Part 2: Dear Old Götown

Having conquered the Scandinavian pop charts, the Icy Wayfarers felt they were poised for international stardom. However, their next album, "Norse by Northwest," went virtually unnoticed throughout the rest of Europe. "(Do the) Valhalla Hop" barely cracked the top 100 singles in the Netherlands, and "Valkyrie in the Balcony" was largely regarded as a novelty in Germany and given only limited airplay. The Wayfarers were devastated.

Things began to look up for the band when manager Odin Bjork-Haagendasz learned that Motown Records founder and president Berry Gordy was planning a visit to Götown and intended to drop by an upcoming Wayfarers gig at their favorite venue, the Fjorditorium. The band sequestered themselves in the studio and practiced for nearly a week straight, fine-tuning their performance to the minutest detail.

When the fateful day came, however, disaster struck. Just before the Wayfarers took the stage, Gordy, exhausted from a transatlantic flight, which included a 13-hour layover in Reykjavik, collapsed at his table. He was rushed from the Fjorditorium in an ambulance and brought to Stockholm General Hospital. From there, Gordy, disgusted by the abundance of free, high quality medical care available to him at Stockholm General, was airlifted to Our Lady of the Egregious Error Hospital in Paris, where it was discovered that Gordy was suffering from intestinal distress after having consumed too many Swedish Fish.

After his ordeal, Gordy swore off the entire Scandinavian region, vowing never to return. It seemed as though the Icy Wayfarers would never earn the recognition of their idol.