Outside the Nordic countries the band is best known as a launching point for the keyboard player, lead guitar and composer Benny Andersson, who went on to enjoy worldwide success with ABBA.
The idea came from a line in the Bill Haley song "Razzle Dazzle" – "It's the hipster's dance" – with a slight alteration in written form.
[2] Hegland called Hedlund to fill the singer's slot for Frisk who had temporarily joined a tour backing band for some extra money for a new guitar amp.
After the group's first single ("Kana Kapila", 1964) the original keyboard player, Hans Östlund, was asked to leave because of relations growing sour, especially with Hedlund and founder member Pettersson, who left the band fed up with squabbles.
In turn, Andersson had earlier read a tabloid article about the camping car Hep Stars used when touring and which could hold both the band and the equipment.
[6] The band had become what is considered to be the classic line-up: Sven Hedlund (vocals), Jan Frisk (guitar/vocals), Benny Andersson (keyboards), Lennart Hegland (bass guitar) and Christer Pettersson (drums).
Other Swedish bands such as Tages and Shanes who largely wrote their own songs made a remark on Hep Stars using cover versions.
[10] "I Natt Jag Drömde" a Swedish version of "Last Night I Had A Strangest Dream" was a massive hit in Sweden but, being a folk-song, divided the band to a degree.
The original member leaving the band led to mixed feelings, and the decision was made to call it a day after fulfilling the tour contracts.
After that, Hedlund and Walker formed the duo Svenne & Lotta, who recorded the Swedish original of the ABBA song "Bang A Boomerang".
Having established their partnership in Hep Stars, Andersson and Ulvaeus continued both as a songwriting team for Polar Music as well as the duo Björn & Benny, which eventually led to ABBA.
Jan Frisk, Charlotte Walker and Sven Hedlund occasionally play concerts together with guest musicians under the Hep Stars flag.
[citation needed] It includes several songs written by Andersson and "Isn't It Easy To Say", the first joint composition by him and his new friend Ulvaeus, then a member of the acoustic group Hootenanny Singers, who mainly sang in the Swedish language.
Partial list based on information included in this Wikipedia page[better source needed], the Hep Stars' official website, and Bruce Eder's biography of the band for AllMusic.