Just another bubblegum band’: the day Abba won Eurovision
Despite receiving ‘nul points’ from five countries, the Swedish foursome defied the odds 50 years ago with their hit Waterloo
Etan Smallman
5 April 2024 • 7:00am
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Winners take it all: Abba performing during the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974
Winners take it all: Abba performing during the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 CREDIT: Olle Lindeborg/AFP via Getty Images
My, my! It’s 50 years since Europe did surrender… to the charms of a Swedish foursome clad in shiny orange and blue costumes and towering silver platform boots.
On April 6 1974, at the Brighton Dome, Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest with a zany track about the 1815 Battle of Waterloo that would pave the way for them to conquer not just a continent but an entire planet.
Those who were there share their memories of the night a pop phenomenon was born…
The Lead Up… ‘Abba who?’
No-one outside of Sweden had heard of Abba pre-1974. Even in their own country, they were considered “just another bubblegum band who’ll be gone tomorrow”, says Sheffield-born bass player Mike Watson, who first came across Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson while they were all on the road in various bands in the mid-1960s.
By 1972, Watson was recording with the quartet – still going by the name Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida – and in February 1974, he was given a crucial job for what would be the cover of Waterloo, their first album as Abba. “Yeah, that’s me dressed up as Napoleon in the background, with my back to the camera, in an old castle, about 100km from Stockholm,” says the 77-year-old. “That was my modelling career – just the one time.”
Agnetha, right, and Frida, in a London hotel room after their victory
Agnetha, right, and Frida, in a London hotel room after their victory CREDIT: TT News Agency / Alamy Stock Photo
Essex-born Ireen Sheer had been invited to represent Luxembourg with Bye Bye I Love You after having a hit in the country. “The first time I heard of Abba was when I was sitting on a plane next to a Swedish couple. They said, ‘A good band is singing for Sweden this year.’ I said, ‘I’m singing for Luxembourg.’ They said, ‘Oh, that’s a pity – because they’re going to win.’” She would have the challenge of following the group in the running order.
Over in Brighton on that spring day, “there was quite a surreal atmosphere”, according to Nick Ingman, 75, who orchestrated, arranged and conducted Long Live Love, the song for the UK entrant, Cambridge-born Olivia Newton-John. “It was the height of the IRA troubles and therefore Brighton was under huge security and there were literally tanks in the streets.”
Despite Abba’s obscurity in Britain, John Henty, a presenter for BBC Radio Brighton, remembers the “gorgeous guys” and their “amazing gear” having “quite an impact” around the town. They were making less of a mark on the airwaves of the local station, however, after the manager banned Waterloo from his playlist, having deemed the record “too ’eavy, mate”. “I think he meant it had too much of a heavy beat, I suppose. Obviously, in our little ‘gram’ library, we most certainly did listen and probably silently cursed the manager for not being able to play it. We thought it was terrific, fresh and new.”
In the afternoon, 17 acts took part in the dress rehearsal, at which Abba decided to perform in their native tongue. From a cellar inside the BBC’s Broadcasting House, Britain’s 10 jurors – selected from the public – watched and took notes. “They followed two other Europop songs,” recalls Basil Herwald, then a 20-year-old student. “And I have no other memory of it, other than that it was clear that none of us was intending to vote for them [Abba].”
The Performance… ‘The event was a sort of BBC civil service’
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Ingman remembers the event being “very slightly sort of BBC civil service, rather strait-laced. We were all dressed in dinner jackets.” Then, in marched Abba’s bicorne hat-wearing conductor, Sven-Olof Walldoff, kitted out as Napoleon. “It immediately struck an atmosphere of, let’s break the mould here,” says Ingman. “I will take some credit for actually voting for Abba maximum points,” says Henty. In the second row of the balcony, with VIP tickets, Carol Theobald was sitting with her husband, Geoffrey, chairman of a local council committee. They, too, awarded Sweden full marks. “Immediately they came on to that stage, their appearance, their dress and their first few steps, I just thought ‘They’re going to win this,’” says Geoffrey.
The Results… ‘Olivia Newton-John said that it serves the UK right’
An hour and 40 minutes into the show, the BBC’s Katie Boyle received the final votes, from Italy, and announced: “Good night, Rome. There’s no doubt about it, the winning song of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest… c’est la Suède, avec Waterloo, chanté par Abba!” Italy came second, followed by the Netherlands.
The UK was joint fourth with Luxembourg and Monaco. “It didn’t help that the public chose this very crass bang, bang, bang song and Olivia absolutely hated it,” says Ingman.
Sheer, 75, remembers her friend Olivia being “very disappointed. Olivia said, ‘It serves them right for choosing that song.’ Bless her.”
Herwald says: “We were surprised,” as the jury he was on in London failed to award Abba a single point, giving half of their 10 points to Italy. “Of course, Björn had this conspiracy theory that we’d failed to vote for Sweden to allow Olivia Newton-John to win.” (In 2021, he said he suspected “something cunning”.)
Swedish pop group Abba in Brighton for the Eurovision Song Contest, 1974
Swedish pop group Abba in Brighton for the Eurovision Song Contest, 1974 CREDIT: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images
Waterloo was voted the best song in the history of Eurovision when the competition marked its half-century in 2005.
But, says Herwald: “It’s really important that I point out they made no impression on the Greek jury, the Monégasque [Monaco] jury, the Belgian jury and the Italian jury, who gave them nought. So, as I pointed out to Björn when I spoke to him in December 2022, he managed to win with no points from five of the 17 countries and the lowest number of points ever anyway.”
However, the moment of victory is engraved on Henty’s mind. “You can imagine our delight when the record effectively banned by the local radio station won the Eurovision Song Contest,” he says, still chuckling at the thought today. And the station manager? “He obviously had to – literally – change his tune.”
The Aftermath… ‘I’m still living down my nul points’
For Carol and Geoffrey Theobald, the party was far from over. They were invited to a reception at the Royal Pavilion, where they chatted to Newton-John. “She asked if she could get into a nightclub,” recalls Carol. “My husband and I belonged to the King’s Club and we knew the owners and the doorman. I said, ‘We’ll certainly get you in there.’”
Sheer bumped into Abba when they appeared together on various TV shows across Europe. She was sitting at the bar with Ulvaeus when he said he wanted to write a song for her.
“I gave him my telephone number and I think he did phone but I was out on the road.”
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Mike Watson continued playing bass on almost all of Abba’s albums and witnessed the superstardom that quickly came their way, as they notched up nine UK No 1 singles and 10 chart-topping albums, including Abba Gold, the second biggest-seller of all time.
“They were as big as Queen, the Beatles, the Stones.”
Abba has also been a boon for Watson in his late 70s. He still lives in Sweden – his home since 1964 – and says: “I’m very lucky to be able to tour the world with the tribute bands. And I never get tired playing the songs.”
Meanwhile, Herwald is still living down his jury’s notorious “nul points”.
“I was in a pub a year or so ago and I was queuing at the bar when Waterloo came on over the speakers. I suppose I must have winced slightly and this older lady came up to me and said: ‘What’s the matter with you? Don’t you like Abba?’”
‘When Abba Came to Britain’ will air on BBC Two on Saturday April 6, at 9.35pm; Eurovision 2024 runs from May 7-11, in Malmö, Sweden
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2024/04/05/when-abba-came-to-britain-bbc-two-eurovision-song-contest/
