Blue Swede “Hooked on a Feeling” 1974. Those Swedes look super-warm lounging in their fur coats and mittens on top of that snow! It’s been a long and crazy weekend and during that time, this album somehow appeared in my office so I’m taking it as sign that I’m supposed to listen to some rather bland 70′s soft rock today. Hooked on a Feeling was the band’s first (of two) albums, consisting mainly of cover songs. The title track “Hooked on a Feeling” was the band’s big hit (#1 in the US); it’s a cover of B.J. Thomas’ 1968 song but inspired by the 1971 version by Jonathan King, specifically the ooga-chucka stuff that leads off the track. I’m quite fond of that song but mostly because of its inclusion on the 1992 Reservoir Dogs soundtrack which is honestly the first time I recall hearing it (I’m sure I heard it on AM radio back in the 70′s but I was pretty young at the time) and more recently in Guardians of the Galaxy. Other covers include “Never My Love” (written by the Addrisi Brothers, its best known version is by The Association, ‘67) which Blue Swede took to #7 in the US in ‘74, “Destiny” by Jose Feliciano, “Something’s Burning” by Mac Davis (Blue Swede’s rendition is actually pretty decent), “Working in the Coal Mine” by Allen Toussaint (I’m having a hard time envisioning those six Swedes actually working in a coal mine) and “Always Something There to Remind Me” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, which I know – and love – best from the Naked Eyes new wave version. The original songs are not so great bubble-gum pop, especially the track “Silly Milly” which is silly but was a minor hit for Blue Swede, going to #71 in the US in ‘74.