Today’s KROQ Flashback: Kent “If You Were Here”

Oh, humble DJ’s. They love music sooo much they scour the planet for it even when on vacation – no wonder there was a time they were hired in music radio for their passion and knowledge of the stuff. Bean of Kevin and Bean is such a human, and he’s guest DJ-ing for your FLASHBACK today. Bean?

Back in the ’90s, before you could easily hear music from every country in the world on the internet, it was a great thrill as a music fan to travel and be turned on to local hits from elsewhere.

And so it was I found myself in Iceland in the summer of 1998. (As an aside, maybe still the coolest place I’ve ever been with friendly people, everything from black sandy beaches to glaciers to visit, and 24 hours of sunlight around the summer solstice.)

My rental car and I saw as much of the country as we could during that week, including driving the entire Ring Road, more than 1300 miles around the entire island.

The music on the radio was a mix of European dance hits, some American Top 40, and acts from all over Scandinavia too. One of those that caught my eye was a very popular Swedish group called Kent. They had become so successful at home in their native language that they were asked to record an English version of their current album Isola.

That is how their hit song “Om du var här” became “If You Were Here” and when I heard it I knew I had to buy a copy to bring home to America. Sure enough, the suits at KROQ liked it as much as I did and from what I remember we played it for quite some time before it died out, never quite achieving the status of similar sounding hits that year by the Smashing Pumpkins and Goo Goo Dolls.

I still like hearing it every once in a while now and Kent continues to be one of the most successful bands in Sweden, winning 20 Swedish Grammys through the years. They don’t bother recording their songs in English anymore though.

VEVO has got the video for you here: