A pleasant surprise 35 years later

[samhexum]

When ABBA stopped recording, they were in the midst of what would’ve been their 9th studio album. It was left unfinished, though two songs were released as singles (and two others as the “B” sides). They recorded 2 other songs… one appeared on a compilation album 11 years later [i Am The City], and one has never been released in full [Just Like That], though tapes of it were stolen from Bjorn’s car & are online.

 

I liked 3 songs (including possibly my favorite ABBA song, The Day Before You Came, the last song they ever recorded) and thought I disliked the other three, based on a first (or second) listen.

 

Well, I’ve been on an ABBA kick for months, so I decided to give the three another listen. I still don’t like two, but seriously misjudged the other. It’s a silly little trifle, but incredibly addictive (it’s been in my head for days).

 

YOU OWE ME ONE:

 

THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME: (Agnetha looks beautiful in the video.)

 

I also like CASSANDRA (B-side of The Day Before You Came):

 

UNDER ATTACK was their last single (YOU OWE ME ONE was the “B” side. Should’ve flipped them):

 

Those 4 of 6 songs would’ve formed the beginnings of a fairly good album, though not their best. Given their reticence in releasing the 2 other songs they recorded, who knows if they’d have even made the final cut.

 

I say there was also an unofficial 7th song… on Frida’s 2nd solo album, she had a song I like that Bjorn & Benny wrote:

 

SLOWLY (you can hear the similarity in style to CHESS):

[samhexum]

In addition, they’d recorded a song for their 8th album that never made the cut. I always thought it was decent, but now that I found a youtube video with the lyrics, I’m a little more impressed… Frida’s the harder to understand of the two women, & I never knew the lyrics fully until now:

 

SHOULD I LAUGH OR CRY:

 

 

• I keep playing I AM THE CITY. IT’S GROWING ON ME. IT HAD A DIFFERENT SOUND MUSICALLY & VOCALLY THAN THEIR OTHER STUFF, SO IT INTERESTS ME, EVEN IF I DON’T THINK IT’S A GREAT SONG.
   
  
  
  

[samhexum]

I found that there's a foolproof formula for creating a music group I'll love: equal numbers of men & women, one of the women is blonde, the women do the majority of the singing, & they're from Sweden. ABBA, Roxette, & Ace Of Base all fit the formula, & (coincidentally?) are the only 3 Swedish groups to achieve significant international success.

[samhexum]

Roxette sold their Crash! Boom! Bang! compact disc at McDonalds

 

Which is where I got it.

[samhexum]

Agnetha on her own:

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by samhexum
Just for the hell of it.

[samhexum]

I predict that just over 4 years from this post they'll release a new album

Edited November 9, 2021 by samhexum
Just for the hell of it.

[samhexum]

FRIDA on her own:

(Phil Collins produced & played drums)

 

(a Dorothy Parker poem set to music by Per Gessle of Roxette)

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by samhexum
Just for the hell of it.

[+ purplekow]

I have heart rumors that they have been offered unimaginably large sums of money to reunite, but they refuse. I know their ongoing popularity probably makes money a lesser consideration but even the Spice Girls got back together. I do not know the dynamics of the group other than they were two couples and that the couples broke up. Do any of them work with other members of the group? Is there one particular member who refuses a reunion?

[samhexum]

Benny & Bjorn wrote CHESS & collaborated on MAMA MIA. The women sang together (one song) for the first time since the group broke up last year at some celebration in Sweden regarding the band. Agnetha (the blonde) won't fly-- she even skipped their induction into the rock & roll hall of fame for that reason. And they all feel they could never live up to expectations if they reunited.

[samhexum]

Agnetha took a long sabbatical from music after 1987. She released an album of covers of some of the favorite songs of her youth in 2004 (called My Colouring Book), then in 2013 she released an album of new songs (simply called A). It's quite good. Her voice still sounded sweet and clear.

 

Last year I discovered Mike (Tubular Bells) Oldfield's version of an all-time classic:

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by samhexum
Just for the hell of it.

[samhexum]

Lather, rinse, repeat...

Last New Year's Eve I listened to Happy New Year for the first time in a few years, & it led to a year-long re-appreciation of ABBA, which was one of my favorite groups as a teen. I've been listening to them all year, and right now I am listening to the SUPER TROUPER album... Happy New Year is coming up 2 songs from now.

[samhexum]

A REASON TO REJOICE...

 

ABBA fans have a reason to shout Mamma Mia!

 

The Swedish pop group announced the release of new material the first time in three-and-a-half decades. Two new tracks are forthcoming, including one titled “I Still Have Faith in You,” AP reports.

 

ABBA — Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog — spread the word on its official Facebook page and Instagram on Friday.

 

“We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio,” the band noted. “So we did. And it was like time had stood still and that we only had been away on a short holiday.”

 

Since the pop icons split in 1982, they have worked together on projects including the blockbuster stage musical “Mamma Mia!” that became a hit movie. The sequel hits multiplexes this summer.

 

But there’s not been new music from ABBA, who broke through with a win at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo.” Since then, hits include “Dancing Queen” and “Fernando.”

 

The group recently announced that they’ll be touring in the form of virtual holograms in 2019.

[+ E.T.Bass]

Can ABBA music and ABBA holograms bring enough fans to fill the Hollywood Bowl? Will be interesting to see their plan.

 

Edited April 27, 2018 by E.T.Bass

[+ purplekow]

Enjoyed that a lot but i cannot imagine paying concert prices to see a prerecorded show with holograms. If it is a success, it will certainly change the way music concerts happen.

[samhexum]

 

The Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final on May 12, 2004, saw the world première of a new ABBA video, Our Last Video Ever. In this exclusive interview for ABBA – The Site, director Calle Åstrand shared the secrets of the video that brought a doll-size version of ABBA to 100 million television screens across the world.

 

Telling a story

Over the years, ABBA’s role in pioneering the art of the rock video has been thoroughly documented. It wasn’t until the early 1980s that the production of promo clips became a standard music industry practice – by which time ABBA had already made more than 30 such films, and were about to go their separate ways. And now, 22 years after ABBA’s last official promo clip – for the ’Under Attack’ single – the four dolls in ’Our Last Video Ever’ bring an unexpected conclusion to ABBA’s illustrious rock video history.

 

 

’Our Last Video Ever’ is more than a regular music video: with its simple but effective plot, it takes the shape of a short film. Indeed, the challenge of not doing an ordinary music video, but getting the chance to tell a story, gave director Calle Åstrand the idea for making the video in the first place. Åstrand has a background in advertising and is the director of several award-winning commercials. Over the past few years, he has complemented this experience with writing and directing television series for Swedish television.

 

The idea for the ABBA video came to Calle Åstrand three years ago, during a conversation with a friend. ”He asked me why I had never made a rock video. I had done all those commercials and a TV series, so it would have been natural to try that as well. But I always felt rock videos were uninteresting – you just see the artists miming in front of a camera and I’m more interested in telling a story. ’But if you had the chance to tell a story in a rock video, which band would you choose?’ I replied that it would have to be a group like The Beatles or ABBA, or perhaps The Doors. He asked me if I wouldn’t consider choosing a band that was still active! But I said no.”

 

Doll idea

However, the seeds for an idea had been sown. If you were to do a brand new video with a band that doesn’t exist anymore, how on earth would you go about it? A week later, Calle Åstrand found himself on a location shoot in Prague and happened to pass by a shop-window. That’s where he came upon the solution to his problem. ”There were dolls in that shop-window, which made me think, ’Why not build a story around a doll version of one of those groups?’” Åstrand decided that ABBA would be the group most suitable for such a treatment, and contacted Björn Ulvaeus. The former ABBA member liked the idea, but asked the director to develop it a bit further. After some fine-tuning of the concept, Åstrand had come up with a story that featured the ABBA dolls seeking a record contract, auditioning their songs at the offices of a slimy record company mogul. Björn gave his approval and arranged a meeting with Universal Music, the owners of the ABBA catalogue.

 

Naturally, the other three former ABBA members were also informed about the idea. They were sent an outline of the video story and immediately gave the project their full support. However, despite their enthusiasm, it was to take a long time before all the practical issues surrounding the production had been resolved. For instance, when would be the right time to present this video to the world? Eventually, the answer became self-evident: the spring of 2004, upon the occasion of the 30th anniversary of ABBA’s Eurovision Song Contest victory with ’Waterloo’.

 

 

Meanwhile, Calle Åstrand was considering which songs to feature in the video. The original idea was to string together a number of familiar ABBA hits in a medley. ”The selection process wasn’t easy, because there are so many good tunes. But finally I had a shortlist of 10 songs, which I showed to Björn to get his opinion, and then we managed to get it down to four songs. I wanted ’Take A Chance On Me’, because that fits the story. The record company felt that ’Dancing Queen’ should be included, since it’s the most popular ABBA song. ’Waterloo’ was self-evident, because of the 30th anniversary. And then we had ’The Winner Takes It All’, which would also be good for the story.”

 

ABBA cameos

Once the songs had been selected, Björn and Benny pointed out a problem with putting them all into a medley: they were all in different tempos and different keys. ”The solution was to feature dialogue between the songs and make use of the different environments in the film,” recalls Calle Åstrand. ”Björn arranged for me to attend a performance of the Mamma Mia! musical in London, so that I could see how they had solved it.” In Mamma Mia! the dialogue leads almost seamlessly into the songs, which inspired Åstrand to try a similar approach for his manuscript. ”I read through each and every Abba lyric to find phrases that we could use as lines of dialogue. Björn also contributed a few ideas; his best was ’I do, I do, I do, I do, I do’.”

 

The dolls in the film were created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. The late Jim Henson was of course the brain behind the muppets used in Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. Today, his groundbreaking puppet work lives on in the company that bears his name. British comedian Rik Mayall, who sprang to fame in the 1980s television series The Young Ones, plays the record company mogul. The live cast otherwise consists of Swedish actors, most of whom are very famous in their home country.

 

Shooting of the main scenes took place in March 2004, at Independent Studios, south of Stockholm. “It was especially convenient to do the filming in a place that wasn’t too centrally located; it made it easier to keep the project a secret,” notes Calle Åstrand. Björn, Benny and Agnetha all visited the studios to film their cameo parts in the video. However, Frida was unable to fit a Stockholm visit into her schedule at the time of the main filming, so her scenes were shot in London in April, around the time of the celebrations for the 5th anniversary of the Mamma Mia! musical. But with the aid of a little technical trickery, Agnetha and Frida are actually seen together in the same shot – the first such picture to reach the public in almost two decades. ‘Our Last Video Ever’ otherwise marks the first time that all four members appear in the same film since the 1999 documentary The Winner Takes It All – The ABBA Story.

 

Laughs allowed

Other cameo contributions in the video come from some very famous names. “Björn thought it would be fun to have a few more ‘extras’ in the film, other than the ABBA members themselves, watching the band’s audition for the record company boss,” explains Calle Åstrand. The result was that we now see Cher and infamous Iron Maiden “member”, Eddie – himself a doll – in the video.

 

The biggest technical challenge to the filmmakers was figuring out how to make vintage footage of the “real” ABBA interact with the dolls and the live actors. A scene of the ABBA members standing in an elevator, extracted from their 1977 film ABBA – The Movie, was used for this purpose. However, no clean shot of just the four members was available. “The actor who played the Australian reporter in the movie was in each and every scene, so we had to remove him, which was incredibly difficult. Also, we had to match the quality of the film stock used in those days with the picture quality of today.”

 

But those difficulties were indeed overcome, and after an intense editing period, ‘Our Last Video Ever’ was finally ready to be screened. Throughout the making of the film, everybody involved were keen to maintain a spirit of irreverent fun – not least the former ABBA members themselves. Says Calle Åstrand, “When Agnetha saw what her own doll looked like, she laughed and said, ‘I look like Miss Piggy!’ She thought that was a lot of fun. And Frida was delighted when we showed her what we had filmed so far.” The male half of the group was just as keen about this light-hearted approach. “One of the first things Björn and Benny said was, ‘The film mustn’t be pretentious. Make sure that it’s fun and tongue-in-cheek – you’ve got to be allowed to laugh at it!’ And I believe that’s what we accomplished.”

 

Note: When “Our Last Ever Video” was released on DVD, the title was changed to “The Last Video”.

[samhexum]

Cher to release new album, ‘Dancing Queen,’ next month

 

Cher will release “Dancing Queen,” a new album of Abba covers, on Sept. 28, Warner Bros. Records announced on Thursday.

 

The singer and actress — who has won Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy Awards — was inspired to record the album following her performance in the recently-released hit film, “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” according to the announcement.

 

“I’ve always liked Abba and saw the original ‘Mamma Mia’ musical on Broadway three times,” Cher said. “After filming ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,’ I was reminded again of what great and timeless songs they wrote and started thinking ‘why not do an album of their music?’ The songs were harder to sing than I imagined but I’m so happy with how the music came out. I’m really excited for people to hear it. It’s a perfect time.”

 

The album was recorded and produced in London and Los Angeles with Cher’s longtime collaborator Mark Taylor, who previously produced Cher’s global hit single “Believe.”

 

Cher released a teaser video for the album’s first single, “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!,” Wednesday night.

 

Cher is scheduled to be awarded a Kennedy Center Honor on Dec. 2 in Washington D.C. She is also a co-producer of the “The Cher Show,” the upcoming Broadway musical opening on Dec. 3, and will be touring Australia and New Zealand in September. She is currently performing a residency at MGM Resorts in Las Vegas.

 

Check out the track list below:

 

1. Dancing Queen
   
2. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
   
3. The Name Of The Game
   
4. SOS
   
5. Waterloo
   
6. Mamma Mia
   
7. Chiquitita
   
8. Fernando
   
9. The Winner Takes It All
   
10. One Of Us
    

[+ purplekow]

I am with Cher. Gimme Gimme Gimme a man after Midnight and I will have him singing without autotune.

[samhexum]

I am with Cher. Gimme Gimme Gimme a man after Midnight and I will have him singing without autotune.

 

But do you believe in life after love?

[samhexum]

 

The irony is that Cher made a cameo appearance in the video, which was made to commemorate the 30th anniversary of their winning the Eurovision song contest. I'd never seen that video before you posted it here, but since Cher was in it, I figured it was something new, to promote the movie. I guess she's always been a fan of theirs.

[samhexum]

There's a personal irony in Cher recording that song. I often goof around with song lyrics, singing something nonsensical that rhymes.

 

For the part of the song that goes

There's not a soul out there,

No one to hear my prayer

For years I've been singing the 2nd line as

Not Sonny and not Cher...

 

I don't know why. I must be psychic!

[samhexum]

While STILL waiting for the 2 songs they recorded in 2018, I've gotten into Cher's album.. My faves:

 

 

 

Bruce Willis' daughter & one of the interns from CAROL'S SECOND ACT are in this video.

 

of course we need this extended dance remix!

[samhexum]

Abba will release five, rather than two, new tracks as their reunion is pushed back to 2021.

 

The Swedish four-piece were originally going to put out new music later this year, but have been forced to delay these plans due to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Geoff Lloyd, co-host of the Reasons To Be Cheerful podcast, said: “I got to spend an hour […] with Björn Ulvaeus from Abba via Zoom. He’s quarantining – he’s got an island in the Stockholm archipelago.

 

“They’ve recorded five new songs. They should have been out at the end of last year… Because of technical difficulties and the pandemic, it’s delayed things. But he promised me that the new Abba music will be out in 2021.”

[OCClient]

Our PBS station played a history of ABBA tonight. Kudos to Australia where ABBA became a hit 18 months after winning Eurovision. After they caught on Down Under, record companies in the UK took another look at them, after which ABBA was promoted in the UK and then America. The PBS special played a video of the winning Eurovision performance of Waterloo.

 

[samhexum]

On 11/29/2020 at 1:20 AM, OCClient said:

Our PBS station played a history of ABBA tonight. Kudos to Australia where ABBA became a hit 18 months after winning Eurovision. After they caught on Down Under, record companies in the UK took another look at them, after which ABBA was promoted in the UK and then America. The PBS special played a video of the winning Eurovision performance of Waterloo.

On 10/8/2017 at 11:51 AM, purplekow said:

I have heart rumors that they have been offered unimaginably large sums of money to reunite, but they refuse. I know their ongoing popularity probably makes money a lesser consideration but even the Spice Girls got back together. I do not know the dynamics of the group other than they were two couples and that the couples broke up. Do any of them work with other members of the group? Is there one particular member who refuses a reunion?

 

On 4/27/2018 at 2:29 PM, E.T.Bass said:

Can ABBA music and ABBA holograms bring enough fans to fill the Hollywood Bowl? Will be interesting to see their plan.

 

On 4/27/2018 at 7:12 PM, purplekow said:

Enjoyed that a lot but i cannot imagine paying concert prices to see a prerecorded show with holograms. If it is a success, it will certainly change the way music concerts happen.

 

On 11/24/2020 at 12:14 AM, samhexum said:

Abba will release five, rather than two, new tracks as their reunion is pushed back to 2021.

 

 

 

REALLY?!?!?  No posts about last week's earth-shattering news that 2 songs had grown to 5 and now to A WHOLE NEW ALBUM OF 10 SONGS, out in early Nov?!?!?!

Edited November 9, 2021 by samhexum
Just for the hell of it.

[+ E.T.Bass]

1 minute ago, samhexum said:

REALLY?!?!?  No posts about last week's earth-shattering news that 2 songs had grown to 5 and now to A WHOLE NEW ALBUM OF 10 SONGS, out in early Nov?!?!?

You can see the holograms (called ABBAtars, get it?) in the last minute of the first song:

 

 

 

 

 

Is it earth shattering though?

There was talk of a tour a while ago.

I have mixed feelings about it.