La secretaria que se convirtió en la nueva directora de ABBA

 march, 10, 1980

Måndagen den 10 mars 1980

EXPRESSEN

Sekreteraren som blev Abba:s nya direktör

A BIM ENSTRÖM

Sekreterare Johnsen. Görel

Så står det i telefon-katalogen.

Nu får det bli direktör Görel Johnsen i stället.

Görel,

Stikkan "ABBA" Anderssons hö-gerhand i många år, har blivit vice VD i Polar Music.

Hon for till Japan nagra da-gar före Agneta och Frida och Björn och Benny och alla de andra för att fixa och greja

Det är Gorel Johnsen, 30, som ser till att allt funkar. Under nagra hektiska dagar i Tokyo finns det inte utrymme för tras-sel med administrationen.

Stikkan och ABBA skulle inte klara sig utan henne, säger Stikkans fru Gudrun, som ock-sa jobbar pa Polar Music.

Slot i 10 ár

Gürel är sekreteraren som fick en egen sekreterare, Som jobbat och slitit i tio år för att na den position hon har i dag

Gudrun Andersson:

Görel är jätteduktig. Man kan lita på henne i alla lägen. Hon tar ansvar. Hon ställer upp.

Till råga på allt är hon en glad och pigg sort dessutom.

Undra på att Stikkan Anders son är man om att värda sin juvel!

Det är självklart att hon ska ha en formell titel som sva rar mot det jobb hon har, tycker Gudrun Andersson. Fast det är klart... Det finns säkert massor av jätteduktiga sekreterare l det här landet som har jobb som är mycket mer kvalificerade än man kan tro.Det är inte klokt att de ofta varken far lön eller titel som svarar mot jobben! Görels lön?

Görel Johnsen, 30, nyutnämnd ABBA-direktör, kommer från Skövde precis som Stikkan Andersson. Men det är inte därför hon blivit hans högra hand. Hon är väldigt duktig. Det finns många sekreterare, men väldigt få får lön och titel därefter.

Gudrun vill inte säga exakt Men mer än 15 000 kronor i ma-naden. Da jobbar Görel ofta till sent pa kvällarna. Och på hel gerna också ibland.

Görel Johnsen bor ihop med Anders Hanser sedan ett ar till-baka.

-Vi har ungefär samma ar betstider, säger Anders som producerar egna musikprogram

ARBA

Foto HASSE PERSSON

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Lunes, 10 de marzo de 1980

EXPRESSEN

La secretaria que se convirtió en la nueva directora de ABBA

A BIM ENSTRÖM

Secretaria Johnsen. Görel

Eso dice la guía telefónica.

Ahora será la directora Görel Johnsen.

Görel, mano derecha de Stikkan "ABBA" Andersson durante muchos años, se ha convertido en vicepresidenta de Polar Music.

Fue a Japón unos días antes que Agneta, Frida, Björn, Benny y todos los demás para arreglar y organizar.

Es Gorel Johnsen, de 30 años, quien se asegura de que todo funcione. Durante unos días ajetreados en Tokio, no hay margen para meterse con la administración.

Stikkan y ABBA no podrían arreglárselas sin ella, dice Gudrun, su esposa, quien también trabaja en Polar Music. Puesto por 10 años

Gürel es la secretaria que consiguió su propia secretaria y trabajó y luchó durante diez años para alcanzar el puesto que ocupa hoy.

Gudrun Andersson:

Görel es muy capaz. Se puede confiar en ella en cualquier situación. Asume la responsabilidad. Se defiende a sí misma.

Además, es una persona alegre y llena de energía.

¡Con razón Stikkan Andersson valora su joya!

Ni que decir tiene que debería tener un título formal que corresponda a su trabajo, piensa Gudrun Andersson. Aunque es evidente... Sin duda, hay muchas secretarias muy capaces en este país que tienen trabajos mucho más cualificados de lo que se podría pensar. ¡No es sensato que a menudo no reciban ni un salario ni un título que corresponda a su trabajo! ¿El salario de Görel?

Görel Johnsen, de 30 años, recién nombrada directora de ABBA, es de Skövde, al igual que Stikkan Andersson. Pero no por eso se ha convertido en su mano derecha. Es muy capaz. Hay muchas secretarias, pero muy pocas consiguen un sueldo y un puesto después de eso.

Gudrun no quiere decirlo con exactitud. Pero más de 15.000 coronas al mes. Luego, Görel suele trabajar hasta tarde. Y a veces también los fines de semana.

Görel Johnsen lleva un año viviendo con Anders Hanser.

—Tenemos más o menos el mismo horario de trabajo —dice Anders, que produce sus propios programas musicales—.

ARBA

Foto HASSE PERSSON

En la radio. Si no, no funcionaría.

Ahora él está en su apartamento en Östermalm, riegando las flores, mientras Görel es director en Tokio.

—Ya me he acostumbrado —dice Anders—. Esto del título de director no supone ninguna diferencia. Aunque a ella también le parece bastante divertido, ¿sabes?

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/abbaregistro/permalink/1791891658204016/

Harrison Marking 20th Anniversary Of The Closing Of Stockholm’s Polar Studio

article: https://www.prosoundweb.com/harrison-marking-20th.../
Harrison Marking 20th Anniversary Of The Closing Of Stockholm’s Polar Studio
photosofthedays - notes

Harrison Marking 20th Anniversary Of The Closing Of Stockholm's Polar Studio - ProSoundWeb

PSW Staff 

Inside the control room at Polar Studios in Stockholm that was centered on a Harrison 32 Series console.

May 3, 2024

PSW Staff

Studio used by ABBA, Led Zeppelin, Phil Collins, The Ramones and more featured a Harrison 32 Series 40-channel analog mixing console, the world's first 32-bus, inline desk.

Harrison announced that the first of May (2024) marked the 20th anniversary of the closing of the legendary Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden after 26 years of operation, and from the beginning, it was equipped with a Harrison 32 Series analog mixing console.

The company states that the 4032 — with 40 channels — was the world’s first 32-bus, inline desk. It was given serial number 045 and was delivered to Polar Studios in January 1978. The input channel modules were modified by Harrison to allow headphones to be fed from buses 25 through 32, and the studio later added a 16-channel input extender as a sidecar.

Gary Thielman, president of Harrison Audio, says “The 32 Series at Polar really contributed to the soundtrack of an era. I recall a conversation with Dave (Harrison), with me going crazy about all this amazing music being made on our consoles…he was so focused on perfecting designs that he simply viewed it as ‘doing his job’.”

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, together with the band’s manager, Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, owner of the Polar Music recording label, opened the studio in a disused former movie theater in the center of Stockholm. Having recorded previous ABBA albums and singles at a variety of studios in Sweden, the intention was to create a modern production studio where the band could work at their own pace and to provide facilities for other Polar label artists. Anderson founded the label in 1963.

ABBA recorded their final three albums — Voulez-Vous, Super Trouper and The Visitors — and two non-LP singles, “The Day Before You Came” and “Under Attack,” at Polar. The very first song recorded at the studio was the global hit “Chiquitita,” the lead single from Voulez-Vous, which was released in January 1979. The Visitors became one of mainstream pop’s first digital releases in 1981 when it was recorded to Polar’s new 3M digital tape machine. All four ABBA members recorded solo projects at the studio after the band split up in 1982.

Most major Swedish artists recorded at Polar, as did a very long list of international artists, including the Rolling Stones, Backstreet Boys, Chic, the Ramones, Roxy Music and Celine Dion. Led Zeppelin recorded the 1979 album In Through the Out Door at Polar and Genesis recorded Duke in 1980, with the band’s lead vocalist and drummer Phil Collins going on to produce, with Hugh Padgham, ABBA singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad’s solo album, Something’s Going On, at the studio.

Anderson bought out partners Ulvaeus and Andersson in 1984 before selling the facility to a business partnership comprising his daughter, son-in-law and Lennart Östlund, Polar’s chief engineer since 1978. The building was later sold to a Swedish insurance company and it became a private housing cooperative, which raised the rent. With the business no longer economically viable, Polar Studios closed.

The console is now housed in the ABBA museum in Stockholm.

https://www.prosoundweb.com/harrison-marking-20th-anniversary-of-the-closing-of-stockholms-polar-studio

---------------------------------

 May Marks Polar Studios Anniversaries

May 1 marked the 20th anniversary of Stockholm’s Polar Studios closing; the facility was used to record legendary albums by Abba, Led Zeppelin, Genesis and many others.

BY MIX STAFF

PUBLISHED: 05/09/2024



The Harrison 32 Series analog mixing console used at Polar Studios.

Stockholm, Sweden (May 9, 2024)—May 1 marked the twentieth anniversary of the closing of Stockholm’s legendary Polar Studios, which famously featured a Harrison 32 Series analog mixing console, the world’s first 32-bus, inline desk, after 26 years of operation.

ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, together with the band’s manager, Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, owner of the Polar Music recording label, opened Polar Studios on May 18, 1978 in a disused former movie theater in the center of Stockholm. Having recorded previous ABBA albums and singles at a variety of studios in Sweden, the intention was to create a modern production studio where the band could work at its own pace and to provide facilities for other Polar label artists. Anderson founded the label in 1963.

The Harrison 4032 console (a 40-channel, 32 Series desk) was given serial number 045 and was delivered to Polar Studios in January 1978. The input channel modules were modified by Harrison to allow headphones to be fed from buses 25 through 32. The studio later added a 16-channel input extender as a sidecar. The console is now housed in the ABBA museum in Stockholm.

Harrison Audio 32Classic Mixing Console to Launch at AES

Gary Thielman, president of Harrison Audio, comments “The 32 Series at Polar really contributed to the soundtrack of an era. I recall a conversation with Dave (Harrison), with me going crazy about all this amazing music being made on our consoles…he was so focused on perfecting designs that he simply viewed it as ‘doing his job’.”

ABBA recorded their final three albums—Voulez-Vous, Super Trouper and The Visitors—and two non-LP singles, “The Day Before You Came” and “Under Attack,” at Polar. The very first song recorded at the studio was the global hit “Chiquitita,” the lead single from Voulez-Vous, which was released in January 1979. The Visitors became one of mainstream pop’s first digital releases in 1981 when it was recorded to Polar’s new 3M digital tape machine. All four ABBA members recorded solo projects at the studio after the band split up in 1982.

Most major Swedish artists recorded at Polar, as did a very long list of international artists, including the Rolling Stones, Backstreet Boys, Chic, the Ramones, Roxy Music and Celine Dion. Led Zeppelin recorded its 1979 album In Through the Out Door at Polar and Genesis recorded Duke there in 1980, with the band’s lead vocalist and drummer Phil Collins going on to produce, with Hugh Padgham, ABBA singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad’s solo album, Something’s Going On, at the studio.

Anderson bought out partners Ulvaeus and Andersson in 1984 before selling the facility to a business partnership comprising his daughter, son-in-law and Lennart Östlund, Polar’s chief engineer since 1978. The building was later sold to a Swedish insurance company and the building became a private housing cooperative, which raised the rent. With the business no longer economically viable, Polar Studios closed.

https://www.mixonline.com/recording/facilities/may-marks-polar-studios-anniversaries

https://news.hummingbirdmedia.com/marking-the-20th-anniversary-of-the-closing-of-stockholms-legendary-polar-studios

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Abba sang Waterloo to driver in back of his taxi

 

Abba sang Waterloo to driver in back of his taxi

Stuart Maisner,

BBC News, South East

Simon Dack

Billy Stainthorpe remembers driving Abba in his taxi after Eurovision success in 1974

A taxi driver has been recollecting the private rendition Abba gave him of Waterloo after winning the Eurovision Song Contest 50 years ago.

The Swedish supergroup stormed to victory at Brighton Dome on 6 April 1974.

Cab driver Billy Stainthorpe drove them back from Brighton to London and they all sang along when the song came on the radio.

Mr Stainthorpe said: "They all seemed happy, all singing, and the lady with the blonde hair (Agnetha) sat next to me."

Abba won Eurovision at Brighton Dome on 6 April 1974

Mr Stainthorpe said: "When we stopped for refreshments there were a few people who recognised them. And then there were a few more people looking in the cab.

"Björn asked me to go in and have a coffee and a sandwich before I came back to Brighton.

"He gave me £30 - so it was well worth it."

Mr Stainthorpe's daughter Nicky, then aged seven, waved the band off on their journey.

She said: "We were obsessed with the women really because they were so glamorous, so pretty.

"I just remember us being completely in awe."

 

A blue plaque to Abba was reinstated outside Brighton Dome on Thursday

These recollections form part of an exhibition at Brighton Museum - Abba: One Week In Brighton - which runs until August.

There is a series of events taking place in the city to mark 50 years since Abba's Eurovision victory.

A blue plaque, originally presented by the BBC in 2017, was reinstated outside Brighton Dome on Thursday.

Events will culminate on Saturday with a concert at The Dome featuring five previous Eurovision winners singing Abba's greatest hits.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c90ezgj84jzo

ABBA show reveals famous Glasgow line was dreamt up at the Apollo

 

ABBA show reveals famous Glasgow line was dreamt up at the Apollo

Ann Fotheringham 

A NEW documentary about ABBA reveals the famous line about Glasgow in the song Super Trouper was actually dreamt up on stage in the Apollo.

The legendary city music venue was also the only stop on the worldwide tour where the group had to have an intermission – so the bar could open….

In When ABBA Came to Britain, which marks 50 years of the Swedish supergroup’s links with the UK, singer-songwriter Björn Ulvaeus reveals the line “I was sick and tired of everything, when I called you last night from Glasgow” just “came naturally” to him at the Apollo.



He adds: “The song is about waiting for my new girlfriend, and I was thinking about that while up on stage.”

Super Trouper was the title of track of the band's next album, released in November 1980.

Thomas Johansson, who produced all of the ABBA tours in Britain, says he remembers the Apollo date in particular.

“We had to have an intermission in Glasgow so they could have the bar open,” he recalls with a smile. “It was the only place we had an intermission.”

Broadcaster and author Stuart Marconie says the Glasgow gig, which was the last time ABBA played in Britain, was the “end of an era”.

ABBA at Turnberry (Image: Newsquest)

He adds: “[The city] became immortalised when Björn wrote that line, ‘I was sick and tired of everything, when I called you last night from Glasgow’, and then ‘wishing every show was the last show’ – in terms of the UK, it was the last show.”

The 1979 tour, which also visited North America, Europe and Asia, was the first time ABBA had been on the road for almost three years.

They were still the “biggest-selling group in the history of recorded music”, according to their label, however, and Glasgow went wild for the satin-clad foursome - Björn, Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid, or Frida, Lyngstad.

The Apollo concert, on November 13, 1979, included a performance by children from Hillhead High School. As it was the International Year of the Child, the group had choirs of young people sing with them on I Have A Dream at each concert.

A total of 25 Hillhead pupils rehearsed for four weeks, at lunchtimes and after school, in preparation for the show.

According to our newspaper’s then pop writer, later features editor Russell Kyle, the concert, in front of 3500 fans, got off to a slow start because of problems with the acoustics, but once the problems had been ironed out, the band really hit their stride.

Backed by a nine-piece band, they ran through all of their hits and introduced a sprinkling of newer songs.

He added that the biggest cheer of the night was reserved for Frida, who appeared in a Scotland football top.

“It was three years since Abba’s last show,” he wrote, “but the group seem to have lost none of their appeal.”

Ever since they were introduced on stage at the Brighton Dome, resplendent in unforgettable platform heels and satin, ABBA have held an enduring place in Britain’s hearts and in British pop culture.

The new documentary features previously untransmitted interviews with ABBA, and takes an affectionate look at the band and its fascination with British music, including The Beatles in the 1960s.

After winning the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo in 1974, the band would eventually find global stardom, but their relationship with the UK remains unique.

When Abba Came to Britain will be broadcast on April 6 as part of a dedicated Saturday night of ABBA specials on BBC Two.

interview - after Waterloo 1974

 

Abba ganó ESC con Waterloo 1974 - Benny y Björn son entrevistados sobre comercialismo y música

Abba ganó el Festival de Académicos de Eurovisión en 1974 con una canción que se convirtió en el mayor éxito en estos contextos: Waterloo. Aquí Benny y Björn son entrevistados después de la victoria en Brighton.

IDA FELLMAN

26.3.2007

En el primer clip, Björn Ulvaeus y Benny Andersson discuten con el editor Tapio Tuominen sobre el año agitado de Abba después de la victoria en Brighton 1974. Björn y Benny parecen muy modestos; no han recibido dinero, el rol continúa como siempre. Abba no asistirá al Festival de Académicos de Eurovisión varias veces.

El editor Tapio Tuomiens pregunta sobre la diferencia entre Schlager-EM y los festivales alternativos. Benny y Björn, quienes señalan que nunca han estado en festivales alternativos, creen que eso debería estar disponible. Pero los festivales alternativos probablemente estén más centrados en el texto; sobrepolitizados y rejuvenecidos,

En el segundo clip escuchamos a Björn Ulvaeus responder casi las mismas preguntas, pero Björn parece más agotado. No han visto el dinero, dice Björn. Y Abba aún no ha tenido torneos en vivo. Pero ahora Abba está de gira, donde Finlandia incluso está incluido.

https://yle.fi/a/7-884063

The Abba Voyage success story

The Sunday Times

Sunday December 24 2023

The Abba Voyage success story — and why it might become permanent

They took a chance when they built an arena for avatars. Two million ticket sales later, its backers want the show to go on and on and on

When they appeared on stage in May 2022 it was the first time the members of Abba had been seen in public together for 40 years. Since then, avatar versions of the Swedish group, created after years of painstaking research and following weeks of filming, have “sung” every night in a temporary arena built on a disused car park in east London.

Initially, Abba Voyage was planned to last two or three years. Yet the show has been so successful that its creator has revealed he is planning to keep it in London permanently — which could inject £1 billion into the capital’s economy in the next six years.....

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“It’s an extraordinary number,” said Michael Bolingbroke, the chief executive of Abba Voyage. “Given that, I hope that they will see the value in us staying. And we’d like to stay. This is the most successful show in western Europe. It’s mind-blowing.”

The 90-minute performance involves 3D renderings of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad appearing in a dedicated 3,000-capacity arena beside the Dockland Light Railway’s Pudding Mill Lane station.

Money, Money, Money may not feature on the set list — but it is nevertheless proving lucrative for the show’s backers, averaging $2 million (£1.6 million) a week in ticket sales. Last week, the show hosted its two millionth audience member after launching little more than 18 months ago.

The performance boasts an average of 99 per cent occupancy, running seven shows a week. A quarter of the audience comes from abroad, according to analysis of ticket sales using geotracking data. The best West End shows typically attract 84 per cent occupancy by comparison, according to the Society of London Theatre.

Bolingbroke also confirmed plans for the show to be taken abroad. “We could do it in Germany. We could do it in Australia. Both are big Abba markets. We are looking at the potential of that,” he said.

The show was originally scheduled to last for “two-and-a-half to three years’’, according to Bolingbroke.

It was temporary in part because the London Legacy Development Corporation — responsible for planning the future of the Olympic Park created for the 2012 Games — and the Greater London Authority, headed by Sadiq Khan, had committed to building 1,000 flats and houses on the site.

Bolingbroke said: “The question is: can the housing still be done, but centred around the Abba Arena? If you rejig [the plans] slightly, is there a world where the arena can stay there? And if there is, then we’re there indefinitely.”

Even if officials press ahead with the houses and flatten the arena, delaying the residential development could still boost the London economy, he says.

The avatar idea was conceived by Ulvaeus and Andersson in 2016, alongside the Swedish billionaire Conni Jonsson. It took them two years to find the right technology. Their breakthrough came when they met technicians from the UK arm of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a special-effects firm founded by Stars Wars creator George Lucas.

Once the finer details of the show were nailed down, the Swedish quartet were then filmed by 160 cameras performing what would become Abba Voyage over and over again over a five-week stint.

Bolingbroke, who previously oversaw the UK Cirque du Soleil shows, says he immediately saw what would become the secret of Abba Voyage’s success: the authenticity of the avatars. “It was so real, it took me back to 1981. It was overwhelming,” he said.

This month, Bolingbroke was spotted visiting sites in Melbourne. Asked about plans in Australia, he said: “We would have to build an arena like ours. It’s a significant undertaking. The investment to get to opening night was £141 million. It will be cheaper the second and third time around because the technology is there to go. But it’s not much cheaper.

“We would do Australia first because we are [already] in Europe.”

For Abba Voyage, a ten-piece live band supports the avatar quartet, with 291 speakers booming favourites from SOS to Waterloo. Tickets are not cheap — especially when you consider this is mainly computer-generated art — starting at £55, with more expensive ones well into three figures. The average price is about £90.

As well as being the chief executive and executive producer of Abba Voyage, Bolingbroke chairs the board of Pophouse, the parent company that Ulvaeus, Andersson and Jonsson created alongside executives from Universal Music and Nordic corporate bank SEB.

This month, the Abba avatar technology owned by Pophouse was used at the end of the final farewell concert by the American rock group Kiss at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It was the first time it has been used to immortalise another band.

Per Sundin, chief executive of Pophouse, said: “Now there is a proven template, that undoubtedly paves the way for new and exciting opportunities. We have received interest from several other artists who see the potential for a similar avatar show to create, cement and elevate their legacies in a way that was never possible until now.

“We believe there are a number of exceptional artists and bands that have both the catalogue, active fans and storied histories to fully capitalise upon an avatar show.”

But Bolingbroke insisted that Abba-style avatars would not signal the death of the ageing rock star. “My personal opinion is that whatever you do, nothing beats live. However, if an artist is not able to be there, this is a pretty good alternative.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/abba-voyage-success-story-london-permanent-dqjj5d507

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