Alcazar -

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Alcazar is a Swedish nu-disco group which has established themselves as one of

Sweden’s most successful music groups both nationally and internationally with a string of hits since their debut single in 1999. Worldwide, Alcazar sold over 12 million records between 2001 and 2004. Alcazar have also had success around the world with their song “Crying at the Discoteque”, having charted in USA, Brazil, Australia, Japan and most countries in Europe.

Alcazar disbanded in August 2011 after a concert at Stockholm Pride. They reunited again in 2013 ahead of Melodifestivalen 2014.

The group formed in 1998 with three members: Andreas Lundstedt, Tess Merkel, and Annika Kjærgaard. Their first single, “Shine On”, was a hit in Sweden, but it was with their second release, “Crying at the Discoteque” (which heavily sampled Sheila and B. Devotion’s 1979 hit “Spacer”), that they achieved success across Europe.

Both singles appeared on their album, Casino, written and produced by fellow Swedes Alexander Bard and Anders Hansson.

Later editions of Casino contain a cover of The Human League’s hit “Don’t You Want Me”, which also served as the third single off the album. In the United States, Alcazar gained moderate success. “Crying at the Discoteque” peaked at No. 44 and “Don’t You Want Me” peaked at No. 30 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play.

In December 2002, Lundstedt’s boyfriend at the time, Magnus Carlsson, joined the group. Their second album, Alcazarized, was released in Sweden in 2003 and became a big hit. It was released internationally in 2004 with new cover artwork and a slightly different track list. In September 2004, Alcazar released “This Is the World We Live In”. The song samples Diana Ross’s 1980 hit single “Upside Down” and re-uses the lyrics and melody from Genesis’ 1986 single “Land of Confusion”.

Their follow-up single, “Physical”, also sampled an older hit: Londonbeat’s “I’ve Been Thinking About You”.The singles were followed up by the album Dancefloor Deluxe, which was released in Sweden in August 2004. In the winter of 2004/2005 they released the Christmas single “Here I Am”. Alcazar enjoyed considerable success in 2004 in their home country, Sweden.

2005 saw the release of the single “Start the Fire”. During the making of its music video, Kjærgaard had an accident in which she broke her foot.

In the autumn of 2005, the band decided to take a break. Andreas moved on to musicals and played the lead in Saturday Night Fever, while Tess became a professional poker player.

In May 2007, the band did a one-off performance in London at the night club G-A-Y, together with Swedish colleagues BWO and Army of Lovers, and invited their friend Lina Hedlund to join them on stage. It all turned out to be a very successful combination and a few months later the “New Alcazar” was formed.

In January 2008, their first and comeback single “We Keep on Rockin'”, written and produced by Anders Hansson, was released. The single quickly turned into a hit and only a week after the release the single passed gold status in sales. In March 2009, the new album Disco Defenders was released in Sweden. The album contains two discs. CD one: 12 brand new tracks including “We Keep on Rockin´”, “Burning”, “Harlem Nights”, and “Stay the Night”. CD two: 11 best of songs, among them “Crying at the Discoteque”, “This Is the World We Live In” and “Don’t You Want Me”. Disco Defenders received great reviews from the Swedish critics.

In 2010, Alcazar recorded a duet with British pop group Same Difference, the song was entitled “Karma Karma”. It was included on Same Difference’s second album The Rest Is History. Although not officially released as a single, the song charted on Swedish iTunes thanks to Alcazar’s popularity in their homeland.

Alcazar is also working on a their fourth studio album. The follow-up to 2009’s Disco Defenders will include songwriting by German newcomer Victor Finke. The new single “Good Lovin” was released in August 2014.