Björn Ulvaeus Abba-Museum - Nyhetsmorgon (TV4)

Björn Ulvaeus exklusiva guidning på Abba-museet - Nyhetsmorgon (TV4)

Nyhetsmorgon i TV4 från 2013-05-04: På tisdag den 7 maj slår Abba-museet på Djurgården upp sina portar. Nyhetsmorgons Jesper Börjesson fick en exklusiv förhandsguidning bland utställningarna av självaste Björn Ulvaeus.

From Swedish morning news and talk show "Nyhetsmorgon" on TV4, Sweden.

Nyhetsmorgon visas alla dagar - året om i TV4 och i TV4Play. Programledare är bl.a. Peter Jihde, Tilde de Paula, Jenny Strömstedt, Steffo Thörnqvist, Jesper Börjesson och Jessica Almenäs. Se alla klipp från Nyhetsmorgon: http://link.tv4.se/nyhetsmorgon-yt



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe7ZBwlSgXk

ABBA IN LONDON promoting the Arrival album.

ABBA's visit to London, promoting the Arrival album.

ABBA in London, November 1976
A feature on ABBA’s visit to London, promoting the Arrival album. The complete report of this visit, taken from the Young Nation section of the current affairs show Nationwide, has not been seen since originally broadcast in November 1976
Link: http://www.carlmagnuspalm.com/abba/studio-albums/arrival-deluxe-edition/track-listing







https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm3s5UosnsI








https://youtu.be/vqueMaCCYTw

Agentha: Most difficult of all is love

April 20, 2013. In this week's edition of VG Helg, the weekend supplement of Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang, there is an interview with Agnetha Fältskog.

Phobias and loud public noise has always bothered Agnetha Fältskog (63). But love is her most troublesome life project.
Pop’s “Greta Garbo” has crept out of the winter and taken the first steps into the world, most thought she had left behind. The reunion with the public involves doing almost everything that bothers her, and the Abba years gave her an overdose of that.

Stage fright. The fear of flying. The fear of moving out in public and to be devoured alive by the fans and the media-shy person.

Phobias and the loud public not with standing, Agnetha Fältskog see’s herself as strong and earthy. Things she needs to lean on now that she release the first album of new material in 25 years.

She is the long legged, blonde sex bomb who owned the 70s.

The heartbreaking vulnerability in her voice, raised it to one of pop’s greatest band.

She created the soundtrack for millions of people’s lives but their own world stardom, she has an almost indifferent relationship.

The fame was miserable. Now the voice of Jönköping is back.

There is a long and unbroken line of people that shyness has been in Agnetha Fältskog life.

- I hid always when people bent over the stroller to peek at me. My mum thought it was so funny.

A hermit was born.

No other’s eyes and ears one her, and my will to be with her , we meet Agnetha for one of the rare interviews at a Stockholm hotel where the legendary film diva Greta Garbo used to live incognito.

- You’ve described yourself as a lone wolf?

- Yes.

- A bit like Ferdinand the Bull, who would rather sit under a tree and smell the flowers instead of showing off the bullring?

- Yes, absolutely.

- Is loneliness a good friend?

- Yes. I’m not afraid of being lonely, I derive a great power in it. Many people are very afraid of being alone, but I do not feel it. I think it is because I have a high degree of harmony and basic security in myself.

- It has been obvious that you are a person with low self-esteem, you are shy and not very social and at times you struggle with anxiety and restlessness. How is your life really in hop?

- It’s a bit strange, because it all depends on the situation. Some things in this industry, I am completely unmoved by. Give me a film camera, and I know of no concern, says Agnetha.

- But there can be little things I see as harsh and problematic in everyday life. Much of it is that I usually always recognized.

- How do you work to create the best possible balance in your life?

- I have a very big need for sleep that I meet. I go for long walks in the woods and try to live healthy, healthy in general. If I can I just sleep at nights and be healthy, then that’s good.

Winter has been cold and bitter also on the Swedish island secluded on Ekerö

It has made the bell clear voice, often ill.But Agnetha has forced herself to perform anyway. One and a half years it has taken her to work on the love album “A”.

- Since I am sensitive human , I give all the songs. It is very much emotion in this album.

One of the world’s greatest pop stars started on a Christmas party in the fishing club in Jönköping in 1955.

The five year old on stage was a rare musical talent was completely overshadowed by the elastic of her pants broke so that it slid under her dress just as she stood and sang “Billy Boy.”

People writhing in laughter.

Agnetha does not remember, but it may have been the start of stage fright. The fear of being seen.

- Now I’m not so often on stage anymore. But when I was on Skavlan recently, I was terribly nervous. I can’t handle it to have pressure on me, and I shall be a kind of problem solver and say wise things about politics and religion, it’s not my department, although I follow well with what is happening around me.

Agneta Åse Fältskog – baptised Agneta without h – was the daughter of the local king cabaret and musical his wife. Piano tones as a day sounded from the apartment above, came as a revelation into her life.

In light blue dress trooped the five year old girl up with piano teacher Segvard Andersson and remained there.

She composed her first song at age six, was given her own piano that year. Before teens she played Bach solo in church, at age 13 she formed girl band and two years later she was the front singer in the established dance band Bernt Enghardts orchestra.

She dropped out of school, got a job as a switchboard lady and toured with the band late into the night.

Then she fainted at work of too little sleep, too little food and too many cigarettes did not give an appetite for life she was leading.

- There was no orchestra got a record deal with legendary Little Gerhard in 1967, but you. When the day of recording in Stockholm came, you were so nervous that you had to resort to pills?

- I do not know if I took the pills so much, but I get very easily stressed in these situations. Anyway, I reached the top in life. But there are certain things that I have found very difficult.

- Stage fright?

- At the beginning with Abba it was very, very troublesome. It’s not my thing to be on a stage. But we four Abba pepped each other up. I think solo artists have it much worse, say’s Agnetha.

- We were royalty, but to this day I have very hard to see myself as a world star. Are we talking about the real world stars, as everyone knows who is, as Whitney Houston and Barbra Streisand, so I think it’s awful tough for them to stand on stage alone.

The newspapers wrote that Agnetha drank champagne to tackle nervousness ahead of premieres and major concerts.

Shyness in her eyes. Was the soul. Already captivating beautiful. She was 17, with a charming grin between the ? and the blonde trademark flowing down over her shoulders.

- It’s just that picture of you, the young Agnetha. Look at it and tell me who you were.

- She is not sure.

Agnetha Fältskog recapitulates itself in a fraction of a second.

- She is very uncertain, but has an incredible talent. I did not know who I was. They would launch me in Germany and flew me between Stockholm and Berlin. And this hair, they said all along …

- The mature version of Agnetha say some words of comfort to the 45-year younger version of yourself. What is important to say?

- Stretch. Be proud of what you can and remember that you are good as always who you really are. We women often have very high degree of self-criticism, and it is not so easy for us. We should look a certain way and we should behave in a certain way, and we shall achieve and accomplish things. It is expected that you should be running all the time.

The sun breakes through the window at the singer’s suite at the Grand Hotel.

The light features of her face more clearly, revealing a dense network of living days.

- I think it is important that you take the advice that you need to unwind at times and get back to herself, she says.

His happiest musical moments she had probably the November morning in 1967 when she danced around on the floor with the radio in his arms.

Her self-composed song “Jag vär sa kar” reached for the first time her own ears by Swedish Radio. The song was at full speed towards the Swedish top chart, it was a tearful, slow ballad about love, loneliness and longing.

Love and Grief had a name; Bjorn Lilja. Her first boyfriend.

- It was perhaps a lifetime best a musical best time?

- Talking of the child, it was the times when I was little and could write songs when I sat at the piano, and when I got to record my first album and found success before Abba, say’s Agnetha.

After the Abba hysteria died down the notes in her life stopped completely.

- I did not hear any kind of music, and least of Abba. It took more than five years before I heard the music again, I read that Frida felt the same way.

Agnetha was the Abba member who struggled most to cope with the hysteria around herself, and that was so much more famous than she had ever wanted to be.

She recalls the hysterical “Abba Mania” in Australia in 1977 as something nightmarish.

“I felt like they would get hold of me and never let me go. As if I was going to be crushed. I think no one will be the same again after a meeting like that, “she said in the biography” As jag är “.

The dreams were big and she was only a teenager when she became engaged to the German songwriter and producer Dieter Zimmerman, while she tries to find her way in Stockholm artist career.

In interviews Agnetha intrepid pages, sputtered and splashed his temper. She swore like a longshoreman and stomped on her own innocence radiance.

Men began to notice the pop star. But read in the newspaper about the engagement with the German and regarded the battle as lost.

Four years later, Björn Ulvaeus won everything, marriage, children, and the Battle of Waterloo.

- LOVE, say’s Agnetha, it can be a total abyss when it does not work. It is one of the hardest things to achieve in life.

She speaks from experience.

1 Christmas Day 1978 she packed suitcases, took the children Linda (5) and Christian (1) and moved out of the apartment in stockholm that the world’s most acclaimed pop-couple shared their lives in.

Björn and Agnetha could not longer keep quarrels and disagreements within the four walls. They started taking them with him in the studio, they were talking past each other and realized that love was dead.

Finally, there was not even sparks again in arguments.

Agnetha had felt unfree, locked and mortared in marriage.

Although the family therapist regularly consulted, gave up to patch together the miserable married life. One of the world’s most famous lovers decided to divorce, half a year before they moved apart. Meanwhile went Abba its machinery started touring in Japan and a TV appearance in England.

In mid-January, the couple themselves told the press in a controlled interiew about the divorce news.

They knew that it would create headlines around the world.

- It is important to point out that this is a happy divorce, if something exists, Björn said to Expressen’s reporter Mats Olsson.

Just a week after that Agnetha moved out, he found the woman he still sharing his life with, at a New Year party at Benny and Frida. Lena Källersjö worked in the advertising industry and known all four of Abba.

- How is your relationship with Björn today?

- It’s good. It’s so long ago. Abba’s so long ago. And our divorce rate is so long ago. And it’s …

Agnetha Fältskog think about this for a while.

… it is not difficult anymore. There is nothing between us that hurts. We have adult children and grandchildren. And they have, he does live in a relationship that started many years ago, including children and grandchildren together. So it is that we’ll see you at Christmas and birthdays.

- Björn and I met at the weekend that was, our daughter Linda’s 40th birthday. There was a big party with lots of friends at a local place we had rented.

Love created Abba. The broken love got the world’s best-selling group to crumble.

Agnetha is the one who has struggled to come to rest in love.

After her divorce from Björn, she dated hockey star Lars-Erik Ericsson, then fashion creator Dick Håkansson.

After a crazy Abba fan had been on her door, she fell head over heels for the local policeman Torbjörn Brander on Lidingö, whom she became engaged in 1983.

Three years later she began a relationship with the American songwriter Bruce Gaitsch, but the romance ended after eighteen months because none of them would abandon their homeland.

In 1990, the surgeon Tomas Sonnenfeld and her second husband married in a ceremony at the church on Ekerö. He was extraordinary, humorous and spiritual, but two years later the couple divorced.

- When it comes to love, one must think. We all have a need to find love and the strength it provides, say’s Agnetha today.

- I see love as a roller coaster. It goes up and down, and love comes and goes.

In 1997 Agnetha’s reportedr elationship to a whole world looked in retrospect and was watched as inconceivable and just unimaginably sad.

THE MADMAN, the Dutch industrial worker who had been in love with her 17 years old idol since he was eight. So obsessed was he that he bought a house pnear AgnethaFältskogs neighboring property.

On one of his many trips to Sweden, he drives off the road. He was on his way to Agnetha after a death in her circle of friends, and writes about the incident in a letter to the pop star. One of their more than 300 letters.

Three days later she bangs on n Gerts cabin doors. Shortly after the idol and admire become romantically. Gert has never been with a girl before.

Some days Agnetha Fältskog age of 50, it was announced that she had prosecuted a man who had stalked her. The man was THE MADMAN.

He was several times arrested for harassment and persecution and was eventually denied entry to Sweden.

Agnetha never commenting on the case. She addss no wood for the fire.
- Is love the same now as it was before?

- It is difficult because one can not determine that something will last forever. But you have to live in what is, and try to be content with what one has. Whether you live in a relationship or not, one must make the best of it.

- Do you have a boyfriend now?

- I can not say anything about that, ha-ha!

- Nothing?

- NO, I can not do, she adds with a far stricter tone.

- Are you an impulsive woman who fall in love easily?

- I tend to like people, yes. I try not to have preconceived notions about people. I think everyone should get a chance.

- What do you expect from a relationship today?

- Mmmm …

- There must be faithful, trustworthy and honest.

She thinks about it and whispers loudly to herself, ‘What shall I say?

- Should a relationship be good, so both must work with it, no matter how we live together and how much they trust each other. But what often happens and turns out, that one can not trust each other, she says.

- It feels sad that it is like that, because there are so many ? for us people in your life.

Agnetha is a love refugee. Always the one who leaves her men.

Behind high walls, with the sea as its closest neighbor, lives Agnetha Fältskog, her secluded life an hour’s drive south-west of Stockholm.

- I think it’s nice to have people around me sometimes, but pretty soon, I know how wonderful it is to retire.

The two children, three grandchildren and her two dogs, is what gives her the greatest pleasure in life.

- They are my treasures.

- Do you know of a confidence of being older?

- Mmm. In one way it gets better. But I can not say it’s cool to be older. You might learn to handle everyday situations better, and you can be in support of their children and grandchildren on what you have learned about life, say’s Agnetha.

- But more often it is that I ask my daughter for advice now.



https://abbaofficial.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/most-difficult-of-all-is-love/

ABBA on Austrian TV programme Spotlight

ABBA on Austrian TV programme Spotlight, filmed 3 November 1974


ABBA-Honey, Honey (Spotlight, ORF Austria 1974)




BBA - Honey honey HQ (Austria 1974)
channel youtube: SADLOOKINM00N
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cSkgAsubUg



channel youtube: SADLOOKINM00N
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weABRaNdVGg
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channel: 2Shaymcn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZxdMBuorMg
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fuente referencias: ABBA ONTV
Filmed 3 November 1974
Location Vienna(?), Austria
Broadcast 24th November 1974, ORF 1, Austria

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ABBA-Honey, Honey (Spotlight, ORF Austria 1974)

How the first performance by Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid turned into an enormous failure

Mix, 1977: How the first performance by Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid turned into an enormous failure
Like a comet, they have left their trace in the sky of pop music. In the meantime, ABBA – the extremely successful Swedish quartet – has sold more than forty million records. In a fascinating series of articles, Mix is going to tell you how they found each other, how they won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 and how their success story unravelled.

ABBA has conquered the world with music and charm. Without a doubt, the ABBA story is the most remarkable success story in the world of pop since the Beatles.
Here we have Anni-Frid Lyngstad, born on November 15, 1945 and daughter of a Norwegian girl and an officer from the German occupying force. Anni-Frid emigrated with her grandmother to the Swedish town Torshälla and proved already at a very young age that she was an excellent singer. She won an amateur competition, lived together for a while with the furniture salesman Ragnar Fredriksson, had two children, travelled to Japan and Venezuela, performed successfully on Swedish television and with that she introduced herself explicitly.
There we have Benny Andersson too, born on December 16, 1946 in a Stockholm suburb. When he didn’t know what to do after highschool, he decided to join the pop group the Hep Stars. Benny, who prefers being lazy to being tired as he honestly admits himself, considered this pop business as a nice pastime and he didn’t understand why he was adored like an idol by Swedish girls. This burdensome adoration however did put an end to his relationship with Christina Grönvall, an attractive red-haired girl who had given birth to his little son and daughter.
The third main character in the ABBA story is Björn Ulvaeus. He was born on April 25, 1945 in Gothenburg and eleven years later he moved to Västervik at the Swedish coast. Together with a couple of school buddies, he founded a group that sang folk songs. Björn and his Västervik singers did pretty well and with their performances they caught the attention of the energetic music publisher and producer Stikkan Anderson (not related to Benny) who asked Björn to send in a demo tape.
Stikkan saw something in talented Björn and decided to guide the enthusiastic singers professionally. He changed the name of the group into The Hootenanny Singers and made sure that they remained successful. The Hootenanny Singers were one of the first that started singing in English, the international pop language and they extended their success by doing exactly what the audiece – that seemed to get younger and younger – wanted to hear.
“If they would rather listen to pop than folk songs, then pop is what they will get,” Björn used to say. Björn played his guitar just as well as he could entertain the audience.
The last character in the now world famous ABBA quartet is Agnetha Fältskog who was born on April 5, 1950 in Jönköping. She was discovered – if we can call it that – by a former pop singer who, after a short career, had taken up the much safer profession of talent scout at a record company.
Almost on a daily basis, Little Gerhard – that was his name – received tapes from hopeful fathers and mothers who thought that their children could sing so well. Gerhard listened to all these tapes patiently and carefully. When one of his nieces sent him a tape once, he obviously felt obliged to listen even more carefully. But he wasn’t very enthusiastic. Gerhard gave his honest opinion but he gilded the pill by remarking that somewhere on the tape he had discovered a fragment of a song that he liked. His sweet niece replied honestly that she actually wasn’t the one singing that song but a new girl, someone named Agnetha Fältskog. Agnetha had made her debut at a very young age as well. “I think I was five years old when I performed on a social evening for elderly people,” she told later. “I will never forget that halfway through the song my pants fell down. These elderly people didn’t know what hit them.”

This unfortunate incident didn’t discourage Agnetha. When she was ten years old, she started to come up with her own melodies on a piano and seven years later she caught Gerhard’s attention with a song on his niece’s tape. Gerhard’s record company – CBS Cupol – recorded the song and within a matter of time ‘I Was So In Love’ was number one in the charts.
For such a young girl, Agnetha showed an unprecedented business-like character. The astonished bosses at CBS Cupol couldn’t do anything else than meet het demands: a steady (and attractive) monthly income for a period of five years! Her next songs were just as successful.
In course of time, a series of coincidences led to the four of them getting in touch with each other. At one day, the Hep Stars and the Hootenanny Singers met each other in a motel in Västervik. Björn and Benny got acquainted, talked about music and composing vigorously and they got along so well that they decided to write songs together.
Not lang after that, on a warm and lazy Sunday afternoon, Björn was listening to the radio in his lazy chair when he was struck by the song ‘I Was So In Love’ that was sung by someone named Agnetha Fältskog.
“I fell in love with that voice,” Björn confessed, “and when I met Agnetha a couple of months later in Gothenburg, I fell in love with her too.”
Benny and Anni-Frid met each other when they coincidentally ended up in the same motel on their separate tours. And with that, the foundation had been laid for what was to become the ABBA fairytale. Björn and Agnetha got married in July 1971. Benny and Anni-Frid were hit by Cupid’s arrow as well and they started living together. In November 1970, Björn and Benny invited Agnetha to perform together with them in Gothenburg. “Actually, why not perform as a foursome?” asked Björn. “Let Anni-Frid join us too.” That first joint performance turned out to be a giant fiasco, because Agnetha repeatedly sang off key. The four artists went their separate ways again and one year later they gave it another shot. They still didn’t click, but by working very hard they eventually achieved the perfection they had been striving for.
Stikkan Anderson immediately saw the enormous possibilities, offered by the combined talents of Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid. He realized that he had gold in his hands. But how should the group be called? A summary of their four names was too silly to even contemplate. At the end of 1972, a note in his schedule caught his eye. It said: ‘rehearsal with A, B, B and A’. Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid! “ABBA!” Stikkan Anderson cried out. “Excellent. That’s how they will be called.” The pop group ABBA had been


http://abbaarticles.blogspot.com.ar/2011/02/mix-1977-how-first-performance-by.html

The Brighton Dome blue plaque - Video

VIDEO - The Brighton Dome blue plaque has been unveiled celebrating Abba winning Eurovision!
La placa se colocó en el Brighton Dome, que fue el escenario de Eurovisión 19 donde ABBA ganó el concurso de 1974 con Waterloo .



Relacionada: ABBA honoured with Eurovision blue plaque at Brighton Dome

actualización fotos 16 de junio

ABBA honoured with Eurovision blue plaque at Brighton Dome

ABBA honoured with Eurovision blue plaque at Brighton Dome
BY BOGDANSTEFF9 ON JUNE 15, 2017 • ( 2 COMMENTS )
abba

Back in 1974, Sweden won for the first time the Eurovision Song Contest with the entry Waterloo performed by ABBA.

The song became a huge international hit and was the starting point of their legendary international career.


The 1974 Eurovision Song Contest was held in UK at The Dome, in the seaside resort of Brighton.

Today (Thursday 15 June) between 6.45pm and 7pm a blue plaque will be unveiled at The Dome saying “Thank you for the music“, honouring ABBA’s win. The event will be broadcast live by BBC Sussex.

Author: Bogdan Stefan Fedeles

Source: brightondome.org, Eurovision Ireland

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ABBA honoured with Eurovision blue plaque at Brighton Dome
Brighton Dome has said "thank you for the music" to ABBA by awarding the group a blue plaque.
The Swedish group won the Eurovision Song contest at the venue in 1974.
Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, from the group, recorded a special message about how honoured they feel about the award.
15 Jun 2017



http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-sussex-40277054/abba-honoured-with-eurovision-blue-plaque-at-brighton-dome

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Relacionada: The Brighton Dome blue plaque - Video

Abba en el museo

El escultor Göran Lundström creador de esta obra digo al diario Dagens Nyheter: “Ha sido un proceso de 9 meses. Se nos permitió conocer a todos los miembros lo cuales inusual en este tipo de trabajo” y conto también, que la silicona dura más que la cera usada en el famoso museo de Londres Madame Tussauds no obstante, la desventaja que presenta este material es su imposibilidad de ser modificada después algo que si, se puede hacer con la cera.
Para hacer los muñecos de silicona de Agneta, Björn, Benny y Frida se usaron medidas exactas de cada miembro y así, representar de la mejor manera posible los miembros del grupo Abba.


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Han har skapat Abba-figurerna
Maskören och skulptören Göran Lundström.
Maskören och skulptören Göran Lundström. Foto: Eva Tedesjö
PUBLICERAD 2015-03-03
Göran Lundström nådde barndomsdrömmen att arbeta med Hollywoods stora makeup-stjärna.

Nu har han skapat Abba-figurerna.

Hugo Lindkvist


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Göran Lundström, maskör och skulptör från Stockolm, har över 20-års erfarenhet av arbete inom film-, tv- och teatervärlden. Han har arbetat tillsammans på flera storfilmer såsom Harry Potter, Narnia 2 och Wolfman. Tillsammans med den stora förebilden, sjufaldigt Oscarsbelönade Rick Baker, arbetade han på filmen Wolfman.

Med Abba-porträtten var kanske blickarna det svåraste, menar Göran Lundström. Om Frida Lyngstad Reuss ögoniris satt bråkdelen av en millimeter inkorrekt kunde symmetrin ha gått förlorad. När Benny Andersson var vriden tolv grader fel, var känslan inte bra.

– Det gjorde stor skillnad för mig när vi vred Benny. Det var det sista vi gjorde – efter det har jag varit tvungen att distansera mig. Det är lättare när figurerna är i en annan miljö än i min ateljé. Men det är mitt dilemma; jag förstorar upp alla fel, säger Göran Lundström.

Ställer du alltid höga krav på dig själv?

– Ja, tyvärr. När jag gjorde karikatyrer för första gången var jag tvungen att göra dem minst lika bra som Spitting Image, trots att de arbetar med det varje dag. Jag gör saker för Beck-filmerna nu. Jag vet att vissa detaljer aldrig kommer att synas, men det måste vara så bra att jag är nöjd.

Är du nöjd med Abba-porträtten?

– Ja, men jag är för nära projektet. Om jag inte släpper det håller jag på tills jag är pensionerad. Porträtt är bland det svåraste som finns, framför allt med människor som är kända, som alla har en åsikt om. Jag har sprungit på Madame Taussad själv; det enda man gör att leta fel, människor letar efter symmetrier. Det går inte att få det absolut hundra procent.

Vad är viktigt att tänka på när man gör ett porträtt?

– En aspekt, som används när man gör karikatyrer, är att lyfta fram det som folk inte gillar med sig själv. Men då får man akta sig, eftersom det kommer se ut som en förvrängd och väldigt speciell person. Jag vet av erfarenhet att det i stället är viktigare att leta och framhäva de vackraste dragen.

Hur har ni gått till väga?

– Processen har pågått i nio månader, effektiv tid. Vi har fått träffa alla medlemmarna, vilket är väldigt ovanligt för det här arbetet. Vi tog bilder och kontrollmått på dem. Därefter letade vi efter kroppsmodeller vars mått stämde överens. Kropparna göts av, innan de skulpterades i lera och sedermera i plastellina. Huvudet gjordes i silikon, ett material som är mer hållbart – men omöjligt att modifiera i efterhand. Det krävs totalkoncentration. Halvvägs i processen gjordes ett testhuvud som medlemmarna själva och museet fick se och godkänna.

Var det här ditt drömjobb?

– Jag tror inte att jag har något drömjobb. Folk frågar alltid varför jag började: jag tror att det knyter tillbaka till min barndom där jag tyckte vaxkabinetterna, Afterdark och Kiss var häftiga. Fast arbetet med Rick Baker på Wolfman var ett drömjobb. Vi hade precis sminkat Wolfman, och satt mitt ute i skogen och väntade i en trailer i fyra timmar. Så gick vi ut i mörkret, och så plötsligt stod de där, sida vid sida, Rick Baker med sitt långa vita hår och Wolfman. Då tänkte jag ”Är det verkligen på riktigt?”.


http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/han-har-skapat-abba-figurerna


Göran Lundström, maquillador y escultor Stockolm, tiene más de 20 años de experiencia trabajando en cine, televisión y teatro mundial. Él ha trabajado en varias películas importantes, como Harry Potter, Narnia 2 y Wolfman. Junto con el gran ídolo, siete veces ganador del Oscar Rick Baker, trabajado que en la película El Hombre Lobo.

Con Abba -porträtten fue quizás parece el más difícil, dice Göran Lundström. Si iris del ojo Frida Lyngstad Reuss establecen las fracciones de un milímetro simetría incorrecta podría haber sido perdida. Cuando Benny Andersson se convirtió doce grados mal, la sensación no era bueno.

AD:

- Se hizo una gran diferencia para mí cuando nos Benny. Fue el último que hicimos - después de que se tenía que distanciarme. Es más fácil cuando las cifras están en un ambiente diferente que en mi estudio. Pero es mi dilema; todo lo que exagero mal, dice Göran Lundström.

Establece siempre altas demandas en ti mismo?

- Sí, por desgracia. Cuando hice los dibujos animados, por primera vez, tuve que hacerlos por lo menos tan buena como la imagen de la expectoración, a pesar del hecho de que trabajan con él todos los días. Hago las cosas para las películas Beck ahora. Sé que no van a aparecer algunos detalles, pero debe ser tan bueno que estoy satisfecho.

¿Está satisfecho con Abba -porträtten?

- Sí, pero estoy demasiado cerca del proyecto. Si yo no dejo que me mantenga presionado hasta que estoy retirado. Retrato es una de las cosas más difíciles de hacer, especialmente con personas que son famosos, como todo el mundo tiene una opinión sobre. Yo he estado corriendo en sí señora Taussad; la única cosa que hacer que mirar mal, la gente busca simetrías. No se puede conseguir absolutamente al cien por cien.

Lo que es importante tener en cuenta al hacer un retrato?

- Uno de los aspectos, que se utiliza cuando se hace caricaturas, es poner de relieve lo que la gente no le gusta de sí mismo. Pero entonces usted tiene que tener cuidado, porque va a parecer como una persona distorsionada y muy especial. Sé por experiencia que es bastante importante para encontrar y poner de relieve los rasgos más bellos.

¿Cómo ha se ido al respecto?

- El proceso ha estado ocurriendo durante nueve meses, tiempo efectivo. Nos han dieron a conocer a todos los miembros, lo cual es muy inusual para este trabajo. Nos hicimos fotos y medidas de control sobre ellos. Luego buscamos modelos de cuerpo cuyas dimensiones eran consistentes. Los cuerpos fueron desechados, antes de que esculpían en barro y más tarde en plastilina. La cabeza estaba hecha de silicona, un material que es más duradero - pero imposible modificar después. Se requiere la concentración total. A mitad de camino en el proceso hecho una cabeza de prueba como los propios miembros y el museo tuvo que ver y aprobar.

Fue este su trabajo ideal?

- No creo que tengo un trabajo ideal. La gente siempre pregunta por qué empecé: Creo que ata a mi infancia en el que sentí vaxkabinetterna, después de la oscuridad y beso era fresco. Aunque el trabajo de Rick Baker en The Wolfman fue un trabajo ideal. Acabábamos formado por Wolfman, y se sentó en el medio del bosque y esperó en un remolque durante cuatro horas. Así que fuimos a cabo en la oscuridad, y de repente se encontraban allí, al lado del otro, Rick Baker con su largo cabello blanco y Wolfman. Entonces pensé: "¿Es realmente real?".


Hugo Lindkvist

The story behind a photograph Dutch mag Muziek Expres in 1980

The story behind a photograph


Interview with Dutch mag Muziekexpres in 1980. Apparently during this interview Agnetha and Frida walked out of the room after a quarrel with Björn and Benny.
It seemed that B&B were annoyed by A&A chatting together in Swedish all of the time. A&A in their turn were irritated by the fact that the journalist directed most of his questions to B&B.



http://theabbascrapbook.blogspot.com.ar/2006/09/and-i-aint-gonna-take-it-no-more.html

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Muziek Expres, February 1981: The ABBA Business
Here’s part one of an interesting interview from Dutch pop magazine Muziek Expres that was held in November 1980 and published in February 1981.
The posters included here are from Dutch magazines Hitkrant and Pop Biz, that were published around the same time.
Frida Lyngstad, Anna Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. Four people who are responsible for record sales that are coming frightfully close to the world record that was set by the Beatles. Four people who have been responsible for the past five years for a pop virus that’s spreading all over the world: the ABBA Fever.
A golden team that owns a dictionary that consists of only one word: hits. And they are scoring them. One after the other. ABBA is the absolute phenomenon in the current pop business. And the smart pop machine keeps on producing. Creativity seems inexhaustible. How does this ABBA phenomenon actually work? Apart from gossip and slander, very little is actually known about the famous group. Therefore, this month we present you part one of a two-piece report: “The ABBA Business”. Rupert van Woerkom and Govert de Roos are reporting exclusively from Stockholm.

ABBA’s headquarter is situated in a grand mansion in the more expensive part of Stockholm. And Stockholm isn’t very cheap, for that matter. A beer at 7,50 Dutch guilders. A pack of cigarettes, 5 Dutch guilders. And of course, it doesn’t stop there...
When a taxi drops us off at Polar Music (the name of ABBA’s company) after a ten-minute drive (25 Dutch guilders), we are just in time to catch a glimpse of a ghastly photo session taking place on the lawn. The ABBA-boys are dressed in long mink coats, in between them the ABBA-girls dressed up as Santa Claus.
A while later at the top of the building. Hello Anna and Frida, hello Benny and Björn. ABBA smiles. The way ABBA always smiles. On the wrong side of their mouths. What’s even more remarkable: ABBA is complete. And that doesn’t happen very often lately. The quartet only gets together on a professional basis these days. Apart from that, they don’t. This only causes complications. As you know, half of the quartet – Anna and Björn – has separated. That’s why. I rather avoid questions about that subject. Indeed, they only agreed to do this interview under the strict condition that private matters would not be discussed. The reason for that is obvious. Nevertheless, the subject will come up in this interview.
The conversation has a rigid start. The ladies are doing all kinds of things in between. They chat with each other and sign Christmas cards, greeting cards, photo books and ‘Super Troupers’.
Their lack of interest is not received with thanks by me. That’s why I concentrate completely on Benny and Björn who are extremely talkative.
Later on, it turns out that it didn’t end there. The ladies feel as if they are redundant and demonstratively leave the room, but not before they’ve made it clear to me that I act “as if ABBA consists of two people” and that it’s “bullshit to talk about the criticism on ABBA instead of the music”. The ladies are gone. Good riddance. It will be a lot more fun talking to Benny and Björn. Especially about music.

Most articles about you have money and private matters as a subject. Doesn’t that make you sad?
Benny: “Money is a magical word. With ABBA, it’s actually the other way around. The work that we do, brings in the money. The work is magical. But whether there are these publications or not... you might say that we still get rewarded for our creative efforts. No matter how much negativity is written about us. We don’t always read it, but it does hurt.”
Björn: “In the first instance, the journalists themselves are to blame. We didn’t exactly cooperate. And the public is not to blame at all. They are the delusions of people who call themselves a journalist, which they are not, and work for magazines that deal in lies. They think that gossip is interesting for the public. That the public much rather wants to read sensational stories about the lives of the ABBA millionaires than about the music. I think that they are wrong...”
You don’t agree with the theory ‘publicity is publicity; it doesn’t matter whether it’s good or bad’?
Björn: “That’s not the point. It’s about principles. You cooperate on a photo session and that’s a lot of fun. But then they add an absurd story to it.”
Benny: “There has never been a band, a band in our genre, that’s been taken seriously. You are only taken seriously when you play loud ‘heavy metal’, look interesting, write obscure lyrics or follow the pop trends closely. Only then, you are working seriously. And the most ridiculous criticism on what we are doing is that our motives would be commercial. But you have already made the commercial step when you turn fully professional and want to make a record. So commercialism isn’t a dirty word.”

Do you write your songs with a certain target group in mind?
Björn: “We don’t think about that. We only write for ourselves. We never think about which people we could reach with which songs. That has never been our aim. There was only one aim: making the kind of music that we liked. And it’s still like that. I’m extremely proud of what we are doing. That’s not arrogance, but pure enthusiasm.”
I’ve read somewhere that ABBA tries to reach every potential target group with their music?
Frida: “Oh, don’t be silly. You should never believe anything that you read.”
Even when I have written it myself? Like this interview?
Björn: “Well, almost everything that’s published about us has some untruths.”
Then why do you still give interviews?
Björn: “That’s a good one. Well, I can tell you this. We are far more selective nowadays. We think that the journalists of the few magazines that we still talk to won’t slander us.”
Benny: “You must have prepared yourself very well on this interview. I have no doubt about that. But you haven’t found the truth in all those clippings about us.”
Then it’s up to you to tell me what the truth is. (Benny and Björn burst into laughter). Sometimes, you are compared to the Beatles, when it comes to popularity, that is...
Benny: “The Beatles were a social phenomenon. Every comparison between ABBA and them is completely out of order. The success might be similar, but there are more groups that are having success. What they did was so unbelievable, so extreme. We are just a group like many other groups. We only have a little more success. The level that the Beatles have reached at the time, that level remains unbeatable. Did you know that the Beatles gave me the kick to start writing myself. Those first things with the Hep Stars and things like that, it was all the Beatles, man.”

Don’t Agnetha and Frida think it’s a shame that they are not writing songs anymore?
Agnetha: “I’m not as ambitious as the boys. Although I’m now going to write a song for the Swedish heat of the Eurovision Song Contest. I still have to write the song. Apart from that, singing with ABBA is an extremely tough job. Don’t forget that it’s the sound of ABBA. And it takes a lot of time as well. We are doing the vocal arrangements. I don’t believe that there are two masterminds in the group ABBA, but four. Even though Benny and Björn are doing all the preparatory work, that doesn’t mean that we don’t count.”
Frida: “We don’t miss the writing of the songs. We are satisfied with the way things are going now. For that matter, I’ve often wondered if I could ever write a better song than Benny and Björn. The answer is no. There’s an absolute democratic spirit in our group. All four of us make the decisions, but apart from that, we do have some kind of distribution of tasks. Everyone of us has their speciality. Where we are the sound, Benny and Björn create the possibilities for that sound. It’s all about the quality of our input and not about the quantity.”
Agnetha: “In the end, we are very creative in the studio. And that’s what I like most about this job. The recordings.”
Frida: “Furthermore, we do a lot of things besides ABBA. ABBA is definitely not our only sanctifying interest. For instance, I’m busy on a... how do you call that, Björn?”
Björn: “... a crash course...”
Frida: “... a crash course in French. That’s three months instead of two years.”
Benny: “But apart from that...”
Frida: “... I believe that the contributions by Agnetha and myself are just as important as Benny and Björn’s.”
Benny: “Definitely. Just imagine Björn and me doing all those television shows on our own. ABBA is nothing without Agnetha and Frida.”
Frida: “We would never continue working with ABBA if we wouldn’t have fun doing it.”
Björn: “One of the most important things that keeps the fun within the group at its highest level, is the fact that we don’t repeat ourselves. ABBA’s music is full of variations. There isn’t any song that resembles another and sometimes they are complete opposites. I also believe that’s ABBA’s forte. Because, artistically speaking, it remains identifiable, while it still changes all the time.”
Benny: “A lot is possible in the ABBA frame. Mostly, members of a group will go into the studio separately as well because the band that they are playing in is stuck in a certain musical pattern. That’s why they record a solo album. It gives them the opportunity to finally do something different. To satisfy their own creativity. We don’t need these solo albums. Simply because there are possibilities to do other things within the ABBA frame. ABBA is not stuck in one and the same musical pattern.”
Björn: “It seems very tiresome to me. The same style, time and time again...”
Anna and Frida’s Swedish cackling, straight through Benny and Björn’s answers, is starting to annoy the gentlemen. From the mouthful of annoyed Swedish coming from Björn, aimed at his female colleagues, I conclude that the ladies have to be quiet. He can’t concentrate and Benny nods as well.
This only adds fuel to the fire. First, we are overwhelmed by an abundance of female Swedish exclamations, then the twosome turns to me. They ask if I’ve forgotten that the agreement was to talk about ABBA’s music? And that ABBA consists of four persons and why I only concentrate on Benny and Björn? I try to defend myself by saying that my questions are first and foremost aimed at ABBA and not at any person in particular. And that the ladies are rather playing themselves down. They’ve had enough when I conclude my argument by saying that talking about a crash course in French is not relevant for this interview. Agnetha and Frida put on their masks of steel. If looks could kill.
Björn: “This wasn’t according to plan. I do not know what kind of nonsense this is. But don’t let it get you down. You know what women are like and we are still here, aren’t we.” He winks.
Benny: “Where were we?”
Björn: “The fun.”
Benny: “The fun has remained because we keep on doing different things. Of course, you might think that it’s easy to say now. But the proof is there. ‘Waterloo’ is something completely different than ‘Does Your Mother Know’.
Talking about ‘Waterloo’. Did you think at the time that a lot more was in store for you?
Björn: “We never thought it would get out of hand this massively.”
Benny: “But I did have the feeling that we were on to something that wouldn’t consist of only one hit. There was more to come, although it hadn’t been written yet. But that it would grow into these proportions, we didn’t even dream about that.”

What kind of standards do you have when you release a single?
Björn: “In principle, our aim is that every song that we compose, should be a potential hit single. When we go into the studio with a song, there should never be a feeling of: ‘we’re going to record a B-side’. It has to have single power, otherwise it’s not a good song.”
Benny: “We choose the singles, but the opinions of certain people obviously do count as well.”
How do you get to work?
Benny: “It starts at the beginning. Composing. Slaving away on an out of tune piano and, if necessary, an out of tune guitar. I can’t actually describe that stage. Something comes into existence from a couple of chords or a catchy lyric. ‘Super Trouper’, two exquisite words for a spotlight, because that is its literal meaning. The title was there before the song. It’s one of the few songs that we wrote in the studio. The exception proves the rule. Usually, we have a clear overview of a song in advance. In general, a song is already completely thought out before we’ve recorded one note. At the same time, ideas that originate in the studio are sometimes so good that they end up in the song as well.”
Sometimes, you are playing hit singles by other groups in the studio. Is this done to get in the mood or do you use parts of them as well?
Benny: “You mean that we are copying something? No, we don’t do that. Maybe, it’s done sometimes to get in the mood, yes. To create some kind of atmosphere. You can’t always explain everything in words. Sometimes an atmosphere from another song can do the trick.”
What are your sources of inspiration?
Björn: “Mostly separate singles, but if you do want to hear a couple of artists’ names, who are not only admired by us, but whose atmosphere can clearly be found in some ABBA-songs: Beach Boys, Beatles. BeeGees.”
Benny: “The Beach Boys can be found in every ABBA-song.”
How do you compile an album?
Benny: “We don’t have one specific concept. There is never a specific direction that we are moving in. We never know how an album will be like. That’s determined by the songs. They are all highly different from each other. We think in songs. Song by song. When we have an album full of songs, it will be released.”
Björn: “Actually, it’s been like that for years. We still have the same working method.”
Could you finish this sentence. ABBA became famous because of...
Björn: “Hundred thousand factors.”
Benny: “But first there was the music. That’s where it starts. Let’s just say that it’s wonderful when you’ve reached a recognizability. When people start to recognise your sound. And they always hear the voices first. I think it’s also a fact that our songs don’t have any gaps, that it’s one hundred percent music. From start to finish. And you can call the rest talent, for all I care. I think it’s a feeling.”
The best album is always the next one. Are you satisfied with ‘Super Trouper’?
Benny: “You are never satisfied...”
Björn: “‘Super Trouper’ is a warm album. Warmer than ever. It is a naked album, due to its simplicity. But I’ve never felt this warm while listening to an ABBA-album...”
Polar’s vice-president enters the room. Above all, she’s the group’s confidant. The conversation continues in Swedish. There’s a sudden mood swing. You can see it in the faces of both gentlemen.
Benny realises that we don’t understand what’s being said. “I’ll explain later...” What was up? ABBA would travel to Germany the next day for a performance on the television show Show Express. This was cancelled due to a telephonic kidnap threat that was confirmed in writing. ABBA thought that going to Germany was too dangerous and decided to cancel. Subsequently, the television show would go ahead anyway but then live from a Stockholm television studio, and especially without an audience. It was far too dangerous. Hence the uptight mood of the ladies. And now Benny says that he is strained as well. Because the two biggest Swedish evening papers Expressen and Aftonbladet have suggested a person to be kidnapped to the kidnappers: Linda (7), Agnetha and Björn’s daughter. She is even on the front page of Aftonbladet, looking sad. Words like ‘immoral’ and ‘those bastards’ are flying around. Interview over.

The next evening, seven o’clock sharp, we are standing at the gate of the Swedish television studio at Strindberggatan in Stockholm. The security inside makes a couple of phone calls, and the gates open. On our way to Studio B, the security is standing practically shoulder to shoulder. Dressed in camouflage green and equipped with flashlight, walkie-talkie and baton. The hermetically guarded studio makes a striking contrast to what’s happening outside. An intimate canteen party of sorts. ABBA having coffee and the thee extra musicians Ola Brunkert (drums), Mats Ronander (guitar) and Rutger Gunnarsson (bass), about ten television people complete the company, together with us.
Agnetha, Frida, Björn and Benny, in full regalia, have to take to the floor. The light above the sign ‘sändning’ pops on. It means broadcast, but it’s just a dress rehearsal for the three songs that will be recorded in half an hour: ‘The Winner Takes It All’, ‘Super Trouper’ and ‘On And On And On’ (the next single after ‘Super Trouper’). And to make things even more complicated. Nothing is left to chance. The broadcast in Germany will take place tomorrow night, but just in case something might go wrong on that particular evening, then they will have the tape that’s been recorded this evening.
The rehearsal and the recording. It all goes effortlessly. As if nothing has happened. That’s how ABBA looks. And that’s also how ABBA looks when Govert de Roos is allowed to take some pictures for a couple of minutes in a back corner of the studio. “One minute,” Agnetha shouts, but it appears to be a joke. Govert asks if she wants to see a Polaroid picture. “To get an idea of how it will turn out.” She nods and reacts with a “that’s nice”. Immediately followed by: “it’s not thát nice”. But that appears to be a joke as well.

http://abbaarticles.blogspot.com.ar/2010/02/muziek-expres-february-1981-abba.html





Muziek Expres, March 1981: The ABBA Business, part 2




Here’s part two of a lengthy article called The ABBA Business, as published in Dutch magazine Muziek Expres in 1981.
ABBA is one of the best selling products in the world. This product consists of the exceedingly strong melodies by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and the good looking and singing duo Frida Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog. But there’s more behind this quality product. For instance, a golden recording method and a flourishing company with twenty-five employees who are all under the leadership of ABBA manager Stikkan ‘Stig’ Anderson. In this second part of The ABBA Business, among other things, interviews with the producers duo Ulvaeus/Andersson, manager Stig Anderson and sound technician Michael Tretow.

Manager and president Stig Anderson comes out of his office, looks around and subsequently puts out his hand to me. “Come on in, have a seat, would you like some coffee, I’ll be right with you, have a cigarette, did you bring a tape recorder, where is your photographer, what time is it, aha, then I still have 45 minutes, wait awhile, I’ll be right back...”
The office is decorated quite modestly, a couple of gold records on the wall. The rest of the trophies is spread over the entire building. A nice arithmetical problem: how many gold and platinum records have been handed over with interim total sales of fifty million singles and albums?
ABBA is the richest company in Sweden and, apart from that, has a considerable amount of financial influence in other companies. There’s no business like ABBA business. For most people, ABBA is a band, for some others a money machine and for many Swedes, except for a music group, canned herring and caviar as well. Because there’s another company in Sweden that’s called ABBA. ABBA with the sea scent had no objection to the ABBA that produced sounds, so today two ABBAs exist. With the difference that the musical ABBA put one B backwards. For that matter, since a couple of years the musical ABBA indirectly has shares in ABBA the fish factory as well. What a coincidence...
He enters the room, meanwhile gesturing industriously to his ex-secretary and now vice-president Görel Hanser. He hands over my coffee with a foot-bath personally. Then we are alone. Anderson (I’m allowed to call him Stig, if I want) drinks his coffee black, but during the entire interview he keeps stirring his cup. From time to time, his other hand puts out a burning cigarette in the ashtray. I only knew Anderson from the pictures that were taken during the illustrious Eurovision Song Contest (April 6, 1974) in Brighton. The boss of the ABBA company now looks like he is sixty years old, instead of fifty, an age that he has yet to achieve.
A little question at the president: has everything been achieved where music is concerned?
A passionate Anderson: “The basic assumption of that question is completely wrong. How often do I have to say that money is not the most important thing. It’s the fun and after that it’s the money. Artistically speaking, you have never reached your peak. ABBA has a recognizable sound, but none of these songs sound the same.”
He’s right about that. However... the money, it keeps coming in. The assets of the four ABBA members is estimated at nearly 200 million Dutch guilders, Stig Anderson himself has plenty of dough as well: 30 million. Such an enormous wealth is not within easy reach for everybody, and certainly not that kind of success. What’s the secret?
Stig: “In the first instance, I think it’s luck. Because you have got to have luck, otherwise nothing will happen. Furthermore, I believe that we as a group have created a rather unique situation. I wanted to have everything under one umbrella. To have a record company and at the same time publish music and so on. This means that you benefit from your own creations one hundred percent. No one will exploit you. It’s a smart, democratic and social system.”
Stikkan’s plan was that smart that even too much money was coming in at one point. And the tax-collection office kept calling ‘Ka-ching’. That’s why the company ABBA, that initially only occupied itself with musical activities, rapidly started participating in other kinds of companies. Buying and especially investing was the device. And all of a sudden, they were acquired faster than the speed of light: warehouses, supermarkets, houses, sports businesses, an art gallery. They invested in oil, cucumbers, horses and bicycles. It’s Anderson’s dream to introduce his ABBA on the stock market. “A sensible fan will then, apart from the latest ABBA album, buy an ABBA share as well...”

A shrewd business man, that Stikkan Anderson. First a salesclerk, then a teacher, after that a lyric writer and president of his own music publishing company. “Why should others make money of my songs.” Anderson already had a lot of hits credited to his name and a lot of money in his bank account before he first met Björn and then Benny. For instance, he wrote the music and original lyrics for the European hit that became well-known in Holland under the title ‘Hou Je Echt Nog Van Mij Rockin’ Billy’, sung into the charts in 1960 by Ria Valk. That gold record is hanging on the office wall as well. Doesn’t he miss this writing?
“Yes, very much. As you know, I’ve contributed to a lot of ABBA hits as well, especially lyrically. But I don’t have any time these days to sit down and write songs myself. Artistically speaking, I still think along with ABBA. The outfits, album sleeves, stage designs, promotion, songs, actually I interfere with everything. Keeping yourself busy on a business level only tends to become tiresome. I think that having conversations with foreign record companies is a creative job as well. As you may know, ABBA’s own record company Polar Records has closed distribution deals with all kinds of big record companies all over the world. In every country, I’ve chosen the best record company. Why? Very simple, because every record company is as good as its president. It might very well be the case that one record company is very good in Holland and that same company in England very bad.”

Björn says about Stikkan: “In former times, Stikkan was indeed often on top of the songs, yes. He helped us out with the lyrics, chords and he gave us very valuable advice with his expertise in this business. Obviously, this has decreased over time. Meanwhile, we have become experts in this business ourselves. But despite Stig’s focus on business activities, he remains the most artistic manager. He is still on the same wavelength. Therefore, ABBA consists of five masterminds...”
According to Stig, there are indeed five and he’s certainly not the only one responsible for the Big Success.
“Nonsense. That would be true if I had written and sung everything myself.”
But Stig likes to commend himself for the fact that he put the guys on the girls’ track and therefore he is taking credit for putting the eventual ABBA together. Andersson met Björn Ulvaeus already back in 1964, one of the Hootenanny Singers, who were then very popular in Sweden. He was the songwriter of that successful band, just like Benny Andersson was of another Swedish top group in those days: the Hep Stars. Benny was the pianist and he even came to Holland to perform ‘Sunny Girl’ on television, which was a huge hit in our country at the time. The two B’s of ABBA recorded an album together in 1969. Actually, it wasn’t massively successful. Stig: “I expected more from it. But what was missing from that record became all the more clear later on...”
What was lacking were female vocals, like Frida and Agnetha’s. Vocals as they sounded on the song ‘Waterloo’. The song that started their victory. While most Eurovision winners don’t have a very prosperous career, ABBA managed to work magic with one magnificent song after the other. Songs that are pieced together perfectly soundwise. Therefore, the producers Ulvaeus and Andersson are often called the Phil Spectors of the seventies. Benny: “A compliment, but it’s a bit exaggerated. The most important thing is that we have found a sound that harmonizes with the melodies. I think that the team is smaller than you would think. No, you choose musicians that go with a song. Actually, the team consists of the four of us and the technician. He is crucial, no matter what...”

Technician Michael B. Tretow usually works for ABBA at the Polar Studios. And when he doesn’t have to work for ABBA, he works at home. For himself. In his own studio, an hour’s drive from Stockholm. Goodness knows how Michael looks like in person, but on the phone he sounds a bit like this: “At home, I mostly do recordings for audio visuals or things like that. I don’t have a real studio here, you know. It’s not that advanced. It’s more like a control room and some microphones in the bathroom. But I’ve recorded quite a lot here.”
ABBA as well?
“Haha. No, we only do that in the Polar Studios. We have more options there.”
Tell me, Michael. In what respect do you see yourself as someone whose contribution was vital to ABBA’s success?
“Now that’s a question. I truly believe that every self-respecting technician would have done the things that I did. Do a good job and think along. It’s your job.”
But didn’t you invent a certain technique that made the sound bigger?
“That’s true, yes. I incorporated a couple of speed changes. When you play back a recorded voice at different kinds of speed, you get some kind of enhanced sound. These days, there is equipment to do that.”
What does a recording period for one song look like?
“On the first day, the basic instruments like bass, drums and piano are recorded, the second day is used to add a couple of separate instruments and the next day the vocals are recorded. So that’s when the ladies enter the studio and mostly Benny and Björn are singing along on backing vocals as well. The next day a couple of overdubs are being done and then the mixing starts. That’s mostly the longest period. Sometimes we even spend months on that. We spent eight months on the whole album ‘Super Trouper’.”
Is there some kind of recipe for the ABBA sound?
“As I mentioned earlier, the separately recorded voices. Apart from that it’s really the song that should have enough quality. If that isn’t the case, you can bend over backwards as a technician, but you won’t succeed. And without Agnetha and Frida, the ABBA sound would never have been the ABBA sound...”

Björn and Benny are somewhat vague about their future. The first one says that there are no plans outside ABBA. “There are,” the other then adds. But Björn puts a stop to it. He tells Benny that he can’t say anything about that yet. Bad luck. Let’s give it another try. How about that musical? Four years ago it was announced for the following year. “That doesn’t mean that it’s off the table,” Björn says smilingly. “It will come, when we have the time,” Benny adds.
Wrong, gentlemen. Stig Anderson has just claimed that he has scheduled a meeting about this musical business a day after tomorrow. Basically, everything seems to be settled. Well, financially speaking, that is. Because according to Stikkan, a concept still has to be found. The theme that the musical will revolve around. Only then, action can be taken. That basic theme has to be on the table faster than the speed of light though, because Stikkan already has a couple of things planned concerning this musical in 1981. So there’s work to be done
http://abbaarticles.blogspot.com.ar/2010/04/muziek-expres-march-1981-abba-business.html ----------------------------------

update: 24 08 2020 

ABBA, 25 november 1980 in Stockholm. Sfeer was duidelijk anders dan de vorige keer dat ik ze fotografeerde. De leden waren redelijk uitgeblust na tropenjaren van promotours, opnames en liveshows. Wat zeker ook meespeelde, naar wat we later vernamen, was dat er een serieuze dreiging was binnen gekomen dat hun kinderen ontvoerd zouden worden. Zangeressen Agnetha en Frida liepen tijdens het interview dan ook weg, en achteraf begrepen we ook wel waarom. Benny en Bjorn maakte het gesprek proffesioneel af en ook tijdens de shoot werd er netjes meegewerkt. Dat de dreiging serieus werd genomen was terecht. Twee weken na deze opnames werd John Lennon vermoord. En niet veel later werd ook bekend dat ook Benny en Frida uit elkaar waren. Dit allemaal bij mekaar heeft ongetwijfeld enorme impact op dit viertal gehad en precies twee jaar later traden zij voor het laatst samen op. Gelukkig staan de hits nog steeds als een huis. Getuige alleen al de film Mama Mia deel 2 die nu wereldwijd volle zalen trekt. Deze foto's stonden begin 1981 in de Muziek Expres en daarna in diverse bladen wereldwijd. 

 ABBA, 25 de noviembre de 1980 en Estocolmo. La atmósfera era claramente diferente de la última vez que los fotografié. Los miembros se extinguieron razonablemente después de años tropicales de promociones, grabaciones y espectáculos en vivo. Lo que sin duda jugó, según lo que escuchamos más tarde, fue que había llegado una amenaza grave de que sus hijos fueran secuestrados. La cantante Agnetha y Frida huyeron durante la entrevista, y después también entendimos por qué. Benny y Bjorn terminaron la conversación profesionalmente y también durante el rodaje fue cooperado muy bien. El hecho de que la amenaza fue tomada en serio tenía razón. Dos semanas después de estas grabaciones John Lennon fue asesinado. Y no mucho después también se anunció que Benny y Frida también fueron separados. Todo esto junto sin duda tuvo un gran impacto en estos cuatro y exactamente dos años después actuaron juntos por última vez. Afortunadamente, los éxitos siguen siendo como un hogar. Se testigo sola de la película Mama Mia parte 2 que ahora está tirando de salones completos en todo el mundo. Estas fotos estaban en el Music Express a principios de los 1981 y luego en varias revistas en todo el mundo. 

https://www.facebook.com/GovertdeRoosPhotography/posts/1794701853959449

ABBA en la F1

Slim Borgudd, el batería de ABBA que corrió (y puntuó) en la F1

Cómo pasar de los escenarios a los circuitos en un pispás, por Slim y su banda de música.

Javier Prieto
04 Jun 2017
ABBA en la F1 de la mano de su batería Slim
Posiblemente el caso de Slim Borgudd y del grupo musical ABBA en el que tocaba la batería, sea uno de los casos más curiosos del Gran Circo.

Echa un ojo a: Los peores pilotos de la F1
Slim, un enamorado de la velocidad, comenzó a participar en carreras de coches amateurs que compaginaba con su faceta musical.

Poco a poco fue escalando en el mundo del motor hasta llegar a las principales competiciones nacionales y regionales: el Campeonato Sueco de Turismos y en el Escandinavo de Fórmula Ford.






Ya en 1979 dio el salto a la Fórmula 3 europea donde logró el tercer puesto de la clasificación final del certamen, una buena tarjeta de presentación para llamar a las puertas de la F1.

Sin embargo, en aquellos tiempos conseguir un volante costaba mucho dinero y él no lo tenía. Entonces se puso en contacto con los cuatro componentes de ABBA para explicarles su plan. Quería utilizar el nombre del grupo como reclamo para aterrizar en la Categoría Reina.

Después de algunas reticencias, Björn Ulvaeus convenció a los otros tres integrantes Benny Andersson, Frida Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog para que accedieron a su petición. Al fin y al cabo, ¿qué había de malo en que el nombre de ABBA figurara en la competición automovilística más conocida del planeta? Y es que Björn siempre apoyó a Slim en sus aspiraciones deportivas.






Aunque seguía sin respaldo económico, Borgudd obtuvo la bendición de la banda de pop más famosa del momento. Y eso fue todo lo que le ofreció a Günther Schmid, el dueño del equipo privado alemán ATS-Ford, quien increíblemente, aceptó la propuesta del corredor rubito.

Con toda probabilidad, lo que sucedió es que el irascible patrón de la escudería germana se sintió muy orgulloso de llevar el nombre de las estrellas suecas en sus monoplazas.






De esta forma tan peculiar, Slim se había hecho un hueco en la F1, aunque en esta romántica aventura había mucha pasión deportiva y cero rentabilidad financiera. De hecho, el nuevo piloto corrió gratis y se tuvo que buscar algunos patrocinadores privados para que le sufragaran los gastos personales.




En esas condiciones llegó el anhelado debut en el GP de los Estados Unidos de 1981 disputado en Long Beach. Terminó decimotercero, un gran resultado teniendo en cuenta el hierro que pilotaba, lo que hizo albergar ciertas esperanzar de éxito. Sin embargo, el equipo era un desastre por culpa del carácter insoportable de su propietario que consiguió que una parte del equipo le abandonara.

Viéndole las orejas al lobo, Slim contrató a un técnico de primera fila procedente de Brabham llamado Alistair Cadwell. Inmediatamente se notó una mejoría en el rendimiento del HGS1 al finalizar sexto en el Gran Bretaña (Circuito de Silverstone) y sumar su primer y único punto en la especialidad.



Aquella hazaña fue hercúlea si tenemos en cuenta que corrió con un destornillador en los pies que un mecánico se había dejado allí.

Tras ese gran resultado, los cuatro componentes de ABBA se animaron a apoyarle en la siguiente cita, el GP de Alemania en Hockenheim. Y aunque ni allí ni en el resto de la temporada se comió un colín por las averías del monoplaza, el pipiolo de 35 años se ganó el respeto del paddock.






Por eso le fichó Ken Tyrrell para formar pareja con una de las jóvenes promesas, Michele Alboreto, a quien había derrotado en diversas ocasiones en la temporada anterior.

Pero el sueño se acabó a mitad del curso de 1983 cuando los problemas financieros le dejaron sin volante. Así, de un modo tan abrupto, concluyó la trayectoria de Slim y de ABBA en la F1.

El músico siguió compitiendo en otras disciplinas, llegando a competir en las 24 Horas de Le Mans en 1987 y a proclamarse campeón europeo

https://www.topgear.es/noticias/motorsport/slim-borgudd-bateria-abba-f1-101166


de camiones en 1984.

ABBA dabba Blue - Carlton's marketing masterstoke

ABBA dabba Blue - Carlton's marketing masterstoke
Tony De Bolfo, Carlton Media May 31, 2017 1:14 PM



It's 40 years now since Carlton’s then General Manager Keith “Caper” McKenzie somehow found a way to get the better halves of Swedish supergroup ABBA decked out in dark Navy Blue guernseys.

That happened on the morning of Saturday, March 5, 1977, when Frida and Agnetha Faltskog and Frida Lyngstad, together with their husbands Bjorn and Benny, lobbed at Tullamarine Airport to fulfil their obligations in two shows at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl as part of the band’s Australian musical tour.

In a previous interview with this reporter, McKenzie, now 95, vividly recalled the chain of events which led to Agnetha and Frida sporting the famous playing tops, in one of the all-time great club marketing triumphs.

“When we knew they were about to land at Tullamarine I told our marketing bloke Michael Whitewood, ‘Grab a couple of guernseys, get up to the airport and take them out to ABBA’,” McKenzie said.

“The band later headed out to Western Australia to play four shows wearing the jumpers. I don’t know what guernsey numbers they got, but it was a real coup.”

ABBA's Agnetha and Frida looking resplendent in the navy blue. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

McKenzie remembered meeting with the members of ABBA, then in town for three shows at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. At that time they were holed up at the Old Melbourne Motor Inn on nearby Flemington Road, during which time they were also accorded a civic reception at the Melbourne Town Hall.

The Carlton Football Club was the least of ABBA’s concerns, on what was an exhilarating if hazardous ’77 tour. Agnetha, in a later interview with Brita Ahman, described the tour as “the most incredible of all the things that I experienced with ABBA . . . there was fever, there was hysteria, there were ovations (and) there were sweaty, obsessed crowds”.

“Sometimes it was awful,” she conceded. “I felt as if they would get hold of me and I’d never get away again. It was as if I was going to be crushed. On occasions they would grab hold of us in the most unpleasant ways and there were times when we cried once we were inside the car.

“No one who has experienced facing a screaming, boiling, hysterical crowd could avoid feeling shivers up and down their spine. It’s a thin line between ecstatic celebration and menace. It can turn around in a flash.

“I don’t think anyone could stay the same after such an encounter. It affects your personality. It remoulds you and can be the source of phobias. Naturally, it depends on how sensitive you are. Nonetheless I never felt that my life was in danger in Australia. Enthusiasm and warmth were always present too.”

Frida and Agnetha are seen sporting their Carlton guernseys in ABBA - The Movie, which takes in the ’77 tour. Clearly, the top agreed with Agnetha, who two years later donned it again for the “Chiquitita” clip, which was apparently filmed in the lobby of the Central Hotel in Leysin, Switzerland, on February 15 in the Carlton premiership year of 1979.

On December 22 of that year, ABBA’s Chiquitita opened BBC2 UK’s "Christmas Snowtime Special", which also featured the likes of Bonnie Tyler (“It's a Heartache”), Leo Sayer (“When I Need You “), The Raes (“Gonna Burn my Boogie Shoes”) and The Jacksons (“Destiny”).

In the Chiquitita clip, Agnetha can be seen sporting the famous CFC monogram across her front. The clip later appeared on Australia television on a program hosted by Dame Edna Everage. In introducing the clip, the Dame, with typical humility, refers to ABBA as “a little group I prophesised would go a very long way indeed - a little cluster of scrumptious Swedes . . . I could really eat them up”.

The Club would dearly love to make contact with Agnetha to determine whether she and Frida still have their precious Carlton guernseys in their keep and what numbers might be on their backs.

Haga clic aquí para ver el clip de vídeo Chiquitita.
http://www.carltonfc.com.au/news/2017-05-31/abba-dabba-blue-carltons-marketing-masterstoke