Sweden thanks Abba for the music with an all-singing, all-dancing museum

A boxy, four-storey structure of Scandinavian pine is rising out of the snow on Stockholm's Djurgården Island, sandwiched between the city's largest funfair and a restored 17th-century warship.
From its opening day, on 7 May, Abba The Museum, the city's first monument to the Swedish supergroup, is expected to lure hundreds of thousands of tourists a year to belt out versions of hits such as Super Trouper, Dancing Queen and Waterloo, alongside holographic images of the group in all their spangly 70s glory.
"Obviously, from a Swedish state point of view it should have already been around for many years, because it's one of the most famous Swedish brands ever," said Mattias Hansson, the museum's managing director, as he showed off the site before Christmas. "We know from the tourism office in Stockholm that each and every year they receive thousands of questions from tourists about where to go to see something about Abba, and for years they have been forced to say, 'nowhere'."
"We weren't entirely sure if there was going to be one, whether we wanted one – to become artefacts and relics while we are still alive," said Abba's Björn Ulvaeus, explaining the group's previous reservations when he announced his involvement back in October. But, he said: "I realised someone had to take the full responsibility and it gradually dawned on me that I was the one."
He is now the project's main backer, having taken a majority financial stake in December by buying shares from the three main investors – Universal Music, Live Nation, and Parks & Resorts Scandinavia. "He's taken a much bigger stake in the company, and that means also intellectually, when it comes to putting his creative mind and time into this," Hansson said.
Ulvaeus is by far the most entrepreneurial of the four members. He had completed a degree in law and business before he launched his pop career and he has a portfolio of property ventures. It was Ulvaeus who gave his backing in 1999 to Mamma Mia!, the London stage musical. He then worked as a producer on the 2008 film version, starring Meryl Streep, for which Benny Andersson, Ulvaeus's songwriting partner, wrote some new songs.
Hansson says Ulvaeus's involvement has made all the difference. "For certain, Björn Ulvaeus is the brightest creative mind I've ever been in the same room with." The two are trying to make the museum as interactive as possible, drawing on Hansson's experience as an internet entrepreneur. Every visitor will receive an Abba ID with their ticket, which will generate a page on the museum's website when they enter the building. Everything they do inside will be recorded, from singing on the holographic stage to entering a booth where Abba costumes will be projected on to them. Later, they will be able to share photos and videos of their experiences on Facebook and other social media.
Hansson said this all justifies the price of the tickets which, at 195 Swedish kronor (£18.50), aren't cheap. "Given the experience we will provide, it's a pretty fair price." It's also a sign of how the business model of Universal Music, which holds the rights to Abba, is evolving. Abba The Museum has done a deal to "integrate and extend the museum experience" into Spotify, the Swedish music-streaming service, and has tied up with a list of corporate sponsors.
Mamma Mia! has generated revenues of well over $2bn – it is the longest-running musical ever on both Broadway and in London's West End, and the film is the highest-grossing musical ever, generating well over $600m at the box office on a budget of $52m. That success has limited the hit that Abba and Universal might otherwise have taken during a decade when music piracy flourished.
But according to Hansson, it wasn't the prospect of additional royalties that finally won the band round to the museum project; it was Ulvaeus and Andersson's decision last year to insist that the museum be part of a wider Swedish Music Hall of Fame, with Abba sharing the glory (but less than 30% of the floorspace) with 400 other acts.
The band agreed to a 2006 plan to build an Abba museum in Stockholm, which failed when its main backer, Iceland's Kaupthing Bank, collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis. This time around, though, they're all more involved. Even Anni-Frid Lyngstad, who these days prefers a quiet life in Switzerland with her husband, heir to the WH Smith chain – has helped out. According to Hansson, she has "cleaned out her closet", bequeathing old costumes and memorabilia. Also on show will be the costumes the band wore when they won the Eurovision song contest in 1974. "In some way, all four of them will give each and every visitor an extraordinary take on the history of Abba," Hansson said. "They've all been filmed and interviewed for the exhibition."
The interviews are being used by Catherine Johnson, the British playwright who wrote Mamma Mia!, to make an audio guide which will tell the band's story from the 1960s, when each member was a musical success in their own right, through their marriages and Eurovision victory, to their divorces and the band's breakup in 1983.
"There's a built-in Romeo and Juliet thing here, with four individuals who all had their own careers, then became lovers and then won the Eurovision song contest," said Hansson. "It's a 10-year saga which you can follow from the first love affairs to the bitter end."
Ulvaeus has been keen to downplay the glamour and emphasise the more melancholy side to the band, the darker aspects of the lyrics, the frequent use of plaintive minor keys and the two divorces. However, that hasn't stopped Hansson trying to market the museum with the slogan "Walk In, Dance Out!"
Hansson said he did not know whether any of them would come to the museum opening. "I will be wondering about that until 10 minutes before the opening ceremony, because they don't usually do things together… But I cross my fingers."

"ABBA: Dancing Queen" (Part 6: Sweden, 2012)

"ABBA: Dancing Queen" (Part 5: Sweden, 2012)

"ABBA: Dancing Queen" (Part 4: Sweden, 2012)

"ABBA: Dancing Queen" (Part 3: Sweden, 2012)

"ABBA: Dancing Queen" (Part 2: Sweden, 2012)

ABBA Doco By Carl Magnus Palm Part 1

Fabulous documentary titled 'Dancing Queen' showing lots about ABBA in Australia.
Made for the European market but all interviews are in English.
Features our very own Ian Cole and Christopher Patrick !
Check the Thank You's at the end ... you may recognize some other names also :)

ABBA Bang A Boomerang Doco

It's official !

 

 

ABBA Chiquitita - Rare demo mix (filtered vocals)

ABBA-Chiquitita Rare Vocal Mix

Published on Dec 9, 2012

1920x1080 (upscaled) Chiquitita. Listen carefully,this version has less leadvocal,emphasis on the backing track/harmonies & you can really hear Bjorn's harmonies in the choruses.

Uber Rare!

ABBADiego

ABBA-DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW-THE ROCK VERSION

Published on Dec 10, 2012

Early version of DYMK in full with no disco bet rather the early version that was performed at ABBA In Switzerland. However this is not he actual Playback from the Swiss show, the video is just matched to the song out of interest. This is what we can call the "backing track" I suppose. It was introduced by Bjorn on the show as "Does Your Mother Know That You're Out"

ABBADiego

ABBA Under Attack Rare Vocal

Published on Dec 10, 2012

Under Attack with extended intro, & outros with an almost instrumental ending.

Note beginning of second verse "This is getting crazy" is heard as "All this is getting crazy"

ABBADiego

ABBA-GIMME GIMME GIMME(A Man After Midnight)-BONKERS MIX

Another rare version from ABBADiego

ABBA - Rare Original Dancing Queen Audio

Published on Dec 10, 2012

This has a count in intro, a slighly longer intro, the verses in like I said, a very diffferent order, plus the ending is extended where you can really hear Ageths & Frida giving it some welly for the harmonies,is that Frida screeching at the end?

Let me know your thoughts.

As for the video, all I have done is grab a non-UMG video to match it up,kinda, as the video is a different tempo to the sound, but rather than adjust the sound, I just chopped the video where it fell out of synch & put in a crude crossfade. But it's not really the video we are on here for,it's these amazing insights into how these geniuses put their hits together.

Makes me want to get into a time-machine with these tracks, go back, find the producers of Janet Street Porters documentary about "punk" where I saw the punks ripping up a sleeve of ABBA-The Album, go to them,slap their faces & say "so you think they are a hit factory, WRONG punk!" Then walk away, go over to 1976 & 1977 record sales and reel them off, ABBA sold more those years that the over-hyped punk ever did.

ABBADiego

ABBA Museum Opening Date !

OPENS 7^TH OF MAY 2013

A LIMITED NUMBER OF OPENING TICKETS ON RELEASE NOW

It’s official as of today – ABBA The Museum will open on the 7th of May 2013. The first opening weeks tickets will be released on Thursday, December 13th. The buzz is in full swing, as is the demand for tickets both in Sweden and internationally. In response, ABBA The Museum will now release opening tickets for the first three weeks, the 7th–31st of May 2013.
In October, Björn Ulvaeus informed the Swedish and international press of the plans for ABBA The Museum. Alongside Mattias Hansson, Managing Director of the museum, he confirmed that the museum is to be a part of Swedish Music Hall of Fame, located at Djurgården, Stockholm.

“We want to be available to everybody, from our very first opening day. Since a lot of music lovers and ABBA fans live outside of Sweden, we want to offer them a chance to get tickets beforehand order to guarantee a unique first time visit”, says Mattias Hansson.

Tickets:
For those who prefer to make a spur-of-the-moment visit to the museum in May, there will be a limited number of tickets on sale at the venue. The tickets will cost SEK 195 (approx €23) and SEK 50 for children under 8 (approx €6) and will be time-slotted in a bid to cut queues and give all visitors a music experience of a lifetime. All ticket sales in Sweden and globally will be handled by SJ’s outlets; phone number +46 771 757575, SJ Resebutiker, www.sj.se/abbathemuseum and via www.abbathemuseum.com.

The venue and the museum ABBA The Museum will become the home of ABBA’s collected works, set to be showcased in a contemporary, musical and interactive exhibition that allows the audience to get close to their favourite band. ABBA The Museum is a part of the new Swedish Music Hall of Fame, and the tickets will be valid throughout the building. In addition to the two permanent exhibitions ‘the History of Swedish Popular Music’ and ‘Hall of Fame’, Swedish Music Hall of Fame will also host temporary, mostly contemporary music exhibitions.
The 5,000 sq. meter building, located at Djurgårdsvägen 68, Stockholm, includes 2,000 sq. meters of exhibition space, of which a considerable amount is dedicated to ABBA The Museum. The museum is counting on 200.000-250.000 of Swedish and international visitors during 2013.