January 24, 2017 – Björn Ake Thelin (The Spotnicks) was born on June 27, 1942 in the little village of Stöde about 25 miles west from the Swedish town of Sundsvall. He grew up in Frölunda, but lived with his family in northwestern Skåne for many years.
He joined The Spotnicks in 1961. The band had its great time in the 1960s when they became famous for their great instrumental guitar fire works and stage dressing in the form of space suits.
The group toured around the world and was very popular in countries such as West Germany, Japan, France and Mexico. The band sold in excess of 20 million albums. Quite a feat in those early days of rock and roll.
The Spotnicks originated from a duo, “The Rebels” (1956), formed by Bo Starander (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Björn Thelin (bass guitar). They were joined by lead guitarist Bo Winberg and became “Rock-Teddy and the Blue Caps” in 1957 in Gothenburg. He became Gothenburg’s rock king in 1958, like Rock-Teddy, in a competition in Göteborg’s concert hall with the Blue Caps companion group. In 1958 they added Ove Johansson (drums), changed their name to “The Frazers”, and began playing regularly in local clubs. They signed a recording contract in 1961, and changed their name to “The Spotnicks”, a play on the Russian satellite Sputnik as suggested by their manager, Roland Ferneborg. Starander was later known as Bob Lander.
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