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MORE TO COME...
EIRIK ROCKS AMERICA COAST TO COAST! June 20, 2005: Fun! Eirik rocks America, this time as an artist. Soon after the release, three of his productions and performances on the double CD "Ikon Story", Every Night I Dream a Little, You Woman and Sorry About That, have already been played on top radio stations across America from California to New York. If you want to have a listen "on the air", please click here: WFMU, New York Every Night I Dream a Little: no. 6 on the list KDVS, California Every Night I Dream a Little: about three quarter of the way into the programme Sorry About That: at the very end, includes conversation (download 28mb)  REVIEW OF "IKON STORY" June 14 2005, excerpts from BLACK2COM: Ikon is not only coming, it is HERE and if this fact o' life doesn't quite tickle your tastebuds … heck, a twin-spin platter like this deserves a mega-huge ten-page spread … Anyway, THE IKON RECORDS STORY's the brainchild of Mr. Joey D, a collection of a whole slew (sixty-count-'em-sixty!) tracks by many o' the groups who recorded for this teenage-minded label in the mid-sixties, perhaps the bestest time on this planet to be a teenager if all the entertainment, food and sports industries (amongst others) catering to their every whim and fancy is any indication. And with the teenage impact of the groups on these disques charging forth like the rest of the best of mid-Amerigan garageband USA, you know you're in for a high-energy thrill with all of the Noxema-packed rock crash and classy Ernie Douglas nerd-dom mixed with delinquent leather tough/cool that still sends a "message" to all 'em Joan Baez folkies even this far down the line! … for me the standouts include the Knightsmen's able swipe of the McCoys' own swipe of "Fever," The Parish Hall Blues Quintet's "suburbanizing" of the Pretty Things' "I Can Never Say" (just give it a lissen and you'll know what I'm talkin' about!) and this crazy novelty thing called "Sorry About That" by Eirik Wangberg & the Secret Agents which employs a hot instrumental bed for studio owner Jim Barkley and some friend to do a lotta cool BATMAN/GET SMART/DRACULA mid-sixties adolescent humor voiceovers to. With songs like that, who needed airplane glue? … For now we got this collection to contend with which is good enough for me! RELEASED 
June 6, 2005After seven years in the making (!) and some delays, today The Ikon Records Story double CD set was finally released during a Press Room party in the Capital of California, Sacramento. The major newspaper in the city has the background story: The Sacramento Bee IT'S HERE 
May 10, 2005The long awaited 4 CD Box set of recorded highlights from Ted Gärdestad's career has finally been released. The CDs contain all the tracks Eirik produced in Los Angeles and Stockholm stemming from Ted's 1978-79 album Blue Virgin Isles. The other tracks are produced by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA. The Box set is called Solregn (Sunrain) and has excellent packaging. COMING THIS FALL 
May 8, 2005Eirik is writing for the coming book attributed to the life of Ted Gärdestad, one of Sweden’s greatest artist-songwriters ever. The two and Ted's brother Kenneth, who is a highly acclaimed lyricist, became best of friends while Eirik produced Ted’s album Blue Virgin Isles in Stockholm and Los Angeles 1977-78. Here, a host of stars joined in, among other members of Toto, Jay Graydon, Dr. John, James Newton-Howard, Janne Schaffer and John Mayall. In 1997, at the age of forty-one, Ted lost his life unexpectedly and dramatically. Today, the musical Sun Wind & Water containing Ted’s music is playing in Stockholm. The book will be released this fall. MAY 19 RELEASE! May 6, 2005: Excerpts from "Ice Magazine" http://www.icemagazine.com/daily/218/may06.asp Daily news flash: There are grails, and then there are grails. And icons and Ikons. Several of these come together May 19 when Frantic Records releases The Ikon Story, a two-CD, 60-track set documenting the 1964-66 recordings done at Sacramento, CA’s Ikon studio. The short-lived facility (and label; Ikon also did custom-pressing), the largest north of San Francisco, served as a sort of ground-zero for, among a variety of local acts, dozens and dozens of NorCal teen bands in the pre- and immediate post-Beatle period. Ikon recordings are so rare — and prized by Nuggets-fed garage-band collectors the world over — that Frantic president Joey D tells ICE, "Some people think we actually made this stuff up. They don’t believe we’ve found this material and that it’s actually coming out." ...Most of Ikon’s stars never shone beyond the Central Valley canteens and teen clubs where they rocked out on mid-’60s weekends. Reissue co-producer Alec Palao tells ICE that Ikon engineer Eirik Wangberg (he also gets credit on sides by Eirik & the Secret Agents) went on to an illustrious engineering career, working on Paul McCartney’s Ram and the Grease soundtrack... COMING SOON? March 24, 2005: Excerpts from "News & Nuggets" http://www.60sgaragebands.com/pages/905122/index.htm Here's a message that Joey D posted to the Public Nuisance Message board: "The great Eirik Wangberg has finally been located! We just recieved 30 tracks of stuff he recorded for Ikon Records in '65-'66. Four of the songs will be used on the upcoming Ikon Records Story. The rest of the tracks will be used on an upcoming two-CD set of Eirik's '60's recordings, including tunes he recorded with The Noisemen on Polar Records in Sweden in 1964, the Sacramento Ikon period and a killer unreleased LP from 1969 Hollywood sessions with Ron McMaster of Public Nuisance on drums and a couple of the guys in The New Breed." February 8, 2005: Excerpts from "News & Nuggets" http://www.60sgaragebands.com/pages/905122/index.htm *COMING SOON!* 
Despite rumors indicating that The Ikon Records Story will be an Ace/Big Beat release, it is still scheduled for release by Frantic Records. Compiler Joey D. (along with Alec Palao) informed us that "we just located Eirik Wangberg (Ikon engineer for Oxford Circle, New Breed, Public Nuisance, Peace Pipe, etc.) and he is transferring more unreleased Ikon tapes '65-'66, so keep your fingers crossed that it'll be more killer stuff! We should have the transfers in the next two weeks...so we'll just have to kick off more marginal stuff on the CD if the recordings are great. We can only fit 60 songs on two CDs, but we have around 80-90 songs total. I'll probably offer the leftovers on a CD-R for cheap in the back of the Ikon booklet (which will be 28-pages and in full color). We'll of course keep you posted on the progress. It's only January...but this is quickly shaping up as the release of 2005... MUSIC BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT In recent years, besides continuing his record production work and writing, Eirik Wangberg has devoted his time to music business development. The following are some examples: The Pop Music Analysis (PMA) After a 30 years career, bringing with it many triumphs at a high level in the international recording industry, Wangberg asked himself the question: "What do I know about commercial music?" He answered it by writing "The Pop Music Analysis (PMA)", a method of creating popular music of high quality, and held lectures on the subject at universities, etc. American International Music, Inc. (AIM) A business plan for a new and exciting company was initiated in 1989, and Wangberg spent the following year writing a 225 page complete and detailed prospectus defining a new company's concept, strategy, operations, objectives, risk factors, prospects and finance. American International Music, Inc. - AIM was established to achieve the establishment and operation of its music production and music publishing objective: to act as a bridge between creators and performers of music by producing and publishing the highest possible standard of compositions for a wide international market. The Corporation will recruit and select composers and lyricists on a world-wide basis and guide them towards composing music in demand by and for top selling, international recording artists. Great names in the international hit business, such as Paul McCartney and David Foster, give Wangberg their open support. OSLO MUSIC PRIZE & MUSIC FOR HUMANITY Being a Norwegian, and therefore a member of one of the most humanitarian societies, and added to this his knowledge of the international music industry, the seed of an annual, world-wide OSLO MUSIC PRIZE and a cultural and humanitarian event, MUSIC FOR HUMANITY, was sown in the mind of "Eirik the Norwegian". Enjoying high regard for his wide professional service and experience among prominent leaders of the music industry, Wangberg received here an overwhelming approval for the idea. For the last years, as founder and project manager, he has therefore been working with international humanitarian organizations and key people of the music industry in Los Angeles to organize the event in Oslo. Renowned humanitarians, as Nelson Mandela and Javiér Perez de Cuéllar, and famous music personalities and others, support Oslo Music Prize & Music For Humanity. Financing is currently being sought. Nelson Mandela - Oslo Music Prize Advisor "You have my full support in THE OSLO MUSIC PRIZE. Together, we shall strive continuously to create a more tolerant, equal and fulfilling world - for everyone." David Foster - Oslo Music Prize Advisor "I am in full support of the OSLO MUSIC PRIZE plans, and strongly believe this is a highly needed ingredient for our international music industry. I recommend that the industry come together and support these wonderful and highly urgent causes. For our world, it is about time to to set up a continuous dialogue and action between the international music and humanitarian communities."  |