The classic Sex Pistols song inspired by ABBA’s pop smash ‘SOS’

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Jack Whatley·August 7, 2020

The classic Sex Pistols song inspired by ABBA’s pop smash ‘SOS’

t may seem a bit odd to hear the two bands ABBA and the Sex Pistols in the same breath but their connection is stronger than you think. Original bassist, and one-time principal songwriter of the Pistols, Glen Matlock, was a huge fan of the pop royalty.

He was such a fan, in fact, that he lifted a bass line straight from one of ABBA’s most recognisable songs, ‘SOS’ and placed it in one of the Sex Pistols ultimate punk anthems. It’s a little known fact that may make your punk friend want to pull out his safety pins.

‘Pretty Vacant’ may well be one of punk’s finest anthems but the song’s classic riff is taken straight from ABBA’s chest of pop smashes. Matlock is said to have been a fan of the band from Sweden who, at the time, were one of the biggest pop artists around, churning out chart-topping hits and generally operating as the antithesis of punk—before punk was even punk.

Revisiting the song’s origination with Rolling Stone, Matlock reflected on how the track came about and while it was inspired by the ABBA riff, the song’s original conception was influenced by the States. “Malcolm McLaren had been going back and forth to the States to be involved in the rag trade and buy old Fifties clothes because he had a Teddy Boy shop, and I knew he ran into Sylvain Sylvain from the New York Dolls and went backstage,” he said.

“Malcolm came back with fliers for the shows and he brought back setlists, but none of these bands had made records at that stage,” recalled Matlock of the influence the New York set had on him and the rest of the Pistols.

“One said ‘Blank Generation’, and that got me thinking about how there was nothing going on in London,” the bassist continues. “There was a real air of despondency and desperation, so I came out with the idea of ‘Pretty Vacant.'”

As you might imagine the large majority of the song was already composed before Matlock heard the ABBA song in question, but it did add a flourish to the song which it desperately needed. “I had the set of chord changes and the lyric but I was short of a riff,” recalls Matlock.

“I knew it needed a melodic thing, and I heard something on a record by a band called ABBA and it inspired the riff I needed, and I said, ‘Guys, I’ve got it.'” The riff he heard was taken from the band’s song ‘SOS’, which featured on ABBA’s musical film Mamma Mia with Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep providing the vocals in that performance. Not quite the punk image you’d expect and far away from Johnny Rotten’s razor vocal.

It’s likely not something Matlock is ever too happy to talk about in great depth but he has on occasion shown his love for the band, sometimes trying to incriminate his bandmates too. “I always got quite a bit of stick for liking ABBA,” Matlock told The Mouth, “but I think as pop songwriters they’re fantastic. I mean, if you listen to the drums on ‘Waterloo’ it could be Paul [Cook] playing it… I think perhaps he’d picked up a bit, subconsciously, on that.”

However odd it may be to think of one of punk’s most well-known songs being inspired by the ultimate anti-punks ABBA, it did at least provide Sex Pistols bassist, Matlock, an unusual pen pal for a while, the musician recalled in RS, “I mentioned the ABBA influence in an interview once and the bass player from ABBA somehow got my address and started sending me Christmas cards for about 10 years.”

Listen to both of the songs below and see if you can hear the resemblance.

Pretty Vacant https://youtu.be/R6GDdKrQ8EI

SOS https://youtu.be/cvChjHcABPA

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/sex-pistols-song-inspired.../

My life: Bjorn Ulvaeus

My life: Bjorn Ulvaeus






Magazines / Post Magazine
One of the two men who put the Bs into Abba talks to Tom Cassidy about the Swedish pop sensation and the secrets of the Mamma Mia! stage show's success.
TOM CASSIDY
Published: 9:15am, 21 Sep, 2014

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME We (Benny Andersson and Ulvaeus) started off as friends. We had the same interest, writing songs, so we started doing that, but the friendship was the most important thing. As the years went by, we became almost like brothers. We always wanted to write that wonderful, great melody and if we could do that better together, then so be it. When a song became a hit, that was just lucky. Out of 12 songs on an album, not every one was hit material but a few were and we were just lucky that people had the same taste as we did.
THE WINNERS TAKE IT ALL After we'd won (the Eurovision Song Contest) with Waterloo in 1974, we had not only artistic freedom but financial freedom and there was no one breathing down our necks any more. The record company would say, "You have to be ready by this or that time," and we didn't say, "F*** you," but we said, "No, it's ready when it's ready." The creative side of it was on our terms completely.
THEY HAD A DREAM We stuck to an idea and a dream that we had. We found that we could be the people who were writing really good pop songs. In the same way as The Beatles, we wanted every album to be a step forward in our development and I think we achieved that. And then when we felt finally that we didn't have as much fun in the studio anymore, that there was something missing, we said, "OK, let's do nothing for a while." And that's what we did. I thought we'd hear the occasional (Abba) song, but more or less we'd be forgotten. This is the most fantastic thing of all, that you and I are speaking here today.
THE SONGS WE'RE SINGING I rarely put on an Abba CD. When I turn on the radio and something (we wrote) is played, I listen. That's mostly how I hear (Abba's music). With a few exceptions, from the beginning, it sounds surprisingly fresh. I think that's because we were such perfectionists in the studio - the final mix is the best we could achieve at that time with the equipment we had. In the 70s, recording studios had such better equipment than in the 60s and that's why 60s records sound the way they do. From the 70s onwards they could be from any decade.
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC Music is universal. You can strike a chord with someone in the deepest jungle in Africa. Having written something way up north, in Sweden, you can still strike a chord anywhere in the world if the music speaks to you. And I think the sound of the two girls (Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog) together, the voices have a kind of exuberant, uplifting quality and it speaks to the whole world.
FEELING LIKE A NUMBER ONE (The paparazzi are) much, much worse today. It's an incredible difference. They more or less let us be. We were, as two couples, not really interesting - we had more trouble with (the media) after the divorce. I was a bachelor for one week - I got straight into a relationship, which has lasted to this day, so I was boring - but Agnetha was very interesting to the press.
KNOWING ME KNOWING YOU I like the space (in Sweden). We only have 9.5 million people in the whole country; in Stockholm there's only about 900,000. It's manageable. You're not queuing wherever you go. It's the most beautiful capital city in the world. It's surrounded by water and it's got everything I need. Stockholm is buzzing with creativity. Technology is at the forefront. Spotify is from Sweden, Skype is from Sweden, so there's a lot of that going on. These days, producers and songwriters from Sweden have incredible success around the world. We are per capita the No2 music exporting nation in the world, even above the UK. People say Abba started it all.
MASTERS OF THE SCENE In the 80s, television producer Judy Craymer said she would like to produce a special hour based on Abba songs with a new story. I said, "Yes, if you can find someone who can write a script that I can say yes to." There were several scripts but nothing was good. We started discussing if maybe we could do one of those family shows that the Brits have over Christmas. When Judy introduced ( Mamma Mia! scriptwriter) Catherine Johnson to me, the idea came of a fully fledged musical. I said, "You cannot change the lyrics but you can choose any of the songs that are from the catalogue." You don't have to use just the hits. A lot of the songs have hidden stories within them. Catherine said that is why Mamma Mia! works so well, because she could take those little stories, put them in another situation and it still would work. There have been so many jukebox musicals after Mamma Mia! and they have failed miserably. I told Catherine, "Never forget that the story is more important than the songs." And that was the ground rule: first story then song. A lot of people have tried to do it the other way round and it shows.
NOTHING PROMISED, NO REGRETS We all have responsibility for our own lives - we decide what to make of them and there's no one else who does that for us. We can't label anyone but ourselves. We want to live in secular societies where anyone can believe in anything they want, but lawmaking must be neutral and the state must be neutral.
IF I HAD TO DO THE SAME AGAIN You never stop wanting to express yourself; to create things. I started in this business when I was 18 and since then I've always tried to create new things, and I think it's in my blood. I will die with my boots on, I'm sure.
Tom Cassidy
Mamma Mia! runs from Wednesday to November 2 at Lyric Theatre, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Tickets are available at
hkticketing.com
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Bjorn Ulvaeus

Five new ABBA songs in 2021? UK music journalist makes exciting claim about Swedish pop icons

Five new ABBA songs in 2021? UK music journalist makes exciting claim about Swedish pop icons



POSTED ONJULY 23, 2020BYROBYN GALLAGHER

Since 2018, ABBA fans have eagerly been awaiting the release of two new recordings from the Swedish pop legends. And now, after many delays, it appears there may be not just two but FIVE new tracks coming out next year. Or so claims the UK music journalist Geoff Lloyd.


Lloyd broke the exciting news on his podcast Reasons To Be Cheerful. He revealed that he’s recently had a Zoom chat with ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus.




Geoff says that Björn confirmed that ABBA has recorded five new songs. This is three more than the previous two new songs the band announced back in 2018.

The new songs were due to be released at the end of 2018. After previous delays, the release has been delayed again due to technical difficulties and — of course — issues from Covid-19 precautions. The podcast claims the new release date will be sometime in 2021.



ABBA are planning to tour the songs using virtual holographic avatars — or ABBAtars — in place of Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid themselves.

Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reached out to ABBA’s manager Görel Hanser. She could not confirm that five new songs were coming out, but stood by earlier comments about the two new tracks. “I can confirm that two songs will be released, but we do not know more right now.”


The long wait for ABBA’s new songs

The new ABBA recordings have been a long time coming. ABBA’s last album, The Visitors, was released in 1981 and their last new music was released in 1983. The group last performed together in 1986.

In 2018, the group dropped the exciting news that they had recorded two new singles, which were set to be released as part of a Christmas special in December 2018.

However, later that year Ulvaeus confirmed that fans would have to wait a little longer for the new material. The Christmas special had been postponed to an unspecified date in 2019 — but that year passed without any new ABBA material being released.

In May this year, Björn told the US broadcaster CNBC that the two new recordings would be coming out “sometime this year” — but now it appears the release will be happening later still.


The two songs are said to be titled “I Still Have Faith in You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down”. Ulvaeus previously described one of the songs as being “like a pop song from the Seventies” and being “very danceable”. The other he described as being “more timeless, more reflective” and that “it is Nordic sad, but happy at the same time.”

ABBA — consisting of Agnetha Fältskog (70), Björn Ulvaeus (75), Benny Andersson (73), and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (74) — is one of the most successful bands of all time. After winning Eurovision 1974 with “Waterloo”, they went on to sell over 400 million albums.



What do you think? Are you excited to hear five new ABBA songs? Or would you just be happy with two new tunes? Tell us your thoughts below!



https://wiwibloggs.com/2020/07/23/five-new-abba-songs-2021/256336/


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ABBA Will Release Five New Songs, With Avatar Tour Expected In 2021
By Bruce Haring

Bruce Haring
pmc-editorial-manager


AP
ABBA will have five new songs on the market in 2021, and has pushed back their plans to do a holographic tour to support the music because of the pandemic.

The Swedish group – Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus – were originally planning to release only two songs for their comeback. But the long process between the original announcement in 2018 and now has allowed them time to do more than planned. It will be the first new ABBA music in 35 years.

Titles include I Still Have Faith In You and Don’t Shut Me Down.

In a statement announcing the new songs, ABBA said, “The decision to go ahead with the exciting ABBA avatar tour project had an unexpected consequence. We all four felt that, after some 35 years, it could be fun to join forces again and go into the recording studio.”

For the tour, ABBA will appear as their younger selves. “They photographed us from all possible angles, they made us grimace in front of cameras, they painted dots on our faces, they measured our heads,” said Bjorn Ulvaeus. “Apparently a cranium doesn’t change with age the way the rest of your body falls apart.”



The long gap between the breakup and today has not diminished the world’s passion for the group.

Last month, Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro reported that a Mamma Mia 3 could be in the cards down the road.

Judy Craymer, who produced the combined $1 billion-plus-grossing feature films Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, as well as the original West End $4 billion-grossing ABBA musical, said that a trilogy was possible. Craymer said that she intended to develop the musical during the COVID-19 shutdown.

“I was meant to have been getting on with that, in my head, during these months. But then I got hit with COVID fog,” says the producer.

https://deadline.com/2020/07/abba-five-new-songs-avatar-tour-in-2021-1202992428/

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Ryktet om hemliga Abba-låtarna – efter samtalet med Ulvaeus
ABBA
Publicerad 23 jul 2020 kl 18.00

Foto: ADAM IHSE/TT / TT NYHETSBYRÅN
Foto: OLLE LINDEBORG / TT / / TT NYHETSBYRÅN

Rykten om att det ska släppas fem nya Abba-låtar nästa år började cirkulera i brittisk press, efter att journalisten Geoff Lloyd sagt det i sin podcast ”Reasons to be cheerful”.

Lloyd menar att Björn Ulvaeus berättat det för honom under en intervju över videolänk – men nu dementeras uppgifterna av bandets manager Görel Hanser.

– Det är två låtar som är aktuella för närvarande och jag vet inte när de ska släppas, det finns inget datum satt, säger Hanser till TT.


Aino Oxblod
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Det var i sin podcast ”Reasons to be cheerful” som den brittiska journalisten Geoff Lloyd berättade att han intervjuat Abba-legendaren Björn Ulvaeus i en timme över videolänk.

– Min anledning till att vara glad är att den här veckan fick jag tillbringa en timme med att prata om The Beatles, vilket är mitt favoritämne att prata om, med Björn Ulvaeus från Abba. Det var fantastiskt. Via Zoom, säger Geoff Lloyd i podcasten.

Lloyd: ”Lovade att den nya Abba-musiken ska vara ute”
Lloyd berättar i ”Reasons to be cheerful” om samtalet med svensken, och artistens liv i karantän på sin ö i Djursholm. På kollegans fråga om de diskuterade Abba under intervjun säger Lloyd att bandet har spelat in fem nya låtar – när det bara tidigare är känt att bandet spelat in två nya låtar ihop.

– De har spelat in fem nya låtar. De skulle ha kommit ut i slutet av förra året, säger han och fortsätter:

– På grund av tekniska problem och pandemin så har det skjutits upp, men han lovade att den nya Abba-musiken ska vara ute 2021.

LÄS MER: Björn Ulvaeus: Därför blev inte Abba-återförening av
Managern Görel Hanser dementerar
Nu går dock bandets manager Görel Hanser ut och dementerar att bandet ska släppa mer än två nya låtar ihop.


– Det är två låtar som är aktuella för närvarande och jag vet inte när de ska släppas, det finns inget datum satt. Förmodligen nästa år men det hänger ihop med avatarprojektet som har blivit försenat på grund av corona och så. Det finns inget datum satt och det finns inget mer än att man pratar om två låtar, säger hon till TT.

Expressen har sökt Björn Ulvaeus, som inte vill kommentera ytterligare.




https://www.expressen.se/noje/ryktet-om-hemliga-abba-latarna-efter-samtalet-med-ulvaeus

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