ABBA E-Book

Jean-Marie Potiez

• Herausgeber: Plexus Publishing Ltd.
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

More than 40 years since their triumphant victory at the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo in 1974, ABBA's unfailing popularity and unique musical legacy has endured. Fully illustrated throughout with unique photographs and rare memorabilia, ABBA: The Scrapbook gives a complete history of one of the best-loved pop groups of all time: including their early days in Sweden, the outrageous 1970s fashion and style of ABBA, and the eventual break-up of the group. This visual biography charts the amazing story of how ABBA conquered the world.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

AGNETHA

BJÖRN

BENNY

ANNI-FRID

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

ABBA GLAM

1974-75 TOUR

1975

VIGGSÖ

1976

1977 TOUR

1977

ABBA-THE MOVIE

1978

1979

1979 TOUR

1980

1981

1982

ABBA & THE CITY

AFTER ABBA

Since writing ABBA: The Book, I have wanted to create the most beautiful book published on ABBA, to pay homage to Anni-Frid, Björn, Benny and Agnetha and to thank them in my own way for all the pleasure they have given me since 6 April 1974. It is true to say that they actually changed my life! Even though they separated in 1982, the magic of ABBA lives on and their songs have the same emotional impact on me.

If since the 70s they have made the whole planet sing and dance, it is not by chance but because their music and good humour have put colour into our often grey and aggressive world. The cinema has paid them homage, their songs are sung by numerous artists and a new generation has fallen under the spell of ABBA. So allow me, through this book, to thank them in the best way I can and to share with you my passion and enthusiasm for the ABBA years!

I have put together ABBA: The Scrapbook with all my heart and energies and I wanted this new book to be a visual celebration that would take us back to the mid-70s when ABBA were performing and travelling the world with their magical music. I hope that ABBA: The Scrapbook will make you live (or relive) those wonderful times!

Thank you ABBA and thank you readers!

Jean-Marie PotiezParis, October 2008.

At the age of sixteen, Agnetha made her début as a vocalist with a local dance band from Huskvarna called Bernt Enghardt’s Orchestra. It was during this time that she broke up with her boyfriend Björn Lilja, which inspired her to write ‘Jag Var Så Kär’ (I Was So In Love), a song that would soon catapult her to fame. A demo version was recorded and sent to the CBS-Cupol record producer Karl-Gerhard Lundkvist, who was very impressed by Agnetha’s voice. A contract was signed and Agnetha recorded four songs at the Philips Studio in Stockholm on 16 October 1967. One month later, the single ‘Fölm Med Mig/Jag Var Så Kär’ was released. It stormed into the Swedish Svensktoppen chart at No. 3 on 28 January 1968. A star was born.

Agnetha and her boyfriend Björn Lilja, who inspired the song ‘Jag Var Så Kär’.

Agnetha was engaged for a year to the young producer Dieter Zimmerman. She recorded eight singles in German between 1968 and 1972 but never made a breakthrough in Germany.

‘I had a green dress with polka dots and boots when we went to Cupol. Sven-Olof Walldoff was the arranger and we recorded four songs in one day. They took pictures for the covers the same day too. I was posing; it felt really strange.’

‘As long as I can remember, I’ve had a need to write my own songs. I still think the melodies are OK, but many of the rhymes are terrible. I try to excuse myself by saying I was so young.’

AGNETHA AND BJÖRN — THE POP ROMANCE OF THE YEAR!

Björn with his mother Aina.

Björn (from Västervik), Gunilla Höjer and Lars Wallman (from Norrköping) during a talent contest organised by Sveriges Radio in 1963.

‘I was in the army for about a year — it should have been eighteen months but I managed to get out early — but I was still doing some gigs with the Hootenanny Singers.’ BJÖRN

Björn with Stig Anderson in 1969.

HOOTENANNY SINGERS

This sensational Swedish song group consists of four young men from Västervik, a small town in eastern Sweden. They were discovered in a nationwide talent hunt by the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation in the autumn of 1963.

They quickly caught on with Swedish radio listeners and the record-buying public and were put under contract by Polar Music AB in Stockholm. Bengt Bernhag and Stig Anderson, Polar’s producers, who had previously discovered such local artists as The Spotnicks and brought them to fame, became interested in them.

Today, the Hootenanny Singers are a big name not only in Sweden, but all over Scandinavia. Their records have been on the bestseller lists ever since the first one appeared in January 1964. They are more and more sought after for television and radio appearances in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. No doubt, soon they will have conquered all of Europe.

(POLAR MUSIC press file — 1965)

‘I got my first guiter when I was eleven, and at grammar school I had decided to get an education as a Master of Engineering. This changed rapidly when we got our first hit with the Hootenanny Singers. It became fun to be an idol.’

‘Benny and I had the same musical tastes. When he started speaking, our ideas were so similar that it was like I was listening to myself.’

‘I had the impression that Agnetha and I had known each other for a long time.’

‘Lennart Hegland remembered me from an amateur contest in Bromma, so when the Hep Stars’ piano player had to leave the group he called me and asked if I wanted to play with them. After that night I was a member of the Hep Stars.’

In 1964, Benny joined Sweden’s nearest equivalent to the Beatles, the Hep Stars. He grew his hair long and became a teen idol alongside the band’s singer, Svenne Hedlund.

‘I wrote “Sunny Girl“ at a hotel in Kongsvinger in Norway while Hep Stars were touring. I like the melody but the lyrics still make me embarrassed. I didn’t know that much English so I had to write it with a dictionary in my hand.’

Svenne Hedlund

Christer Pettersson

Benny Andersson

Janne Frisck

Lennart Hegland

Lars (Lasse) Berghagen and Benny wrote a number of songs together. Among them were ‘It’s Been A Long Long Time’ and ‘Det Finns En Stad’.

‘When I write a song it starts with me getting a melody in my head. If I forget about it, it means that it wasn’t any good. If I do remember it, I write English lyrics to it. I haven’t dared to write Swedish lyrics yet.’

February 1967 — during the filming of the Habari-Safari film in Africa.

3 September 1967 — Anni-Frid won the Nya Ansikten national song contest in Stockholm with ‘En Ledig Dag’. On the same day, she made her television début on the very popular Hylands Höma programme.

She immediately captivated the viewers with her magical voice and her grace. The following day she signed a contract with EMI Sweden and had her first single released a few weeks later.

‘At the time, I was probably more into singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Peggy Lee. Benny was very important when it came to moulding my musical conceptions along more contemporary lines.’

1 March 1969 — Anni-Frid took part in the Melodifestivalen. Her song ‘Härlig Är Vår Jord’ was wellreceived by the audience but she finished in joint fourth position with singer Ann-Louise Hanson.