Leif "Loket" Olsson and "Bingolotto" were synonymous with dance band music for many years. Many orchestras reached a large audience in the TV4 program – a major reason for the big dance band wave in the 1990s with names like Arvingarna, Lasse Stefanz, Candela, Wizex, and Lotta Engberg.
Arvingarna owe half their career start to "Loket". He lifted up a lot of young unknown bands that got a platform, says Thomas Deutgen, former host of "P4 dance" and now editor-in-chief of the magazine Får jag lov.
Deutgen tells that "Loket" had to fight against TV executives to get the dance bands into his TV program.
He was always so very upset about the stepmotherly treatment that such a large music genre has historically had in the media.
"Loket" made demands to get the dance bands into the program and took on the struggle against the TV executives.
I know that TV producers over the years would rather have had the "cool" indie artists, but he wanted dance bands, says Deutgen.
He also believes that it was the key to "Bingolotto's" success.
There were three success factors. Partly that you could win a lot of money, and then "Loket's" enormous popularity. Then it was that it was precisely dance bands that were in the TV program and not the usual "cool" pop artists.
