Ann-Louise Hanson - Don't Darken My Doorstep (Låt Inte Din Skugga Falla Här) - 1977

Описание: Ann-Louise Hanson - Don't Darken My Doorstep
Single A-side, CBS – 5673, Sweden, 1977.

By the mid-1970s, Ann-Louise Hanson had already been in the business for over a decade. She had debuted in 1961, built a solid schlager career and become a familiar name on Swedish radio. But like many long-running artists, she needed a spark. That spark came in the form of country music.

Together with her husband and producer Bruno Glenmark, she decided to shift direction. The idea wasn’t to abandon her audience, but to refresh the sound — and to aim slightly westward. The result was the English-language album You Ought To Write Yourself A Love Song (1978).

The first single, released already in 1977, was “Don’t Darken My Doorstep.” Written by Anders Glenmark and Thomas H. Minor (with Bruno Glenmark credited on the Swedish version), it marked the start of a distinct country-pop phase.

The move was serious enough that Ann-Louise even travelled to the United States to promote the project. She visited several major cities and presented her material to record labels. While there, she was asked if she would consider relocating permanently. Her answer? “Never in my life.” That, as she later joked, was the end of the American career.

Back in Sweden, however, the gamble paid off. The album went on to sell around 150,000 copies — her biggest commercial success. And in 1978, the Swedish version of the song, “Låt Inte Din Skugga Falla Här,” became a massive radio hit, spending the maximum 11 weeks on Svensktoppen, nine of them at No. 1.

The single was also released internationally. English editions appeared in several territories, and in 1979 CBS issued the Spanish-language version “No Manches Mi Puerta” (CBS 6994) in Spain and Bolivia, with lyrics by Óscar Gómez. Check it out here:    • Ann-Louise Hanson – Canta En Español: 🇪🇸 N...   and in 1981 she recorded the German version, “Champagner für Johnny.”

Few Swedish recordings travelled so widely in so many languages.

And this was not a one-album detour. The country direction continued with Comin’ Home (1979), Waves of Love (1980) and California Rose (1982). In 1981 she also released Mina Bästa Country-Pop-Låtar På Svenska, collecting Swedish-language versions from this era.

None of the later albums matched the breakthrough impact of the first one — but together they define a clearly marked country chapter in her catalogue.

Over the decades, Ann-Louise would go on to compete in Melodifestivalen 14 times, record more than 600 songs and placing around 50 of them on Svensktoppen. Reinvention has always been part of her story.

But this was the moment she chose Nashville over schlager — and then chose Sweden over Nashville.

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Here on my channel I’m uploading stuff that I haven’t been able to find anywhere on YT or elsewhere. Or in some cases perhaps a more complete or in better quality version. Always ripped and recorded from my own vinyl collection. Focus on Swedish covers of international hits, of Eurovision stuff and other easy listening from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

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