ABBA |
|
Background information |
Origin |
Stockholm,
Sweden |
Genres |
Pop,
Euro disco,
Europop,
pop rock |
Years active |
1972–1982 |
Labels |
Polar,
Polydor,
Atlantic,
Universal,
Epic,
Vogue,
RCA,
PolyGram, Sunshine (Rhodesia-Zimbabwe), Ariston/Dig It
(Italy) |
Associated acts |
Hep Stars,
Hootenanny Singers,
Benny Anderssons Orkester |
Website |
abbasite.com |
|
Past members |
Agnetha Fältskog
Björn Ulvaeus
Benny Andersson
Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad |
ABBA were a
Swedish
pop
group formed in
Stockholm in 1972, comprising
Agnetha Fältskog,
Björn Ulvaeus,
Benny Andersson and
Anni-Frid Lyngstad. ABBA is an acronym of the first letters of the
band members' first names and is sometimes stylized as the registered
trademark ᗅᗺᗷᗅ. They became one of the
most commercially successful acts in the history of pop music,
topping the charts worldwide from 1972 to 1982. They are also known for
winning the
1974 Eurovision Song Contest, giving
Sweden its first victory in the history of the contest and being the
most successful group ever to take part in the contest.
ABBA had sold over 370 million albums and singles worldwide and still
sell millions of records a year,[1][2]
which makes them one of the
best-selling music artists of all time. ABBA was the first pop group
to come from a non-English-speaking country that enjoyed consistent
success in the charts of English-speaking countries, including the
UK,
Ireland, the
U.S.,
Canada,
Australia,
New Zealand,
Philippines and
South Africa. The group also enjoyed significant success in Latin
American markets, and recorded a
collection of their hit songs in Spanish.
During the band's active years, Fältskog and Ulvaeus were a married
couple, as were Lyngstad and Andersson, although both couples later
divorced. At the height of their popularity, both relationships were
suffering strain which ultimately resulted in the collapse of the
Ulvaeus-Fältskog marriage in 1979 and the Andersson-Lyngstad marriage in
1981. These relationship changes were reflected in the group's music[citation
needed], with later compositions including more
introspective lyrics.
After ABBA broke up in late 1982, Andersson and Ulvaeus achieved
success writing music for the stage while Lyngstad and Fältskog pursued
solo careers with mixed success. ABBA's music declined in popularity
until several films, notably
Muriel's Wedding and
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, revived
interest in the group, spawning several
tribute bands. In 1999, ABBA's music was adapted into the successful
musical
Mamma Mia! that toured worldwide.
A film of the same name released in 2008 became the highest-grossing
film in the United Kingdom that year. The group was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 15 March 2010.[3]
History
Before ABBA
(1960s)
Andersson with the Hep Stars.
Ulvaeus with the Hootenanny Singers.
Benny Andersson (born 16 December 1946 in
Stockholm, Sweden) became (at age 18) the member of a popular
Swedish pop-rock group, The
Hep
Stars, that performed covers of international hits. The Hep Stars
were known as "The Swedish Beatles". They also set up Hep House, their
equivalent of
Apple Corps. Andersson played the keyboard and eventually started
writing original songs for his band, many of which became major hits,
including "No Response" that hit number 3 in 1965, "Sunny Girl",
"Wedding" and "Consolation", all of which hit number 1 in 1966.[4]
Andersson also had a fruitful songwriting collaboration with
Lasse Berghagen, with whom he wrote his first
Svensktoppen entry "Sagan om lilla Sofi" ("The Story of Little
Sophie") in 1968.
Björn Ulvaeus (born 25 April 1945 in
Gothenburg/Göteborg, Sweden) also began his musical career at 18 (as
a singer and guitarist), when he fronted
The Hootenanny Singers, a popular Swedish
folk-skiffle
group. Ulvaeus started writing English-language songs for his group, and
even had a brief solo career alongside. The Hootenanny Singers and The
Hep Stars sometimes crossed paths while touring. In June 1966, Ulvaeus
and Andersson decided to write a song together. Their first attempt was
"Isn't It Easy to Say", a song later recorded by The Hep Stars.
Stig Anderson was the manager of The Hootenanny Singers and founder
of the
Polar Music label. He saw potential in the collaboration, and
encouraged them to write more. Both also began playing occasionally with
the other's bands on stage and on record, although it was not until 1969
that the pair wrote and produced some of their first real hits together:
"Ljuva sextital" ("Merry Sixties"), recorded by Brita Borg, and The Hep
Stars' 1969 hit "Speleman" ("Fiddler").
Andersson wrote and submitted the song "Hej, Clown" for the 1969
Melodifestivalen, the national festival to select the
Swedish entry to the
Eurovision Song Contest. The song tied for first place, but
re-voting relegated Andersson's song to second place.[5]
On that occasion Andersson briefly met his future spouse, singer
Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who also participated in the contest. A month
later, the two had become a couple. As their respective bands began to
break up during 1969, Andersson and Ulvaeus teamed up and recorded their
first album together in 1970, called
Lycka
("Happiness"), which included original songs sung by both men. Their
spouses were often present in the recording studio, and sometimes added
backing vocals; Fältskog even co-wrote a song with the two. Ulvaeus
still occasionally recorded and performed with The Hootenanny Singers
until the summer of 1974, and Andersson took part in producing their
records.
Agnetha Fältskog (born 5 April 1950 in
Jönköping, Sweden) sang with a local dance band headed by Bernt
Enghardt who sent a demo recording of the band to Karl Gerhard
Lundkvist. The demo tape featured a song written and sung by Agnetha,
"Jag var så kär". Lundkvist was so impressed with her voice that he was
convinced she would be a star. After going through considerable effort
to locate the singer, he arranged for Agnetha to come to Stockholm and
to record two of her own songs. This led to Agnetha having a number 1
record in Sweden with a self composed song and selling more than 80.000
copies while she was still only 17. She was soon noticed by the critics
and songwriters as a talented singer/songwriter of
schlager style songs. Fältskog's main inspiration in her early years
were singers such as
Connie Francis. Along with her own compositions, she recorded
covers of foreign hits and performed them on tours in Swedish
folkparks. Most of her biggest hits were self-composed, which was
quite unusual for a female singer in the 1960s. Agnetha released four
solo LPs between 1968 and 1971. She had many successful singles in the
Swedish charts.
During filming of a Swedish TV special in May 1969, Fältskog met
Ulvaeus, and they married on 6 July 1971. Fältskog and Ulvaeus
eventually were involved in each other's recording sessions,[6]
and soon even Andersson and Lyngstad added backing vocals to her third
studio album Som jag är (As I Am) (1970). In 1972,
Fältskog starred as
Mary Magdalene in the original Swedish production of
Jesus Christ Superstar and attracted favourable reviews. Between
1967 and 1975, Fältskog released five studio albums.[7]
Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad (born 15 November 1945 in Bjørkåsen in
Ballangen,
Norway)
sang from the age of 13 with various dance bands, and worked mainly in a
jazz-oriented cabaret style. She also formed her own band, the Anni-Frid
Four. In the summer of 1967, she won a national talent competition with
"En ledig dag" ("A Day Off") a Swedish version of the bossa nova song "A
Day in Portofino", which is included in the EMI compilation
Frida 1967–1972. The first prize was a recording contract with
EMI Sweden
and to perform live on the most popular TV shows in the country. This TV
performance, amongst many others, is included in the 3½ hour documentary
Frida – The DVD. Lyngstad released several
schlager style singles on EMI without much success. When Benny
Andersson started to produce her recordings in 1971, she had her first
number 1 single, "Min egen stad" ("My Own Town") written by Benny
featuring all the future ABBA members on backing vocals. Lyngstad toured
and performed regularly in the folkpark circuit and made appearances on
radio and TV. She met Ulvaeus briefly in 1963 during a talent contest,
and Fältskog during a TV show in early 1968.
Lyngstad finally linked up with her future bandmates in 1969. On 1
March 1969, she participated in the Melodifestivalen, where she met
Andersson for the first time. A few weeks later they met again during a
concert tour in southern Sweden and they soon became a couple. Andersson
produced her single "Peter Pan" in September 1969 — her first
collaboration with Benny & Björn, as they had written the song.
Andersson would then produce Lyngstad's debut studio album,
Frida, which was released in March 1971. Lyngstad also played in
several revues and cabaret shows in Stockholm between 1969 and 1973.
After ABBA formed, she recorded another successful album in 1975,
Frida ensam, which included a Swedish rendition of "Fernando",
a hit on the Swedish radio charts before the English version was
released.[8]
First live performance and the start of "Festfolk"
An attempt at combining their talents occurred in April 1970 when the
two couples went on holiday together to the island of
Cyprus.
What started as singing for fun on the beach ended up as an improvised
live performance in front of the United Nations soldiers stationed on
the island. Andersson and Ulvaeus were at this time recording their
first album together, Lycka, which was to be released in
September 1970. Fältskog and Lyngstad added backing vocals on several
tracks during June, and the idea of them working together saw them
launch a stage act, "Festfolk" (which translates from Swedish to mean
both "Party People" and "Engaged Couples") on 1 November 1970 in
Gothenburg. The cabaret show attracted generally negative reviews,
except for the performance of the Andersson and Ulvaeus hit "Hej, gamle
man" ("Hello, Old Man"); the first Björn and Benny recording to feature
all four. They also performed solo numbers from respective albums, but
the lukewarm reception convinced the foursome to shelve plans for
working together for the time being, and each soon concentrated on
individual projects again.
First record together "Hej, gamle man"
"Hej, gamle man", a song about an old
Salvation Army soldier, became the quartet's first hit. The record
was credited to Björn & Benny and reached number 5 on the sales
charts and number 1 on
Svensktoppen, staying there for 15 weeks.
During 1971, the four artists began working together more, adding
vocals to the others' recordings. Fältskog, Andersson and Ulvaeus toured
together in May, while Lyngstad toured on her own. Frequent recording
sessions brought the foursome closer together during the summer.[9]
Forming the group (1970–1973)
After the 1970 release of Lycka, two more singles credited to
'Björn & Benny' were released in Sweden, "Det kan ingen doktor hjälpa"
("No Doctor Can Help with That") and "Tänk om jorden vore ung" ("Imagine
If the Earth Were Young"), with more prominent vocals by Fältskog and
Lyngstad–and moderate chart success.
Fältskog and Ulvaeus, now married, started performing together with
Andersson on a regular basis at the Swedish folkparks during the summer
of 1971.
Stig Anderson, founder and owner of
Polar Music, was determined to break into the mainstream
international market with music by Andersson and Ulvaeus. "One day the
pair of you will write a song that becomes a worldwide hit", he
predicted.[10]
Stig Anderson encouraged Ulvaeus and Andersson to write a song for
Melodifestivalen, and after two rejected entries in 1971,[11]
Andersson and Ulvaeus submitted their new song "Säg det med en sång"
("Say It with a Song") for the 1972 contest, choosing newcomer Lena
Anderson to perform. The song came in third place, encouraging Stig
Anderson, and became a hit in Sweden.[12]
The first signs of foreign success came as a surprise, as the
Andersson and Ulvaeus single "She's My Kind of Girl" was released
through
Epic Records in Japan in March 1972, giving the duo a Top 10 hit.
Two more singles were released in Japan, "En Carousel"[13]
("En Karusell" in Scandinavia, an earlier version of "Merry-Go-Round")
and "Love Has Its Ways" (a song they wrote with
Koichi Morita).[14]
First hit as Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid
Ulvaeus and Andersson persevered with their songwriting and
experimented with new sounds and vocal arrangements. "People
Need Love" was released in June 1972, featuring guest vocals by the
women, who were now given much greater prominence. Stig Anderson
released it as a single, credited to Björn & Benny, Agnetha &
Anni-Frid. The song peaked at number 17 in the Swedish combined
single and album charts, enough to convince them they were on to
something.[15]
The single also became the first record to chart for the quartet in the
United States, where it peaked at number 114 on the
Cashbox singles chart and number 117 on the
Record World singles chart. Labeled as Björn & Benny (with
Svenska Flicka), it was released there through
Playboy Records. However, according to Stig Anderson, "People Need
Love" could have been a much bigger American hit, but a small label like
Playboy Records did not have the distribution resources to meet the
demand for the single from retailers and radio programmers.[16]
The foursome decided to record their first album together in the
autumn of 1972, and sessions began on 26 September 1972. The women
shared lead vocals on "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" (a top ten hit in
Austria) that day, and their voices in harmony for the first time gave
the foursome an idea of the quality of their combined talents.
"Ring Ring"
In 1973, the band and their manager Stig Anderson decided to have
another try at Melodifestivalen, this time with the song "Ring
Ring". The studio sessions were handled by
Michael B. Tretow, who experimented with a "wall
of sound" production technique that became the wholly new ABBA
sound. Stig Anderson arranged an English translation of the lyrics by
Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody and they thought this would be a surefire
winner. However, on 10 February 1973, the song came third in
Melodifestivalen, thus it never reached the Eurovision Song Contest
itself. Nevertheless, the group released their debut studio album, also
called
Ring Ring. The album did well and the "Ring Ring" single was a
hit in many parts of Europe and also in South Africa. However, Stig
Anderson felt that the true breakthrough could only come with a UK or US
hit.[17]
Though Agnetha Fältskog gave birth to her first child in 1973 she was
for a shorter period replaced by Inger Brundin on a trip to West
Germany.
Official naming
In early 1973, Stig Anderson, tired of unwieldy names, started to
refer to the group privately and publicly as ABBA. At first, this was a
play on words, as
Abba is also the name of a well-known fish-canning company in
Sweden, and itself an acronym. However, since the fish-canners were
unknown outside Sweden, Anderson came to believe the name would work in
international markets. A competition to find a suitable name for the
group was held in a Gothenburg newspaper. The group was impressed with
the names "Alibaba", "FABB", and "Baba", but in the end all the entries
were ignored and it was officially announced in the summer that the
group were to be known as "ABBA". The group negotiated with the canners
for the rights to the name.[18]
"ABBA" is an
acronym
formed from the first letters of each group member's first name:
Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid.[19]
During a promotional photo, Benny flipped his "B" horizontally for fun,
and from 1976 onwards the first 'B' in the logo version of the name was
"mirror-image" reversed on the band's promotional material and ᗅᗺᗷᗅ
became the group's
registered trademark.
The first time "ABBA" is found written on paper is on a recording
session sheet from the Metronome Studio in
Stockholm, dated 16 October 1973. This was first written as "Björn,
Benny, Agnetha & Frida", but was subsequently crossed out with "ABBA"
written in large letters on top.
The official logo, using the bold version of the
News Gothic typeface, was designed by Rune Söderqvist, and appeared
for the first time on the "Dancing
Queen" single in August 1976, and subsequently on all later original
albums and singles. But the idea for the official logo was made by the
German photographer Wolfgang Heilemann on a "Dancing Queen" shoot for
the teenage magazine
Bravo. On the photo, the ABBA members held a giant initial letter of
his/her name. After the pictures were made, Heilemann found out that one
of the men held his letter backwards as in ᗅᗺᗷᗅ®. They discussed it and
the members of ABBA liked it. Following their acquisition of the group's
catalogue, Polygram began using variations of the ABBA logo, using a
different font and adding a crown emblem to it in 1992 for the first
release of the ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits compilation. When
Universal Music purchased Polygram (and, thus, ABBA's label Polar Music
International), control of the group's catalogue was returned to
Stockholm. Since then, the original logo has been reinstated on all
official products.[20]
Breakthrough (1973–1976)
Eurovision
As the group entered the Melodifestivalen with "Ring
Ring" but failed to qualify as the 1973 Swedish entry, Stig Anderson
immediately started planning for the 1974 contest.
Ulvaeus, Andersson and Stig Anderson believed in the possibilities of
using
Melodifestivalen and the
Eurovision Song Contest as a way to make the music business aware of
them as songwriters, as well as the band itself. In late 1973, they were
invited by Swedish television to contribute a song for the
Melodifestivalen 1974 and from a number of new songs, the upbeat
number "Waterloo"
was chosen; the group was now inspired by the growing
glam
rock scene in England. "Waterloo" was an unashamedly glam-style pop
track produced with Michael B. Tretow's wall-of-sound approach, and it
bears a notable resemblance in both arrangement and production to
Wizzard's
1973 UK hit "See
My Baby Jive".[original
research?]
ABBA won their national heats on Swedish television on 9 February
1974, and with this third attempt were far more experienced and better
prepared for the Eurovision Song Contest. Winning the
1974 Contest on 6 April 1974 gave ABBA the chance to tour Europe and
perform on major television shows; thus the band saw the "Waterloo"
single chart in many European countries. "Waterloo" was ABBA's first
number one single in big markets such as the UK and Germany. In the
United States, the song peaked at number six on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart, paving the way for their first album
and their first trip as a group there. Albeit a short promotional visit,
it included their first performance on American television,
The Mike Douglas Show. The album
Waterloo only peaked at number 145 on the
Billboard 200 chart, but received unanimous high praise from
the US critics:
Los Angeles Times called it "a compelling and fascinating debut
album that captures the spirit of mainstream pop quite effectively . . .
an immensely enjoyable and pleasant project", while
Creem
characterized it as "a perfect blend of exceptional, lovable
compositions".[citation
needed]
ABBA's follow-up single, "Honey,
Honey", peaked at number 27 on the US
Billboard Hot 100, and was a number 2 hit in Germany.
However, in the United Kingdom, ABBA's British record label, Epic,
decided to re-release a remixed version of "Ring Ring" instead of
"Honey, Honey", and a cover version of the latter by
Sweet Dreams peaked at number 10. Both records debuted on the UK
chart within one week of each other. "Ring Ring" failed to reach the Top
30 in the United Kingdom, increasing growing speculation that the group
were simply Eurovision
one-hit wonders.
Post-Eurovision
In November 1974, ABBA embarked on their first European tour, playing
dates in Denmark, West Germany and Austria. It was not as successful as
the band had hoped, since most of the venues did not sell out. Due to a
lack of demand, they were even forced to cancel a few shows, including a
sole concert scheduled in Switzerland. The second leg of the tour, which
took them through Scandinavia in January 1975, was very different. They
played to full houses everywhere and finally got the reception they had
aimed for. Live performances continued during the summer of 1975 when
ABBA embarked on a sixteen open-air date tour of Sweden and Finland.
Their
Stockholm show at the
Gröna Lund amusement park had an estimated audience of 19,200.[21]
In late 1974, "So Long" was released as a single in the United
Kingdom but it received no airplay from Radio 1 and failed to chart. In
the summer of 1975 ABBA released "I
Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", which again received little airplay on
Radio 1 but managed to climb the charts, to number 38. Later in 1975,
the release of their self-titled third studio album
ABBA and single "SOS"
brought back their chart presence in the UK, where the single hit number
6 and the album peaked at number 13. "SOS" also became ABBA's second
number 1 single in Germany and Australia. Success was further solidified
with "Mamma
Mia" reaching number 1 in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.
In the United States, "SOS"
peaked at number 10 on the
Record World Top 100 singles chart and number 15 on the Billboard
Hot 100 chart, picking up the
BMI Award along the way as one of the most played songs on American
radio in 1975.
The success of the group in the United States had until that time
been limited to single releases. By early 1976, the group already had
four Top 30 singles on the US charts, but the album market proved to be
tough to crack. The eponymous ABBA album generated three American
hits, but it only peaked at number 165 on the Cashbox album chart
and number 174 on the Billboard 200 chart. Opinions were voiced,
by Creem in particular, that in the US ABBA had endured "a very
sloppy promotional campaign". Nevertheless, the group enjoyed warm
reviews from the American press.
Cashbox went as far as saying that "there is a recurrent thread
of taste and artistry inherent in Abba's marketing, creativity and
presentation that makes it almost embarrassing to critique their
efforts", while Creem wrote: "SOS is surrounded on this LP by so
many good tunes that the mind boggles".
In Australia, the airing of the music videos for "I Do, I Do, I Do, I
Do, I Do" and "Mamma Mia" on the nationally-broadcast TV pop show
Countdown (which premiered in August 1975) saw the band rapidly
gain enormous popularity, and Countdown become a key promoter of
the group via their distinctive music videos. This started an immense
interest for ABBA in Australia, resulting in both the single and album
holding down the #1 positions on the charts for months.
Superstardom (1976–1981)
In March 1976, the band released the compilation album
Greatest Hits, despite having had only six Top 40 hits in the
United Kingdom and the United States. Nevertheless, it became their
first UK number 1 album, and also took ABBA into the Top 50 on the US
album charts for the first time, eventually selling more than a million
copies there. At the same time, Germany released a compilation named
The Very Best of ABBA, also becoming a number 1 album there whereas
the Greatest Hits compilation followed a few months later to
number 2 on the German charts, despite all similarities with The Very
Best album. Also included on Greatest Hits was a new single,
"Fernando",
which took the world by storm, hitting number 1 in at least thirteen
countries worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Germany and
Australia, and the single went on to sell over 10 million copies
worldwide.[22]
In Australia, the song occupied the top position for 14 weeks (and
stayed in the chart for 40 weeks), tying with
The Beatles' "Hey
Jude" for longest-running number one, and making "Fernando" one of
the best-selling singles of all time in Australia. That same year, the
group received its first international prize, with "Fernando" being
chosen as the "Best Studio Recording of 1975". In the United States,
"Fernando" reached the Top 10 of the Cashbox Top 100 singles chart and
number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also topped the
Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, ABBA's first American number one
single.
The group's fourth studio album,
Arrival, a number 1 bestseller in Europe and Australia,
represented a new level of accomplishment in both songwriting and studio
work, prompting rave reviews from more rock-oriented UK music weeklies
such as
Melody Maker and
New Musical
Express, and mostly appreciative notices from American critics.
Hit after hit flowed from Arrival: "Money,
Money, Money", another number 1 in Germany and Australia, and "Knowing
Me, Knowing You", ABBA's sixth consecutive German number 1 as well
as another UK number 1. The real sensation was "Dancing
Queen", not only topping the charts in loyal markets the UK, Germany
and Australia, but also reaching number 1 in the United States. In South
Africa, ABBA had astounding success with "Fernando", "Dancing Queen" and
"Knowing Me, Knowing You" being among the top 20 best-selling singles
for 1976–77. In 1977, Arrival was nominated for the inaugural
BRIT Award in the category "Best International Album of the Year".
By this time ABBA were popular in the United Kingdom, most of Western
Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In Frida – The DVD, Lyngstad
explains how she and Fältskog developed as singers, as ABBA's recordings
grew more complex over the years.
The band's popularity in the United States would remain on a
comparatively smaller scale, and "Dancing Queen" became the only
Billboard Hot 100 number 1 single ABBA had there (they did, however, get
three more singles to the number 1 position on other Billboard charts,
including Billboard Adult Contemporary and
Hot Dance Club Play). Nevertheless, Arrival finally became a
true breakthrough release for ABBA on the US album market where it
peaked at number 20 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified gold by
RIAA.
European
and Australian tour
In January 1977, ABBA embarked on their first major tour. The group's
status had changed dramatically and they were clearly regarded as
superstars. They opened their much anticipated tour in
Oslo,
Norway, on 28 January, and mounted a lavishly produced spectacle that
included a few scenes from their self-written mini-operetta The Girl
with the Golden Hair. The concert attracted immense media attention
from across Europe and Australia. They continued the tour through
Western Europe visiting
Gothenburg,
Copenhagen,
Berlin,
Cologne,
Amsterdam,
Antwerp,
Essen,
Hanover,
Hamburg,
and ended it with shows in the United Kingdom in
Manchester,
Birmingham,
Glasgow
and two sold-out concerts at London's
Royal Albert Hall. Tickets for these two shows were available only
by mail application and it was later revealed that the box-office
received 3.5 million requests for tickets, enough to fill the venue 580
times. Along with praise ("ABBA turn out to be amazingly successful at
reproducing their records", wrote
Creem),
there were complaints that "ABBA performed slickly...but with a zero
personality coming across from a total of 16 people on stage" (Melody
Maker). One of the Royal Albert Hall concerts was filmed as a
reference for the filming of the Australian tour for what became
ABBA: The Movie, though it is not exactly known how much of the
concert was filmed.
Agnetha Fältskog at the opening concert of ABBA's
European and Australian Tour in
Oslo, 28 January 1977.
After the European leg of the tour, in March 1977, ABBA played eleven
dates in Australia before a total of 160,000 people. The opening concert
in Sydney at the
Sydney Showground on 3 March to an audience of 20,000 was marred by
torrential rain, with Lyngstad slipping on the wet stage during the
concert. However, all four members would later recall this concert to be
the most memorable of their career. Upon their arrival in
Melbourne, a civic reception was held at the
Melbourne Town Hall and ABBA appeared on the balcony to greet an
enthusiastic crowd of 6,000 people. In Melbourne, the group played three
concerts at the
Sidney Myer Music Bowl with 14,500 at each including the
Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Fraser and his family. At the first Melbourne concert, an
additional 16,000 people gathered outside the fenced-off area to listen
to the concert. In
Adelaide, the group performed one concert at
West Lakes Football Stadium before 20,000 people with another 10,000
listening outside. During the first of five concerts in Perth, there was
a bomb scare with everyone having to evacuate the Entertainment Centre.
The trip was accompanied by mass hysteria and unprecedented media
attention ("Swedish ABBA stirs box-office in Down Under tour...and the
media coverage of the quartet rivals that set to cover the upcoming
Royal tour of Australia", wrote
Variety), and is captured on film in
ABBA: The Movie, directed by
Lasse Hallström.
The Australian tour and its subsequent ABBA: The Movie
produced some ABBA lore, as well. Fältskog's blonde good looks had long
made her the band's "pin-up girl", a role she disdained. During the
Australian tour, she performed in a skin-tight white jumpsuit, causing
one Australian newspaper to use the headline "Agnetha's bottom tops dull
show". When asked about this at a news conference, she replied: "Don't
they have bottoms in Australia?"[23]
In December 1977, ABBA followed up Arrival with the more
ambitious fifth album
ABBA: The Album, released to coincide with the debut of ABBA:
The Movie. Although the album was less well received by UK
reviewers, it did spawn more worldwide hits: "The
Name of the Game" and "Take
a Chance on Me", which both topped the UK charts, and peaked at
number 12 and number 3 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in
the US. Although "Take a Chance on Me" did not top the American charts,
it proved to be ABBA's biggest hit single there, selling more copies
than "Dancing Queen".[24]
The Album also included "Thank
You for the Music", the B-side of "Eagle"
in countries where the latter had been released as a single, and was
belatedly released as an A-side single in the United Kingdom and Ireland
in 1983. "Thank
You for the Music" has become one of the best loved and best known
ABBA songs without being released as a single during the group's
lifetime.
Polar
Music Studio formation
Polar Music Studios was situated in this building at 58
Sankt Eriksgatan in Stockholm until 2004
By 1978, ABBA was one of the biggest bands in the world. They
converted a vacant movie theatre into the
Polar Music Studio, a state-of-the-art studio in
Stockholm. The studio was used by several other bands; notably,
Genesis'
Duke and
Led Zeppelin's
In Through the Out Door were recorded there. During May, the
group went to the United States for a promotional campaign, performing
alongside
Andy
Gibb on
Olivia Newton-John's TV show. Recording sessions for the single "Summer
Night City" were an uphill struggle, but upon release the song
became another hit for the group. The track would set the stage for
ABBA's foray into
disco
with their next album.[25]
On 9 January 1979, the group performed "Chiquitita"
at the
Music for UNICEF Concert held at the
United Nations General Assembly to celebrate UNICEF's Year of the
Child. ABBA donated the
copyright of this worldwide hit to the
UNICEF; see
Music for UNICEF Concert.[26]
The single was released the following week, and reached number 1 in ten
countries.
North American and European tours
In mid-January 1979, Ulvaeus and Fältskog announced they were getting
divorced. The news caused interest from the media, and led to
speculation about the band's future. ABBA assured the press and their
fan base they were continuing their work as a group, and that the
divorce would not affect them.[27]
Nonetheless, the media continued to confront them with this in
interviews. To escape the media swirl and concentrate on their writing,
Andersson and Ulvaeus secretly travelled to
Compass Point Studios in
Nassau, Bahamas, where for two weeks they prepared their next
album's songs in relative quiet.
The group's sixth studio album,
Voulez-Vous, was released in April 1979, the title track of
which was recorded at the famous
Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, with the assistance of recording
engineer
Tom
Dowd amongst others. The album topped the charts across Europe and
in Japan and Mexico, hit the Top 10 in Canada and Australia and the Top
20 in the United States. None of the singles from the album reached
number 1 on the UK charts, but "Chiquitita",
"Does
Your Mother Know", "Angeleyes"
(with "Voulez-Vous",
released as a double A-side) and "I
Have a Dream" were all UK Top 5 hits. In Canada, "I Have a Dream"
became ABBA's second number 1 on the
RPM Adult Contemporary chart (after "Fernando" hit the top
previously). Also in 1979, the group released their second compilation
album,
Greatest Hits Vol. 2, which featured a brand new track: "Gimme!
Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)", another number 3 hit in both
the UK and Germany. In Russia during the late 1970s, the group were paid
in oil commodities because of an
embargo
on the
ruble.[28]
On 13 September 1979, ABBA began their
ABBA: The Tour at the
Northlands Coliseum in
Edmonton, Canada, with a full house of 14,000. "The voices of the
band, Agnetha's high sauciness combined with round, rich lower tones of
Anni-Frid, were excellent...Technically perfect, melodically correct and
always in perfect pitch...The soft lower voice of Anni-Frid and the
high, edgy vocals of Agnetha were stunning", raved
Edmonton Journal.
During the next four weeks and with
[29]
[30]
Bjorn wearing skintight pants,, they played a total of 17 sold-out
dates, 13 in the United States and four in Canada. The last scheduled
ABBA concert in the United States in
Washington, D.C. was cancelled due to Fältskog's emotional distress
suffered during the flight from New York to Boston, when the group's
private plane was subjected to
extreme weather conditions and was unable to land for an extended
period. They appeared at the
Boston Music Hall for the performance 90 minutes late. The tour
ended with a show in Toronto, Canada at
Maple Leaf Gardens before a capacity crowd of 18,000. "ABBA plays
with surprising power and volume; but although they are loud, they're
also clear, which does justice to the signature vocal sound...Anyone
who's been waiting five years to see Abba will be well satisfied", wrote
Record World.
On 19 October 1979, the tour resumed in Western Europe where the band
played 23 sold-out gigs, including six sold-out nights at London's
Wembley Arena.
Progression
Super Trouper, seventh studio album released by the
group in 1980
In March 1980, ABBA travelled to Japan where upon their arrival at
Narita International Airport, they were besieged by thousands of
fans. The group played eleven concerts to full houses, including six
shows at Tokyo's
Budokan. This tour was the last "on the road" adventure of their
career. In the summer of 1980, the group released the single "The
Winner Takes It All" the group's eighth UK chart topper (and their
first since 1978). The song is widely misunderstood as being written
about Ulvaeus and Fältskog's marital tribulations; Ulvaeus wrote the
lyrics, but has stated they were not about his own divorce; Fältskog has
repeatedly stated she was not the loser in their divorce. In the United
States, the single peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and
became ABBA's second Billboard Adult Contemporary number 1. It was also
re-recorded by Andersson and Ulvaeus with a slightly different backing
track, by French chanteuse
Mireille Mathieu at the end of 1980 – as "Bravo Tu As Gagné", with
French lyrics by Alain Boublil. November the same year saw the release
of ABBA's seventh album
Super Trouper, which reflected a certain change in ABBA's style
with more prominent use of synthesizers and increasingly personal
lyrics. It set a record for the most pre-orders ever received for a UK
album after one million copies were ordered before release. The 2nd
single from the album, "Super
Trouper", also hit number 1 in the UK, becoming the group's ninth
and final UK chart-topper. Another track from the Super Trouper
album, "Lay
All Your Love on Me", released in 1981 as a 12-inch single only in
selected territories, managed to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
chart and peaked at number 7 on the UK singles chart becoming, at the
time, the highest ever charting 12-inch release in UK chart history.
Also in 1980, ABBA recorded a compilation of Spanish-language
versions of their hits called
Gracias Por La Música. This was released in Spanish-speaking
countries as well as in Japan and Australia. The album became a major
success, and along with the Spanish version of "Chiquitita", this
signalled the group's breakthrough in Latin America. ABBA Oro:
Grandes Éxitos, the Spanish equivalent of ABBA Gold: Greatest
Hits, was released in 1999.
Final album and performances (1981–1982)
In January 1981, Ulvaeus married Lena Källersjö, and manager Stig
Anderson celebrated his 50th birthday with a party. For this occasion,
ABBA recorded the track "Hovas Vittne" (a pun on the Swedish name for
Jehovah's Witness and Anderson's birthplace,
Hova) as a tribute to him, and released it only on 200 red vinyl
copies, to be distributed to the guests attending the party. This single
has become a sought-after collectible. In mid-February 1981, Andersson
and Lyngstad announced they were filing for divorce. Information
surfaced that their marriage had been an uphill struggle for years, and
Benny had already met another woman, Mona Nörklit, whom he married in
November 1981.
Andersson and Ulvaeus had songwriting sessions during the spring of
1981, and recording sessions began in mid-March. At the end of April,
the group recorded a TV special,
Dick Cavett Meets ABBA with the US talk show host
Dick Cavett.
The Visitors, ABBA's eighth and final studio album, showed a
songwriting maturity and depth of feeling distinctly lacking from their
earlier recordings but still placing the band squarely in the pop genre,
with catchy tunes and harmonies. Although not revealed at the time of
its release, the album's title track, according to Ulvaeus, refers to
the secret meetings held against the approval of totalitarian
governments in Soviet-dominated states, while other tracks address
topics like failed relationships, the threat of war, aging, and loss of
innocence. The album's only major single release, "One
of Us", proved to be the last of ABBA's nine number 1 singles in
Germany in December 1981; and the swansong of their sixteen Top 5
singles on the South African chart. "One of Us" was also ABBA's final
Top 10 hit in the UK.
Although it topped the album charts across most of Europe, including
the UK and Germany, The Visitors was not as commercially
successful as its predecessors, showing a commercial decline in
previously loyal markets such as France, Australia and Japan. A track
from the album, "When
All Is Said and Done", was released as a single in North America,
Australia and New Zealand, and fittingly became ABBA's final Top 40 hit
in the US (debuting on the US charts on 31 December 1981), while also
reaching the US Adult Contemporary Top 10, and number 4 on the RPM Adult
Contemporary chart in Canada. The song's lyrics, as with "The
Winner Takes It All" and "One of Us", dealt with the painful
experience of separating from a long-term partner, though it looked at
the trauma more optimistically. With the now publicised story of
Andersson and Lyngstad's divorce, speculation increased of tension
within the band. Also released in the United States was the title track
of The Visitors, which hit the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot Dance
Club Play chart.
Last
recording sessions
In the spring of 1982, songwriting sessions had started and the group
came together for more recordings. Plans were not completely clear, but
a new album was discussed and the prospect of a small tour suggested.
The recording sessions in May and June 1982 were a struggle, and only
three songs were eventually recorded: "You Owe Me One", "I Am the City"
and "Just Like That". Andersson and Ulvaeus were not satisfied with the
outcome, so the tapes were shelved and the group took a break for the
summer.[31]
Back in the studio again in early August, the group had changed plans
for the rest of the year: they settled for a Christmas release of a
double album compilation of all their past single releases to be named
The Singles: The First Ten Years. New songwriting and recording
sessions took place,[32]
and during October and November, they released the singles "The
Day Before You Came"/"Cassandra" and "Under
Attack"/"You Owe Me One", the A-sides of which were included on the
compilation album. Neither single made the Top 20 in the United Kingdom,
though "The
Day Before You Came" became a Top 5 hit in many European countries
such as Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The album went to number 1
in the UK and Belgium, Top 5 in the Netherlands and Germany and Top 20
in many other countries. "Under Attack", the group's final release
before disbanding, was a Top 5 hit in the Netherlands and Belgium.
"I Am the City" and "Just Like That" were left unreleased on The
Singles: The First Ten Years for possible inclusion on the next
projected studio album, though this never came to fruition. "I Am the
City" was eventually released on the compilation album
More ABBA Gold in 1993, while "Just Like That" has been recycled
in new songs with other artists produced by Andersson and Ulvaeus. A
reworked version of the verses ended up in the musical
Chess.[33]
The chorus section of "Just Like That" was eventually released on a
retrospective box set in 1994. Despite a number of requests from fans,
Ulvaeus and Andersson are still refusing to release ABBA's version of
"Just Like That" in its entirety, even though the complete version
surfaced on bootlegs.
The group travelled to London to promote The Singles: The First
Ten Years in the first week of November 1982, appearing on
Saturday Superstore and
The Late, Late Breakfast Show, and also to West Germany in the
second week, to perform on Show Express. On 19 November 1982, ABBA
appeared for the last time in Sweden on the TV programme Nöjesmaskinen,
and on 11 December 1982, they made their last performance ever,
transmitted to the UK on
Noel Edmonds'
The Late, Late Breakfast Show, through a live link from a TV
studio in
Stockholm.
Last performances
Andersson and Ulvaeus began collaborating with
Tim
Rice in early 1983 on writing songs for the musical project
Chess, while Fältskog and Lyngstad both concentrated on
international solo careers. While Andersson and Ulvaeus were working on
the musical, a further co-operation between the three of them came with
the musical
Abbacadabra that was produced in France for television. It was a
children's musical utilising 14 ABBA songs.
Alain and Daniel Boublil, who wrote
Les Misérables, had been in touch with Stig Anderson about the
project, and the TV musical was aired over Christmas on French TV and
later a Dutch version was also broadcast. Boublil previously also wrote
the French lyrics for Mireille Mathieu's version of "The Winner Takes It
All".
Lyngstad, who had recently moved to Paris, participated in the French
version, and recorded a single, "Belle", a duet with French singer
Daniel Balavoine. The song was a cover of ABBA's 1976 instrumental
track "Arrival".
As the single "Belle" sold well in France,
Cameron Mackintosh wanted to stage an English language version of
the show in London, with the French lyrics translated by
David Wood and
Don Black; Andersson and Ulvaeus got involved in the project, and
contributed with one new song, "The
Seeker". "Abbacadabra" premièred on 8 December 1983 at The Lyric
Hammersmith Theatre in London, to mixed reviews and full houses for
eight weeks, closing on 21 January 1984. Lyngstad was also involved in
this production, recording "Belle" in English as "Time", a duet with
actor and singer
B. A. Robertson: the single sold well, and was produced and recorded
by Andersson and Ulvaeus.
All four members made their last public appearance, as four friends
more than as ABBA, in January 1986, when they recorded a video of
themselves performing an acoustic version of "Tivedshambo", which was
the first song written by their manager, Stig Anderson, for a Swedish TV
show honouring Anderson on his 55th birthday. The four had not seen each
other for more than two years. That same year they also performed
privately at another friend's 40th birthday: their old tour manager,
Claes af Geijerstam. They sang a self-written song titled "Der
Kleine Franz" that was later to resurface in Chess. Also in 1986,
ABBA Live was released, featuring selections of live
performances from the group's 1977 and 1979 tours. The four members were
guests at the 50th birthday of Görel Hanser in 1999. Hanser was a
long-time friend of all four, and also former secretary of Stig
Anderson. Honouring Görel, ABBA performed a Swedish birthday song "Med
En Enkel Tulipan"
a
cappella.[34]
Benny Andersson has on several occasions performed old ABBA songs. In
June 1992, he and Ulvaeus appeared with
U2 at a
Stockholm concert, singing the chorus of "Dancing
Queen", and a few years later during the final performance of the B
& B in Concert in Stockholm, Andersson joined the cast for an encore at
the piano. Andersson frequently adds an ABBA song to the playlist when
he performs with his
BAO band. He also played the piano during new recordings of the ABBA
songs "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room" with opera singer
Anne Sofie von Otter, and "When All Is Said and Done" with Swede
Viktoria Tolstoy. In 2002, Andersson and Ulvaeus both performed an a
cappella rendition of the first verse of "Fernando" as they accepted
their Ivor Novello award in London. Lyngstad performed and recorded an a
cappella version of "Dancing Queen" with the Swedish group
The Real Group in 1993, and has also re-recorded "I Have a Dream"
with Swiss singer Dan Daniell in 2003.
Breaking up
ABBA has never officially announced the end of the group, but it has
long been considered dissolved. Their last public performance together
as ABBA was on the British TV programme
The Late, Late Breakfast Show (live from Stockholm) on 11
December 1982. In January 1983, Fältskog started recording sessions for
a solo album, as Lyngstad had successfully released her album
Something's Going On some months earlier. Ulvaeus and Andersson,
meanwhile, started songwriting sessions for the musical Chess. In
interviews at the time, Björn and Benny denied the split of ABBA ("Who
are we without our ladies? Initials of
Brigitte Bardot?"), and Lyngstad and Fältskog kept claiming in
interviews that ABBA would come together for a new album repeatedly
during 1983 and 1984. Internal strife between the group and their
manager escalated and the band members sold their shares in
Polar Music during 1983. Except for a TV appearance in 1986, the
foursome did not come together publicly again until they were reunited
at the Swedish premiere of the
Mamma Mia! movie on 4 July 2008.
In an interview with the
Sunday Telegraph, following the premiere, Ulvaeus and Andersson
confirmed that there was nothing that could entice them back on stage
again. Ulvaeus said: "We will never appear on stage again. [...] There
is simply no motivation to re-group. Money is not a factor and we would
like people to remember us as we were. Young, exuberant, full of energy
and ambition. I remember
Robert Plant saying
Led Zeppelin were a
cover band now because they cover all their own stuff. I think that
hit the nail on the head."[35]
However, on 3 January 2011, Fältskog, who has been long considered to be
the most reclusive member of the group and possibly also the major
obstacle to any reunion, raised the possibility of reuniting for a
one-off engagement. She admitted that she has not yet brought the idea
up to the other three members.
After ABBA
Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
In October 1984, Ulvaeus and Andersson together with lyricist
Tim
Rice released the musical concept double album
Chess. The singles "One
Night in Bangkok" (with vocals by
Murray Head and
Anders Glenmark ) and "I
Know Him So Well" (a duet by
Barbara Dickson and
Elaine Paige, and later also recorded by both
Barbra Streisand and
Whitney Houston) were both hugely successful. The former reached
number 1 in Australia, Germany, Spain and Switzerland; number 2 in
Austria, France and New Zealand; number 3 in Canada, Norway, Sweden and
the US, as well as reaching the top 10 in a few other countries. In May
1986, the musical premièred in London's West End, and ran for almost
three years. Chess also opened on
Broadway in April 1988, but closed within two months due to bad
reviews. In Stockholm, the composers staged Chess på svenska (Chess
in Swedish) in 2003, with some new material, including the musical
numbers "Han är en man, han är ett barn" ("He's a Man, He's a
Child") and "Glöm mig om du kan" ("Forget Me If You Can"). In
2008, the musical was again revived for a successful staging at London's
Royal Albert Hall which was subsequently released on DVD, and then in
two successful separate touring productions in the United States and
United Kingdom, in 2010.
Benny Andersson during a performance in
Minnesota 2006
Andersson and Ulvaeus' next project,
Kristina från Duvemåla, an epic Swedish musical, premiered in
Malmö, in
southern Sweden in October 1995. The musical ran for five years in
Stockholm, and an English version has been in development for some
considerable time. It has been reported that a Broadway production is in
its earliest stages of pre-production.[36]
In the meantime, following some earlier workshops, a full presentation
of the English translation of the musical in concert, now with the
shortened name of "Kristina", took place to capacity crowds in
September 2009 at New York's Carnegie Hall, and in April 2010 at
London's Royal Albert Hall, followed by a CD release of the New York
recordings.
Since 1983, besides Chess and Kristina från Duvemåla,
Benny Andersson has continued writing songs with Ulvaeus. The pair
produced two English-language pop albums with Swedish duo
Gemini in 1985 and 1987. In 1987, Andersson also released his first
solo album on his own label, Mono Music, called "Klinga
mina klockor" ("Ring My Bells"), all new material inspired by
Swedish folk music – and followed it with his second album titled
November 1989.
In the 1990s, Andersson wrote music for the popular Swedish cabaret
quartet
Ainbusk Singers, giving them two hits: "Lassie" and "Älska mig"
("Love me"), and later produced
Shapes, an English-language album by the group's
Josefin Nilsson with all-new material by Andersson and Ulvaeus.
Andersson has also regularly written music for films (most notably to
Roy Andersson's
Songs from the Second Floor). In 2001, Andersson formed his own
band,
Benny Anderssons Orkester (BAO), which released three successful
albums in 2001, 2004 and 2007 respectively. Andersson has the
distinction of remaining the longest in the Swedish Radio
Svensktoppen charts; the song "Du är min man" ("You Are My
Man"), sung by
Helen Sjöholm, spent 278 weeks there between 2004 and 2009.[37]
Andersson released his third album
BAO 3 in
October 2007, of new material with his band BAO and vocalists Helen
Sjöholm and
Tommy Körberg, as well as playing to full houses at two of Sweden's
largest concert venues in October and November 2007, with an audience of
14,000.
Ulvaeus has not appeared on stage performing music since ABBA, but
had a reunion with his co-members of The Hootenanny Singers on 16 July
2005 at a music festival in his hometown of
Västervik, singing their 1966 hit "Marianne".
Andersson and Ulvaeus have been highly involved in the worldwide
productions of the musical
Mamma Mia!, alongside Lyngstad who attends premieres. They were
also involved in the production of the successful film version of the
musical, which opened in July 2008. Andersson produced the soundtrack
utilising many of the musicians ABBA used on their albums and tours.
Andersson made a cameo appearance in the movie as a 'fisherman' piano
player in the "Dancing Queen" scene, while Ulvaeus is seen as a Greek
god playing a
lyre during the closing credits.
Andersson and Ulvaeus have continuously been writing new material;
most recently the two wrote 7 songs for Anderssons 'BAO' 2011 album 'O
Klang Och Jubeltid', performed as usual by vocalists Sjöholm, Körberg
and Moreus. In July 2009, 'BAO' released their first international
release, now named The Benny Andersson Band, with the album
The Story of a Heart. The album was a compilation of 14 tracks from
Andersson's five Swedish-language releases between 1987 and 2007,
including five songs now recorded with lyrics by Ulvaeus in English, and
the new title song premiered on BBC2's Ken Bruce Show. A
Swedish-language version of the title track, "Sommaren Du Fick"
("The Summer You Got"), was released as a single in Sweden prior to the
English version, with vocals by Helen Sjöholm. In the spring of 2009,
Andersson also released a single recorded by the staff at his privately
owned
Stockholm hotel Hotel Rival, titled "2nd
Best to None", accompanied by a video showing the staff at work. In
2008, Andersson and Ulvaeus wrote a song for Swedish singer
Sissela Kyle, titled "Jag vill bli gammal" ("I Wanna Grow
Old"), for her Stockholm stage show "Your Days Are Numbered",
which was never recorded and released, but did get a TV performance.
Ulvaeus also contributed lyrics to ABBA's 1976 instrumental track
"Arrival" for
Sarah Brightman's cover version recorded for her 2008 album
Winter Symphony. New English lyrics have also been written for
Andersson's 1999 song "Innan Gryningen" (then also named
"Millennium Hymn"), with the new title "The Silence of the Dawn" for
Barbara Dickson (performed live, but not yet recorded and released.
In 2007, they wrote the new song "Han som har vunnit allt" ("He
Who's Won It All") for actor/singer
Anders Ekborg. Björn wrote English lyrics for two older songs from
Benny's solo albums: "I Walk with You Mama" ("Stockholm by Night", 1989)
and "After the Rain" ("Efter regnet", 1987) for opera singer
Anne Sofie von Otter, for her Andersson tribute album I Let the
Music Speak.
Barbra Dickson recorded (but not yet released) a Björn & Benny song
called 'The Day The Wall Came Tumbling Down'; the song eventually was
released by Australian 'Mamma Mia!' musical star
Anne
Wood 201 album of ABBA covers,
Divine Discontent. As of October 2012, Björn Ulvaeus has mentioned
writing new material with Benny for a 'BAO' Christmas release (also
mentioned as a BAO 'box'), and Benny is busy writing music for a Swedish
language obscure musical, 'Hjälp Sökes' ('Help is Wanted') together with
Kristina Lugn and Lars Rudolfsson, premiering February 8, 2013.
Andersson has also written music for a documentary film about
Olof Palme, re-recording the track 'Sorgmarch' from his last album
throughout the film.
Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Both female members of ABBA pursued solo careers on the international
scene after their work with the group. In 1982, Lyngstad chose
Genesis drummer and vocalist
Phil Collins to produce the album
Something's Going On and unveiled the hit single and video "I
Know There's Something Going On" in the autumn of that year. The
single became a number 1 hit in France (where it spent five weeks at the
top), Belgium, Switzerland and Costa Rica. The track reached number 3 in
Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Poland, and was also a Top
10 hit in Germany, Italy, Finland, South Africa and Australia. In the
United States, the single peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Lyngstad's album sold 1.5 million copies internationally.[38]
Sveriges Television documented this historical event, by filming the
whole recording process. The result became a one-hour TV documentary,
including interviews with Lyngstad, Collins, Ulvaeus and Andersson as
well as all the musicians. This documentary and the promotion videos
from the album are included in
Frida - The DVD.
Lyngstad's second solo album after ABBA was called
Shine, produced by
Steve Lillywhite. Shine was recorded in Paris and released in
1984. Shine reached the Top 10 on the album charts in Sweden,
Norway and Belgium and the Top 20 in the Netherlands. The title track
was the album's first single release. Shine was Lyngstad's final
studio album release for twelve years. It featured "Slowly", the last
known Andersson-Ulvaeus composition to have been recorded by one of the
former female ABBA vocalists to date. The promotion videos and clips for
"Shine" are included in Frida - The DVD.
In 1983, Fältskog released the solo album
Wrap Your Arms Around Me which achieved platinum sales in
Sweden. This included the single "The Heat Is On", which was a hit all
over Europe and Scandinavia. It reached number one in Sweden and Norway
and number two in the Netherlands and Belgium. In the United States,
Fältskog earned a Billboard Top 30 hit with "Can't Shake Loose". In
Europe, the single "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" was another successful
hit, topping the charts in Belgium and Denmark, reaching the Top 5 in
Sweden, the Netherlands and South Africa, and the Top 20 in Germany and
France. The album sold 1,2 million copies worldwide.[39]
The album was produced by the highly successful producer and songwriter
Mike Chapman, also known for his work with The Sweet, Mud, Suzi Quatro,
Blondie, Pat Benatar and The Knack. According to Chapman, the album sold
4 million units worldwide.
"It's So Nice to be Rich" was Agnetha's fourth top ten hit in Sweden
in 1983. Her duet with Tomas Ledin, "Never Again" was the first one.
Fältskog's second English-language solo album, Eyes of a Woman,
was released in March 1985, peaking at number 2 in Sweden and another
platinum seller and performing reasonably well in Europe. The album was
produced by
Eric Stewart of
10cc. The
first single from the album was her self-penned "I Won't Let You Go".
Agnetha's duet with Ola Håkansson "The Way You Are" was a number one hit
in Sweden in 1986 and was awarded double platinum.
In November 1987, Fältskog released her third post-ABBA solo album,
the
Peter Cetera-produced
I Stand Alone, which also included the Billboard Adult
Contemporary duet with Cetera, "I
Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)", as well as the European charting
singles "The Last Time" and "Let It Shine". The album was extremely
successful in Sweden, where it spent eight weeks at number 1 and was
awarded double-platinum. Shortly after some minor European promotion for
the album in early 1988, Fältskog withdrew from public life and halted
her music career. In 1996, she released her autobiography, As I Am,
and a compilation album featuring her solo hits alongside some ABBA
classics. In 2004, she made a successful comeback, releasing the
critically acclaimed album
My Colouring Book, which debuted at number 1 in Sweden
(achieving triple-platinum status), number 6 in Germany, and number 12
in the UK, winning a silver award, and achieving gold status in Finland.
The single "If
I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" (a cover of the Cilla Black
1960s song) became Fältskog's biggest solo hit in the United Kingdom,
reaching number 11. The single peaked at number 2 in Sweden and was a
hit throughout Scandinavia and Europe. A further single, "When
You Walk in the Room", was released but met with less success, only
peaking at number 34 in the United Kingdom. In January 2007, she sang a
live duet on stage with Swedish singer Tommy Körberg at the after party
for the final performance of the musical, Mamma Mia!, in
Stockholm, at which Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus were also present.
In 1992, Lyngstad had been asked and chosen to be the chairperson for
the environmental organisation "Artister för miljön" (Artists for
the Environment) in Sweden. She became chairwoman for this organisation
from 1992 to 1995. To mark her interests for the environment, she
recorded the
Julian Lennon song "Saltwater" and performed it live in Stockholm.
She arranged and financed summer camps for poor children in Sweden,
focusing on environmental and ecological issues. Her environmental work
for this organisation led up to the decision to record again. The album
Djupa andetag (Deep Breaths) was released towards the end
of 1996 and became a success in Sweden, where it reached number 1. The
lyrics for the single from this album, "Även en blomma" ("Even a
Flower"), deal with environmental issues. In 2004, Lyngstad recorded a
song called "The Sun Will Shine Again", written especially for her and
released with former
Deep Purple member
Jon
Lord. The couple made several TV performances with this song in
Germany. Lyngstad lives a relatively low-profile life but occasionally
appears at a party or charity function. On 26 August 1992, she married
Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen, of the German Reuss family. Von
Plauen died of
lymphoma in 1999 at the age of 49. In addition to losing her
husband, Lyngstad had also lost her daughter Lise-Lotte in a car crash a
year earlier.
On 15 November 2005, Lyngstad's 60th birthday,
Universal released the Frida Box Set, consisting of the solo
albums she recorded for the Polar Label. Also included is the 31⁄2-hour
documentary Frida - The DVD. On this DVD, which covers her entire
singing career, the viewer is guided by Lyngstad herself through the
years from her TV debut in Sweden in 1967 to the TV performances she
made in Germany in 2004. Many rare clips are included in the set and
each performance is explained by Lyngstad herself. The interview with
Lyngstad was filmed in the
Swiss Alps in summer 2005.
Lyngstad returned to the recording studio in 2010 with recording the
vocals for
Morning Has Broken, the Christian Hymn popularised by
Cat Stevens, for Swedish guitarist
Georg Wadenius October 2010 'Reconnections', an album with invited
vocalists, reaching #17 in the Swedish charts.
Fältskog is reported to have started recording sessions as of
September 2012 of said newly written material, the record being produced
by renowned
Jörgen Elofsson.[40]
As at October 2012, only Fältskog and Andersson from the group remain
active as recording artists.
Revival
The same year the members of ABBA went their separate ways, the
French production of a "tribute" show (a children's TV musical named
Abbacadabra using 14 ABBA songs) spawned new interest in the
group's music.
After receiving little attention during the mid-to-late-1980s, ABBA's
music experienced a resurgence in the early 1990s due to the UK
synth-pop duo
Erasure,
who released a cover
extended play featuring versions of ABBA songs which topped the
charts in 1992. As
U2 arrived in
Stockholm for a concert in June of that year, the band paid homage
to ABBA by inviting Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson to join them on
stage for a rendition of "Dancing Queen", playing guitar and keyboards.
September 1992 saw the release of
ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits, a new compilation album. The single "Dancing
Queen" received radio airplay in the UK in summer 1992 to promote
the album. The song returned to the Top 20 of the UK singles chart in
August that year, this time peaking at number 16.
The enormous interest in the ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits
compilation saw the release of
More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits in 1993.
In 1994, two Australian
cult
films caught the attention of the world's media, both focusing on
admiration for ABBA:
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and
Muriel's Wedding. The same year,
Thank You for the Music, a four-disc box set comprising all the
group's hits and stand-out album tracks, was released with the
involvement of all four members. "By the end of the twentieth century",
American critic
Chuck Klosterman wrote a decade later, "it was far more contrarian
to hate ABBA than to love them."[41]
ABBA were soon recognized and embraced by other acts:
Evan Dando of
The Lemonheads recorded a cover version of "Knowing
Me, Knowing You";[42]
Sinéad O'Connor and Boyzone's
Stephen Gately have recorded "Chiquitita";
Tanita Tikaram,
Blancmange and
Steven Wilson paid tribute to "The
Day Before You Came".
Cliff Richard covered "Lay
All Your Love on Me", while
Dionne Warwick, Peter Cetera, and
Celebrity Skin recorded their versions of "SOS".
U.S. alternative-rock musician Marshall Crenshaw has also been known to
play a version of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" in concert appearances,
while legendary English
Latin
pop songwriter
Richard Daniel Roman has recognized ABBA as a major influence.
Swedish metal guitarist
Yngwie Malmsteen covered "Gimme!
Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" with slightly altered lyrics.
Two different compilation albums of ABBA songs have been released.
ABBA: A Tribute coincided with the 25th anniversary celebration and
featured 17 songs, some of which were recorded especially for this
release. Notable tracks include Go West's "One of Us", Army of Lovers
"Hasta Mañana", Information Society's "Lay All Your Love on Me",
Erasure's "Take a Chance on Me" (with
MC
Kinky), and Lyngstad's a cappella duet with The Real Group of
"Dancing Queen". A second 12-track album was released in 1999, entitled
ABBAMANIA, with proceeds going to the Youth Music charity in
England. It featured all new cover versions: notable tracks were by
Madness ("Money, Money, Money"),
Culture Club ("Voulez-Vous"),
The
Corrs ("The Winner Takes It All"), Steps ("Lay All Your Love on Me",
"I Know Him So Well"), and a medley entitled "Thank ABBA for the Music"
performed by several artists and as featured on the Brits Awards that
same year.
In 1997, an ABBA tribute group was formed, the ABBA Teens, which was
subsequently renamed the
A-Teens
to allow the group some independence. The group's first album, "The ABBA
Generation", consisting solely of ABBA covers reimagined as 1990's pop
songs, was a worldwide success and so were subsequent albums. The group
disbanded in 2004 due to a grueling schedule and intentions to go solo.
In Sweden, the growing recognition of the legacy of Andersson and
Ulvaeus resulted in the 1998 B & B Concerts: a tribute concert
(with Swedish singers who had worked with the songwriters through the
years) showcasing not only their ABBA years, but hits both before and
after ABBA. The concert was a success, and was ultimately released on
CD. It later toured Scandinavia and even went to Beijing in the People's
Republic of China for two concerts.
In 2000, ABBA were reported to have turned down an offer of
approximately US$1,000,000,000 (one billion US dollars) to do a reunion
tour consisting of 100 concerts.[43]
For the 2004 semi-final of the
Eurovision Song Contest, staged in Istanbul 30 years after ABBA had
won the contest in Brighton, all four members made cameo appearances in
a special comedy video made for the interval act, entitled "Our Last
Video Ever". Others well-known stars such as
Rik
Mayall,
Cher and
Iron Maiden's
Eddie also made appearances in the video. It was not included in the
official DVD release of the Eurovision Contest, but was issued as a
separate DVD release, retitled The Last Video at the request of
the former ABBA members.
In 2005, all four members of ABBA appeared at the Stockholm premiere
of the musical Mamma Mia!.[44]
On 4 July 2008, all four ABBA members were reunited at the Swedish
premiere of the film
Mamma Mia!. It was only the second time all of them had appeared
together in public since 1986.[45]
During the appearance, they re-emphasized that they intended never to
officially reunite, citing the opinion of
Robert Plant that the re-formed
Led Zeppelin was more like a
cover band of itself than the original band. Ulvaeus stated that he
wanted the band to be remembered as they were during the peak years of
their success.[46]
Posing together with the actors from the motion picture
Mamma Mia! The Movie on 4 July 2008, are the
original ABBA members. Far left, Benny Andersson. Fifth from
left, Agnetha Fältskog, with her hand on Anni-Frid
Lyngstad's shoulder. Second from right, Björn Ulvaeus.
The compilation album
ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits, originally released in 1992, returned
to number one in the UK album charts for the fifth time on 3 August
2008.[47]
On 14 August 2008, the
Mamma Mia! The Movie film soundtrack went to number 1 on the US
Billboard charts, ABBA's first US chart-topping album. During the band's
heyday the highest album chart position they had ever achieved in
America was number 14.
In November 2008, all eight studio albums, together with a ninth of
rare tracks, was released as
The
Albums.[48]
It hit several charts, peaking at number 4 in Sweden and reaching the
Top 10 in several other European territories.
In 2008,
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, in collaboration with
Universal Music Group Sweden AB, released
SingStar ABBA on both the
PlayStation 2 and
PlayStation 3 games consoles, as part of the
SingStar music video games. The PS2 version features 20 ABBA songs,
while 25 songs feature on the PS3 version.
On 22 January 2009, Fältskog and Lyngstad appeared together on stage
to receive the Swedish music award "Rockbjörnen" (for "lifetime
achievement"). In an interview, the two women expressed their gratitude
for the honorary award and to thank their fans.
On 25 November 2009,
PRS for Music announced that the British public voted ABBA as the
band they would most like to see re-form.[49]
On 27 January 2010, ABBAWORLD, a 25-room touring exhibition featuring
interactive and audiovisual activities, debuted at
Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London. According to the
exhibition's website, ABBAWORLD is "approved and fully supported" by the
band members.[50][51]
Mamma Mia was released as one of the first few non-premium song
selections for the online RPG game Bandmaster. On May 17, 2011, Gimme!
Gimme! Gimme! has been added as non-premium song selection for
Bandmaster Philippines server.
On 15 November 2011,
Ubisoft
released a
dancing game called
ABBA: You Can Dance, for the
Wii.
In January 2012, Universal Music announced the re-release of ABBA's
final album 'The Visitors' featuring a previously unheard track 'From a
Twinkling Star to a Passing Angel'.[52]
Recording process
They were perfectionists in the studio and would work on tracks
tirelessly until they got them right. Agnetha said they didn't quit and
try to pick it back up at a later date, they would work on it until they
came up with something better.[53]
See
Summer Night City as an example of them not being happy with a song
and the amount of effort they put into that song.
They would start the basic rhythm track with a drummer, guitarist and
bass player. All the other arrangements - vocals, other instruments -
would be overlaid onto this basic track. The vocals would be the next
and orchestra
overdubs were usually left till last.[53]
It would be in the studio working on the song that the women would
pitch in ideas as well. Benny and Bjorn would play them the backing
tracks and they would make comments and suggestions, especially if they
felt something wasn't right. According to Agnetha, the women had the
final say in how the lyrics were shaped. Frida says: "When we gather
around the piano to get our voices tuned up, we often come up with
things we can use in the
backing vocals."
[53]
After all the vocals and overdubs had been done, they would take up
to five days to mix the song.[53]
Awards and
nominations
The
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
On 15 March 2010, ABBA was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by
Bee
Gees members
Barry Gibb and
Robin Gibb. The ceremony was held at The
Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. The group was represented by
Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson.[54][55]
Success
in the United States
During their active career, from 1972 to 1982, ABBA achieved 14 Top
40 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 (13 on the Cashbox Top 100), ten of
which made the Top 20 on both charts, with four singles reaching the Top
10, including "Dancing Queen" which reached number 1. While "Fernando"
and "SOS" did not break the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart they
did reach the Top 10 on Cashbox ("Fernando") and Record World ("SOS")
charts.
The group also had 12 Top 20 singles on the Billboard Adult
Contemporary chart with two of them, "Fernando" and "The Winner Takes It
All", reaching number 1. "Lay All Your Love on Me" was ABBA's fourth
number 1 single on a Billboard chart, topping the Hot Dance Club Play
chart. The singles "Dancing Queen" and "Take a Chance on Me" were
certified gold (more than 1 million copies sold) by the RIAA.
Nine ABBA albums made their way into the Top 100 on the Billboard 200
album chart, with seven of them reaching the Top 50. Four of those
albums reached the Top 20, with ABBA: The Album at number 14
being the highest position. Five albums received RIAA gold certification
(more than 500,000 copies sold), while three acquired platinum status
(selling more than one million copies). In 1993, the ABBA Gold:
Greatest Hits collection was released in the United States and has
since become a seven-time platinum best-seller. It also topped the
Bilboard Top Pop Catalog Albums chart (it also peaked at number 11 on a
Billboard Comprehensive Albums chart).
Fashion, videos, advertising campaigns
ABBA were widely noted for the colourful and trend-setting costumes
its members wore.[citation
needed] The videos that accompanied some of their
biggest hits are often cited[by
whom?] as being among the earliest examples of the
genre. Most of ABBA's videos (and ABBA: The Movie) were directed
by
Lasse Hallström, who would later direct the films
My Life as a Dog,
The Cider House Rules and
Chocolat.
ABBA made videos because their songs were hits in many different
countries and personal appearances were not always possible. This was
also done in an effort to minimize travelling, particularly to countries
that would have required extremely long flights. Fältskog and Ulvaeus
had two young children and Fältskog, who was also
afraid of flying, was very reluctant to leave her children for such
a long time. ABBA's manager, Stig Anderson, realized the potential of
showing a simple video clip on television to publicize a single or
album, thereby allowing easier and quicker exposure than a concert tour.
Some of these videos became classics because of the 1970s-era costumes
and early video effects, such as the grouping of the band members in
different combinations of pairs, overlapping one singer's profile with
the other's full face, and the contrasting of one member against
another.
In 1976, ABBA participated in a high-profile advertising campaign by
the Matsushita Electric Industrial (today's
Panasonic), which was designed to promote the brand
National. This campaign was designed initially for Australia, where
"National" was still the primary brand used by Matsushita, who had not
introduced the "Panasonic"
brand to Australia yet despite its widespread use in other parts of the
world such as the United States. However, the campaign was also aired in
Japan. Five commercials, each approximately one minute long, were
produced, each using the "National
Song" sung by ABBA, which used the melody and instrumental arrangement
of "Fernando",
adapted with new lyrics promoting National, and working in several
slogans used by National in their advertising.[56]
Political
controversy
In September 2010, band members Andersson and Ulvaeus criticized the
right-wing
Danish People's Party (DF) for using the ABBA song "Mamma Mia" (with
modified lyrics) at rallies. The band had threatened to file a lawsuit
against the DF, saying they never allowed their music to be used
politically and that they had absolutely no interest in supporting the
party. Their record label Universal Music later said that no legal
action would be taken because an agreement had been reached.[57]
Discography
ABBA-related
tributes
-
Abbacadabra — A French children's musical based on songs from
ABBA
- Abbacadabra — A tribute band
-
Abbaesque — An Irish ABBA tribute band
-
Abba-esque — Erasure's 1992 EP
-
ABBAmania — An ITV programme and tribute album to Swedish pop
band ABBA released in 1999
-
Abbasalutely — A compilation album released in 1995 as a
tribute album to ABBA
- adbacadabra — An American ABBA tribute band
- Arrival From Sweden — A Swedish ABBA tribute band, formed in
1995
-
A*Teens — A pop music group from Stockholm, Sweden
-
Björn Again — The earliest-formed ABBA tribute band (1988)
- Generation Abba — Live ABBA tribute concerts on tour in Canada,
Europe and Middle-East
-
Mamma Mia! — Musical stage show based on the songs of ABBA
-
Mamma Mia! The Movie — Film adaption of the musical stage
show
-
Gabba — An ABBA/Ramones
tribute band that covers the former in the style of the latter, the
name being a pun on "Gabba Gabba Hey".
- Babba — Australian tribute band
- The Abba's/Supertroopers — A Dutch rock group, a spin-off from
Hallo Venray, performing ABBA covers as well as Dutch
traditionals
-
Abba feeling-Hungarian tribute band
See also