About My Blog

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 :)

Wednesday 31 May 2017

ABBA The Movie / The Album 40th Anniversary - Merchandise Coming !!



So, the tease has commenced for the 40th Anniversary of ABBA The Movie / ABBA The Album with these images being shared on instagram by Polar Music International @abbaofficial.

I love this game of getting little bits of information at a time :)

I cannot wait to see everything they are going to do for this amazing Anniversary- and no doubt there will be a Live album which is what I want most ! :D








Follow the fun updates on instagram here:

https://www.instagram.com/abbaofficial/?hl=en 

Or just keep checking this blog post as I will add any updates here as well :)




Thursday 18 May 2017

Inside Stockholm's New Music Exhibition With ABBA's Björn

Abba legend Björn Ulvaeus spoke to The Local about a new exhibition documenting a legendary Swedish concert venue. Photo: Pop House Stockholm

The Beatles meet Hendrix in his prime:

Inside Stockholm's new music exhibition with ABBA's Björn

The Local Sweden

Where can you watch an electric performance from Jimi Hendrix and one of Bob Marley's last gigs? At the new Gröna Lund Backstage exhibition in Stockhom. The Local met Abba icon Björn Ulvaeus – who also played there – to take a sneak peak at the ode to a legendary venue.
Seven roller coasters, 177,601 hamburgers consumed in 2016 alone, and 89 years of music history – the Gröna Lund amusement park in Stockholm is an institution, not least for having one of the oldest and most important music stages in Sweden.
The Beatles, Iggy Pop, Miles Davis, Bryan Adams, Cliff Richard, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, BB King, Louis Armstrong – the list of people to set foot on that stage is enviable. Every year since 1928 the park has attracted hundreds of thousands of music lovers to its famous summer concerts, and with line-ups like that it's no wonder.
The new Gröna Lund Backstage exhibition at Pop House Stockholm celebrates that history, paying tribute to all the fantastic stories that have unfolded there over nearly 90 years. The Local contributor Miriam Bade was one of the lucky few to get a sneak peak of the exhibition ahead of its launch,
"This is a very Swedish thing," Abba legend Björn Ulvaeus tells The Local at the launch.


 
Björn Ulvaeus flanked by images of some of the fellow music heavyweights to play Gröna Lund. Photo: Micke Bayart/Azul


"Gröna Lund is one of the most popular stages in Sweden, in the middle of the city. I think the exhibition is pretty much complete, and I like to go through it with people who haven't seen it before."
Asked to pick one favourite part, the Abba mastermind says it's too difficult:
"I wouldn't point out one specific place. It all belongs together. I dont have a favourite spot here any more than I have a favourite Abba song."



Not many venues can claim to have hosted Abba in their prime and Chuck Berry. Photo: Micke Bayart


Located downstairs from the main entrance to the popular Abba The Museum in Pop House Stockholm, the first thing visitors see when entering the exhibition is a huge wall of video.
Each screen shows historic concerts, framed and illuminated with multi-coloured light bulbs. Grab a set of headphones and get lost in the sounds, sights and atmosphere of concerts by no less than Jimi Hendrix (1967), Kiss (1976), Lady Gaga (2009) and – of course – Abba (1975).
All took place at Gröna Lund during the last half century. Bob Marley's landmark concert from 1980, represented though closing number Lively Up Yourself, stands out in particular. The realization that this was one of his last performances before dying less than a year later is sure to send shivers up the listner's spine.



 
Music history, and a slice of amusement park iconography for good measure. Photo: Pop House Stockholm
 

On top of the videos there's original photography, the park's typically unique looking concert posters, and even stage outfits spread across eight smaller gallery areas and ordered chronologically.



Not your average ceiling. Photo: Miriam Bade


 

 

Frida To Attend 700th Anniversary For Childhood Town Of Torshälla



Frida To Attend Town's 700 Year Anniversary Celebrations

Anni-Frid to Torshälla August 19th 

Saturday, 19 August, the third call is held in the series Alar talks with. Alar Kuutmann meets the singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad and musician Gunnar Sandevärn.
A discussion with Frida and Gunnar Sandevärn, hosted by Alar Kuutmann will take place in Torshälla on August 19 at 4 PM. The one hour long event with free admission will be an open air stage event in the park Krusgårdsparken. After the discussion Frida will accept the Eskilstuna city's music prize that she already got in 2014, but was unable to collect back then.

https://www.facebook.com/alar.kuutmann



Anni-Frid Lyngstad was born in Norway but moved as a little girl to Torshälla where she grew up with her grandmother. Anni-Frid was already singing as a child, and as a thirteen-year-old she began to tour Evald Eks orchestra. When she was 15, she started with Bengt Sandlund's big band. There she met her prospective husband, Ragnar Fredriksson, who played trombone but also pianist Gunnar Sandevärn. In 1964 and 1966, Anni-Frid toured as a vocalist together with Gunnar Sandevärn's trio. Gunnar Sandevärn then got a job as an entertainer on the Norwegian American Line, and Anni-Frid formed his own orchestra Anni-Frid Four with her husband Ragnar.


Anni-Frid won a talesuit 1967, appeared in Hyland's corner and then moved to Stockholm. There she met Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog who later formed ABBA - Sweden's largest music export throughout the ages.


During the 1970's, Gunnar Sandevärn was part of the hugely popular Ingemar Nordströms orchestra. He is also "dad" to a series of texts on the Swedish top, such as Göta channel, where do all the beautiful dreams take the road and Krylbo Central.
Now they meet again - in Torshälla - and of course there are a lot of musical memories from their common time on and off the stage.
The conversation with Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Gunnar Sandevärn will take place at the outdoor scene at Krusgårdsparken in Torshälla, Saturday 19 August at 16.00. The conversation will last for about an hour. Free entrance.
In connection with the call at Krusgårdsparken, Anni-Frid Lyngstad will also receive the Eskilstuna municipality's music prize. Anni-Frid was awarded the 2014 prize but could not attend the award ceremony.


For more information contact:
Alar Kuutmann, Project Manager and Program Manager, 070-555 29 80, alar.kuutmann@gmail.com (for general questions about the Alar talk series).


Annika Edetun Lahtinen, Anniversary Torshälla 700 years, 076-496 40 45, annika.edetun@eskilstuna.se (for questions about Torshälla 700 years and about the arrangement in general).
Görel Hanser, Mono Music, 08-555 196 08, Gorel.hanser@monomusic.se (for questions about Anni-Frid).
Anette Pallhed, Communications Manager at Culture and Recreation Administration, +46 (0) 73-950 67 94, anette.pallhed@eskilstuna.se (for questions regarding the Eskilstuna municipality's music prize).


Get to know the 700 year old town

 
Torshälla is a small town with great history. Everywhere memories and fragments of bygone times are seen, from Husberg's ancient remains to the old Kronokvarnen from 1628. The time passed has shaped and created the small town we are today - here you can read more about our history.


Became a city 1317


Although King Birger Magnusson gave Torshälla his city privileges as early as 1317, the history of the city goes further than that. The oldest parts of Torshälla church were built as early as the 12th century, and the city's name is said to be the same since the ancient times and the name Thorsharg.


Throwing and iron handling


Torshälla has a long tradition of forging and iron handling. The channel and currents created a good location for trade and industry and made Torshälla an important trading city. In 1829, Nyby Bruk, the ironworks, was founded today by Outokumpu.


The industry attracted labor


In the aftermath of World War II, Swedish industry emerged and the need for staff attracted foreign labor. Nyby Bruk was one of the companies in Eskilstuna who received foreign labor, of which the largest single group consisted of Finns.


Torshälla a cultural city


With artist names such as Allan Ebeling, Åsa Brandt and the Rolf Berg artist, Torshälla has become known as a cultural city. Even Torshälla Stenkärlsfabrik AB, founded in the early 1900s by Johannes Svensson, has made the city famous among artists. Today, Torshällen's Art Museum Ebeling Museum is a popular tourist destination with a permanent collection of works by Allan Ebeling and several temporary contemporary exhibitions.


 
I don't read Swedish, but I'm pretty sure they are calling Frida a Superstar in this article - and rightly so ! :D