Hooked on a Feeling turns 50 years — recorded at IMRSV

_{Photo credit: Charles Hammarsten}

On April 6 1974, Björn Skifs & Blue Swede reached the first Swedish No. 1 spot on the Billboard chart with ‘Hooked on a Feeling’, written by the American songwriter Mark James. The track was recorded in our studio, formerly EMI, with Bengt Palmers as the producer. 

In 1968, ‘Hooked on a Feeling’ was released with the American country artist B.J. Thomas. Six years later, Skifs' band Blåblus (Blue Swede) released a new version of the song. Palmers sent the song to Capitol Records by air. When Capitol responded that it was "not suitable for our territory", he thought, 'don't they hear what I hear'? He compiled addresses for record labels in the US and sent them to 25 American record labels. Despite no immediate response, CBS Records eventually replied, expressing interest in releasing the song. The reply was fortunate, as the single went on to become a great success. Recorded in 1973 and officially released in 1974, it has been featured in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs", the TV series "Ally McBeal", and played a vital role in Marvel’s film “Guardians of the Galaxy”. Additionally, it currently has 650 million streams on Spotify.

Björn Skifs is the only Swede to have achieved a double No. 1 Billboard hit with the same track. After 40 years passed, he once again topped the American Billboard album chart with 'Hooked on a Feeling’, as it served as the opening song on the film soundtrack of "Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1".

Björn Skifs and Bengt Palmers in the studio 1972
Photo credit: EMI/Sacharias Källdén

If you are interested in studio recordings, contact us at hello@immersivemusicgroup.com