Information AboutAbba |
ABBA was a Swedish Pop group active from 1972 until 1982. The quartet was formed through the friendship of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and their respective girlfriends Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog, and together they topped charts worldwide from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The name "ABBA" is an Acronym formed from the first letters of each group member's given name. They remain a fixture of radio playlists and have reportedly sold more than 370 million records. ABBA, The Book Potiez, Jean-Marie; 15 August 2005; accessed December 2006; claims 350 million records sold as of 2000 It's ABBA on the phone making a lot more money, money, money Sherwin, Adam; '' that has toured worldwide and is in production for a movie version to be released in 2008. 1969–1971: THE FORMATIVE YEARS Benny Andersson was, from the age of 18, a member of The Hep Stars , a popular Swedish pop-rock group that mostly performed covers of international hits. Their live shows were often accompanied by mob scenes. Andersson played keyboards and eventually started writing original compositions for his band, many of which became major hits including "No Response" (#3 in 1965), "Sunny Girl", "Wedding", "Consolation" (all of which hit #1 in 1966), and "Speleman". Björn Ulvaeus from the age of 18 fronted The Hootenanny Singers , a popular Swedish Folk - Skiffle group. Ulvaeus started writing material for his band, and also attempted a brief solo career alongside it. His band and the Hep Stars sometimes crossed paths while touring, and on such an occasion in June 1966 Ulvaeus and Andersson decided to write a song together. This, their first attempt, was " Isn't It Easy To Say ", later recorded by The Hep Stars. Stig Anderson , manager of the Hep Stars and founder of the Polar Music label, saw much potential in the collaboration, and encouraged them to compose more. Both also began occasionally playing with the other's band on stage and on record, although it wasn't until 1969 that the pair wrote and produced some of their first real hits together: "Ljuva Sextiotal" ('Merry Sixties'), recorded by Brita Borg and The Hep Stars' 1969 hit "Speleman". Andersson also had a fruitful songwriting collaboration with Lasse Berghagen , with whom he wrote and submitted the song " Hej, Clown " for the 1969 Melodifestivalen , the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest finals. The song tied for first, but re-voting relegated Andersson's song to #2. {Link without Title} Palm, Carl Magnus, page 70-87 As their bands began to break up, Andersson and Ulvaeus teamed up and eventually recorded their first album together in 1970 , called ''Lycka'' ("Happiness" in Swedish), which comprised original compositions sung by the two men. Ulvaeus still occasionally recorded and performed with the Hootenanny Singers until the summer of 1974, alongside ABBA. Agnetha Fältskog had a #1 record in Sweden when she was only 17 and was soon noted by the critics and songwriters as a talented composer, most of her songs being in the '' Schlager '' style. Fältskog's main inspiration in her early years was singers in the style of Connie Francis . Along with her own compositions, she also recorded Covers of foreign hits and performed them on tours in Swedish Folkpark s. She became one of the most popular Swedish female pop singers of the time. She even submitted a self-written song for Melodifestivalen when only 17 (" Försonade "), which was rejected. Agnetha had briefly met Anni-Frid Lyngstad for the first time during a TV show in early 1968, and Björn Ulvaeus at a concert venue a few months later. During filming of a Swedish TV special in March 1969, she met Ulvaeus again, and they eventually became a couple and married in 1971. In 1973, Fältskog starred as Mary Magdalene in the original Swedish production of '' Jesus Christ Superstar '' and attracted favourable reviews. Between 1967 and 1975, Fältskog released five studio albums. {Link without Title} Palm, Carl Magnus, page 112-129 and 135-6 Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad sang from the age of 13 with various dance bands and worked mainly in a jazz-oriented cabaret style. In the summer of 1967, she won a national talent competition, and then signed with EMI . Lyngstad released several singles and performed regularly in the folkpark circuit and made appearances on radio and TV. She had met Björn Ulvaeus briefly in 1963 during a talent contest, and Agnetha Fältskog during a TV show in early 1968 and finally linked up with her future colleagues in 1969. On May 1 , 1969 , she participated in the Melodifestivalen , where she met Andersson for the first time. A few weeks later they met again during a concert tour in southern Sweden and they soon became a couple. Andersson also invited Lyngstad to sing backing vocals with Fältskog on the Björn & Benny debut album, ''Lycka'' (October 1970), and during this time he also started producing Lyngstad's debut album, ''Frida'', which was released in March 1971 and praised by critics. Lyngstad also played in several revues and cabaret shows in Stockholm between 1969 and 1973. After ABBA formed, she recorded another successful album in 1975, '' Frida Ensam '', which included the original Swedish rendition of " Fernando ", which became a huge hit in Scandinavia before the English version was recorded. {Link without Title} Palm, Carl Magnus, page 41-58 First performance as foursome -and "Festfolk" An attempt at combining their talents started in April 1970 when the two couples went on holiday together to the island of Cyprus . What started as singing for fun on the beach, ended up as an improvised live performance in front of the United Nations soldiers stationed on the island; - the future ABBA stars first ever performance. Björn & Benny was at this time recording their first album together: "Lycka" ('Happiness') which was to be released in September 1970. Their girlfriends added backing vocals on several tracks, and the idea of them all working together, saw them launch their own stage act "Festfolk" (meaning in Swedish both 'Party People' and 'Engaged Couple') on November 1, 1970 in Gothenburg . The cabaret show attracted good reviews. Among the odd numbers, the foursome performed the B&B hit Hej, Gamle Man - and solo numbers from respective albums - but the foursome didn't feel like working together, and soon concentrated on individual projects again. {Link without Title} Palm, Carl Magnus, page 160 1971–1973: FROM "FESTFOLK" TO "BJöRN, BENNY, AGNETHA & ANNI-FRID" TO "ABBA" After the 1970 release of Andersson & Ulvaeus' album "Lycka", two more B&B singles were released in Sweden: "Det Kan Ingen Doktor Hjälpa" and "Tänk Om Jorden Vore Ung", with more prominent vocals by Anni-Frid and Agnetha, and moderate chart success. Anni-Frid released her first studio album "Frida", and performed on her own; Agnetha released her fourth album and married Björn July 6th 1971. Benny, Björn and Agnetha started performing together on a regular basis this summer. " ("Say It with a Song"), and they chose newcomer Lena Anderson to perform. The song came third, convincing Stig he was on the right track. The song became a huge hit in Sweden. {Link without Title} Palm, Carl Magnus, page 174 B&B Success in Japan The first signs of foreign success came as a surprise, as the Björn & Benny single She's My Kind Of Girl was released by chance by Epic in Japan in March 1972 , giving the duo a Top 10 hit. Two more B&B singles were released in Japan: "Merry-Go-Round" and "Love Has Its Ways". {Link without Title} Palm, Carl Magnus, page 182 1972: "People Need Love": the first 'real' ABBA song Ulvaeus and Andersson persevered with their songwriting and experimented with new sounds and vocal arrangements. One of the songs they came up with was "singles chart and #117 on Record World 's singles chart. Billed as Björn & Benny (with Svenska Flicka), it was released there on Playboy Records . However, according to Stig Anderson, "People Need Love" could have been a much bigger American hit, but a small label like Playboy Records did not have the distribution resources to meet the demand for the single from retailers and radio programmers .Interview with ''Songwriter'' magazine, 6, 1981, pp.23-25.
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