Pete Skoglund

Vale – “Yodelling” Pete Skoglund
1928 - 2007

Pete Skoglund was born on 8 September 1928. He was involved in music all through childhood, played mouth organ in a scouts' choir and sang in church choirs. Then at the age of 17, he got a guitar, and yodelling became his forte. Soon he was doing concerts, and then touring Victoria and South Australia with various parties. 

In 1948 he won a yodelling championship, and the following year was singing on trans-Atlantic passenger cargo world trips. He was a pioneer in the singing commercial field, first doing one for Swiss Condensed Milk, and then a G. J. Coles commercial which was used nationwide for 15 years. The Coles one was so popular that BEA Records decided to put it on a commercially released album. Issued in 1952, it was the first album in the country music-yodelling field ever released in Australia. 

Late in 1952, Pete joined Reg Lindsay on a tour of the country showgrounds, which gave him valuable stage experience, as well as making him known to a wider cross-section of fans. Through the period 1951 to 1958 Pete was a regular member of the Trailblazers unit, and did all the usual shows around Melbourne. The year 1958 saw his second album released, this time a 10-inch LP on Spotlight label, which sold exceptionally well and brought Pete much wider recognition. 

The wander bug has always hovered around Pete Skoglund. He toured the Orient in 1963, then did shipboard entertaining on several cruises, plus a series of dates around England at holiday camps and workmen's clubs. After that he entertained American troops in Germany, and spent six months in Sweden. 

In 1966 Pete's song, The Ringing Reindeer, was recorded by Welsh singer Deke Layne on the Fontana label, and in 1970 it was covered in Australia by Johnny Farnham. He writes well, and has a number of his own songs on his latest record, a double album for Hadley Records, which shows a much greater maturity than his earlier efforts of the 50s. It was recorded in 1978, after his return from yet another six-month tour of the USA and Canada.

Pete lives in Melbourne today, and is ranked amongst the best Australian exponents of yodelling.

 Eric Watson
Country Music In Australia Volume 2 
© Cornstalk Publishing 1983