The Boppers

A Swedish rock & roll band with a retro style, the Boppers peaked in popularity in 1979 with the chart-topping album Keep on Boppin’ and the Top Five hit single “Back to the Bop.” The band remained fairly popular over the decades that followed, charting well into the next century. Founded in 1977 in Hässelby, Sweden, the band is comprised of Ingemar Wallén, Ville Wallén, Peter Jezewski, Michel Jezewski, Mats Lagerwall, and Lasse Westerberg. The Boppers made their full-length debut in 1978 with Number 1, a minor hit that reached the Top 40 of the Swedish albums chart. Their mainstream breakthrough came in 1979, when their second album, Keep on Boppin’, topped the charts a half-year after their single “Back to the Bop” broke into the Top Five. The Boppers were so popular in 1979 that their novelty single “White Christmas” nearly made the Top Ten. While the band’s third album, Fan Pix (1980), was also popular, reaching the Top Ten, subsequent albums Special Selection (1981), News (1982), High Fidelity (1982), and Black Label (1983) marked a sharp drop-off in the Boppers’ commercial fortunes. Consequently, nearly a decade passed before the band released another album, The Boppers (1991), a successful comeback effort that hit the Top Five. The follow-up album, Unplugged Favourites (1992), was also a hit, reaching the Top Ten. From this point onward, the Boppers would reunite from time to time for new album releases, the most popular of which were the Top Five hit 25 Years Still Boppin’ (2002) and the Top Ten hit Vibrations (2009). ~ Jason Birchmeier