - if not the best - sound engineer of his generation (in the world, not just Sweden) and he made silly joke songs as a spare time project. (This i perhaps my favourite: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4GToXmdi8mVrdU) And in Sweden we understood the "inside joke" back then. It's hilarious. I understand that this is the first genuine culture shock to you.

[@TheBurtonian]

But its time for a Hellacopters song! Like "Im in the Band" or "By the grace of god"

[@Huxteble]

Instämmer.

[@Stefan-]

I remember this one very well and i even remember that some students made some sort of different parody version in school when i was a teen at the time and performed it, it is very silly and thats part of why its good an funny, it was huge at the time. Its certainly also very well executed by ABBAs masterful sound engineer.

[@megan88]

Back in the day the radio was ALWAYS! on and then plague like this comes up and get stuck like a catchy sticky gum. There is just songs like this that is just to catchy for is own good

[@DIREWOLFx75]

If you don't understand the text, you lose 99% of the lovely fun this song is. The text basically describes the functionality of the machine that is the background picture. And asking questions about "but what does it do?" And this was long before computerised music and effects was normal. I was 10 when this came out and it was great fun. And still is.

[@jerryhall5709]

It seems a little silly now but humor changes over time. I'm looking forward to the next reaction.

[@architechproducer]

I have this vinyl framed on the wall of my music studio. My favorite track when I was a child and I still play it for nostalgia in my DJ sets. Three things to take into consideration for understanding the greatness of this track. 1. It's released in 1985. 2. It was probably best produced kids album, way ahead of all other kids albums. 3. It was made as a well produced goofy play, not as a pop track. This means you should not review it as anything else than a kids song from 1985, which it was perfect as!

[@brunojonsson7106]

Loved this song as a kid! I would like to se a reaktion to Daniel Lemma "If I used to love you" from the album "Morning train" one of the best albums ever made.... I'm 100% sure U will love it 👍

[@Huxteble]

Verkligen!

[@Ettfallochenlosning]

När du hittar en konstig grej och visar för din kompis på exempelvis en loppis, och hen frågar ”vad är det där?” så svarar du ”det är en evighetsmaskin”!

[@JonathanRollinssthlm305]

26 times

[@Jenny_Black]

Michael B. Tretow - Hubba hubba zoot zoot is one of a kind

[@Ryuuoujin]

Have you heard the song “Under en filt i Madrig” by the comedy group Galenskaparna. If not you really should.

[@Griexxt]

Remember ”Crazy Frog”? This was like that.

[@gubbenpersson]

Du måste sätta denna i tidsaspekt..detta var skitfränt när det kom. Ock det var halvt barnlåt men inte för oss som gillade tekniken.

[@KimOfDrac]

The real group har gjort en acapella version av denna som kanske är mer imponerande😁

[@razsego]

You should do "Simon Brehm - Risgrynsgröt med russin", that's about as weird as it gets...

[@someopinion2846]

Swedes love makalösa manickar. Check out 'Wintergatan'. Also Volvo. Etc.

[@Brokenintwoarms]

This song is maybe about school. What you think sounds silly and annoying, that's what the students think about school. You know the feeling of school is like a eternity machine, and when you finally graduate, the eternity machine is finally over :)

[@birthekjaersman4241]

I like how you listen with your whole body!

[@rursus8354]

You really need to understand whacko the lyrics to understand why this song was a big hit. It is silliness incarnate in the Swedish style.

[@madvikins]

Remember that this is ABBAs engineer playing around

[@lenilsson0076]

Om du vill testa en underlig sång till kan jag tipsa om "habba habba zoot zoot" med caramba. Tror den kom i början på 80-talet le möjligen slutet på 70-talet.

[@linasoderbarg]

Tack, behövde det här 😂

[@andeborg]

I know I'm late so you probably know this already, but whatever! there is absolutely no need to take this song seriously in any way, shape, or form. it's not ment to be taken seriously, it has no meaning whatsoever, it's just a fun little song for everyone to enjoy~ :)

[@janorsell1173]

A flash in the night av Secret service borde vara en Svensk klassiker. Reaktion på den?

[@BigSwede7403]

Best comparison i can realy think of is some of Weird Al Yankowic's odder songs. It doesn't make sense, and that it became a hit doesn't make sense. It just did tickle the funny bone of enough people to make it up there.

[@momma636]

Check out Werner & Werner with vår julskinka har rymt! Another silly song

[@susannes7023]

YES, that is a great request! Looking forward to hearing it in december.

Hemliga Byrån - Hej Hej Hemskt Mycket HEJ

[@mattiaswennerhult9451]

Hahaha hela skivan är på det där viset. Micke gillade att exprimentera med ljud. Jag lyssnade på den som ett barn så jag skämms inte så mycket men...... ja.

[@Shrek28420]

BANGER

[@johnekare8376]

I think this one is best viewed as a Rube Goldberg machine described thorough a song... Absolutely silly - but that's the point I guess.

[@gubbenpersson]

Den här fick du om bakfoten.

[@kattahj]

Ett av mina första musikminnen är när min brorsa mimade till den här.

[@merjahiltunen3235]

Jag ser den här låten som att den vänder sig till barn. Och barnsliga.

[@JerkerMontelius]

Its from a a kids album and is absolutely meant to be a silly song. Then is just got big.

[@Floffrickard]

The whole song is a pun man!