Povel Ramel

You might not think that many Swedish songwriters would be inspired by the madness of someone like Spike Jones -- but Povel Ramel was, and grew into one of his country's most loved composers, with over 1,900 songs of wit, wordplay, and charm to his credit. Born into an aristocratic family in 1922, Ramel had a fairly privileged upbringing, although not always an easy one. When young he stepped on a nail, and the infected wound threatened his life, although he survived intact (but it did keep him out of the fighting side of the army). Not academic, he was orphaned at 15 and went...