Interesting that, in the late 1960's, both A&M and Atlantic put out records processed by the infamous "HAECO CSG" system . . . yet at different times in the U.S., both ish'd ABBA's output.
Of course, due to Polar's practices, where ABBA product was ish'd depended on what country you were from. I'm sure Britons accustomed to seeing the quartet's product on Epic would have been shocked to see their singles on US Atlantic (and, no doubt, a vice versa situation in the States). But before ABBA, there was Abba . . . . . . Eban, that is. In the historical timeline, Eban's tenure as Israel's Foreign Minister was winding down (it had lasted from 1966 to 1974) at the point ABBA's "Waterloo" hit like the proverbial dam burst.
i like abit of abba me , i had a thing for the blonde i think it was Agatha in the group the woman not bjorn lol one of my favourite abba tracks is this. [MEDIA=]
Can someone please define the verb "ish", for people like me who do not know all the industry jargon? I am assuming it is nothing like "glom".
Yeah, its a very tribal thing - the Abba super-fan community. Its like having 50 people that are all sort of over-the-top whacko about something, and then when someone joins the tribe and has a more discerning point of view, more objective - that person gets piled on mercilessly (which was usually me). The most bizarre thing about the big main one, Abba4ever - almost everyone was gay and on one hand, they'd complain about intolerance etc - but they were quite intolerant to other "abba fans", at the same time. "Aggie's Army" was where the craziest ones were. These freaks wondered why this poor woman almost became a recluse in the 90s and to this day, values her privacy - even while the super fans clustered on dirt road as close to her house as they could get - probably oblivious to the fact that THEY are the reason she's like that. Thankfully it is not like that here!
lots of 70s rock bands loved Abba. Led Zeppelin loved them, and to me, in the 70s, those guys were gods. I always wondered why In Thru the Out Door was recorded at Polar Studios. I didnt make the connection until much later
They used that generic background on the slip page that was included, but the CD itself was on Polydor. So not that exciting.
As a gay man I can attest that gay men can be very intolerant of other's musical tastes - or more specifically, over-sensitive to criticism of their own musical idols. It's as though any criticism at all of Donna, Barbra or Madonna is an attack on their sexual orientation. I said "gay men" as it seems mostly the men that are guilty of this. Obviously not all poofs are like this (I'm not ), and gays are nby no means the only ones guilty of tribalism, but it is definitely a phenomenon.
I... dont know. It was just a troll, trying to rile up the insane Agnetha fans, and worked remarkably. The moderators were busy as hell for about 24 hours trying to take all the NSFW photos of Seka off the board. Agnetha herself looks very different at various times of her life. Check out her early photos - dirty blonde hair with dark roots and a front tooth gap you could drive a truck thru - and then compare the photos of her in Switzerland in 1979 where she has truly become the blonde Swedish Ice Goddess. Lots of times we'll be listening to her sing and she'll go for that really high note and one of us will say, "Sing it, ya great gap-toothed golliwog!"
It’s incredible that although ABBA have been out of action for nearly 40 years how much interest there still is in the group.
Following the suggestions of this guy, who was incredibly influential at the time: You'll even see him credited on Abba's Voulez Vous.
Some of the greatest songs of pop perfection! ABBA really did have some amazing tracks, and they're one of those rare groups who have huge success but somehow are still underrated and not given enough credit for their musical abilities and innovative production and songcraft. Their melodic sensibilities are relatively peerless and their musical experimentation was far more extensive than is generally acknowledged. (That said, they also issued a fair amount of dreck along the way, too.) I was born in the late '70s so not around for most of their career - my first memories of the group are from the early '80s. My mother had Arrival on vinyl, and I somehow ended up with a 7" of The Winner Takes It All b/w Elaine. Pretty sure there may also have been a vinyl copy of The Singles: The First Ten Years lurking around somewhere, too. Anyway, I was always aware of them and enjoyed their music, but it was buying the 3CD Pickwick The Hits "box set" (just the three individual releases thrown into a cardboard shell) that exposed me to much more of their music. (And from what I've read here, that set is still one of the better ones for sound quality.) I never jumped on board the GOLD train or got into Mamma Mia the musical, but I eventually got the albums box set on CD, and then collected all the deluxe edition albums, and recently picked up the Readers' Digest vinyl box set (recommended on here). Despite the wealth of amazing pinnacle pop they issued, I do struggle a bit more with their albums as entities in and of themselves. They're far more patchy than one might expect, and many of them don't flow well as an album listening experience, so much as I love the band I do tend to gravitate back toward the classics. One of these days I'll put together my own compilation to take all the less-heralded album tracks that I enjoy and create something I'll be more likely to listen to in one session. Also, while they're perfectly fine, I've never been a huge fan of Mamma Mia or Waterloo. They're just so... generic in an ABBA way.
I dont think thats really true anymore. Most musicians I know hold them in high regard, and so do a lot of people all over the place. Most music magazines etc praise them. It is true they got a bad rap in the late 70s, at least in the states, for being a "disco" band - thats another discussion.
Another Record Mirror review. This time it’s for the ABBA album from 1975. Love the mention of the “above average” SOS.
There must have been merch, many of the girls at my primary school were wearing ABBA socks for a few weeks around the time of Arrival, and I remember seeing posters, badges, all kinds of things. Then Star Wars came out and even before it was in the cinema in the UK it was huge. There seemed to be a new craze every few months at my primary school, but ABBA was the only band related one I can remember. Perhaps there was one for the Bay City Rollers but that was a little before my time, and I was in Australia when ABBA hit big initially.
I have probably said it here before, but ABBA owe a huge debt to Australia. (Paid in full, I should add.) After all the hype about Waterloo swelled and subsided, it looked for a while as if the group was going to be, maybe not exactly a one-hit wonder, but chiefly remembered in the English speaking world for just one song, in the way many people only know Procol Harum as the group that did A Whiter Shade of Pale. That was until Molly Meldrum embraced them and featured Mamma Mia and SOS on Countdown. I was travelling in Europe in 1975, and I returned home to a country in which I seemed to hear ABBA everywhere, all day. Their popularity never seemed to wane here. To ABBA, Australia was the gift that just kept on giving. In the 1990s, not one but two Australian films featured ABBA's music and brought them to a new audience. The Australian ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again, formed in 1988, have probably been performing now for more years than ABBA did. I think I read somewhere that they are the most successful tribute band ever.
I’d be 14 in 1977, so I wouldn’t have been looking for merchandise anyway, I suppose. I was happy with the records. I do remember Star Wars and punk from that year, though.
I think that Abba peaked earlier in Australia, their last no 1 single and album was in 1976 with Money Money Money and Arrival. In the U.K. they continued having no 1 albums until 1982 and had no 1 singles until late 1980.
Thank You For The Music (the song) was released as a single in 1983 alongside Thank You For The Music (the compilation). Do you think there could’ve been another single in possibly early 1984 or was their time up? How about a rerelease of I Have A Dream as it was one of the last performances ABBA did in 1982?
Their time was up. I find it hard to get excited about rereleases in general, especially ones that would have happened 35+ years ago. Also I'm not much of a fan of "I Have a Dream", or of the Voulez Vous album as a whole.
their time was up. neither Under Attack or Day Before You Came set the world on fire.... times had changed. I think I read a quote from Bjorn where we said something like "if the last single would have done better we might have continued a bit longer" or something like that.
