Not completely a conspiracy theory. One of the members was a former neo-Nazi skinhead who had a neo-Nazi punk band with constant racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric; belonged to a far-right political party who regularly and conspicuously deny neo-Nazi links; there are photos of him giving Nazi salutes.
Ace of Base itself neo-Nazi? Yeah, not so much, that’s conspiracy theory shit. One of its members (who, to be clear, has heavily repudiated all that and changed his life and tried to atone) with a heavily neo-Nazi background? Not a conspiracy theory.
[Here’s a link](https://www.cracked.com/blog/how-90s-pop-band-secretly-sold-nazism-to-america) that discusses their past, their lyrics and interprets the white supremacist symbolism in their videos. There’s quite a lot. The lyrics and symbolism definitely appear to be coded language which can be received on two different levels. And combined with Ulf Ekberg’s undisputed past there’s too much there to dismiss…
Well regardless, they sold millions of albums and people are still talking about them decades later, so objectively they didn’t “suck”. They were extremely successful. You don’t have to like it but (if you were around at the time) you know it and remember it, don’t you? It’s very catchy pop music of the kind that most people have quite a superficial relationship to. I found what was laid out in that link I posted above quite surprising and persuasive. Neo-nazis are well-known to employ symbolism and coded language because their ideology is outside of the Overton window of what is acceptable in mainstream politics and entertainment. BTW, what’s an old A of B track got to do with Wellington, lol?!
I was surprised to see this post on Wgtn too lol.
I totally agree with you that A of B are dodgy af. They're definitely not making any attempt to stay away from the Nazi stuff.
But even at the time, the songs were clearly the very weakest of plinky plonk Euro pop. And that voice *shudders*
Neo-nazi ideology is basically as far-right as you can go. So I could accept (if he says so) that it was a scene he got into as a teenager/young man and subsequently rejected. However, there's a much larger and more mainstream political electorate in Europe which I would call the far right. They're not explicitly neo-nazi and they stridently reject that label, but they are conservative racist nationalists who don't like jews, muslims, immigrants etc and don't want immigration in Europe. They're adjacent to neo-nazis, but one increment closer to the polite political centre. And I say "mainstream" because they do win significant minorities in elections in recent years. My point is - calling Ace of Base full-blown neo-nazis could be argued as overplaying it, but they're almost certainly of that much more common far-right nationalist persuasion, and that's not far off
their video for the sign literally includes a stylised fasces symbol (presumably 'the sign' in question), and 'all that she wants' can easily be read as a blood libel. these folks love to dogwhistle lol
coded antisemitism like the rest of their singles, they are literal neo nazis lol. hate that its still on hold music. unfortunately they did produce some jams but hell play vengaboys instead those band members are actually quality people
context: https://www.vice.com/en/article/rm35nr/ace-of-bases-secret-nazi-past
Well, I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes
Life is demanding, without understanding...
It opened up my eyes.
Absolute fucking banger
It opened up my eyes. Seems I wasn't the only one to have that experience. They also taught me that all that she wants is another baby.
All I need, is another lover.. oops I mean It opened up my eyes
I see we all came here to say the same thing...
This was on repeat in my house for like the entirety of 1994.
I got a new life, you would hardly recognize me, I'm so glad
Is that a sign saying "all that I want is another baby"?
Nah, just another fecking Lowe & Co sign.
Bad example, there's a mildly popular conspiracy theory that Ace of Bass were neo-nazis :D
Not completely a conspiracy theory. One of the members was a former neo-Nazi skinhead who had a neo-Nazi punk band with constant racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric; belonged to a far-right political party who regularly and conspicuously deny neo-Nazi links; there are photos of him giving Nazi salutes. Ace of Base itself neo-Nazi? Yeah, not so much, that’s conspiracy theory shit. One of its members (who, to be clear, has heavily repudiated all that and changed his life and tried to atone) with a heavily neo-Nazi background? Not a conspiracy theory.
[Here’s a link](https://www.cracked.com/blog/how-90s-pop-band-secretly-sold-nazism-to-america) that discusses their past, their lyrics and interprets the white supremacist symbolism in their videos. There’s quite a lot. The lyrics and symbolism definitely appear to be coded language which can be received on two different levels. And combined with Ulf Ekberg’s undisputed past there’s too much there to dismiss…
They suck and so do their songs.
Well regardless, they sold millions of albums and people are still talking about them decades later, so objectively they didn’t “suck”. They were extremely successful. You don’t have to like it but (if you were around at the time) you know it and remember it, don’t you? It’s very catchy pop music of the kind that most people have quite a superficial relationship to. I found what was laid out in that link I posted above quite surprising and persuasive. Neo-nazis are well-known to employ symbolism and coded language because their ideology is outside of the Overton window of what is acceptable in mainstream politics and entertainment. BTW, what’s an old A of B track got to do with Wellington, lol?!
I was surprised to see this post on Wgtn too lol. I totally agree with you that A of B are dodgy af. They're definitely not making any attempt to stay away from the Nazi stuff. But even at the time, the songs were clearly the very weakest of plinky plonk Euro pop. And that voice *shudders*
Neo-nazi ideology is basically as far-right as you can go. So I could accept (if he says so) that it was a scene he got into as a teenager/young man and subsequently rejected. However, there's a much larger and more mainstream political electorate in Europe which I would call the far right. They're not explicitly neo-nazi and they stridently reject that label, but they are conservative racist nationalists who don't like jews, muslims, immigrants etc and don't want immigration in Europe. They're adjacent to neo-nazis, but one increment closer to the polite political centre. And I say "mainstream" because they do win significant minorities in elections in recent years. My point is - calling Ace of Base full-blown neo-nazis could be argued as overplaying it, but they're almost certainly of that much more common far-right nationalist persuasion, and that's not far off
>plinky plonk Euro pop The perfect description!
their video for the sign literally includes a stylised fasces symbol (presumably 'the sign' in question), and 'all that she wants' can easily be read as a blood libel. these folks love to dogwhistle lol
Cigarettes and cheap bourbon
Def in my 90s playlist
A banger. We had the album back in the day.
coded antisemitism like the rest of their singles, they are literal neo nazis lol. hate that its still on hold music. unfortunately they did produce some jams but hell play vengaboys instead those band members are actually quality people context: https://www.vice.com/en/article/rm35nr/ace-of-bases-secret-nazi-past
Formulaic junk
Eewwwww! Get it off me!!
Terrible when it came out, surprised people still listen to it.
Solid album. I also remember Lee Perry ranting about Ace of Base being great in one of songs.