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I created this blog to help share ABBA information with other fans and to show off my new collection items :)


Please note: Collection item photos are from my own personal collection. These are not stock photos. If you wish to use any of my photos elsewhere, please have the courtesy to ask first - Thank you :)

Tuesday 8 March 2016

ABBA Australian Promotional Tour 1976 - 8th March





On This Day - 8th March 1976

40 years ago today !

Monday 8th March

Studio 9, GTV9, Melbourne, Australia

ABBA travelled to Melbourne for an appearance on The Don Lane Show, a nationally televised talk and variety show on the Channel 9 network.

After rehearsals during the day the show was broadcast live that night, with ABBA performing their just-released single ‘Fernando’ as well as ‘SOS’, and chatting with host Don Lane.

Agnetha taught Don how to pronounce her name, then Frida tried to teach him how to pronounce the the Swedish sound "sju".  Björn teased him about the Swedish tongue-twister "Sjutusensjuhundrasjuttisju sjösjuka sjömän" (7,777 Seasick Sailors!).

ABBA had to sneak out through the garage of their hotel to reach the TV studio due to fans besieging the hotel.

It had long been believed that this clip had been erased from the archives however, the great news from summer 2006 was that it had been found.  It was transferred from the live-to-air recording tape to a Umatic-segments tape in 1976 and then was discarded by Channel 9 in 1978 but luckily saved by someone before it got to the rubbish bin.  Apparently Channel 9 regularly chucked out stuff they didn't want any more to save tape and storage space - this included.  They've probably regretted the decision many times since! 

The show was LIVE in some states on Monday and Thursday nights at 9.30pm. It went out LIVE in Sydney and Melbourne and was recorded from air to be played in other areas who didn't get it live, then copied over as the wanted segments had already been transferred to segments tapes.

Apparently there's 5 minutes more footage from behind-the-scenes lurking around somewhere!

There was a trailer for when it aired in another state the following week in Adelaide on Wednesday nights. 






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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous9 March 2016 at 00:02

    Thanks Roxie!
    Never been explained in all of my reading about ABBA as to why the girls were barefoot in the Don Lane show. Do you know?

    Randy

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    1. Roxanne Dickson9 March 2016 at 00:46

      hi Randy - thanks for your question.
      The barefoot thing is related to the imagery of the song Fernando - along with the gypsy style dresses worn in the clip and being out in the open by the fire, the bare feet are simply to create an image related to the feel of the song. It was common after that for the girls to appear on shows barefoot when they wore the Fernando dresses - just as the Cat dress outfits always had the long white boots - kind of just part of the costume :) Agnetha was also barefoot at the Press Conference in 1976 - and both ladies were barefoot on The Best Of ABBA while wearing the dresses. I remember being amused and delighted about them wearing no shoes on TV - it was not a common sight, that's for sure. I think at the time we put it down to them being Swedish ! lol
      Roxy

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  2. Tony.21 November 2020 at 20:08

    Hi Roxanne 😊
    I'm just browsing through, and realised (after all these decades [plus four years 😉].) that this was the actual evening of the day that I discovered ABBA via a girl in my 5th Class, during that morning's 'Show & Tell'.
    Her mum was Swedish, worked at the Swedish Consulate in Sydney, and staff (along with immediate family) were invited to meet ABBA at their Sydney Hilton press conference the Friday night before, and ABBA signed her copy of 'The Best of ABBA' (...and a few years ago, I discovered a photo on the 'net of her as one of the kids who gave flowers to Frida & Agnetha 💖).
    After her 'Show & Tell' moment, our teacher let her play a song on the classroom's record player. So she played 'Waterloo', and I've loved ABBA ever since 😍🤩
    What was your introduction to ABBA?
    Cheers from here,
    Tony 👋😃

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    1. Roxanne Dickson22 November 2020 at 13:37

      hi Tony :)
      Oh my what a story ! How lucky was that girl - and everyone else that got to meet with ABBA ? It would have been a dream come true for me by then.
      I was introduced to ABBA the year before by Molly Meldrum :) I was about 6 and a half at the time.
      The routine in my house was Mum would have dinner cooked in time for the whole family (Mum and 4 daughters) to sit down in the lounge room and watch Countdown every Sunday night.
      So, this night we are watching, and here is a group we've never seen before singing a song called Mamma Mia.
      I think I fell in love instantly.
      There was quite a bit of discussion after the show about this new group. I remember my oldest sister, who would have been 12, was fascinated at how the girls moved the same as each other. She thought it was coincidence, even with the rest of us explaining it would be choreographed. She didn't believe that ! LOL
      Anyway, we watched the repeat of Countdown the following Saturday night (as always), saw them again, and that was it - hooked for life :)
      Roxy

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