Thank you for the music: Abba superfans on 'the best band ever
Fri 27 Jul 2018
Nearly 50 years after winning Eurovision, a new Mamma Mia! film is out and Abba are storming the charts again. From a six-year-old to Throbbing Gristle’s 63-year-old Chris Carter, fans explain their enduring appeal
Abba in 1974, the year they won the Eurovision song contest with their song Waterloo
Abba in 1974, the year they won the Eurovision song contest with their song Waterloo. Photograph: Olle Lindeborg/AFP/Getty Images
A round this time of year, critics like to debate which artist has provided us with the definitive sound of the summer. With apologies to Cardi B, George Ezra and Drake, the answer is, unarguably, Abba. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again hasn’t just topped the UK box office, but is set to invade the album chart, too. The new film’s original cast recording was No 1 in the midweeks, with the first film’s soundtrack at No 5, while compilation album Abba Gold was due to re-enter the Top 10 for the first time since Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried and co danced on to screens in 2008. And, still, the public appetite for Abba was not sated: More Abba Gold was set to inch into the Top 40.
Once considered totally naff, Abba have experienced a full-scale cultural reappraisal – one that generally involves critics pointing out how sad their music is, as if the discovery of melancholy amid the glitter justified liking them. Enough of that kind of thing: here is the story of Abba’s enduring gloriousness, as told by fans from ages six to 71.
Laura Snapes
Poppy Littlefield, 6, pupil, Newcastle
I first found out about Abba when I was four years old and I saw the film Mamma Mia! Abba’s music is different to music now because it’s more disco-y. I know they got famous because they won Eurovision – I’ve never seen it because it’s on too late, but I’ve heard of it, and I know a band called Bucks Fizz also won it.
My favourite song by Abba is probably Lay All Your Love on Me or Mamma Mia, and my mum has a video of me singing to Dancing Queen when I was younger. I also saw the Mamma Mia! musical in Edinburgh last year. One Christmas, I asked for an Abba poster where I could press a button and listen to all their songs, which is something I made up, but I wish was real.
I don’t normally like older bands, but in this case I do, because their songs are really good and everyone knows them, even if people in my class don’t. I used to like One Direction, but I like Abba more. If I told my friends about the song Mamma Mia, they would probably say: “What are you talking about?” Most of them like Little Mix, and I’m like: “How do you like that?”
Interview by Hannah J Davies
Lulu Darrer, 11, pupil, Southampton
My first memory of listening to Abba was when I was two and watching Mamma Mia! I got up straight away and danced; that made me feel very happy. When I got older, I asked my mum if she had any more Abba songs and she started playing them in the car. My favourite was Kisses of Fire – I really liked the lyrics.
I’ve since become more of a fan. I’ve joined the Abba fanclub, I’ve been to the Abba museum, I’ve seen the Benny Anderssons Orkester, the Chess and Kristina musicals and the Mamma Mia! stage show; I’ve even been to Benny’s studio.
I was lucky enough to go to the premiere of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again last week. It was really pretty with lots of flowers, an amazing sight. I’ve never seen so many famous people. I think the new film is just as good as the first one. I loved it.
I love the music of Abba as well as the musical theatre element. Whenever I watch videos of them performing, they always seem to enjoy themselves and look like they are having fun. I like to sing and dance along.
Interview by Daniel Dylan Wray
Suky Stroud, 27, social media creative, Swansea
Abba’s music has always been there. Dancing Queen was always playing at school discos and family events, and my aunties would all get up and dance. But then, at 14, I had a bit of a revelation when Madonna’s Confessions on a Dance Floor came out. Hung Up samples Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! I was like: “Whoa, this is Abba? This is really good.”
Their music is joyful, but also comforting. I had an awful breakup situation in Canada, and while I was over there I bought The Singles on vinyl. When I came back, the first thing I did after I got in the door was have a cup of tea and put on that record. The Winner Takes It All came on and, for the first time, I thought: “Oh, fuck, that’s what that song means.” I heard it with new ears. There’s loads of songs about breakups and wanting someone back, but for some reason, Abba cut to the heart of it all. I don’t want to sound mega-cheesy, but every time you go through something in life, it’s almost like they’re family – they’ve been through it all before, so it’s wisdom that’s passed down.
I am completely unabashed about being an Abba fan. I don’t use this term lightly, but they are musical geniuses. The layers of complexity and the lyrics. If you can’t at least respect that they are brilliant pop songs, then there’s something wrong with you. It’s like you’re deliberately closing yourself off to this joy that you could be having in your life.
Interview by Alexandra Pollard
Nadia Shireen, 39, author/illustrator, London
Abba are woven into so many of my earliest memories. I can remember sitting in the back of our VW Passat listening to Eagle. I said to my mum: “What is this sound? How are they making that noise?” It sounded so mysterious and otherworldly. I would shut my eyes and imagine flying among multicoloured mountains – it probably had something to do with the album cover’s weird, colourful graphics. But, more than anything, I remember how that moment felt – it was the first time I noticed having such a visceral response to music. I wanted to immerse myself in it.
My parents moved to England in 1976, and the only English language records they had initially were by Boney M and Abba. Abba must have been huge in the Indian subcontinent, because they are one of the few western acts I ever heard mentioned by that generation. There’s something in the melodramatic, sweeping strings of Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! that reminds me of classical Indian music; or maybe it’s the clear diction or the phrasing, which is very non-English, despite being sung in English.
As a kid, I would stare at the cover of The Visitors for hours. It’s dark and mysterious, and I think it was that unresolved tension and moodiness that I loved – and still love – about Abba. Although I grew into a massive music nerd, I was never really an Abba geek. They always somehow sat apart from that. I was a journalist for a while and interviewed a few pop stars, but the most starstruck I’ve ever been was when I walked past Benny and Björn one lunch break.
I have my own child now, but I’m careful not to push Abba, or any other bands, down his throat. I want him to fall in love with music in his own way, and he seems to be doing that. I’m hopeful it will click for him at some point. My favourite song is still Eagle. And I still wonder how they managed to make that noise.
By Nadia Shireen
Margaret Rose McKenzie, 58, public sector worker, Glasgow
Margaret Rose McKenzie in a Polaroid her mum took before an Abba concert in 1979
I was 14 when Abba won Eurovision. I liked their catchy songs. They were very poppy and the lyrics were clever. Five years later, my mother and I went to see them play at the Apollo in Glasgow. My friend’s brother queued up in the middle of the night to get our tickets. My mum took this Polaroid of me before we went. I had posters of Abba on one wall, and posters of the Osmonds on the other. You couldn’t buy much merchandise in those days, so my mum made me the T-shirt by taking it to a shop to get a transfer put on it.
I was so excited to see them, and they were so good, although the funniest thing I remember was this drunk in the audience who, between every song, screamed: “Play Mamma Mia!” They never did. My favourite song was probably Dancing Queen, and also Waterloo – I think they ended the show with that. But the words in Dancing Queen resonated because I was the same age as the girl in the song.
I think their music has stood the test of time, and I don’t think they’ll ever go out of style. They had a big influence on me as a teenager, though less as an adult. Dancing Queen is probably still my favourite – if it comes on, at a wedding or wherever, people always get up and dance. I bought all their albums on vinyl, then later on CD, and I have all their songs on my iPod now. If I’m in the mood, I’ll put an album on, but I don’t listen to them all the time.
I saw the musical two or three times, and I’ve seen the first Mamma Mia! film several times. I went to see the second one on Friday night, and as soon as it had finished at the multiplex, I went into another screen and watched it again. Then I went back to see it the next day. The cinema is on the land where the Apollo used to be. It felt quite strange to be there, 39 years after I saw Abba live.
Interview by Emine Saner
Chris Carter, 63, electronic musician, Norfolk
Throbbing Gristle [of which Carter is a founding member] may have been branded “wreckers of civilisation” in the House of Commons, after our 1976 appearance in COUM Transmissions’ Prostitution show at the ICA, but I’ve always had this secret passion for pop music, especially Abba. It started because I had a thing for Agnetha [Fältskog] after I saw them win the Eurovision song contest on TV, but eventually I listened to the music on headphones and analysed how they did stuff. At night, I’d go see Pink Floyd; during the day, I’d listen to Abba on my transistor radio. It became a guilty pleasure.
At first, Genesis [P-Orridge] and Cosey [Fanni Tutti] didn’t know about it. Then I told [bandmate] Sleazy Christopherson, and he got me some Abba records, including a signed copy. In 1976, Cosey and I were having an affair. I bought her the Dancing Queen single, and she would dance and strip to it in pubs and clubs, wearing a bright green, skin-tight Lurex costume. Whenever we heard it anywhere, we would exchange knowing looks. It was our secret song.
I joined the Abba fanclub and have a lot of memorabilia. When the music paper Sounds closed, a friend there gave me all their Abba cuttings from the 70s, and Cosey once bought me some Abba wrapping paper from Woolworths. They have influenced me more than anybody else in music, especially in terms of production. We remixed SOS on Erasure’s Abba-esque covers EP and made it more like Abba. Arrival is my favourite album and I love The Visitors, which is darker, about the cold war and spies, so a bit closer to TG.
When I wore an Abba badge on the inner sleeve of the Heathen Earth album in 1980, people thought I was being ironic, but I won’t censor what I’m into because of the image of Throbbing Gristle. I went through a spell of liking Dollar and Bucks Fizz. A few years ago, I got into Enya and managed to give her one of our albums. Apparently, she quite liked it. I’d love to get a Throbbing Gristle or Chris & Cosey record to Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Anni-Frid.
Interview by Dave Simpson
Clive Roe, 71, semi-retired painter/decorator, Scarborough
It was 1974, I was watching the Eurovision song contest. I’d never heard of Abba, but as soon as they came on stage and sang about six words, I pointed to the TV and said to my wife at the time: “They are going to win it.” She looked at me and said: “Are you mad?” There was something different about them and I became a fan and then an obsessive.
They came to the Royal Albert Hall in 1977 and I tried to get tickets, but more than three million people applied and I had no chance. In 1979, they played Wembley and, as a member of the fanclub, I got priority access to tickets. It was absolutely magic, the best night of my life. Nothing could compare to that night. I’ve seen 86 Abba tribute shows and every one has an intermission but Abba played for two solid hours.
I’d always been a music fan and I thought the Beatles were the best group ever, but it’s Abba without a doubt. I go to these tribute shows and you can see children dancing. That’s incredible that these songs from 40 years ago can still do that; they’re so catchy. They appeal to all generations, from babies to grandmothers.
I’ve got about 850 items in my Abba collection, my room is absolutely packed with stuff. My favourites are the genuine autographs, a copy of Gracias Por La Música, a Spanish language Abba record, and a musical postcard that plays Thank You for the Music.
I still listen to them at least once a week, usually more. If I’m feeling down, it puts me on top of the world. They’ve been a bit like a medicine for me, I suppose, a tonic.
Interview by Daniel Dylan Wray
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jul/27/thank-you-for-the-music-abba-superfans-on-why-they-are-the-best-band-ever?fbclid=IwAR3w3FacTgg2Tam5Bl3tKFJ7JqtterLNcfFOJphJs0HNN9PgO1ZMAMn3zyk
