Alcazar - video clips, songs, albums online

Alcazar was a Swedish eurodance group which has established themselves as one of Sweden's most successful music groups 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 countries such as USA, Brazil, Australia, Japan and most countries in Europe. Alcazar disbanded indefinitely in August 2011 after a concert at Stockholm Pride. The group formed in 1998 with three members: Andreas Lundstedt, Tess Merkel (born Therese Merkel, 18 April 1970, Nyköping, Sweden), and Annika Kjærgaard (born 18 May 1971, Bjarnum, Sweden). 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 1979 hit "Spacer") they achieved success across Europe. Both singles appeared on their debut album, Casino, written and produced by Swedish record producers Alexander Bard and Anders Hansson. Later editions of Casino contained 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 #44 and "Don't You Want Me" peaked at #30 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play. In December 2002, Andreas Lundstedt's boyfriend at the time, Magnus Carlsson, joined the group. The second album, Alcazarized, was released in Sweden in 2003 and became a big hit. Subsequently, it was released internationally in 2004, with new cover artwork and a slightly different track list. In the autumn of 2004, Alcazar released "This Is the World We Live In". The song samples Diana Ross's 1980 hit single "Upside Down" and re-uses lyrics 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 poker pro. 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 (born 28 March 1978, Hanebo, Sweden) 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'", witten 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 like, "We Keep on Rockin´", "Burning", "Harlem Nights", "Stay the Night" etc. 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 has received great reviews from the Swedish critics. The single "Stay the Night" was Alcazar's entry in the Swedish pre-selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2010, Alcazar recorded a duet with British pop group Same Difference, 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.