Rants // The Incredible Phenomenon of Midi, Maxi & Efti

Lately I couldn’t stop thinking about something – a trio of two sisters and a friend from Sweden that was produced by Alexander Bard (Army of Lovers). One album that produced one major hit in 1991 and then…nothing. And what a hit it is – to begin its called “Bad Bad Boys” and the title alone makes me think if MMM/Bard were trying to capitalize on the success of another huge hit, Inner Circle penned “Bad Boys” aka theme for the show Cops.

And the voices. Its not that Midi, Maxi and Efti sing, but they sing as if someone is forcing them to against their will. While nowhere as experimental as Shaggs, they do bring out the theories about that band’s sound being shaped by their dad forcing too much of a hand in pursuit of musical success. One can only hope that Alexander Bard was a bit kinder as a producer.

The lyrics aren’t too far removed from Inner Circle’s paean to police either – except if cops and robbers would’ve switched places somehow

Bad bad boys aha
yeah ah ha, yeah ah ha, ah ha (2*)
bad bad boys, come with me, come with me(2*)

Catchy and extra sticky like sweet gum on a hot day. And then you have Efti chiming in

Hi it’s me, if you know what I mean
I said it’s me, my name is Efti and I wan’t you to see
that positive people live longer
don’t be negative (negative)
just be positive (positive)

And who would disagree with that? You want things to be positive, not negative – I get a feeling that bad boys wouldn’t necessarily agree, but if you’ll look at the lyrics they don’t even appear anywhere other than the intro verse. And why is it only Efti that is allowed to rap/speak anyway? The mysteries/riddles continue unabated from there….

You keep on asking me
why can’t we be together
I thought we had forever
I thought we love eachother
some other day strong, now I feel alone

I’ll know someway and I’ll know someday
I like it like it is
and I like it like it was
but I’m not so sure anymore, anymore

So we’re not sure what’s going on. Someone can’t make up their damn mind – so maybe its a song about anxiety, perhaps one caused by meeting a bad boy.

Further inspection of the album reveals a song called Basement Boyfriend. Now I’m not sure what kind of a boyfriend lives in a basement and I was hoping for lyrics to shine a light on this. But they don’t – its a ballad that asks why the said boyfriend moved away and no longer writes letter or calls. One can only assume its because he moved out of the basement a long time ago, but, again, the lyrics provide few clues to his whereabouts.

Now look – it may sound like I’m  making fun of Midi, Maxi & Efti. While I do find a degree of absurdity to this project (as is the case with Bard’s own Army of Lovers), its not all a loss. I truly believe that back in the halcyon days of pre-Internet the trio predicted cringe-pop as a genre. Think someone like IceJJFish and Vennu Mallesh – one some level MMM definitely feel like spiritual elders to both, unlikely as it is that either artist is familiar with one another. Equally unlikely that we’ll ever see the reunion of the trio, but the world probably would’ve benefitted from hearing Bad Boys once again more than it would benefitted from Drake calling someone’s girlfriend a bitch or stealing the chorus from Pet Shop Boys.