ABBA – Here We Go Again!

There’s probably no person in the western world who’s never heard an ABBA song – if there is, they’ve been probably living under a rock!

However, it wasn’t like that from the very start.

The Swedish band that was formed in the beginning of the 70s, started with the duo of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, two music artists who despite having met in 1966, didn’t record their first album togehter, Lycka (in English: Luck) till 1970. Agnetha Fälskog and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad, who were Björn’s and Benny’s spouses receptively, joined the team as backup singers in two songs, which coincidencly were the ones which stood out from the album and gained moderate chart success.

As they continued creating music, the women became the main vocalists of the band. After releasing the single hit “People Need Love” in June 1972, which became well known all over the world, they finally realized they were on to something big.

A lesser known fact about the band is that at first they were actually called by their first names- Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid. However, in 1973, their band manager Stig Anderson grew tired of that long name and began referring to the group as ABBA, which is both an acronym formed from the first initial of the band mates’ names (Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid), and also the name of a well known fish-canning company in Sweden. In 1988, Agnetha revealed in an interview that they had to negotiate the rights for the name and ask for permission from the factory to use it, to which they answered, “O.K., as long as you don’t make us feel ashamed for what you’re doing.”

In February 1973, the band tried to accomplish every European music artist’s dream and represent their country in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Ring Ring. Despite the song only coming third in the Melodifestivalen (an annual Swedish song contest which determines which artists will represent Sweden in the Eurovision), the song was successful, which prompted them to try their luck again in 1974, this time with the song Waterloo; not only was it the elected song, but it won first place in in the Eurovision competition, honoring their country and gaining international fame. Till today, Waterloo is still one of the most famous and beloved Eurovision winner songs.

After winning the Eurovision in 1974, the band received the breakthrough they deserved. The group got the chance to tour Europe and perform in many countries and even major television shows. That way, the band became popular all over the world and went over to release another 18 single hits, 8 of them reached the top of the charts in the UK- Mamma Mia (1976), Fernando (1976), Dancing Queen (1976), Knowing Me, Knowing You (1977), The Name Of The Game (1977), Take A Chance On Me (1978), The Winner Takes It All (1980), Super Trouper (1980)- that right there is what I call dominating the top of the charts!

Here is my personal favorite out of the 8 (though they’re all excellent songs!):

Here is another honorary mention, for the ones who prefer the quieter songs:

By 1976, the band reached what I would call superstardom. As they released the compilation album Greatest hits, it became their first UK number-one album and climbed to the Top 50 album charts in the US. Their next albums were best sellers all over the world (not just Europe- in South Africa, the United States on a smaller scale, and even Australia!). The group performed in the Swedish king’s wedding in June 1976, and their shows never had an empty seat.

In 1979, the band began their tour in North America. When in New York, they took part in a show that fundraised money to the United Nation’s charity organization UNICEF, which its purpose is to provide humanitarian aid to children all over the world. In fact, the group even donated the earnings they made from the single Chiquitita to this organization.

You can listen to this beautiful song on the next page.

ABBA also became famous not just for their music, but also for their iconic fashionable choices; colorful outfits, bell bottomed pants, high knee-length boots – it was very 70s!

They were one of the first musical artists who filmed video clips for their songs, which now we couldn’t imagine any single hit without.

Still, the critics weren’t always a fan of ABBA. They criticized the band for creating a family-friendly type of music, that was mostly sweet and catchy but lacking real, deep content.

The group was also criticized for making their fortune from royalty payments, especially in socialist Sweden of the 70s, where personal wealth was frowned upon.

Honestly, if you’d ask me, I’d say there’s nothing wrong with simply enjoying a fun beat, but each to their own!

However, their success wasn’t everlasting, and after releasing their last studio album The Visitors on 1981, they declined. Even though they never announced that the group is broken up, they’ve stopped recording new songs around 1982.

It’s almost safe to assume that their downfall was a romantic crisis, as both Agnetha and Björn and Anni-Frid and Benny eventually got divorced. Even though divorce is something very common in Swedish society, it did make the atmosphere a lot harsher.

Eventually, the four bandmates went on to their own solo careers.

Benny and Björn continued working together afterwards, working on several musicals together.

The most notable and famous one, Mamma Mia! (which was how I personally got to know the band, back when I was 10 years old), tells the story of a young woman named Sophie, who wishes to reveal the identity of her father. Through her mother’s old diary, she finds out about three potential fathers and decides to invite all three to her wedding, without telling her mother. This heartwarming musical gained success and is still running nowadays, also receiving a film adaption on 2008, and a movie sequel that was released last year.

Here is my favorite song cover from the original movie adaption:

Let’s finish with some fun facts about ABBA:

3.5 million people applied by mail for tickets to ABBA’s 1977 London tour dates. If you managed to score tickets to the two shows at the Royal Albert Hall forty years ago, you were in luck!

During the Cold War, currencies of the Soviet Union had been embargoed. Still, ABBA was quite popular in the Soviet Union, and as they couldn’t accept rubles, they received royalty payments in the form of oil commodities!

Despite them having been a huge success all over the world, it took the band till 2008 to score a number 1 album in America- it was the movie Mamma Mia’s soundtrack that conquered the top of the charts.

Before you go, one last song: