Monica Törnell

Biography

Monica Kristina Ingeborg Törnell (born 3 June 1954 in Söderhamn) is a Swedish singer and songwriter who mainly plays folk and rock music. With Lasse Holm, she represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 with the song "E' de' det här du kallar kärlek×E' de' det här du kallar kärlek1986 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAE' de' det här du kallar kärlekBEn kärleksmagi?" In 2022, she was inducted in to the Swedish Musical Hall of Fame.

Early life

Monica Törnell lived her first years in Trönö in the Norrala municipality before moving with her family to Söderhamn, where she was exposed to artists such as Lill-Babs and Jerry Williams during visits to Folkets Park. In 1962 she sang at the Ericsson Christmas party in front of 700 of her father's colleagues. This was her first public performance. In 1965 she was one of five first-prize winners in the Ung Fantasi (Young Fantasy) drawing competition. In her early teens she played the fiddle and sang both solo and with a choir. In the late 1960s, she was in the singing groups He, She and You and TJI. These groups consisted only of guitars and bass and sang mostly American folk music. On 20 February 1971, she won a vocalist contest in the Ljusne society in Söderhamn singing Summertime. By this point, she was well-known locally.

Career

In 1971 Törnell sang at the opening of her father's restaurant in Söderhamn, where she was discovered by Cornelis Vreeswijk. She quit her studies as a photography student, and during the latter part of 1971 embarked on a tour of Sweden and Denmark with Vreeswijk and musicians Björn J:son Lindh, Palle Danielsson, Kenny Håkansson, Björn Ståbi and Pers Hans Olsson. Vreeswijk arranged a demo and presented it to Phonogram Records, who offered Törnell a recording contract for a single. She turned it down because she wanted to make an LP, which she did later in 1972. The folk LP, titled Ingica×Ingica1972 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Faster Fantasis visa2:30A2Förut (När jag var liten) (I really loved Harold)3:47A315:e november3:03A4Lille Carl (Vaggvisa)3:50A5Var nära mig4:00A6Barkbrödslåten2:00B1Avstånd till min käraste2:15B2Näckaspel2:23B3Vardag3:07B4Kom slå dig ner (Come to my bedside, my darling)2:50B5Telegram för en bombad by1:05B6När jag var ung (Wind up)4:52, was issued by Phonogram on the Philips Records label. Around this time, Törnell appeared on the television programmes Halvsju and Strapetz, allowing her to reach a wider audience.
On 10 July 1972, she performed at Visfestivalen in Västervik and subsequently appeared on Vreeswijk's 1972 album Visor, svarta och röda and on Ola Magnell's 1974 LP Påtalåtar. She released her second LP, Alrik×Alrik1973 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1Öje brudmarsch4:47A2Magical Fountain4:13A3Inte äger jag gods och guld (Dalpolska upptecknad på Nicolai polisstation)2:12A4Morgonmarsch3:10A5En alrik1:38B1Kulan3:11B2Varför3:57B3Suplåt1:43B4Jag går min väg3:58B5Näckens dotter1:58B6Han gick på ängen0:42, in 1973. Both Ingica and Alrik were produced by former Tages drummer Lasse Svensson. That same year, she made a number of appearances with Tomas Ledin and sang the leitmotif to Per Oscarsson's film Ebon Lundin (1973) with Arne Olsson's big band Vieux Carré. In the mid-1970s, Törnell toured with her band, which was made up of Henrik "Hempo" Hildén (of Splash) on drums, Per Sydén on bass guitar, and her brother Bobo on guitar. In 1975 she released the English-language album Don't Give a Damn×Don't Give a Damn1975 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1I'm in Love With a Big Blue Frog3:20A2Angels and Devils5:05A3(People) Don't Give a Damn5:46A4Time Will Bring Us Together5:03B1Long Long Weekend3:54B2An Angel Died2:38B3Give It Back3:30B4Jealous Guy3:10B5Sam Hill2:58B6Hangover1:58, produced by Björn J:son Lindh and featuring several members of Splash. The album was a shift from her image as a folksinger. In 1977 Törnell released another English-language album, Bush Lady×Bush Lady1977 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Into the Mystic3:10A2Boys and Girls Together3:14A3Drop Dead2:28A4Bush Lady3:30A5Rock'n Roll Widow5:13A6Outer (interlude)0:18A7Catastrophie3:26B1Ain't No Disco4:12B2Snowcold Day3:40B3Ego3:14B4Say Yes4:02B5Necessarily Not5:20, recorded in the UK and produced by Stephen Franckevich. Both achieved little success, due in part to the widespread Progg movement, during which English-language music was less popular. Her voice was compared by the media to that of Melanie Safka and Janis Joplin, and she identified chanson as her inspiration.
In October 1977 she performed at the feminist music festival Kvinnokulturfestivalen in Stockholm. In 1978 she and the group New Band released the LP Jag är som jag är×Jag är som jag är1978 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1En kungens man2:58A2Kavaljervisa från Värmland3:49A3Jag är som jag är3:15A4Ebon Lundin2:06A5Månen3:57A6Svensk sås4:18B1Vad visste vi4:39B2Lotus och Casanova5:49B3Moder Svea4:17B4Och ängeln föddes2:35B5Nu vi ser vårt land1:59..., produced by Björn J:son Lindh. This was more successful than her English-language albums, particularly the song "En kungens man." Dagens Nyheter awarded Törnell with the Kasper Prize for the album. In July, she appeared at Visfestivalen, and sang Tom Lehrer's "We Will All Go Together When We Go" on the 1979 compilation album Nej till kärnkraft! (No to nuclear power!), which was assembled by artists ahead of the 1980 Swedish nuclear power referendum. Following this was Törnell's third album, Ingica Mångrind×Ingica Mångrind1979 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Nancy4:53A2Vita om hösten4:30A3En visa om ett rosenblad3:50A4Nationernas visdom2:00A5En liten konstnär2:40A6Sista dansen3:50B1Som en sparkad sten7:20B2Ofelia plockar krasse3:10B3Ta min karl6:00B4Performance4:30, which featured New Band and was self-produced.
By the early 1980s, Törnell was increasingly writing her own songs. Her 1982 album Ängel×Ängel1982 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Efter så många år...4:02A2En liten aning om helvetet3:22A3Sommarbris3:45A4Jag kommer hem2:54A5Fåglar3:09B1Varje gång...3:54B2Ängel3:45B3Salig röra2:50B4Lolah3:27B5Gamla Bagdad3:15 began a long collaboration with the producer Ulf Wahlberg, keyboardist for Secret Service. She appeared on the compilation albums Z (1982) and Weine Renliden and His All Stars (1983) and in 1984 released the LP Mica and the album Fri. Around this time, she moved to the record company Air Music, led by Sture Borgedahl. By the mid-1980s, she was one of Air Music's most successful artists. In November 1985, she appeared at the ANC Gala in Gothenburg. In 1986 she and Lasse Holm released the song "E' de' det här du kallar kärlek×E' de' det här du kallar kärlek1986 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAE' de' det här du kallar kärlekBEn kärleksmagi?", which won first place in the Melodifestivalen and fifth place in the Eurovision Song Contest. She and Janne Schaffer co-produced her next album, Big Mama×Big Mama1986 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracksA1Ett liv (Som du, som jag)A2Du bara leker med migA3I Just Want to Make Love to YouA4Mellan raderna (Kom till mig)A5Sista steget kvarB1DrömmarB2Andens husB3Vem tänder alla ljusenB4Du måste så for att få skördB5Ensam med dig vid ett fönsterbord (1986), which featured Steve Marriott. This was followed by two more albums, Månfred×Månfred1988 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Vind ska komma4:152När den du älskar3:373På andra sidan midnatt4:074Ensam3:455Att vara den jag är4:306Jag visste så väl3:547På kanten av ett stup3:048En enda timme3:329Släpp mig fri4:2810När du kommer hem3:58 (1988) and Vive la Mystique×Vive la mystique1989 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Vive la mystique3:492Nu galopperar ljusets änglar bort3:483Kastar mina svärd4:104Vännen3:125En vettvillings vals2:556Någonting4:117Resan3:408Pusselbild3:459Korpen flyger lågt3:3410Sagan3:48 (1989), both produced by Ulf Wahlberg. She sang at Visfestivalen in 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1989 before health problems forced her to take a step back from performing. In 1998, she appeared on the television programme Livslust to share that, after nearly a decade of diagnostic testing and being largely bedridden, she had been diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, among other illnesses. She was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 2001.
In the 1990s and 2000s, she contributed songs to several compilation albums and occasionally sang at events, such as Visfestivalen in 1991 and 1994, a charity gala in Gävle Concert Hall in 1999; and at Cornelis Day in Stockholm in 2001. She became active as a visual artist, exhibiting oil paintings in Söderhamn and Sundsvall, and appeared as a weaver in Astrid Lindgren's Mio, My Son at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in 1997. She also wrote and sold educational computer programs, translated early e-books, taught courses at Berghs School of Communication, and founded the magazine The Art Bin. She was given the Ejnar Westling Award in 2003. In 2004, she appeared with Dr. Feelgood on the compilation album Rendezvous with "I'm So Happy," a previously unreleased song she had written in the early 1980s. She has since performed at the local Söderhamn Days and at a charity gala for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and was part of the music project Mother, led by Per Forsgren, formerly of Gävle. This resulted in the album LP in 2008. She was given the Legitimerad legend award in 2014, was inducted into the Swedish Music Hall of Fame in 2022 and received the Cornelispriset in 2024. In 2017 she released Understanding Eye, her first album of newly recorded material in 25 years.

Personal life

Törnell is the single mother of two sons, Tobias (born 1978) and Mattias (born 1980).