Lea Riders Group

About Lea Riders Group

Swedish rock band with roots in Borgholm, Öland.

As early as 1961, Hawkey Franzén together with two friends formed the band Red River Band, a trio where the instruments were drums, accordion and trumpet. More members were added and after 1963 they called themselves Lea Riders Group. Many members came and went, but the founder and frontman Hawkey Franzén was always in the band. After playing at schools and party places on Öland, in Kalmar, the rest of Småland, Blekinge and Östergötland, the band got the chance in 1966 to play in Stockholm. There, they quickly made a name for themselves among students and young people and Lea Riders Group was a popular indie band before the term had even been invented. The group made its first and only TV appearance in the autumn of 1966, when a live show directed by Stefan Jarl and Jan Lindqvist was shown on SVT.

A number of singles were recorded and released by Philips. They would once again collaborate with Stefan Jarl / Jan Lindqvist when Lea Riders Group got to record some of the film music for Dom kallar oss mods. Stefan Jarl’s and Jan Lindqvist’s choice was between Lea Riders Group and a similar band, Baby Grandmothers.

In mid-1968, several of the members felt that gigs and altercations did not lead the group forward, and the group disbanded in May of that year. Out of the ashes of Lea Riders Group, Made in Sweden was formed shortly afterwards by Bosse Häggström Jojje Wadenius and Slim Borgudd.