The mystery of ABBA's "Just Like That"...

I mentioned this in the 'Opus 10' thread, but I thought it merited its own discussion!

There's a circulating, fairly high quality copy of the finished/'saxophone' version of ABBA's "Just Like That" - the version glimpsed in the 'Undeleted' medley. However, there's something very, VERY strange about the copy I have..... it was almost certainly recorded off of FM radio.

It's hard to describe, really - the sound quality just has a certain trait to it. As someone who used to regularly record songs off the radio as a kid, in the early 1990's, I would use a boombox and record the radio feed onto a tape. It was the *exact* same quality you hear in the leaked JLT; same high-frequency hiss, same over-bright sound, and in spots, it almost appears that a radio signal is weak, as the song gets a bit static-y and broken.

So my question is.... where in the hell did this song get radio play, and how?!

 

I'm fairly sure the circulating finished mix of Just Like That was indeed taped from a radio broadcast - specifically a show in which Michael B. Tretow played several ABBA rarities, including some isolated elements from copies of the original multitracks. I forget exactly when this was, but I've a feeling it was around 1994 to coincide with the Thank You For The Music boxed set introducing fans to the newly-created "Undeleted" studio outtakes medley. According to the former resident engineer at Polar, he actually prepared this song for the More ABBA Gold compilation the previous year, only for it to be voted off by either Benny or Björn in favour of I Am The City (hastily sourced from a damaged safety backup). As for other songs that surfaced this way, I think there was also the Nationalsång instrumental demo from March 1981, plus the original version of Dream World that didn't fade in, though I'm going from memory with these...

 

Huh - that would certainly explain it! I wonder if that radio show is circulating at all....

 

By "circulating" are we talking online? Because I've not managed to find a recording in much higher quality than was previously available...

 

Yep. It's on the Interwebs.

 

They also allowed at some point to play an excerpt of the early version of My Love, My Life on an Agnetha-interview on the radio.
This and the early version of Chiquitita (as played on The Winner Takes It All-documentary) are my most wanted unreleased versions that I would love to have.

 

I think it is only a question of time until B&B will agree with the release of JLT...but we have to be patient (as usual). That song would have been such a great bonustrack on THE VISITORS Deluxe Edition...

 

Yeah.... but after they wouldn't allow "Ah Vilka Tider" on the Deluxe Editions (a song we've already heard plenty of times), JLT was even more unlikely.

 

Just reading Carl Magnus Palm's The Complete Recording Sessions (expanded and revised edition) - in which I am incidentally thanked - and it seems that cassette tapes were sent to ABBA's licensed record labels, so that is a likely source. Exciting reading - and with the number of mixes of ABBA songs it is no wonder that sometimes a wrong master tape has been released.

 

Just got my copy of "The Complete Recording Sessions ". It's magnificent. I think I'll need to spend a full day pouring over it at bare minimum.

Regarding "Just Like That", Benny Andersson is quoted in the book as saying that, in essence, it will be a cold day in Hell before this song sees an official release. A real shame!

 

I haven't heard any high quality copies of the sax mix btw.

 

The simple answer is that it didn't. The source for Just Like That's sax mix is a cassette copy which is a huge number of generations away from the original source and has probably gone through successive attempts to clean it up. The only unreleased Abba track played on radio was Dream World, which Michael B. Tretow broadcast in 1986.

Incidentally, Just Like That and I Am The City were both remastered at the same time for More Abba Gold. The faults that you are hearing during I Am The City are dropouts stemming from the 3M digital system used to record the song originally. You'll hear those 3M dropouts throughout the digital tracks remastered by Tretow in the 1992 - 1994 period.

 

Abba rules!

 

And yet they have managed to fix those dropouts on I am the City and Cassandra (the dropout in the beginning was there since the 7" was pressed back in 1982 and the same version was on the 1993 More Abba Gold - More Abba Hits) - where there others? - I actually think it's from the digital 3M playback unit and not the recorded tapes. Apparantly the 3M digital tape recorders are infamous for not being able to play tapes after a few playbacks without random dropouts.

 

Sadly it's not even in the Polar archives as a 2 track master. It may be on a multi track tape though.

 

I don't know if this thread was spawned from the release of this video, but Benny seems to be as defiant as hell with this one.



I don't know about everybody else, but after the Deluxe Edition of The Visitors came out without "Just like that", I've given up on seeing this song ever being released, and thus making do with my youtube rip.

 

The ABBA guys may not be happy with Just Like That but obviously the fans love it and want it. Just release it and make the fans happy.

 

I just want to the (entire) finished version, prepared for release! The ABBA recording is almost a legend, and we already know it, why is this such a thorn in our side?
A few years ago (the best recording have of this song, slower, no sax dub) I used on an Agnetha compilation I made. In that form it seems almost like a solo track, much like "The Winner takes It All," and I just enjoy it for what it's worth! Even "Just Like That" added to "Gold" as a bonus track on the end would of been awesome. Just seems this song would of become a hit instead of a legend! IMO

But I agree with both quoted opinions. The song has a place in our ABBA libraries. It would of made the "Visitors" a must have!!!

 

It is still baffling to me, even after reading Benny's protestations, why they're keeping this in the can and yet they let out something as substandard as Summer Night City, which even Tretow admits is a deficient song. Just Like That (from what I've heard of it) is witty, catchy and altogether beguiling and I'll take it over I Do, I Do... anytime.

 

Although I'm a huge ABBA fan, it never ceases to amaze me how completely deluded some of the ABBA fanatics are. "Just Like That" is probably one of the WORST outtakes from the ABBA period. It sounds like a half-finished demo, lacking a clear melody in the verses, lacking any kind of repetitive instrumental riff/refrain and as Benny points out, the verse doesn't gel with the chorus at all. But ABBA fans continue to obsess over this particular track. Why not something more fleshed-out and catchy like "Rubber Ball Man"/"Under My Sun", "Just A Notion", "Free As A Bumble Bee"...

And for the record, ABBA and Michael Tretow weren't unhappy with "Summer Night City" as a song, but unhappy with the final mix/arrangement. As ABBA songs go, it's got all the key ingredients of their biggest hits; catchy lyrics, melodic development in the verses, Benny' little counter melodies on his keyboard filling in the spaces between lyrics plus the fantastic way in which it builds up the tension in the chorus only to have that four beat rest to bring it to a climax. The track is the work of geniuses, but we already knew that.

 

Interestedly enough this TV advert for the "Thank You For The Music" box set uses Just Like That as a marketing point for the set.

 

In a way Just like that hits me emotionally....maybe it's the blend of the voices in the chorus, maybe the melancholy mood reminiscent of Knowing me knowing you...maybe both.
I prefer the "na na"-version over the sax-version. The sax for me sounds too intrusive.
I love the song, it's typically ABBA for me - just like that.

 

I recently discovered this track on YouTube while doing my daily search for songs that could change my life...
I can not believe that this song has never been released formally - even Dream World was released (I think?)! Lets be honest though... it does sound very un-ABBA, due to the 'Jazzy' nature of it... but that's what makes it so amazing. Not sure which version I like though - the sax one or without sax one. Such good lyrics and so sing-able and so relatable.

However, as Benny says, the song simply wasn't really ready or good enough so it was shelved. Maybe they can hear something that we can't - they are the experts after all

When I clicked this song, I was not expecting to hear 2 of the best lines I have ever heard in a song: 'Telling innocent lies, throwing dust in my eyes'! Stunning lines.

And yes, I did create an account just to contribute to this thread... and yes I named my account after this gem that is clearly very sought after!
Fingers crossed for some sort of release in the future on some sort of re-release for some sort of anniversary