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 :)
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:
The releases for Arrival's 40th Anniversary have been confirmed and they are fabulous !!
A limited edition 7” box set will feature the four singles from the
album – the worldwide No.1 smash hit ‘Dancing Queen’, along with ‘Money,
Money, Money’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ and ‘Fernando’ – all on
coloured vinyl. This box will only be available through ABBA The Museum
Shop and D2C shops.
You can pre-order all items at the following sites:
‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Money, Money, Money’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing
You’ and ‘Fernando’ will be released separately as a limited-edition
picture disc.
Finally, a 2LP, half-speed mastered, 45rpm cut of the original album
will be released. This rare and specialised technique transforms
difficult to cut high-end frequencies into relatively easy to cut
mid-range frequencies. The result is a cut with excellent high frequency
response and very solid and stable stereo images. In short, half-speed
mastering produced a master of the highest quality that enables the
pressing plant to produce a superlative record. The album reissue will
include new liner notes including a brand new interview with Michael B
Tretow, ABBA’s acclaimed producer and “fifth member”.
ABBA The Singles - Vinyl Box Set
40 x 7" vinyl singles box set. Includes a voucher to download all 80 songs in mp3 format.
ABBA celebrate 40 years with 40 singles!
This year marks the 40th Anniversary of ABBA's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo - the start of their career as one of the biggest pop bands of all time. Polar Music International celebrates the anniversary with several releases: one of the most exclusive is the box set ABBA The Singles.
ABBA The Singles features 40 vinyl singles released 1972-1982, the period when ABBA existed as a group. Out of these, 31 are the singles planned and conceived by ABBA's Swedish record company, Polar Music, and issued in Sweden and/or the rest of Scandinavia: from the debut People Need Love, through legendary hits such as Mamma Mia, Dancing Queen, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Take A Chance On Me, Chiquitita and The Winner Takes It All, to the final single, Under Attack. The remaining 9 singles were only released by ABBA's local record companies around the world.
Five of the additional singles are the German versions of Ring Ring and Waterloo, the French version of Waterloo, and the Spanish-language versions of Chiquitita and I Have A Dream (Spanish title: Estoy So ando). The West German single Honey, Honey / Ring Ring features a 1974 remix of Ring Ring, also featured as an A-side on singles in Great Britain and Australia. The remaining three selections are ABBA songs that have become very popular over the decades, yet were originally only released as singles in a few countries. They are the Portuguese 'Happy New Year' single; the UK 12-inch single 'Lay All Your Love On Me' - presented here in 7-inch format - and the Australian release of 'When All Is Said And Done'.
The sleeve and label of each single in the box set are exact replicas of the original issues. Only the 9 singles not originally released by Polar Music have been given new Polar labels, corresponding to the design used by Polar during the era when each single was released. The sleeves for these singles have also been slightly modified. ABBA The Singles is a unique chance to own the classic and, in several cases, rare ABBA singles, exactly as they looked way back when. This celebration of ABBA as unsurpassable hit makers is released as a strictly limited edition - don't miss out on the chance to own a box full of some of the best pop songs ever made!
A real rarity is an alternate mix of "Andante Andante" from the replica of the
Portugese single "Happy New Year" / "Andante Andante".
This is apparently the singles listing for the upcoming 40th Anniversary Box Set.
Word is that it will cost around 200 Euro which is just over $300 Aussie dollars.
Nothing very exciting in the singles list - and no mention of coloured vinyl or a picture disc - yet.
It will be Limited Edition.
Singles list:
1. People Need Love / Merry-Go-Round 2. He Is Your Brother / Santa
Rosa 3. Ring Ring (Swedish Version) / Åh, vilka tider 4. Ring Ring
(English Version) / She’s My Kind of Girl 5. Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is
Hard Enough) / I Am Just A Girl 6. Ring Ring (German Version) / Wer Im
Wartesaal der Liebe steht 7. Waterloo (Swedish Version) / Honey, Honey
(Swedish Version) 8. Waterloo (English Version) / Watch Out 9. Waterloo
(German Version) / Watch Out 10. Waterloo (French Version) / Gonna Sing You
My Lovesong 11. Honey, Honey / King Kong Song 12. Honey, Honey (German
Version) / Ring Ring (remix) 13. So Long / I’ve Been Waiting For You 14. I
Do, I Do, I Do / Rock me 15. S.O.S. / Man In The Middle 16. Mamma Mia /
Intermezzo No.1 17. Fernando / Hey, Hey Helen 18. Dancing Queen / That’s
Me 19. Money, Money, Money / Crazy World 20. Knowing Me, Knowing You /
Happy Hawaii 21. The Name Of The Game / I Wonder (Departure) 22. Take A
Chance On Me / I’m A Marionette 23. Eagle / Thank You For The Music 24.
Summer Night City / Medley: Pick A Bale of Cotton... 25. Chiquitita /
Lovelight 26. Chiquitita (Spanish Version) / Lovelight 27. Does Your
Mother Know / Kisses of Fire 28. Voulez-Vous / Angeleyes 29. Estoy Sonando
/ Does Your Mother Know 30. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) / The
King Has Lost His Crown 31. I Have A Dream / Take A Chance On Me
(live) 32. The Winner Takes It All / Elaine 33. Super Trouper / The
Piper 34. Happy New Year / Andante, Andante 35. Lay All Your Love On Me /
On And On And On 36. One Of Us / Should I Laugh Or Cry 37. Head Over Heels
/ The Visitors 38. When All Is Said And Done / Soldiers 39. The Day Before
You Came / Cassandra 40. Under Attack / You Owe Me One
