Surprise Surprise is the 1982 studio album of Mezzoforte on Steinar. Their fourth album originally released in Iceland as 4 with a different cover made the band famous worldwide when, after the international release, the single "Garden Party" hit the charts.liner notes
Background Earlier in 1982, the second keyboard player, Bjorn Thorarensen who's been with them for their previous two albums, left Mezzoforte. The saxophone player Kristinn Svavarsson became a full member after playing as a guest on the band's first two albums. Surprise Surprise was recorded at PRT Studios, London in July–August 1982 and mixed at Red Bus Studios in September. It was the second time the band worked with producer Geoff Calver in London after the recording of their second album Í Hakanum released internationally as Mezzoforte and re-released as Octopus in 1996 in 1980. Despite gaining some popularity and playing concerts in the UK, the album was first released in Iceland in 1982 simply named 4 and then renamed Surprise Surprise for the international release.
Cover Surprise Surprise was originally released in Iceland as 4 with a different cover, but the record company decided to use the cover of Mezzoforte's third album Þvílíkt Og Annað Eins, released only in Iceland for the international release. The 1996 remastered version was released with the slightly modified international cover. This edition has a few discrepancies:as on album cover Chris Hunter and Bill Eldridge are credited as trumpet and saxophone players respectively this mistake was even present on the band's official website for a while Eirikur Ingolfsson is not credited as percussionist, and Shady Calver is credited on her maiden name: Shady Owens.
"Garden Party" "Garden Party" was chosen to be released as a single, even though the band wasn't sure whether to include the song on the album. It became Mezzoforte's biggest hit and charted in most European countries and Japan. After its success the band moved to England and started touring in Europe. "Garden Party" has been featured in TV programs and commercials, gaining even more publicity for Mezzoforte through the years. The song was covered by Herb Alpert in 1983.
Track listing
Charts +Album charts (weekly) Chart (1982) Peakposition UK Album Chart 23Australia (Kent Music Report)46 Dutch Album Top 100 10 German Top 100 Albums 33
+Song chartsYearTitleChart peak positionsUK Australia (Kent Music Report)NLGERBEL1983"Garden Party"173253610
Personnel Source:
Mezzoforte: Fridrik Karlsson Guitars (Yamaha and Ibanez electric, Ramirez acoustic), Percussion Eythor Gunnarsson Keyboards (Rhodes, MiniMoog, Grand Piano, OBX-A, Jupiter 8, Prophet V, Roland Vocoder), Percussion Johann Asmundsson Bass Guitars (JA-Special, Yamaha, Fender fretless), Percussion Gulli Briem Drums (Premier drums), Percussion Kristinn Svavarsson Saxophones (Yamaha alto, Selmer MK VI '58 tenor), Percussion
Additional musicians: Louis Jardim Percussion Eirikur Ingolfsson Percussion Shady Calver Voice Chris Cameron Voice Steve Dawson Flugelhorn on Garden Party Winston Sela OBX programming
Horns Section: Chris Hunter Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone Bill Eldridge Trumpet Martin Dobson Tenor Saxophone Stuart Brooks Trumpet
Technical: Ernst J. Backman: Original International Artwork Geoff Calver: Producer, Engineer Jonatan Gardarsson: Editor Eirikur Ingolfsson: 1996 Liner notes Seventh Heaven: 1996 Artwork and design Oskar Pall Sveinsson: 1996 Digital Remaster
Release history
YearFormatLabelCountryNote 1982 LP Steinar (Steinar 062) Iceland Titled 4 Steinar (Steinar LP02) UK — MC Steinar (Steinar STEC02) UK LP Polydor (28MM0275) Japan Plaza Records (PZ001) Australia, New Zealand Polydor (811 724-1) Germany CD Polydor (811 724-2) Germany 1983 LP CGD (INT 20359) Italy CBS (S 25456) Spain Jump And Shout (JS 3301) Belgium 1989 RCA (NL 74131) Germany CD BMG (ND 74131) 1996 CNR Music (2002973) Netherlands Remastered ZYX Music (ZYX 10024-2) Germany Record Express (REC 255103-2) Hungary SPOR Records (MEZZCD04) Austria Steinar (CD STE 02) Germany 2020 LP Quality Vinyl Projects (GR-150) Netherlands Re-mastered from original analogue master tapes
References