ABBA Bang A Boomerang Documentary - Newspaper Articles

FREE TO AIR

ABBA: Bang a Boomerang, ABC1, 8.30pm
IN THE mid-1970s, enchanted by video clips that screened on ABC music show Countdown, Australia fell in love with Swedish pop group Abba. A smiling, sweetly sexy foursome, the Eurovision Song Contest winners initially dazzled with Mamma Mia and went on to dominate the music charts. They did a concert tour, were greeted by hordes of screaming fans and starred in a mega-rating TV special. Narrated by Alan Brough, this documentary about the Abba phenomenon includes interviews with laconic tour manager Michael Chugg, music critics and devoted fans, as well as Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom, who directed Abba's clips and a documentary about their tour. Incorporating a smattering of social history, this chronicle of Abba-mania, which has had bouts of backlash and revival during subsequent decades, offers a perspective on Australia's love affair with a group that recorded its last single in 1982.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-guide/wednesday-january-30-20130123-2d5sp.html#ixzz2IqqCAkst

Swede smell of success

Neil McMahon

Documentary Bang a Boomerang sets the record straight on Abba's beginnings.

 

FITTINGLY, they conquered us most completely while sitting around a campfire, where Lawson and Banjo long ago found Australians most comfortable absorbing the music and the myths that brought them together.
But neither of our national poets could have imagined this: the birth in 1976 of a fresh legend as foreign as it could be to the land of the jolly swagman. Like Paterson's morose sheep thief, Abba's Fernando was a man once young and full of life, but there the similarities ended. Neither the song nor the singers had any logical claim on Australian hearts. These were Swedes, singing about a Mexican, sitting around a shabby piece of studio fakery purporting to be a campfire - not a jolly jumbuck in sight.
But, my, how we loved them. For 14 weeks in early 1976, Fernando drove the nation to distraction - in both rapture and revolt - as it stayed atop the singles chart for so long that it was banned in Sunday church, otherwise known as Countdown, where high priest Ian ''Molly'' Meldrum learnt he'd made a big mistake in banishing the fireside film clip.

Former Countdown host Ian 'Molly' Meldrum.

As Meldrum recalls in Bang a Boomerang, a new documentary exploring Australia's love affair with the Swedish foursome, this was not a relationship to be trifled with.

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''After the 10th, 11th week and it was still No.1, I made this rash decision that we can't play it again … we'll show it as No.1, but we'll then show in full our prediction for what we think will be the next No.1,'' Meldrum recalls in the program, airing on January 30 on the ABC. ''And all hell broke loose. The ABC switchboard was jammed. People complaining: how dare we not play this song again.''
Meldrum was not the only music industry figure startled by the intensity of Australia's affection for the Swedes, though by 1976 he'd had a while to get used to it.

Annie Wright: 'They loved performing for Australians, they loved the reaction.'

As Bang a Boomerang tells it, it was Countdown's hunger for video clips to fill its weekly airtime that played a critical role in Abba's explosion as a musical force. The documentary aims to put on the historical record once and for all the truth: that while the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest may have been the band's first big break, the true birth of Abba as global pop conquerors began in Australia.
It is a compelling case. As Meldrum says, it was only his badgering of RCA - the group's local record company - that persuaded them to release album track Mamma Mia as a single. Thanks to its accompanying video clip - which established the trademark Abba visual style - the song went gangbusters.
''They had no option but to release it as a single,'' Meldrum says.
Meldrum was a key player, but just as instrumental was RCA's Australian PR rep, Annie Wright. She was in her early 20s then, and was the go-between for the dealings between Countdown and the faraway Swedes.
''I had no idea what lay before me,'' Wright tells Green Guide. ''It was just an explosion. We knew they were perfect pop songs but no one could have predicted the extent of how Australia would embrace them. It was like nothing I've ever experienced before or since.''
Wright would become an Abba intimate - through 1975, when she delivered the video clips that won over the Countdown crowd; in 1976, when she was side by side with the group on a promotional tour; and then in 1977, the year of the band's astonishing concert tour.
The 1976 trip should have been a warning of what was to come: a Reg Grundy-funded TV special hosted by Daryl Somers drew higher ratings than the moon landing. But the '77 tour stunned even industry veterans who thought they'd seen it all, Wright says.
''It was very surreal for everyone, from [promoter] Paul Dainty to the band themselves … Nothing has ever come close to the hysteria, the adoration. And most people never knew that Australia was where they broke.''
Bang a Boomerang sets the record straight on that score, and for those who played a part in that long-ago madness it is a welcome document of a time they will never forget.
For Wright, who grew so close to the band they invited her to Sweden to holiday on their private island, the memories are many. Among her favourites is the anxiety that preceded the group's Sydney concert in March 1977, which was threatened by wet and wild weather.
But Wright had a direct line to God, or a reasonable facsimile: legendary weatherman Alan Wilkie.
''I was ringing him at Channel Nine every hour,'' Wright says.
''I had a hotline - no mobiles in those days, no emails or faxes - I was calling him every day prior to the concert. He was great, and we were living on hope. But the show must go on. Paul Dainty had written on the tickets 'Come rain or shine'. I bet he regretted that.
''And they went on despite it being dangerous. Frida had a fall; they were mopping down the stage constantly. But the audience didn't care. There was just this great love and it was mutual. They loved performing for Australians, they loved the reaction. It became a real family, Australians became their family.''
Nearly four decades later, the love affair continues - despite that 1977 tour being the first and last time the group performed here in concert. There was a period of estrangement - the documentary shows just how deathly uncool Abba became for a time - but affections were re-established with fervour many years ago.
Wright is delighted the history has been preserved in documentary form.
''It made sense to tell a new generation where it began,'' she says.
''I'm surprised even people of my generation don't realise it all started in Australia. So I'm really pleased we're getting the acknowledgement and recognition.''
Bang a Boomerang screens on ABC1 on January 30 at 8.30pm

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/swede-smell-of-success-20130123-2d5sh.html#ixzz2IqqZRhuy

ABBAmania grips ABC doco

January 21, 2013, 12:53 pm Darren Cartwright, National Entertainment Writer AAP

An ABC retro-doco looks at the rise and rise of ABBA, their popularity around the world and the Australian influence on their success.

 

John Paul Young (JPY) once sang about hating the music.

At the same time he admits to having a professional dislike for the pop group ABBA.

The reasons behind JPY's "frustration" with the Swedish sensations seeps through in the ABC retro-doco ABBA: Bang A Boomerang.

Back in 1976 ABBA kept his single I Hate The Music in a holding pattern at No.2 with their blockbuster Fernando, which held the top spot on the charts for 14 weeks.

Fernando's success and Australia's insatiable appetite for everything ABBA and the nation's influence in helping Mamma Mia reach international success is retraced in the documentary.

"It (frustration) was only privately and quietly," JPY tells AAP.

"It was all light-hearted and insular.

"There's no bad news in any of this."

The documentary includes interviews with JPY, music guru Molly Meldrum, promoter Michael Chugg, Swedish film director Lasse Hallstrom, who was in charge of ABBA's early video music clips, and the band's official biographer Carl Magnus Palm.

Meldrum explains during ABBA: Bang A Boomerang, his weekly show Countdown was desperate for videos when they received five quality-produced ABBA music clips from RCA records.

His first pick - I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do - topped the charts and sparked ABBA-Mania.

Next was Mamma Mia after one of the ABC staffers pointed the song out to him.

"That (Mamma Mia) we are definitely going to use," Meldrum said.

With a smile Meldrum says: "I never admitted I liked ABBA because I thought, `they'll think I'm gay'."

Hallstrom says he worked with a budget of $2000 when he directed the ABBA clips and explains the basic techniques when filming the group.

"There wasn't much of a concept," Hallstrom says during the documentary.

The hour-long program is narrated by Alan Brough, formerly of the ABC's Spicks and Specks music quiz show.

Anyone who loves ABBA will revel in the archival footage and the memories of the era.

Queensland fans of the super group may not have the same sweet memories when ABBA bypassed the Sunshine State on its 1976 tour.

The state's then-premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen tried to influence the group to change their mind - at the same time letters of scorn about ABBA flooded the local daily Brisbane newspaper.

The letters criticised the group for "living in sin" and being from a "socialistic country".

JPY attributes a lot of ABBA's early success to not only their brilliant and catchy music but to the quality of the videos which were professionally shot.

ABBA's songs rocketed up the charts once their music videos started featuring on Countdown.

"If you really study what happened in those days, the advent of videos really gave records a boost," JPY said.

"But you can also tell when videos became more important than the song.

"The song got the air play because of their good videos and you can see when that falls away too.

"There some pretty ordinary songs with great videos that shouldn't have seen the light of day."

• ABBA: Bang A Boomerang screens on Wednesday, January 30 at 8.30pm on ABC1

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/news-and-gossip/article/-/15889591/abbamania-grips-abc-doco/

New ABBA Merchandise - Gold Keyring

New Official ABBA Merchandise

Gold Keyring

 

Available for preorder from Bengans:

 

http://www.bengans.se/Product.aspx?skivkod=315835&section=music

 

or the Official ABBA Site:

 

http://www.abbasite.com/store/

 

ABBA Bang A Boomerang Documentary - First Commercial

For those unable to view the video on Youtube of the first look at the commercial for the ABBA Bang A Boomernag documentary, try this link instead:

http://www.fileswap.com/dl/e26MJHsmbw/

ABBA: Bang a Boomerang Documentary Commercial

The first view of a commercial for the ABBA Bang A Boomerang documentary !
These commercials will start airing on TV from Wednesday.

ABBA Bang A Boomerang Doco - Sneak Peek !

ABBA: Bang a Boomerang: sneak peek

By David Knox on January 18, 2013 / Filed Under Programming, Top Stories 0

Countdown‘s role in ABBA’s success is well-documented, so I’m pleased to see this upcoming ABC documentary on their Aussie success even includes the ABBA special that Nine stitched up in the 1970s.
I had no idea it was Reg Grundy who was behind the idea, as part of a plan to revive Bandstand.
He was even smart enough to secure merchandise rights.
This nostalgic doco, narrated by Alan Brough, airs on ABC1 Wednesday, January 30 at 8.30pm.

http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2013/01/abba-bang-a-boomerang-sneak-peek.html

Links to a 2 minute Sneek Peak !!

ABBA The Museum - Visit Sweden

ABBA The Museum

Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid were and still are, for most of us, ABBA. The Swedish platform-booted and sparkly supertroupers stormed the pop world between 1972 and 1983 and gave us the hits ‘Dancing Queen’, Summernight City’ and ‘Knowing me, Knowing you’ among many others. It’s worth remembering that even though ABBA split up 30 years ago, Mamma Mia! the movie featuring their music, is the most successful movie musical ever and almost 50 million people have seen the same-named musical production.
Now with ABBA the Museum in Stockholm the legend will live on and on and on… As it should.

• 

ABBA The Museum will open in Stockholm 2013

©Bengt H Malmqvist

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ABBA The Museum

Visitors to Stockholm must have had a niggling feeling that something was missing on visiting the city. ABBA, perhaps? And many Stockholmers can hardly believe that the museum is actually going up because the project has been beset by problems ranging from one of the backer banks biting the dust to where it should be housed.
But that’s all in the past.
ABBA The Museum is going be a permanent exhibition in the brand new ‘Swedish Music Hall of Fame’ on the island of Djurgården, a brisk walk, or a short bus or tram ride from the city centre. The museum sits between Gröna Lund amusement park and the Liljevalchs art venue and is a 5-minute walk from Skansen Open-air Museum and the famous Vasa Museum.
Why stick the new museum on an island in Stockholm? Well, that’s what the group wanted and hey, who’s going to say no to ABBA. Stockholm is also where the group found success and recorded most of their music.

What is it?

The origins of ABBA The Museum are in the ABBAWORLD touring exhibition that toured Budapest London, Prague, Melbourne and Sydney between 2009 and 2011. It shares the premises with the Swedish Music Hall of Fame and History of Swedish Popular Music.
ABBA The Museum will showcase the band’s stage clothes, artifacts, concert footage, interviews etc. in a contemporary, interactive setting. When you buy a ticket you get an ID that generates a page on the museum website. Once inside the museum you can sing and dance with holograms of ABBA, don a digital costume (go for the famous Anni-Frid ‘tiger’ or Agnetha ‘cat’ tunic) projected on to you in a special booth and you can record it by scanning your ticket at the attraction. Then you get to share photos and videos of your experience on Facebook and other social media. After 30 days the recordings are deleted from the site.

Why you should visit

This place is unique, ABBA fan or not. With the other attraction; The Swedish Music Hall of Fame of Swedish popular music, the content and activities in the museum put the group’s musical achievements and influences in a historical context and it will help you understand ‘ABBA The Phenomenon’ better. The museum also has the full backing of the group and much of the material is from the group members’ own private collections.
So, if you are old enough to remember glam rock, platform-soled boots or maybe even watched live as ABBA sang ‘Waterloo’ and won the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton in 1974, you should visit for a journey down musical memory lane. For everyone else, come and see ABBA and its entourage at the height of their creative and musical powers, get insights into the group members’ lives and see them as the global supertroupers they will always be.
You can buy tickets to the museum online, at SJ outlets near the Central Station in Stockholm or at the museum. Further information about tickets and the museum.
If you intend to get around Stockholm on public transport buy yourself a Stockholm Card for free travel and free admission to 80 museums and attractions. It’s well worth the money.
We ‘buried’ a less well-known ABBA song title in the text, see if you can find it and then post it on our Facebook page.

When?

ABBA The Museum opens on May 7th 2013

http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/Things-to-do/Culture-heritage--arts/ABBA-The-Museum/

ABBA Bang A Boomerang Australian Doco

A little synopsis on the doco from the ABC website:

 

ABBA: Bang a Boomerang

Documentary/FactualClosed Captions AvailableRated: M57 mins

8:30pm Wednesday, January 30 2013

 

ABBA: Bang a Boomerang

Synopsis

ABBA: Bang a Boomerang tells the inside story of Australia's colossal 70s crush on the Swedish supergroup ABBA and their music, and how this unequalled and enduring fan-worship changed them and us forever.

ABC's innovative music program Countdown and its host Molly Meldrum were instrumental in bringing ABBA to a burgeoning mid-70s television audience looking for something different. It was due to Countdown that Mamma Mia was released as a single, first in Australia and then the world, and the ABBA phenomenon was born. Viewers were going into record shops wanting to buy the single. Molly rang RCA records asking about the release of Mamma Mia and was told there were no plans to do so.

"We then played it again in defiance and they had no option but to release it... it was lucky, it went to number one," Meldrum said.

ABBA: Bang a Boomerang digs deep into heartfelt memories, cardboard cartons of memorabilia, face-to-face encounters, local pop icon recounts, lavish personal and public ABBA museums and Australia's rich media archives to relive a moment of collective national 'craziness', when we did literally go ABBA mad. The result is a warm, bright, captivating engagement with ABBA's time Down Under that will remind us all of the band's impact and how our open-hearted embrace of all things ABBA would eventually define us. One in three Australian households owned an ABBA record - from Prime Minister Fraser to eight year olds around the nation, we were hooked even if some of us didn't want to admit it back then and we didn't realise the crush would be for keeps.

ABBA Bang A Boomerang Documentary

ABBA fans (this means you) prepare for another documentary on their rise to fame, ABBA: Bang a Boomerang centering around Australia’s pivotal role in their success.
This premiere documentary, narrated by Alan Brough, includes key interviews with Molly Meldrum, who famously pushed for Mamma Mia as a single, Australian tour director Michael Chugg, ABBA The Movie director Lasse Hallström, bodyguard Richard Norton as well as their publicist, RCA’s Annie Wright.
I’m guessing footage of actor Robert Hughes, who played a journalist in ABBA The Movie will probably be excised, but it sounds like a great watch.
ABBA: Bang a Boomerang tells the inside story of Australia’s colossal 70s crush on the Swedish supergroup ABBA and their music, and how this unequalled and enduring fan‐worship changed them and us forever.
ABC’s innovative music program Countdown and its host Molly Meldrum were instrumental in bringing ABBA to a burgeoning mid‐70s television audience looking for something different. It was due to Countdown that Mamma Mia was released as a single, first in Australia and then the world, and the ABBA phenomenon was born. Molly said: “Tony Vuat, who was one of our people on the floor, said ‘Come and have a look at this song. I know you’ll love it.’ It was Mamma Mia.  I went ‘THAT, we’re definitely going to use!’”
Viewers were going into record shops wanting to buy the single.  Molly rang RCA records asking about the release of Mamma Mia and was told there were no plans to do so.
“We then played it again in defiance and they had no option but to release it… it was lucky, it went to number one” Meldrum continues.
ABBA: Bang a Boomerang digs deep into heartfelt memories, cardboard cartons of memorabilia, face‐to‐face encounters, local pop icon recounts, lavish personal and public ABBA museums and Australia’s rich media archives to relive a moment of collective national ‘craziness’, when we did literally go ABBA mad. The result is a warm, bright, captivating engagement with ABBA‘s time Down Under that will remind us all of the band’s impact and how our open‐hearted embrace of all things ABBA would eventually define us. One in three Australian households owned an ABBA record – from Prime Minister Fraser to eight‐year‐olds around the nation, we were hooked even if some of us didn’t want to admit it back then and we didn’t realise the crush would be for keeps.    
By 1976 ABBA‐mania had truly gripped the nation, so much so that when the groundbreaking ABBA Australian TV special went to air it out‐rated the moon landing.
ABBA became a magnet to some extraordinary characters who all contributed to the band’s rise to the top. This documentary has unprecedented access to this inner circle, including tour manager Michael Chugg, Hollywood film director Lasse Hallström, their bodyguard on the ’77 Australian tour Richard Norton as well as their publicist, RCA’s Annie Wright.  
Wednesday 30 January 8.30pm ABC1.

ABBA - The Name Of The Game (Rare Vocal Mix) New !

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.

New ABBA Release - Official Notebook

http://www.abbasite.com/store/

 

 

ABBA Deluxe Pre-order Now !

Available for pre-order now from Video Ezy in Australia for $28.95:

 

http://www.videoezy.com.au/CD/abba-abba-deluxe-edition/dp/520843#bc=91f7

 

 

Disc 1:

1. Mamma Mia
    
2. Hey, Hey Helen
    
3. Tropical Loveland
    
4. SOS
    
5. Man In The Middle
    
6. Bang-A-Boomerang
    
7. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
    
8. Rock Me
    
9. Intermezzo no 1
    
10. I’ve Been Waiting For You
     
11. So Long
     
12. Crazy World
     
13. Medley: Pick A Bale Of Cotton - On Top Of Old Smokey - Midnight Special
     
14. Mamma Mia (Spanish Version)

Disc 2:

1. ABBA In Australia (Television Special) (SONGS PERFORMED: Mamma Mia/ Hasta Mañana/ Ring Ring/ Tropical Loveland/ Waterloo/ I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do/ Rock Me/ Dancing Queen/ Honey, Honey/ Fernando/ So Long/SOS)
2. Made In Sweden - For Export (SVT) (SONGS PERFORMED: Mamma Mia/ I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do/ So Long)
3. SOS (Seaside Special, BBC)
4. Mamma Mia (Top Of The Pops, BBC)
5. The Best Of ABBA, TV Commercial
6. Greatest Hits, TV Commercial
7. International Sleeve Gallery 

 

New Agnetha Album Confirmed !

Agnetha Fältskog Comeback

Agnetha is recording new material for the first time in eight years. According to Aftonbladet there is a new album in the works The former Abba star is working on music again. This has been confirmed by her spokesperson Staffan Lindé.

 

- Yes, it is true that she has gone into the studio again, he told the newspaper.

Reports that Fältskog work with producer Jörgen Elofsson, who has written songs and produced for artists such as Britney Spears, Westlife and Kelly Clarkson, and wrote "When you tell the world you're mine" to the Swedish royal wedding in 2010, but it has not been confirmed.

Agnetha Fältskog released a number of solo albums in the 1970s - and '80s. 2004 released latest album 'My coloring book ", after a break of 17 years.

 

WOOHOO !!!!

 

 

 

 

AT LAST, ABBA THE MUSEUM OPENS IN SWEDEN.

WALK IN. DANCE OUT.

ABBA’s collected works will be showcased in a contemporary, interactive setting at Swedish Music Hall of Fame, a new exhibit venue located at Djurgården, Stockholm, set to open next year.

The great search for all things related to ABBA’s music, lyrics, stage costumes, musicals and films has gone on for quite some time. And Swedish Music Hall of Fame provides the perfect framework for it, says original ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus.

’ABBA The Museum will fit right in at Swedish Hall of Fame, as it is a part of Sweden’s pop history. And the location at Stockholm’s Djurgården feels like coming home,’ says Ulvaeus.
Behind the scenes, Mattias Hansson – Managing Director of ABBA The Museum – is in charge of getting the museum up and running.
’Swedish pop music is an important part of our cultural heritage’, says Hansson. ’And ABBA is one of our most well known international brands. It’s our duty to give their work a permanent space here.’
ABBA remains Sweden’s most successful band of all time, with sales of 378 million albums around the world. ABBA The Museum will span the band’s career all the way from the start in 1970, via the breakthrough with ’Waterloo’ in 1974, the grand world tours and finally, the split in 1983. Since then, ABBA has lived on through a wide range of musical projects run by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, whose musical ’Mamma Mia!’ revived the public’s interest in ABBA’s music yet again. An interest that never seems to fade – 1st October 2012, ’ABBA Gold’ was officially named the best-selling CD album ever in England.

’We’re proud and very happy that ABBA chose Swedish Music Hall of Fame to put their work on display and tell their own, personal story,’ says Charlotte Wiking, Managing Director of Swedish Music Hall of Fame.
Swedish Music Hall of Fame will show temporary as well as permanent music exhibitions ranging from the 1920’s until today. In addition, there will be a Hall of Fame devoted to Swedish pop music. Several guest curators and music industry representatives will be involved in making the exhibitions interactive and experience-based. The venue will suit a wide audience, with a special nod to children and young people.
In addition to the exhibitions, the venue will also host unique events linked to current music happenings; small and intimate gigs; courses aimed at schools and music lovers; a hotel called Melody Hotel; a restaurant with a bar, and a shop. ABBA The Museum will no doubt attract international attention and pull crowds into the 5,000 square ft building, situated between amusement park Gröna Lund and art gallery Liljevalchs at the heart of Djurgården.

In the first year alone, several hundred thousand Swedish and international visitors are expected to discover ABBA The Museum. The tickets are to be released later in the autumn and will be available at SJ’s outlets – phone +46 771-757575, SJ´s Resebutiker and www.sj.se/upplevelser.
Some of the entertainment industry’s most prominent establishments stand behind ABBA The Museum: Parks and Resorts (Gröna Lund), Universal, Polar Music, Synergera Rättighetsförvaltning and Eventum have all contributed to its existence.
Proud business partners with an in-depth involvement include MasterCard, SJ, Stockholm Arlanda Airport and Viking Line. Media partners include SBS Radio and TV4. More partners will be added soon.
In the autumn of 2012, ABBA The Museum and its partners will arrange a press briefing presenting the museum’s contents, grand opening and ticket sales.

ABBA Madame Tussaud's Images

Here are the completed Madame Tussauds waxwork models of ABBA as displayed at a roller disco in the Renaissance Room at the museum's London location. The figures will embark on a world tour to other Madame Tussauds locations including Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam and Blackpool. Each figure cost £150,000 and took four months to create. After the tour, the ABBA waxworks will take up their permanent position in the Music Zone of Madame Tussauds London alongside Michael Jackson and the Beatles.

 

ABBA Museum Plans To Be Announced !

A press conference to announce the plans for a permanent ABBA exhibition at the upcoming Swedish Music Hall of Fame at Djurgården will be held tomorrow, Wednesday 3 October in Stockholm. The event will be attended by Björn and the new museum concept will be unveiled at this time. Organisers have said that the ABBA members will be donating instruments, clothing and more. More information soon !

New ABBA Collection Item - Australian T-Shirt

The latest addition to my collection - another fabulous Australian Reg Grundy T-Shirt.

This is a slight variation on the other LOIS one I have - having yellow sleeves & trim .. my other one is blue.

Just love these !

 

 

Deluxe Edition Of The ABBA Album Released In November

Australian Bandstand Special included on the DVD !!!

 

 

 

Hot on the heels of the well-received Deluxe Edition of The Visitors, November 2012 will see another release in the ABBA Deluxe Edition series. This time the 1975 album simply entitled ABBA, featuring classic hits such as ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘SOS’ and ‘I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do’, will receive the Deluxe treatment.

The first disc in this 2-disc package is a CD, which features the original album plus three bonus tracks, all of which have been remastered especially for this release. The second disc is a DVD, featuring 60 minutes of previously unreleased television performances, including the complete 1976 television special ABBA In Australia – the export version of the famous The Best Of ABBA special, which had higher viewer ratings than the moon landing in Australia. 6 of the 12 songs in the special are performances of tracks from the ABBA album. In addition, there are three songs from the 1975 television special Made In Sweden – For Export, along with two fab performances from the BBC archives: ‘SOS’ on Seaside Special, first broadcast in 1975, and ‘Mamma Mia’ on Top Of The Pops (1976). To round off the DVD there are two vintage television commercials, one for the Australian hits album The Best Of ABBA (along with the other albums released by ABBA in Australia up to that point) and the other for ABBA’s Greatest Hits album.
The package also includes a 24-page booklet featuring an extensive essay on the making of the album, for which ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus have contributed fresh insights and stories.
Don’t miss out on this Deluxe Edition of ABBA – featuring the hits that made Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida household names all over the world!

ABBA – DELUXE EDITION
DISC 01: CD

1. Mamma Mia
2. Hey, Hey Helen
3. Tropical Loveland
4. SOS
5. Man In The Middle
6. Bang-A-Boomerang
7. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
8. Rock Me
9. Intermezzo no 1
10. I’ve Been Waiting For You
11. So Long
Bonus Tracks:
12. Crazy World
13. Medley: Pick A Bale Of Cotton – On Top Of Old Smokey – Midnight Special
14. Mamma Mia (Spanish Version)

DISC 02: DVD:
1. ABBA In Australia (Television Special)
Mamma Mia
Hasta Mañana
Ring Ring
Tropical Loveland
Waterloo
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
Rock me
Dancing Queen
Honey, Honey
Fernando
So Long
SOS
2. Made In Sweden – For Export (SVT)
Mamma Mia
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
So Long
3. SOS (Seaside Special, BBC)
4. Mamma Mia (Top Of The Pops, BBC)
5. The Best Of ABBA, TV Commercial
6. Greatest Hits, TV Commercial
7. International Sleeve Gallery

ABBA In Clay For Madame Tussauds



MADAME TUSSAUDS TO MAKE THE ULTIMATE POP GROUP ABBA

6^th September 2012 – Madame Tussauds is creating one of the world’s most successful music acts, ABBA, to be unveiled at the London attraction this autumn.

Famous for their catchy lyrics and bold costumes, the four band members – Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Anni-Frid – will add a colourful dimension to the attraction as they take up a short term residency in the Music Zone before making their way to Madame Tussauds' attractions around the world.

ABBA will be captured in the iconic style from their 1975 video for ‘SOS’. Agnetha and Anni-Frid will be wearing replicas of the popular yellow and blue feline themed outfits teamed with pristine white knee-high leather boots. Benny and Björn will wear outrageous white seventies outfits encrusted with diamantes and sequins, finished off with flares and platform boots. 

 

 

Ellie Mauger

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communications

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ABBA Documentary Filming

As most would know, there is a documentary in production here in Australia about ABBA fans etc called 'Bang A Boomerang'.

And as some may know, I am in this documentary.

On 4th September I had a house full of film crew and a photographer for the final part of my involvement and here are a few pics from the day.

My Mum and husband are also featured :)

What an amazing experience this has been !

It should go to air on Australian ABC1 in February 2013.

 

 

Frida's Personal Items At Auction

Stockholms Auktionsverk has the great pleasure this autumn of auctioning a large collection of high-class clothing and accessories from the wardrobe of Frida, one of the members of ABBA.

As one of the world’s best known and hugely popular pop groups, neither ABBA nor Anni-Frid Lyngstad Reuss/Frida needs any further introduction. Despite the fact that ABBA broke up in 1983, public fascination with the group and its members has not diminished and we anticipate great interest in this special department. This auction offers a selection of attractive items of exceptionally high quality.

Since starting in autumn 2009, Fashion & Lifestyle has been a big success. Here you can find clothes and accessories from every period of the 20th century and right up to the present day.

“Each season we notice more and more that the modern woman attaches great importance to expressing her personality through her own distinctive dress style – and there is nothing better than finding it at Stockholms Auktionsverk’s Fashion and Lifestyle auction,” says specialist Beata af Donner.

In addition to Frida’s Collection there is the usual range of beautiful creations, handbags, suitcases and jewellery from leading French fashion houses such as Balmain, Dior, Chanel, Pucci, Gucci, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, YSL etc.
Fashion & Lifestyle with Frida’s Collection at Stockholms Auktionsverk
Viewing 7-10 September
Auction 11 September at 4 pm
Nybrogatan 32, Stockholm

To see the items available, click this link:

http://auktionsverket.com/auction/special/2012-09-11/

CHANEL, Paris, a jacket, covered with ornamental plots in gold, label CHANEL BOUTIQUE, size 40 according to label, measurements: bust 92 cm, waist 82 cm, hip 98 cm, shoulder/arm 11/57 cm, shoulder to shoulder 37 cm; length back 50 cm
PROVENANCE: Anni-Frid Lyngstad Reuss/Frida
HISTORY: Worn at the concert at The Royal Castle in Stockholm August 14 1992 with Marie Fredriksson

Estimate
SEK 20 000-22 000
€ 2 450-2 700

New ABBA Merchandise Release

Here are some lovely new official ABBA caps which are available through the official ABBA site here:

http://www.abbasite.com/store/

Production of ABBA – BANG A BOOMERANG (ABAB) commenced in Brisbane in early July.

The one-hour HD documentary, commissioned by ABC TV, is a co-production between Queensland production companies Gulliver Media Australia and Bright Films and looks at the special relationship that the 70’s pop group ABBA had and continues to have with Australia and also examine fandom by looking at ABBA’s Australian legion of fans.
Sequences in the film will show Aussie fans who travelled to the opening night in New York of the new musical Kristina, penned by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the two Bs from Abba; bearded fans dressed as nuns singing ABBA favourites in Amsterdam and concerts by ABBA tribute group Bjorn Again.

The most recent filming took place in Trundle, a small town near Dubbo, NSW, where the team covered the inaugural ABBA Festival. Over 600 ABBA fans showed up for the 3 day festival.

The documentary is a long term labour of love by producers and writers Bec McElroy and Matti Crocker and is funded by Screen Queensland, Screen Australia and ABC TV.

http://www.screenqueensland.com.au/news/onscreen-news/1029-abba-bang-a-boomerang.html

New ABBA Collection Item - Music Charts Australia

These great music charts were the ones you used to find on the counter at Record Stores in Australia.

These are from 1976/77 with ABBA singles and albums at number 1 - of course.

Adding more soon :)

New ABBA Collection Item - Aussie Jumper

These jumpers were a common sight in Australia in the 70's. Not the most stylish, or even the most attractive of garments, but still great rare Aussie memorabilia these days.
This one is a registered Reg Grundy product however there were also t-shirts and jumpers available before Reg Grundy became involved in the merchandise.
All items are the same, made by the same companies, but not all have Reg Grundy on them.