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Music interview: Europe
As a Swedish ex-pat, Joey Tempest isn't about to be fazed by freezing temperatures in his adopted home city, London.
"We've had a bit of snow here," says the softly-spoken singer of rock band Europe, "but I was in Stockholm over Christmas – there was major snow. We were quite comfy. We had a white Christmas. We were doing two shows in Gothenburg and Stockholm. I brought my family, we rented a cottage."
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The 46-year-old frontman is gearing up for a busy few months of touring. Next week his five-piece band heads for the Netherlands then Belgium, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy and Austria before returning to Britain in February. Their first English date will be in Leeds.
It's all on the back of Last Look at Eden, Europe's ninth studio album in a 30-year career. It's a record that may surprise those who are only familiar with the band from their soft rock anthem The Final Countdown.
With its guitars cranked up to 11, Last Look at Eden seems more reminiscent of the bands Joey idolised in his youth such as Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy.
"Our influences shine through more on this record than any other," agrees Joey. "We've done three albums in five years, all of them are more guitar-based and heavier than perhaps the big albums which were produced more for American radio.
"Our earliest albums were very heavy. If truth be known we are more of a guitar-based rock band. I used to go and see bands like Thin Lizzy, UFO and Whitesnake."
When he and guitarist John Norum formed their first band, Force, in 1979 the group were pretty much one of a kind in Sweden. Record labels showed little interest; it was only in 1982 when they won a competition that A&R men had to pay attention.
"The first prize was to record an album," recalls Joey. "We got a following immediately. There was definitely something in the air – bands like Def Leppard and Bon Jovi started around the same time. We were the first to break out of Sweden."
The band's first two albums, Europe and Wings of Tomorrow, went down well in Japan but it wasn't until The Final Countdown that things really took off internationally.
The song itself "was written during the Force time", remembers Joey. "I borrowed a keyboard from Mic Michaeli, who was not in the band at the time. We had one guitar player. Sometimes during the solos I thought it would be nice to have somebody filling in there – that's where I got interested in the keyboards. I wrote that anthem bit and kept it in the drawer for a few years."
The riff resurfaced in 1986 when Europe "were looking for an opening track for the show".
"By that time we were clever enough to write a song around a theme. I got the inspiration for the lyrics through the David Bowie song Space Oddity. He was into space travel. It was one of the first singles I bought. I had the same approach to the lyrics. Musically it had a galloping tempo similar to UFO or Led Zep."
Despite the fact that the song was originally six-and-a-half minutes long Joey "felt there was something special about it". "It had a nice feeling, it was almost like a soundtrack. It made you sit up. It was different, unique. We all wanted to put it on the opening track for the third album."
When released as a single, The Final Countdown took on a life of its own, reaching No.1 in 25 countries. It has subsequently been covered by everyone from Dannii Minogue to the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Joey still gets publishing requests for the song every month. "I've got the right to say no if they want to change the lyrics, but you can't stop a cover version being made. There has been some funny ones."
One of those he likes is an austere electronic version by Slovenian band Laibach because "it seems like they meant it". Another that caught his ear was one by "a jazz trio, I think they were from Scandinavia".
The song opened many doors for Joey and his bandmates. "It was very exciting," he says. "We were 23, 24 years old; we were touring, staying in the best hotels, flying in helicopters and private jets. That song helped us meet the fans everywhere. We toured Europe and America and the rest of Asia – that was our dream from the beginning. We wanted to be like Deep Purple and Thin Lizzy."
Joey fondly remembers performing on Top of the Pops when the song was No.1 in the UK. "The guys from Abba were in London and they came to congratulate us. It was amazing."
Over the next six years Europe released two more albums and continued to tour heavily. But in 1992 they went into hiatus. Joey recorded a couple of solo albums ("I got interested in singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne and Van Morrison"), other band members worked with Black Sabbath and Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes.
Though they kept in touch and briefly regrouped for a Millennium Eve show in Stockholm, it was until 2004 that the band's original members decided to make a full-scale comeback.
Joey's glad that Europe "never jumped on the 80s revival tours"; instead they are doing things their own way. "We decided in 2004 to try to do this long term. We produce the records ourselves. We licence them ourselves. it's beginning to pay off. If artists can do it now it's the smartest thing to do. It's tougher but we can finance it from touring.
"Seventy-five per cent of rock bands' incomes now will be from touring. It's a big difference from the 80s – before it was from records."
The important thing, he says, is "to work hard and try to be creative".
"You can't fool the fans. So many reunions are with the old sound and people don't care. We wanted to do it differently."
The band actively communicate with fans through their website. "We've established a good bit of trust," Joey says. Several rock magazines are now backing them. "The support we have in the UK is really nice."
Europe play at the O2 Academy Leeds on Thursday, February 18, with guests Diamond Head. Tickets are available in advance on 0844 477 2000 or from.ticket web.co.uk. The album Last Look at Eden is available now.
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