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 :)
I have been very excited lately about all the fabulous new ABBA Arrival items and the great news about a Virtual ABBA - and when I get excited, I cannot help myself from creating my own ABBA items.
Here are a few of the latest items.
These are all available for purchase along with other designs and plenty more items :)
The annual ABBA Christmas bauble is here, this time all in white and gold.
$6.25USD each
ABBA THE CALENDAR
ABBA The Movie is having a 40 year anniversary so let’s celebrate
every month of 2017 with a lovely picture from " ABBA The Movie ". Of
course we also pin-pointed a few important days you should not miss..
$22.55USD
LIMITED EDITION ARRIVAL SINGLES VINYL BOX SET
Available in only 2000ex , for all ABBA fans & collectors.
$35.00USD
THE BANDANA
Our practical multiway bandana will keep you warm this season. Use
it as a scarf, beanie, bandana or round your wrist, instructions on the
wrapping. Available in black & pink.
$8.95USD
DISCO BALL KEYRING
Disco time-
The ABBA The Museum dico-ball keyring is a must!!
OMG !
This sounds amazing !!
Virtual ABBA !
I really wish they would recreate the 1977 Tour - how amazing it would be to see the whole concert !
But I will be happy with anything they do - why wouldn't I ?
Some people are already grumbling and being negative about this - I don't understand that.
This is exciting - and fun - and we are blessed to still have these moments after all these years !
Roxy
PRESS RELEASE - DIGITAL ABBA
(Stockholm and Los Angeles
26.10.2016) Nearly 35 years after their last public performance
together, the members of ABBA are preparing to give their fans around
the world what millions of them have long dreamed of but considered
impossible: A new entertainment experience.
World-renowned
entertainment entrepreneur Simon Fuller, the members of ABBA, and
Universal Music Group are partnering together in a groundbreaking
venture that will utilize the very
latest in digital and virtual reality technology. The aim is to create
an original entertainment experience with the Swedish Pop Superstars,
which will enable a new generation of fans to see, hear, and feel ABBA
in a way previously unimagined.
Simon Fuller has been at the cutting edge of social and technological
change for three decades, using his insights to transform popular
culture. His business has been quietly investing in virtual reality
technologies, developing hyper-realistic digital humans in the field of
entertainment, for several years. The collaboration with the four
members of ABBA, who first formed in Stockholm in 1972 and who remain
among the most iconic and enduring talents in the world, marks a key
moment to fully realize the possibilities of virtual reality ahead of
the curve – and in the process transform the face of popular
entertainment.
The members of ABBA will be involved throughout
the creative process maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the
bands original vision within this exciting new realm of entertainment
possibilities.
Benny Andersson: “We’re inspired by the limitless
possibilities of what the future holds and are loving being a part of
creating something new and dramatic here. A time machine that captures
the essence of who we were. And are.”
Frida Lyngstad: “Our fans
around the world are always asking us to reform and so I hope this new
ABBA creation will excite them as much as it excites me!”
Simon
Fuller, Founder and CEO of XIX Entertainment: “The creativity and ideas
flowing from the members of ABBA over the past few months have filled me
with great excitement. We are exploring a new technological world, with
Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence at the forefront, that will
allow us to create new forms of entertainment and content we couldn’t
have previously imagined.”
Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO
of Universal Music Group: “Having the privilege of working closely with
the band for over two decades, I can comfortably say there are few
recording artists who like ABBA bring together their mastery of craft, a
high level of professionalism and enormous commercial success. I’m
thrilled to be involved in this innovative new project that will
introduce the band who are responsible for some of the greatest songs
and melodies in pop music to a new generation of fans.”
Further details of this pioneering collaboration to be announced in 2017.
From icethesite:
ABBA and Simon Fuller create cutting-edge digital experience!
All four members of ABBA, entertainment entrepreneur Simon Fuller,
and Universal Music are partnering together in a groundbreaking venture
that will utilise the very latest in digital and virtual reality
technology.
Fuller came to prominence through managing pop group the Spice Girls.
He went on to create the Idol franchise and has managed the careers
of some of entertainment and sports biggest stars, including Victoria
and David Beckham, Annie Lennox and Lewis Hamilton.
In 2008, he was certified as the most successful British music
manager of all time by Billboard magazine and even has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The aim of the link up between Fuller and the ABBA members is to
create an original entertainment experience, which will enable a new
generation of fans to see, hear, and feel ABBA in a way previously
unimagined.
Simon Fuller has been quietly invested in virtual reality
technologies, developing hyper-realistic digital humans in the field of
entertainment, for several years.
On the subject of the project, Frida said: “Our fans around the world
are always asking us to reform and so I hope this new ABBA creation
will excite them as much as it excites me!”
The collaboration with ABBA will fully realise the possibilities of
virtual reality ‘ahead of the curve’ – and in the process hopes to
transform the face of popular entertainment.
The members of ABBA will be involved throughout the creative process
maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the band’s original vision
within this exciting new realm of possibilities.
Simon Fuller: “Having seen over the past few months the creativity
and ideas flowing from the members of ABBA, it fills me with great
excitement.
“This new technological world we are exploring, with Virtual Reality
and Artificial Intelligence at the forefront, allows us to create
entertainment and new content in ways that could never previously have
been imagined.”
Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group
said: “I’m thrilled to be involved in this innovative new project that
will introduce the band who are responsible for some of the greatest
songs and melodies in pop music to a new generation of fans.
A press release to herald the new project states: Nearly 35 years
after their last public performance together, the members of ABBA are
preparing to give their fans around the world what millions of them have
long dreamed of but considered impossible: A new entertainment
experience.
Benny said: “We’re inspired by the limitless possibilities of what
the future holds and are loving being a part of creating something new
and dramatic here.”
icethesite hopes to be able to share a few more
details of this exciting and pioneering collaboration, with the full
backing of Agnetha, Frida, Benny and Björn, soon – but the full details
of the project and where and when you can see it will be announced in
2017.
A young girl who is so dangerously infatuated with her teacher that she kisses him in the middle of a class.
An older woman looking on with joy and nostalgia as she watches a young
seventeen year old girl enjoy her euphoric dancing oblivion. She is
perhaps remembering when she was that girl?
A young woman who's
heart is breaking as she knows that this day will be the last day that
she will ever spend with the love of her life.
A young woman who is in love with a violinist and is so sexually frustrated with him not noticing her that she imagines what it would be like to be his instrument. A woman who is expressing her sadness and regret over the ending of an irrevocable relationship and how it was inevitable.
A woman who is financially in dire straits who dreams of what it would
be like to be financially wealthy and what she might have to do to get
it by either marrying money or gambling to get it. A young woman who
is looking for a seemingly impossible kind of love and will not trade
her independence for anything less than that love. A young man who
is tortured by the fact that he feels like a pawn in his relationship
with his girlfriend. She thinks he is better off without her. The lure, attraction and dangers of the city encapsulated in a prowling, devouring and violent beast.
The sound of Nordic angels departing the earth (and your stereo) after
35 minutes of aural heaven. A piece of music that evokes happiness and
sadness in equal measure.
ABBA's Arrival was played and adored by all those young fans at the time
(me included) during the mid to late 70s and just the sounds and the
melodies were enough to hook you.
But as adults the themes on this album are ever more poignant as you grow older. This is the beauty of this album.
It is not a happy album, it just SOUNDS happy. One look at the serious
cover artwork would tell you that this is serious stuff. This is the
genius of ABBA.
This is when pop music actually means something. It
is not throwaway. It is a series of melancholy stories dressed up in the
most beautiful soundscape. The songs of reality clothed in the music of
escapism. Arrival is a milestone album in pop music.
Mark Barry Timmins
Follow the link below to explore Mark's stunning ABBA Cycle Of Paintings:
Wow, can you believe it is 40 years since the fantastic album 'Arrival' was released ? And look at the gorgeous display at ABBA The Museum ! Love it !!
And we have been blessed with some fabulous releases to celebrate this momentous occasion - 7" picture discs of the biggest hits from the album, box set of coloured 7" vinyl, and of course the half speed masted 12" double vinyl.
I am still waiting for my items but I will take lots of pictures and add them here once they arrive - very exciting !
Arrival is the fourth studio album by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally released in Sweden on 11 October 1976 by Polar Records.
Recording sessions began in August 1975 and continued until September
1976 at Metronome and Glen studios in Stockholm, Sweden. It became one
of ABBA's most successful albums to date, producing three of their
biggest hits: "Dancing Queen", "Money, Money, Money" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You". Upon its original 1976 release, "Fernando", released as a single earlier the same year, did not appear on Arrival, but it was included on the Australian and New Zealand versions. Arrival was the best-selling album of 1977 in the United Kingdom and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The album was first released on Compact disc in 1984 and then
re-issued in digitally remastered form a total of four times; first in
1997, then in 2001, 2005 as part of The Complete Studio Recordings box set, and again in 2006 (as a special Deluxe Edition).
The album reached number 1 in many countries:
Australia - selling almost as many copies as 'The Best Of ABBA'
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Sweden
United Kingdom
West Germany
The single 'Fernando' stayed at number 1 in Australia for a huge 14 weeks and is still the biggest selling single of all time here.
A fabulous TV Commercial for the album from 1976:
The hits:
Fernando - Don Lane Show Australia 1976
Dancing Queen:
Money Money Money:
Knowing Me Knowing You:
Two great little videos showing the vinyl singles playing on a record player from ABBA Official:
At that time my household consisted of my Mum (Lynette), two
older sisters (Donna - 12 and Shirelle - 11), a younger sister (Belinda - 4)
and myself (Roxanne - 6). We lived on the Central Coast in New South Wales.
There was always music playing in our house. Mum was very
much into music - she had a wonderful variety of records which we could put on
the record player at any time. She also bought us our own records – and never
complained about us playing them over and over – she liked the 70’s music as
much as we did. If it wasn’t records, it was the radio – and we watched every
music program on TV.
From the time I was a toddler I loved music – and always had
my favourite songs. Music was an emotional experience for me. The songs I loved
as a child still touch my heart when I hear them now. I became quite attached
to songs when I was little – but not necessarily to the artists – until ABBA.
Our first experience of ABBA was seeing the ‘Mamma Mia’ film
clip on TV. It was after dinner and as was common, we were all sitting together
in the lounge room watching a music program. There was silence in the room as
we watched in fascination. But as soon as the song finished, the discussion
started. I remember everyone talking about this new group who were different to
every other group at the time. I remember talking about the outfits the girls
were wearing – and the blonde one’s figure when she turned side on. I remember
the conversation about the choreography – whether it was deliberate or
accidental that the girl’s did the same movements. I do recall that only one of
my older sister’s thought it was accidental. I remember the speculation about
who they were – and hoping to see the clip again soon.
I remember that from that moment, I was smitten.
We just couldn’t get enough of ABBA – and were thrilled
every time a new song was shown – which as most Australians will remember, was
quite a few in the following months. We were very surprised to find out they
were from Sweden – and that English was not their first language. We delighted
in the fact that they were two couples. Needless to say, everything about ABBA
was fascinating to us.
By the time ABBA were coming to Australia for the TV Special
in 1976, I can say in all honesty that I was obsessed. Mum had already bought the LP’s which we
played constantly – and we already knew the lyrics. ‘The Best Of ABBA’
Bandstand Special was the most enthralling show I had ever seen – knowing that
ABBA were actually in Australia was beyond exciting and the show itself was
magical.
With every repeat of the program on TV, my younger sister and I
learned more and more of the choreography and staging of the show. By the end
of 1976, Belinda and I were putting on ABBA shows for Donna and Shirelle and their friends – at their request usually !
It was during this time that Mum bought me the Bugs Bunny amplifier with carrot
microphone for performing these shows. Thus started my love of karaoke !
It was not long after the Bandstand Special that Donna and
Shirelle took Belinda and I to an under 18’s disco at the newly constructed
Shopping Centre in our town. At the disco, the DJ played ‘Ring Ring’ – to which
Belinda and I did the appropriate choreography of course. The DJ was apparently
very pleased and amused by this and told us to come up on the stage where he
presented us both with a copy of the ‘Dancing Queen’ single which had just been
released in Australia. Thrilled does not cover how I felt – not only did we
receive recognition for our little show, but we were given an amazing gift – a
new ABBA record – with a picture cover ! The first picture cover single to be
released in Australia. It was so beautiful – and a moment in time that I will
never forget. I still have my single – with my name clearly written in the
frame area around the ABBA image. Ah, life was good.
The production of ABBA memorabilia in Australia went into
overdrive in 1976, as did the collecting. I find it hard to put into words just
how wonderful it was to be able to get so many things with so many new images
of ABBA. Before the memorabilia, all we had was LP’s, a couple of picture cover
singles, and the photos printed in magazines and newspapers. Now we had
everything you could imagine. The bubblegum cards were by far my favourite – so
many pictures of ABBA – including images of them performing in some unknown far
away place. I thought the pictures were so exotic - how I wished to see those
performances ! Not to mention the fact that on the reverse, the cards made two
amazing posters – both from their trip to Australia – there was nothing better
than those cards to me. The fold –out poster books were also a delight – beautiful
pictures and such large posters ! Those poster books were duly cut up and
pasted all over my bedroom walls of course – as everyone was probably doing back
then - and I think many of us still cringe at that particular memory.
Mum was obviously quite indulgent with this love of ABBA –
the piles of bubblegum cards alone that I carried with me through the years
were an indication of that. I do remember Mum wearing her ABBA T-shirt though –
I think it definitely helped that she loved them too.
But there was something even bigger than all of this to come – with the
announcement of an Australian Concert Tour in 1977. I am not sure who was more
excited – Mum, or us kids !
There was never any question about us going to the concert. To
not go would have been unthinkable – no matter the cost or effort involved for
my Mum. The moment those tickets went on sale in October 1976, Mum was on the
phone ordering 5 tickets. And the countdown to March 1977 began.
ABBA in person – no words to describe the feeling at the
thought of that.
None of us had any idea of what we were about to experience
– could never have imagined what it would be like. We had never been to a Live
concert before – not us kids anyway – and Australia had never staged anything
of this scale before. We were about to be a part of the most astounding and
crazy Tour to ever happen in this country !
There were many preparations required for the trip to Sydney
for the concert. Travelling by train from the Central Coast to Sydney in 1977
was an experience in itself – and as the train schedule was quite different
back then, it meant staying in Sydney overnight as there were no trains late at
night to get back home. Luckily we had an Aunty who lived in Sydney and plans
were made to go there after the show.
Mum knew in advance that we would have to be at the
Showground in Sydney very early in the morning to ensure a good spot in the
line. So, a full day outside the venue plus an overnight stay with four young
daughters meant packing a suitcase with clothes and food. The night before,
everything was ready. Bag packed, alarms set, taxi ordered for the morning –
and everyone to bed early – although I doubt some of us got much sleep – more
exciting than Christmas !
We were up at 4am on the morning of the concert – and on our
way to see ABBA.
We arrived at the Sydney Showground at around 7am and
already the line was quite long. It was obvious some people had camped
overnight. Everyone was calm, friendly, orderly. We took our position in the
line and there we sat all day – enjoying the novelty of this whole thing.
As the day passed, the crowd swelled to huge proportions.
The thrill of the wait was almost too much to bear – the buzz in the air was
electric.
As it drew nearer to the time for the roller doors to open
into the showground, people started to ready themselves. Everyone was standing
now, and moving forward towards the doors – we were not too far back from those
doors now. Still, everything was calm and orderly – with the excitement
building more every second.
However, just before 5pm, bus loads of people arrived and
were let out of the buses right at the doors at the front of the line. Those
who had been camped and waiting in line all day were suddenly not so calm
anymore.
The crowd surged towards the doors. The excitement became
panic for those at the front – as they were now being crushed against the
roller doors. People started calling out for everyone to stop pushing – there
were many children among the crowd ! But it was too late – the push from behind
was constant.
Mum , Donna and Shirelle did what they could to protect
myself and Belinda from the crushing crowd. They made a kind of circle around
us, holding people back. Mum showed no fear, nor did Donna or Shirelle, so we
felt no fear. We simply felt the adrenalin building in anticipation of getting into
the Showground – hopefully getting good seats – and of seeing ABBA. I can feel
it now !
By the time those roller doors started to open, you could
barely breathe – it was all too much for some. Mum recognised what was going
happen as the doors went up. There was too much pressure from behind and if you
were not fast enough, you would be knocked down.So she told us “When the doors go up,
RUN!”
And that is what we did.
Mum and Shirelle had Belinda between them, and Donna took my
hand. As Donna ran, my feet did not touch the ground. We then all had to stop
again to go through the turnstiles where we handed in our tickets – then we
were running again – me flying along behind Donna.
We reached the lawn seating area and continued to run – all
the way to the front rows. We made it into the second row ! But we were there
alone – the other 3 hadn’t caught up yet. So Donna laid along the seats to save
them – no one else was getting those seats !
Not too long later Mum, Shirelle and Belinda joined us and
we settled in for the next 3 or so hours – happily eating the food Mum had
packed, and staring at that huge stage. Were ABBA really going to be right
there in front of us ?
It finally started to get dark – and the wind and rain
started – it poured down.
Did we care ? Absolutely not – it was time !!
Lights flashed on the stage – music boomed out of the
massive speakers either side of the stage – and suddenly, there was ABBA, right
in front of us ! Pure magic.
I think I was lost in a trance from that moment – and Mum
herself says she felt the beaming smile on her face immediately – and it never
left her face for the whole show.
I remember standing on the seats so we could see over the
adults standing in front of us. Mum decided that was not good enough so moved us
all around to the front row where we stood right behind the line of Police who
were supposed to be guarding the stage but couldn’t take their eyes off ABBA. I
was standing on the beloved suitcase to try to see over the Police – and a
Police Officer lifted Belinda on to his shoulders for the rest of the show. She
had the best view !
We saw Frida fall–
face down flat on the stage – and were horrified at how much rain was pouring
in on that stage and the equipment. We saw Frida raise herself up on to one knee
and spread her arms sideways as if to say “I’m ok”. What a magnificent woman –
so professional.
That rain ! It did stop for a short time – and everyone got
covered in bugs – including ABBA – then it started again. We didn’t care.
The music was so loud – ABBA were so wonderful. Nothing
could have spoiled it for us.
After the show, we arrived at my Aunty’s, soaking wet but
still buzzing from the whole experience. She was terribly worried about us
being wet and cold – and was trying to stop us from talking and get into a warm
bath. But we were still too hyped and couldn’t have cared less about a bath. My
Mum told her, “We don’t care about being wet – we just saw ABBA ! We would have
stood up to our waists in mud to see ABBA.”
To this day, we still feel the same.
There is no doubt that ABBA mania existed in Australia in
the 70’s – it was certainly alive and well in my own family. Over the years,
the mania has settled – but the love affair has never ended.
All these years later I am an ABBA collector because I still
get that thrill from seeing items with ABBA on them – and to be surrounded by
ABBA gives me pleasure on an emotional level. Listening to and watching ABBA
evokes something much deeper – that deep emotional connection created way back
in 1975.
My name is Roxanne Dickson, nee Hodgson, I am 48 years old,
I am Australian, and I am an ABBA Fanatic.
