Pure Pop & Weird Visuals — Remembering BWO
Bizarre pop acts are an integral part of Sweden’s music industry. Just recall the A*Teens — that bubblegum-pop ABBA cover band that could only have existed in the late 90s. Or think of the countless strange performances we witness each year at Melodifestivalen, Sweden’s Eurovision pre-selection contest.
It’s no surprise that BWO always felt right at home at Melodifestivalen. The band competed no less than three times and in spite of never actually winning turned their entries into a string of hit singles. In the five years of their existence as a band, BWO scored six top twenty singles in Sweden, one of which went all the way to number one. They also had five top ten albums and, again, one chart-topper.
They were bizarre, they were commercially successful, and — above all — they never took themselves too seriously. Now, eight years after the release of the final BWO album, it’s time to look back on their career. It’s time to celebrate a pop act that took pride in being different.
Prototype — The Beginnings
The mastermind behind BWO is Alexander Bard, a well-known and not uncontroversial Swedish philosopher and activist. His involvement explains the name of the band, which is short for Bodies Without Organs, a term based on a sociological concept by Gilles Deleuze. Before founding BWO, Bard had already created the super-camp 90s group Army Of Lovers and another band called Vacuum. He had been involved in Alcazar, too, writing and producing their 2001 hit “Crying At The Discoteque”.
In 2003, Bard was intent on starting a new pop music project. He searched for a singer and eventually found Martin Rolinski, who had previously been a contestant on the 2002 Swedish season of the casting show Popstars. Art dealer Marina Schiptjenko, who had been a member of Vacuum, joined the band as well. In addition to being a keyboardist, she provides backing vocals and spoken hooks an several BWO songs.
Initially, Jean-Pierre Barda, a former member of Army Of Lovers, was going to join as well. Ultimately, however, he did not, and BWO became a three-piece. Their first single, “Living In A Fantasy”, was released in May 2004. A science-inspired, midtempo synth track, it only managed to peak at #44 on the Swedish singles charts.
It wasn’t until the release of BWO’s third single “Sixteens Tons Of Hardware”, a fun uptempo song, that the band truly arrived on the scene, a.k.a. in the top twenty. Its formula of catchy, pure pop music and a bizarre, (upon first glance) senseless music video soon became BWO’s trademark. Their first album, called Prototype, followed in early 2005 and peaked at #2 in Sweden. It eventually went on to be certified platinum. Prototype produced no less than seven top fifty singles, including the smooth pop classic “Sunshine In The Rain”.
Halcyon Days — The Imperial Phase
BWO entered Melodifestivalen for the first time in 2006. Their entry “Temple Of Love” was a light-hearted, feel-good electronica song perfectly suited to Eurovision. It topped the singles charts in Sweden and marked the beginning of their Imperial Phase; the years in which they enjoyed their biggest successes. Halcyon Days, the band’s second album, also went to #1 and was quickly certified gold, producing three more hit singles. The last of those — the infectious and camp “Chariots Of Fire” — is arguably BWO’s best work. Quite fittingly, it’s accompanied by one of their strangest music videos.
There’s hardly anything we haven’t at some point seen in a BWO music video. Rolinski’s singing face projected onto a pug and a turtle. The band members performing above a miniature railway, dressed in outrageous costumes. Lobsters floating in the air. Dogs flying through the sky. A race on office chairs. Drinking tea while sitting in a car during a crash test session. A UFO abducting Rolinski on a theater stage.
In addition to that, each band member has their very own, distinct look. In a day and age in which bands are usually casted to cater to certain audiences — and thereby automatically end up looking like a group of clones — this is truly refreshing. Bard plays the role of the elderly, out-of-place-looking gentleman. Rolinski is the angel-faced and long-haired boy taken straight from a cheap movie set in Roman times. Schiptjenko is the posh, impassive, and seductive lady.
None of the band’s visuals seem to make sense. Though, with Bard involved, they may actually make sense on a philosophical level that us mere mortals will never comprehend. Surely, they hardly ever fit the song they accompany. That is, however, precisely the beauty of it. BWO don’t have to make sense. They don’t have to be taken seriously. They don’t even expect you to look for depth in their songs. Their mission is entertainment, and entertain they do.
Fabricator, Pandemonium, and Big Science — Continued Success
BWO’s third album Fabricator was released in 2007 and peaked at #6 in Sweden. It includes the ballad singles “Let It Rain”, which famously features floating seafood in its video, and “The Destiny Of Love”. That song’s music video represents the pinnacle of BWO aesthetics. In it, the band members play living crash test dummies, singing the song in a car during a frontal-impact test. They drink tea, eat posh food, burst water bombs, and shoot confetti until the car reaches the impact wall. What happens then? Watch the video to find out!
In 2008, BWO entered Melodifestivalen for a second time with one of their best songs, the incredibly catchy “Lay Your Love On Me”, which charted at #2. It was also the first single from their greatest hits album Pandemonium. That record also includes “The Bells Of Freedom”, the official Europride 2008 anthem. The fun music video for that uptempo popsong features the band members acting as judges on the ficticious talent competition Queer Idol.
The last BWO album, 2009’s Big Science, barely managed to sneak into the Swedish top ten, peaking at #9. The album is comparatively serious and thus a slight departure from the band’s playful previous records. Even the three music videos that were released from it are darker and shockingly… well, ordinary. Nevertheless, the tracks on Big Science are still catchy, straightforward pop songs. The ballad “You’re Not Alone” was chosen as BWO’s third Melodifestivalen entry and subsequently became their last top twenty single before the band members decided to go their separate ways in late 2009.
After having decided to disband Bodies Without Organs, Alexander Bard founded the electronic rock duo Gravitonas, with which he stayed until 2014. He was also part of a temporary Army Of Lovers reunion. Marina Schiptjenko was reunited with her pre-BWO synthpop band Page and continued to work as an art dealer. Martin Rolinski started a solo career that — of course — took him to Melodifestivalen.
Keeping in mind that BWO was never a full-time project for any of the band members, it’s remarkable just how successful the band was. Even if they never really made it outside of Sweden (though “Sunshine In The Rain” and “Lay Your Love On Me” did chart in the UK), BWO proved that one can be successful in the pop music industry without following all of its unwritten rules. Bard, Rolinski, and Schiptjenko showed the world that pure, simple pop music can be brilliant and that the primary function of music videos will always be entertainment.
In the vast universe of pop music, BWO belonged to the category of the weird and wonderful. And among the Adeles and Justin Biebers of this day and age, we need more bands like them.
