DESCRIPTION:
Friends was a tough rhythm 'n blues group who even at the beginning of their career managed to get some headlines, but those headlines weren't always about their music. Friends began by winning second place in a competition at Kingside to choose Stockholm's Rolling Stones. (It was the Merrymen who won first place.) Later that same year the press wrote about Friends young drummer, 12-year-old Thomas Skogsberg,
who was not allowed by the authorities to play drums after 8 o'clock in the evening. It was considered too strenuous for a 12-year-old boy to work so late! But Friends got the most attention after they began performing a bit of striptease on stage,
though fans thought the group was too talented to have to resort to that kind of stunt.-------
While many musicians have cited Friends as one of the better bands, the group didn't get their big breakthrough. One reason was because, just like The Namelosers, Friends refused to compromise when it came to their song material. According to Anders Peedu, the group was once asked to record "Cadillac", but a couple of the band members wanted
to concentrate on other material. Friends also had a chance for that breakthrough when they appeared on the TV show "Hylands Hörna", but a technical problem caused interference, and the only sound that reached TV viewers was an annoying hum.---------Then things went really wrong for the group. One of the band members drank himself to death, and another ended up in a mental hospital as a result of prolonged drug abuse.Anders Peedu is very critical of the industry: Friends is an example of what can happen when young, in many cases very talented people end up in the clutches of exploiters in an always ruthless record and entertainment industry, where extortion of artists for a quick profit is the rule rather than the exception. It was stupid so-called adults who helped to kill those members of Friends.
Singles:
1965 Empty Handed/It Ain't Necessarily So
1965 Git It/Talking About You
1966 He's In Town/Joe McCartney
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video footage
Hooked Generation 1968