ABBA Perform On Melodifestivalen 43 Years Ago Today !

10th February 1973

ABBA perform 'Ring Ring' on Melodifestivalen in Sweden - the qualifier for the Eurovision Song Contest.

At that time, ABBA were still known, and introduced, by their names - their full introduction on the show was 'Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog. It wouldn't be until 1974 that they went by the name of ABBA - and I am sure everyone was happy to make the change !

Melodifestivalen 1973 had 10 competitors and ABBA came in at 3rd place with 8 points. The winning act had 37 points, with second place on 29 points. ABBA were certainly not the flavour of the day at that time - not with the judges anyway - an audience vote may have changed things.
However, with Agnetha heavily pregnant, and without the ABBA style established, I think the song/performance suffered a bit. Imagine if they had performed this song in the well known 'Ring Ring' costumes, doing their gorgeous choreography - they would have won the show for sure ! :D

It would have been very interesting I think, to see ABBA performing 'Ring Ring' at Eurovision in 1973 - against such acts as Cliff Richards - quite a contrast there :)

It was in preparation for the possibly of performing at Eurovision in 1973, that 'Ring Ring' was translated into English - Stig and the boys understood the importance of performing the song in English for Eurovision - much wider appeal and acceptance.
A shame that never happened.

The winning song that went on to represent Sweden was "Sommar'n Som Aldrig Säger Nej" (The Summer That Never Says No) by 'Malta' (renamed Nova & The Dolls for the Eurovision Song Contest) and ended up coming 5th. One half of the duo 'Malta', was Claes af Geijerstam who was ABBA's sound engineer on the 1979 Tour and Frida's co-host for the 4 TV shows in 1981 "Lite Grand i Örat".

The program has never been released on video or DVD and the story goes that although the broadcast was taped at the time, it was later erased by STV.

Thankfully though, we at least have an audio recording of this historic performance - this audio includes their introduction: 

For much more detail on Melodifestvalen 1973, go to Sara Russell's website 'ABBA ON TV' here:
http://www.abbaontv.com/1973/description-melodifestivalen1.html

Weren't they so cute ? :)
Love the group shot with all the other acts from 1973.

I am sooooo glad the 'ABBA' style kicked in not too much later - along with everything else that was fabulous about ABBA - the best was definitely yet to come :)

Ring Ring - Deluxe Edition In October 2013

The next release in the ABBA Deluxe Edition series revisits ABBA’s début album, Ring Ring, originally issued in 1973. Featuring the very first ABBA recording, ‘People Need Love’, along with well-known tracks such as ‘He Is Your Brother’ and the groundbreaking title track, the original album has been expanded with no less than 13 bonus tracks, 4 of which are new to CD, plus a DVD of rare television material. Ring Ring Deluxe Edition will be released October 14, 2013.



The first disc in the 2-disc package is a CD, which features the original album plus 13 bonus tracks. The bonus selections seek to expand the view of the album by including not only various non-album single sides, but also the rare original versions of the album tracks ‘I Saw It In The Mirror’ and ‘I Am Just A Girl’, both of which were Björn and Benny productions for other artists.
The scope of ABBA’s early years is further expanded by bonus tracks such as the rare 1970 recording ‘There’s A Little Man’, featuring Agnetha on backing vocals, her first contribution to a recording written and produced by Björn and Benny; ‘Man vill ju leva lite dessemellan’, a 1972 hit single for Frida featuring backing vocals by her fellow ABBA members; ‘En hälsning till våra parkarrangörer’, an ultra-rare spoken-word promotion single from 1972 on which the four ABBA members talk up their 1973 tour of Sweden; ‘Hej gamle man!’, the 1970 hit recording that was the first to feature all four ABBA members; and the 1971 single ‘Välkommen till världen’ by Lill-Babs, written and produced by Benny and enhanced by prominent backing vocals by the four future ABBA members.
The DVD features rare television performances of ‘People Need Love’ and ‘Ring Ring’ from Swedish and Austrian TV, respectively, plus a 2012 report from Swedish television wherein Benny tells the story of the writing and recording of ‘Ring Ring’, the first song to feature the famous multi-layered ABBA sound. In the report, Benny goes in-depth on the group’s creative process, isolating the different tracks on the original multi-track tape.
The package also includes a 20-page illustrated booklet featuring an extensive essay on the making of the album.
Don’t miss out on this Deluxe Edition of Ring Ring – featuring Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida’s first steps towards international stardom!

RING RING – DELUXE EDITION
DISC 01: CD:
1. Ring Ring
2. Another Town, Another Train
3. Disillusion
4. People Need Love
5. I Saw It In The Mirror
6. Nina, Pretty Ballerina
7. Love Isn’t Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)
8. Me And Bobby And Bobby’s Brother
9. He Is Your Brother
10. She’s My Kind Of Girl
11. I Am Just A Girl
12. Rock’n Roll Band

Bonus tracks:
13. Ring ring (bara du slog en signal) (Swedish Version)
14. Merry-Go-Round
15. Santa Rosa
16. Ring Ring (Spanish Version)
17. Wer im Wartesaal der Liebe Steht (German Version of Another Town, Another Train)
18. Ring Ring (German Version)
19. En hälsning till våra parkarrangörer

Extra bonus tracks – Early versions:
20. Hej gamle man! / Björn & Benny
21. There’s A Little Man / Billy G-son
22. I Saw It In The Mirror / Billy G-son
23. Jag är blott en man / Jarl Kulle
24. Man vill ju leva lite dessemellan / Anni-Frid Lyngstad
25. Välkommen till världen / Lill-Babs

DISC 02: DVD:
1. People Need Love (Vi i femman, SVT)
2. Ring Ring (Spotlight, ORF)
3. Ring Ring revealed (Låtarna som förändrade musiken, UR)
4. International Sleeve Gallery