ABBAWORLD Heading To Prague !

The glamour and glitz tour of ABBAWORLD, the spectacular multimedia exhibition show, continues. After London, Melbourne, Sydney and Györ in Hungary, the next stop on the calendar is Prague. The members of ABBA are happy to see ABBAWORLD arrive in the blooming capital of the Czech Republic in springtime.
”ABBAWORLD is going places where we never had a chance to play when we were still active as a group and that’s great!” says Bjorn. “We wish all visitors a happy experience.”

The exhibition, which will premiere on 6 May 2011 at Slovansky Dum in the centre of the Czech capital, is presented by Sony Music Prague, in cooperation with Viva Art Music.

”We are looking forward to this exhibition with great excitement,” says Zbynek Knobloch, managing director of Sony Music Entertainment Czech Republic. ”This is an exhibition that allows the visitors to engage and interact in ways that we never thought possible a few years ago.”

Magnus Danielsson, President of Touring Exhibitions, the production company of ABBAWORLD, has followed the tour over the world.

”It has been a very succesful tour and our visit in Hungary showed us that there is a pent-up demand for ABBA in a lot of the countries that never saw them tour there. Now you don’t have to regret that you never got to see ABBA live – the exhibition even adds another dimension to the experience, you can take part on stage too.”

Tickets will be available 24th of March 2011, by TicketPro.

Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson from ABBA leaving The Prince Of Wales Theatre in London.

Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Anderson from ABBA, pictured leaving The Prince Of Wales Theatre after watching Mamma Mia The Musical on it's 10th anniversary and attending the after-party at Cafe De Paris in London.

ABBAWORLD extended to 26 June Media Release

ABBAWORLD, the exhibition about the 70s global pop sensation ABBA whose music almost four decades on continues to attract a new generation of fans, has now been extended at the Powerhouse Museum until 26 June 2011.

Powerhouse Museum Associate Director, Mark Goggin, said: “Tens of thousands of Sydney fans have really enjoyed this exhibition for the pure fun it offers visitors as they relive the era of ABBA that captured audiences worldwide through their engaging music, glitzy costumes and invigorating performances.

“We have been fortunate to have the opportunity to extend ABBAWORLD’s season in Sydney before the exhibition returns to Sweden.”

ABBAWORLD captures the music, memories and magic that made the Swedish group a worldwide phenomenon. It explores where the four members of the group came from, the formation and success of ABBA and the post ABBA years. It features ABBA’s first major international live performance and Sweden’s first win at the Eurovision Song contest in 1974, their highly acclaimed concert tours including the Australian tour in 1977, and the impact of their music that has inspired several hit movies and a stage show - Muriel’s Wedding, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Mamma Mia.

On display are more than 20 original costumes, the epitome of 70’s glam, live concert footage, promotional and behind-the-scenes photographs, album artworks and other ABBA memorabilia, as well as exclusive interviews with members Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog.

The ABBA concert dressing room, the writing studio on Viggsö - an island in the Stockholm archipelago where many of ABBA’s songs were written, and ABBA’s recording studio Polar Studio in Stockholm where the group recorded its last two albums, are also recreated in the exhibition.

Visitors can relive ABBA’s music and sing and dance their way through the exhibition using a series of interactives including perform on a stage with ABBA, dance in an ABBA video, record a sing-a-long with ABBA, or be photographed on an ABBA album cover.

For more than 35 years, ABBA has maintained international success with their songs that remain a fixture on radio playlists today. ABBA is one of the top three selling artists in the world, having sold 375 million records worldwide. They still sell over 3 million records a year.

Band member Björn Ulvaeus said: “It always seemed to me that people in the music press and also in the music industry sort of took it for granted that ABBA would be a one hit wonder. Why would we be different from any other Eurovision winner?

“We really had an up-hill struggle after Waterloo and our follow-up singles didn’t do well. Then the Australians came to our rescue. They released SOS and Mamma Mia and both songs made the charts in a big way down under. Suddenly everyone else around the world realized there was life in the band that was supposed to be dead. I’m forever grateful to the Australians for that!”

Jonathan Parsons, Sydney Curator, ABBAWORLD said: “ABBA’s appeal was first and foremost because they were consummate pop artists producing some of the most well-crafted, memorable and enduring pop songs in pop history. They were pioneers in the pop form breaking new ground in recording, concert production and promotional music videos. For Australia this culminated in the extraordinary scenes of adoration for the group that traveled across the globe to perform in Australia in 1977. Their music spoke to the heart, through joy and pain, and left a musical legacy that is still vibrant today.”

ABBAWORLD Sydney

There is a new announcement that ABBAWORLD at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney will now be extended until 26 June .. Good news for all those who haven't had a chance to get and see it yet ..

PRINCE William and Kate Middleton will seal their love by boogying to Abba songs at their reception.

Tracks by the smash-hit Swedish group are being lined up especially for fan Kate.

A Royal source said: "It'll be a wedding disco like those enjoyed by millions of other happy families and friends up and down the country."

The DJ is being given a list of special requests by club entrepreneur Guy Pelly, best man Prince Harry's closest friend.

There will be a 1980s theme for the knees-up with hits by Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and Culture Club blaring out for Wills - as well as the Abba classics for Kate.

The decision would have thrilled Wills' late mum Princess Diana, who was a huge fan of the '80s sounds.

ROYAL ABBA TOP 10

1 - Ma'amma Mia

2 - Dancing Queen

3 - Knowing One, Knowing You

4 - The Windsors Take It All

5 - (I Don't Carry) Money, Money, Money

6 - Take A Chance On Bea

7 - Super Trooping (The Colour)

8 - Thank You For The Monarch

9 - One Does, One Does, One Does, One Does, One Does

10 - Chiq-Kate-ita

Abba fab ... Prince William, Kate Middleton, Chelsy Davy and Prince Harry as they might look in Abba gear

 

 

 

Super Trouper Deluxe Edition Coming Soon !

A Deluxe Edition of ABBA’s seventh studio album, Super Trouper, will be released on May 9, 2011.

Originally released in 1980, Super Trouper features classic hits such as the title track, ‘The Winner Takes It All’ and ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’, along with the original version of one of the more poignant songs in the Mamma Mia! musical, ‘Our Last Summer’.

Super Trouper Deluxe Edition is a 2-disc release, featuring a CD with a remastered version of the original album along with relevant bonus tracks, plus a DVD of rare television performances and interviews from the archives, including previously unseen footage.

Disc 01: CD
01 Super Trouper
02 The Winner Takes It All
03 On And On And On
04 Andante, Andante
05 Me And I
06 Happy New Year
07 Our Last Summer
08 The Piper
09 Lay All Your Love On Me
10 The Way Old Friends Do

Bonus Tracks
11 Elaine
12 On And On And On (Full length version, stereo mix)
13 Put On Your White Sombrero
14 Andante, Andante (Spanish Version)
15 Felicidad (Spanish Version of Happy New Year)

Disc 02: DVD
01 ABBA On German TV (SHOW EXPRESS, ZDF) – Songs performed: The Winner Takes It All, Super Trouper, On And On And On
02 Happy New Year (SVT)
03 Words And Music (DOCUMENTARY)
04 Somewhere In The Crowd There’s You – On Location With ABBA
05 Super Trouper (Remastered promo clip)
06 Happy New Year (Remastered promo clip)
07 Super Trouper TV commercial I (UK)
08 Super Trouper TV commercial II (UK)
09 International Sleeve Gallery

ABBAWORLD Sydney Extended

Official word is that ABBAWORLD in Sydney will now be extended until 1 May 2011 - it was originally going to close in March.

I am still hoping it will come to Brisbane next !

ABBA Picture Discs - New Item

These fabulous 12" Vinyl Picture Discs are unofficial releases - but they are fabulous anyway !

Latest one is the Megamix which is available on 3rd March

I think they originate in Thailand







Bjorn Presents Prize at QX Gay Gala in Sweden

16 February 2011

Bjorn Thanks Gay Public

Watch the video of his presentation with English subtitles here:

http://www.qx.se/gaygalan/16714/abbabjorns-tack-till-gaypubliken

Björn was back in spandex for an appearance at yesterday’s Gaygalan (“Gay Awards”) at Cirkus in Stockholm.

He was the presenter of the prize for “Homo/Bi-sexual Person Of the Year” to the photographer Elisabeth Olsson-Wallin (who took the photographs of Benny for the feature in Vi magazine last year).

Björn made quite an impression on the Cirkus audience when he appeared wearing a Mamma Mia! type stage show costume!

He also, on behalf of all the ABBA members, thanked the gay audience for all their support.

Swedish gay magazine QX has many pictures from the evening.

'ABBA The Movie' Poster

My newest addition to 'The Movie' poster collection

This one comes from the USA - extremely rare !

Check out my whole collection at:

http://abbafantic.bounce.com.au/

ABBA TV Week Street Poster - Australia

TV Week - 21 August 1976
Newsagent Street Poster

These newsagent posters are just fabulous !

New ABBA Street Poster from Australia

Daily Telegraph - 4 July 1976
Australia
Newsagent Street Poster

I just love these !

ABBA The Vinyls Box Set

Here is a pic of the fabulous ABBA The Vinyls Box Set that I won - signed by all 4 ABBA Members !!

ABBA's Songwriting Cottage May Be Saved !

Following on from the original news that ABBA’s ‘songwriting cottage’ is up for sale comes an intriguing and exciting development reported today by the Swedish press.
Björn Ulvaeus and his wife Lena have offered the municipality of Värmdö their famous writers cottage on Viggsö. The municipality is positive to the plans.
Both ABBA-couples and their manager Stikkan Andersson bought properties on Viggsö during the seventies. In 2007 the Ulvaeus family bought another house on the island from Stikkan Andersson’s son Lasse Andersson. It is these two properties that have now been sold. Combined these beach properties are 14,540 square meters in size plus a large water area. The Ulvaeus family bought a farm in January 2010 on the island of Hölö, outside of Stavsnäs.
“This is a place with a lot of history that could be quite good to secure for the general public. It could possibly be turned into a mini ABBA-museum”, said the head of the culture department Lena Gullmert.
In December the municipality was contacted by the well-known real estate broker Christer Magnusson, who had earlier sold the two Ulvaeus family properties on Viggsö.
“No cottage is a world famous as this one, so I highlighted this specifically in our ad”, said Christer Magnusson.
A significant number of ABBA’s hits were created in this very cottage.
The offer came as a very welcome surprise for Värmdö. The municipality recently announced plans that to strengthen its brand and to position itself better as a tourist destination.
We have confirmed to the family that we are positive and that it would be great if all would indeed work out. In the ideal scenario we could turn the writers hut into an attraction with a mini-exposition of objects from the ABBA era, says newly appointed mayor Stellan Folkesson.
Just before Christmas a meeting was held between the mayor, the culture department head and the Ulvaeus family. Initially the idea was that the municipality would get the opportunity to open the writers cabin to the general public. But after discussions the agreement was made to leave that decision to the new owners of the property.
Johan Bengtsson, buyer of the Ulvaeus family property on Viggsö is unaware of the details of the discussions.
“We think it’s important and have set as a goal that the cottage shall be protected. We have engaged in a discussion with the municipality if and if so, how it can be made available for showings to the public or can be used in another way. It has to happen though in a way that is satisfactory for all parties”, he says to NVP.
The Bengtsson family owns several properties and museums, among others the museum of flight F15 in Söderhamn. They also invite the general public to “Byarnas Dag” in the province of Hälsningland once a year.
Initially there were plans to include the famous writers cottage in the ABBAWORLD exhibition that goes on at the moment. However the plans were rejected as the location and its history was seen at least as important as the cottage itself.
“It is a memorable place, which in my opinion is getting more and more interesting as time goes by”, says Stellan Folkesson.
Real estate broker Christer Magnusson hopes that the plans for a mini-museum on Viggsö will become reality: “If done properly, this can be really, really good”, he says
Björn Ulvaeus has declined to comment on the project.

Wanted ABBA Memorabilia

Here are a few of the items I am specifically looking for .. if you have any of these items, please let me know !

I am always after Australian merchandise so if you have anything at all, drop me a line ....

The Best Of ABBA Promo Poster - Australia

Scanlens Cello Wrap for Trading Card Packs - Australia

Mirror - Australia

Anna & Frida Perfumes

ABBA The Movie Jacket - Germany

 Doodle Art Kit - Australia

Rubik's Cube

Amnesty International Picture Discs

Silver Ingot - UK

Silver Medallion - UK

Waterloo - Domino - Complete Performance 1974

So many great new clips showing up - where have they been hiding ?

I Do I Do I Do - Ring Parade 1975

Just gorgeous !

So Long - Ring Parade 1975

Another great colour version of a previously black and white clip

Money Money - Top Club 1978

Money Money Money - Les Rendez-Vous Du Dimanche 1976

SOS - Top Club 1978

SOS - Ring Ring Parade 1975

Previously only seen in black & white

Real treasure !

Fernando - Ring Ring Parade 1976

ABBA Newspaper Clipping 1978

I just love this picture and the headline ...

I am sorting through all the scrapbooks I have and hope to upload a lot of articles to my ABBAFanatic website very soon ...

ABBA Maybe Reuniting For Glastonbury

While this at this point in time, an ABBA reunion for Glastonbury is merely hearsay, it's at least educated hearsay.

According to a report on Gigwise, bookmakers ("bookies" in American slang) William Hill are setting odds at 33/1 that ABBA will play the Glastonbury festival, scheduled this year for June 22-26 in Somerset, England. This comes in the wake of ABBA singer Agnetha Faltskog saying she would consider reuniting with the group sometime in 2011, possibly for the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton. Mama Mia! (Sorry.)

William Hill's odds for a possible ABBA one-off London reunion this year went from 100/1 to 20/1 amid growing reports and speculation. Place your bets now.

Agnetha Magazine Interview 2010

Our fabulous Agnetha has done an amazing new interview for M Magasin.

Here is a translation of part of the interview plus some of the wonderful pictures featured in the magazine.

A big Agnetha feature was published in the Swedish magazine "M magasin" available from December 28th, 2010 in Sweden. Agnetha was posing as a model for the magazine as well as she gave an interview in which she describes herself as a happy and stable person being 60.

She says that the most important thing is to be healthy. She goes long walks, training at the gym. She eats everything and she does not follow any diet but she tries to eat good stuff. She still loves ice-cream. She is talking about her favorite clothes.

About flying: it is getting better after a special therapy. She celebrated her 60th birthday on Mallorca together with her family and they went there by plane. It takes about 3 hours and it was ok...

Music: she's got lots of unfinished own compositions lying in a bag at home. She plays piano and sings.

ABBA: Sometimes she is listening to ABBA music and when she hears "The Winner Takes It All" she feels that they did it very well. Another favorite song is "Our Last Summer" performed by Frida. Strange that it did not become a world hit - such a good song, she says.

ABBA comeback: "No and yes. - A one-time basis reunion, perhaps in connection with any charity, I think maybe we all could imagine", says Agnetha.
- We will hardly be reunited for a tour as the Rolling Stones and other old bands do now. But however, I can imagine that we could do something together in the future, she says.
- It's just a feeling I have that it would be fun to get together, talk a bit about the past and may be do something together. But then it has to be something special.
I am open to see the others and do something, she adds, but points out that she had not had contact with Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

ABBAWORLD Opening Night - ABBA Quiz Part 2

This is Part 2 of the ABBA Quiz - this was filmed by my hubby John

ABBAWORLD Opening Party - Quiz Video Part 1

The Opening Night at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney was just fabulous !

Part of the evening's activities involved an ABBA Quiz with the host Julia Zemiro - a very popular comedian and TV Show Host here in Australia.

The contestants were my friends Trudy and Ian plus myself ... enjoy !

This is Part 1

Merry Christmas !

Wishing all a very Merry Christmas & a fabbaulous New Year !

ABBAWORLD Sydney Opening Night

A fabulous fun Opening Night Party for ABBAWORLD at Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
Julia Zemiro was the host - love her !!
During the night they she did a 'Rockwiz' style quiz of ABBA trivia.
The contestants were myself, trudy Wilkie and Ian Cole ...
it was great fun !!
Can you believe she is wearing Frida's Waterloo costume ?? Fabulous

Stars in concert for ABBA at the Powerhouse Museum

A ONE-OFF concert celebrating one of the greatest 70's pop groups, ABBA, will be held in Sydney to mark the launch of the new ABBA exhibition.

The three-hour exclusive Sydney event will be hosted by Julia Zemiro, acclaimed comedienne, radio star, actor, SBS TV’s RocKwiz host and lover of Europop, promising an evening of pure ABBA fun!

Prominent Australian singers and songwriters Katie Noonan, iOTA and emerging artist Andy Bull will each perform a selection of their favourite ABBA songs, reinterpreting them to present contemporary versions of the 70s hits.

Director, Dr Dawn Casey, commented that “The artists have been especially selected to deliver a vibrant, fun evening of great music that replicates the pure pop, pure joy and energy that ABBA delivered so well to audiences across the globe in the 70s.

“Australia’s favourite ABBA hits Ring Ring, SOS, Dancing Queen, The Winner Takes It All and Knowing Me, Knowing You will be among the song choices that the artists will revive in a unique performance at the Powerhouse for one night only!”

According to Dr Casey, Julia Zemiro’s ABBA and Eurovision connections make her a perfect host for the Powerhouse event.  Through her success in the show 'It Takes Two', Julia brought back ABBA’s hits, as well as a touch of French pop! Combining her passions, Julia dressed up for 'Eurobeat', delighting audiences in the musical satire based on the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2009, Julia became the new face of Eurovision in Australia, hosting SBS' coverage of the event.

Tickets to ABBAWORLD Opening Night Concert are $59 each, which includes a one hour concert and preview viewing of the ABBAWORLD exhibition on December 16.  Tickets can be purchased at www.powerhousemuseum.com/abbaworld.  Bookings are essential and numbers are strictly limited.

Gorgeous ABBA Artwork

My lovely artwork has arrived ... Brian Tones is the artist ... just beautiful !

ABBAWORLD Sydney

ABBAWORLD is opening on 17th December in Sydney !

So Trudy and I are off to Sydney for a couple of days for the opening .. some of my collection will be on display there ! Very exciting :)

Looking forward to catching up with everyone once again and seeing the difference between the Melbourne exhibition and Sydney ... they are apparently focusing more on the Australian side of things so it should be great !

Will take lots of photos and add them to my website so be sure to check for updates :)

Latest ABBA Collection Item - Poster Art Kit

Fabulous Poster Art Kit from the UK 1970's

Has 2 posters for colouring  which are a large 57 x 38cm