Imperiet

Imperiet started as Rymdimperiet, a side project to the Swedish punk band Ebba Grön, and included three of its members. When Ebba Grön broke up in 1983, Rymdimperiet re-emerged as Imperiet; with Joakim Thåström (lead vocals, guitar), Anders "Stry" Sjöholm (vocals, guitar) and Gunnar "Gurra" Ljungstedt (drums), all three originally from Ebba Grön. They were joined by Christian Falk (bass) and Per Hägglund (sax, keyboards). Stry left in 1984 and Gurra the following year. Gurra was replaced by Fred Asp on the drums. In 1987 Per Hägglund left and Imperiet disbanded in 1988.

Imperiet's sound was inspired by punk, rock and synthpop. Their lyrics were left-wing and anti-imperialist; songs like "C. C. Cowboys", "Alltid rött, alltid rätt" (Always Red, Always Right), and "Var e vargen?" (Where’s the Wolf?) were inspired by Russian Communist poet Mayakovsky.

Mainly successful in Sweden and Scandinavia, Imperiet also toured overseas, playing in the United States, Cuba, Central America and South America. In 1988, Imperiet released their only English language album, called Imperiet. It featured translated versions of their old songs. The album had an intensive promotional European tour, but was only popular in Sweden. This put an end to plans for an international career.

Their original name Rymdimperiet (meaning The Space Empire), was taken from the Star Wars movie The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the Swedish title being Rymdimperiet slår tillbaka.