The jazz orchestra dancing in Scandinavia was interrupted by the counterculture of the 1960s , whose influences of left-wing politics and LSD were altering the shape of popular music around the world . In 1967 the first psychedelic and progressive rock groups emerged in Stockholm 's Filips club , including Hansson & Karlsson , the Baby Grandmothers , and Mecki Mark Men . These groups were very popular in the Sweden of the late 60s , with television appearances , sold-out concerts , and tours around Europe . Mecki Mark Men even spent three months in the U.S. where they played big rock music festivals with Sly and the Family Stone , Jethro Tull , Pentangle , Mountain , Grand Funk Railroad , Paul Butterfield , and The Byrds . Aside from this music that blended rock , jazz , and folk music with improvisation and experimentation , Swedish progressive rock , or " progg " as it became known , was also fiercely political . Progg bands would go on to support efforts against war and nuclear power , or protest competitive events like Eurovision , stating , " Music can not be a contest . " The term " dansband " was coined around 1970 , when Swedish popular music developed a signature style with brightly characterized lyrics and catchy melodies . The following decade became the golden era of dansband music , with groups like Thorleifs , Flamingokvintetten , Ingmar Nordströms , Wizex and Matz Bladhs rising to popularity in Sweden . In 1977 , the song " Beatles " , performed by Swedish dansband Forbes , won the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1977 and finished 18th ( last ) in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977
Melodifestivalen 1977
Melodifestivalen 1977
Popular music in Sweden