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>http://noisey.vice.com/blog/ace-of-bases-secret-nazi-past
>
>
>ACE OF BASE'S SECRET NAZI PAST
>SECRET PASTS
>By Benjamin Shapiro
>
>
> 2202
>
>
>The internet has left us with unprecedented skepticism toward
>innocence. In the age of Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner, it
>seems literally impossible for any public figure to exist
>without at least one skeleton clawing its way out of the
>closet. We even expect simple pleasures, like reggae-inflected
>Swedish pop group Ace of Base, to have a few secrets kicking
>around.
>
>Well, they've got one.
>
>Ulf Ekberg, a founding member of Ace of Base, started his
>career as a neo-Nazi skinhead.
>
>Not only that, he created a platform for his ideals through
>his Nazi punk band, Commit Suiside, which sang songs with
>"explicit racist lyrics." How explicit you might ask? Here's a
>little example:
>
>"Män i vita kåporna på vägen tågar. Vi njuter när vi
>huvudena av niggrerna sågar/ Svartskalle, vi hatar dig! Ut,
>ut, ut, ut! Nordens folk, vakna nu! Skjut, skjut, skjut,
>skjut!"
>
>Translation?
>
>"Men in white hoods march down the road, we enjoy ourselves
>when we're sawing off niggers’ heads/ Immigrant, we hate
>you! Out, out, out, out! Nordic people, wake up now! Shoot,
>shoot, shoot, shoot!"
>
>In addition to performing with Commit Suiside, Ekberg was also
>a member of the Sweden Democrats, a political party that has
>publicly "rejected" any ties to neo-Nazism. This is
>interesting, considering the fact that the group was founded
>by Nazis, and active members still maintain connections with
>contemporary hate groups. For example, Anders Klarström, the
>former head of the Sweden Democrats. Funny enough, Klarström
>was also a member of Commit Suiside with Ekberg. Around the
>time that the band disbanded in 1986, Klarström was convicted
>of illegal firearms possession, as well as sending death
>threats to a Jewish theater director and entertainer named
>Hagge Geigert, who was publicly outspoken against racism and
>neo-Nazism. At the time, Klarström referred to Geigert as a
>"Jew pig," and threatened to burn him.
>
>
>Ekberg's response has been fairly noncommittal. In a 1997
>documentary, he is quoted saying "I told everyone I really
>regret what I did. I've closed that book."
>
>In 1998, a small Swedish record label called Flashback Records
>released Uffe Was a Nazi!, a limited-edition collection of
>Ekberg's output with Commit Suiside. The cover is a photograph
>of Ekberg giving the Nazi salute. Although only 1,000 CDs were
>produced, it was an extremely damaging attack on Ekberg's Nazi
>past and has become a major collector's item. Uffe Was a Nazi!
>includes five songs, like "Rör inte vårt land," which
>translates to "Don't Touch Our Country," and "Vit makt,
>svartskalleslakt!" which translates to "White Power, Black
>Skull Slaughter." It also, amazingly, finds the band
>rethinking the white-power, skinhead-punk act Skrewdriver's
>"Smash the IRA," translating the lyrics to German and renaming
>it "Smash the VPK." The VPK, or "Left Party," is a socialist
>and feminist party in Sweden:
>
>
>
>Here's how Ekberg found his way into Ace of Base. In August of
>1990, a Gothenburg musician named Jonas Berggren was hours
>from playing a show with his band, who'd been performing for
>several years as either CAD, Tech-Noir, or Kalinin Prospect.
>At the last minute, their bass player decided to ditch the
>show to go watch the Rolling Stones on the other side of town,
>so Berggren asked his friend Ekberg to fill in. A few weeks
>later they dubbed their new lineup Ace of Base, and the rest
>is history: "All That She Wants" blows up, Happy Nation/The
>Sign sells 23 million copies, and the group becomes one of the
>decade's most beloved pop acts.
>
>It's unclear whether or not Berggren, or the rest of Ace of
>Base, knew about Ekberg's previous dalliances with neo-Nazism
>when they asked him to join. For some reason it's not really
>spoken about today, so when you tell your friends about this
>stuff, you can expect some jaws hitting the floor. Ekberg's
>response has been fairly noncommittal. In a 1997 documentary,
>he is quoted saying "I told everyone I really regret what I
>did. I've closed that book. I don't want to even talk about
>it, that time does not exist in me any more. I closed it and I
>threw the book away in 1987. I took the experience from it, I
>learned from it. But that life is not me. It's somebody
>else."
>
>Today, according to his website, Ekberg is "a visionary leader
>and an eminent businessman." Ekberg is still in Ace of Base,
>but he's also working for a strategic-marketing company called
>Result, which has teamed with partners like BMW, Fiat, IBM,
>and LinkedIn. In 2002, Ekberg founded another
>entertainment-marketing company called Legion Network (now
>defunct), and worked with Canon, Motorola, and Nokia. From
>2002 to 2005, he was an advisor to Nokia on their global music
>and fashion strategy.
>
>But things get even more cryptic. Ekberg is also an active
>member of the German Marshall Fund's Asia Program think tank.
>Keep in mind, the GMF was formed in the spirit of (and named
>after) the Marshall Plan, the post-WWII, US-led
>economic-incentive program geared toward preventing the spread
>of Soviet communism and opening up recovering nations to
>democracy.
>
>What does all this mean? It's simply incredible that this
>stuff hasn't gotten out, especially since it's hidden directly
>in plain sight. While researching this article, I spoke with
>many other journalists who had never heard this story. In
>fact, I've never heard anyone make reference to this secret
>history ever in my life. Not to get all Conspiracy Theory
>about it, but I just can't imagine a full recovery from this
>sort of hatred. What's also frightening is that Ekberg has now
>carved himself a position of extreme authority and influence.
>For many years, he was directly responsible for the ways in
>which brands and consumers connect, and is currently involved
>in a grant program specific to geopolitical ideology.
>
>Did Ekberg use Ace of Base's success as an opportunity to wipe
>the slate clean and erase his neo-Nazi past? I'm not sure, and
>part of me doubts it, but at press time, I can safely say I'll
>never be able to enjoy "The Sign," "Don't Turn Around," or
>"All That She Wants" in the same way, ever again.
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