biography
The Merrymakers (from Pitea, Sweden, way up north) were one of the original friends and seminal members of the Zip Records label.
I (Arthur Herman / ZIP) had the coincidence of running into the Merrymakers at a small hotel in Tokyo, Japan in 1998, between their success at the top end of the Japanese charts with single "Monument of Me" and prior to their release of Virgin Japan of their second album "Bubblegun".
"Bubblegun" was produced by Andy Sturmer (Jellyfish) and was a strong follow up to their debut album in Sweden and Japan. Although Zip Records did not license the album from Virgin Records, the label was instrumental in arranging for the release of the title through New York based Big Deal Records (1999). Despite the fact that such label went out of business about the same week as the albums' release, rumors indicated that in excess of 5,000 albums were sold.
Australian label "Shock Records" licensed "Bubblegun" and added bonus tracks and become the fourth continent to expose pop fans to the groups' genius. Since their US label was no more, Zip Records was able to satisfy the cravings of the remaining American fans of melodic Nordic pop with imports of their Australian Shock Records title.
The Merrymakers broke up in the mid 2000's but chief songwriter and lead singer David Myhr pursued a solo career and in 2013 released an album which was lauded ny guitar pop fans throughout the world.
A very limited quantity of "Bubblegun's" remain available to U.S> fans through Zip Records.
