Bright Lights, Dark Shadows - The Real Story of ABBA???? :O :O :O

When I was a kid, first getting into my ABBA obsession, I would spend literal hours browsing the internet finding all that I could about these four Swedes that had taken over my entire life.  I would compile lists of books I wanted, compilation albums I wanted, and would take those lists to the library and request them to inter-library-loan them, only to be told that No, they couldn't get them.   My library was able to get some, but not all, but that didn't stop me.  If I couldn't get my hands on the actual, physical book, then I would browse Amazon.com and read the snippets they had available, as well as listen to 30 second snippets of songs on Amazon.  (Yes I could have listened to songs on YouTube, but listen, I had very strict parents and among the things they didn't like was me going on YouTube and watching every single ABBA video that existed.  Eventually not even that could stop me, but in the beginning I had to respect their no unfiltered access to YouTube rule.)  Anyway, among the books that I was reading snippets of was Carl Magnus Palm's Bright Lights, Dark Shadows - The Real Story Of ABBA.  I remember the couple of page sample I read was on the page about Bjorn's beginnings, and how as a kid he once tried to sell his younger sister, and while I could never read beyond that page, I always remembered that little tidbit.

I've currently been on an ABBA book reading spree, trying to get my hands on all the books that I wanted to read as a kid, and one of my most recent purchases was this 2014 revised edition of this totally accurate and true story of ABBA written by Carl Magnus Palm.  And it's a really well-written, well researched book, but as I was reading it, I kinda wasn't really liking it.  I mean, there's plenty I did enjoy, specifically this one quote from Svenne Hedlund about the first time he met Agnetha in 1969, and how he had never heard that many bad words come out of the mouth of a cute blonde girl hahahahaha.  

But what bothers me is the lack of sources.  Yes he has a list of sources at the end of the books, and I recognize some quotes from various interviews, but like, there are quotes in the book but it's never said where these specific quotes.  It's always Frida said this, Agnetha said this, Bjorn recalled, Stig snapped, but no information on how someone like me could find these quotes.  Like imagine if it said, "Frida recalled in a 1977 interview," or "Benny stated in a 1994 interview," etc.  

Which also brings me to the sources as well.  Listed in the sources at the end of the book are a lot of various magazines, and among them are tabloid magazines from various countries, which has me thinking, how valid are these sources?  If they truly come from tabloids, did the ABBA members or other people involved actually say these things?  

Growing up, when I would accompany my Mom to the grocery store, I would often see so many tabloid magazines with raging headlines like, "The Queen [of England] Is Dying!" (the amount of times the Queen of England was said to be dying decades before she actually passed away are very concerning btw) or "William Will Be The Next King!" or "Selena Gomez Seen Recovering From Kidney Transplant" despite the fact that by the time she announced that she had a kidney transplant and the public was made aware of the situation, she was already recovered, etc, etc.  Or like yesterday at Walmart, I saw a headline about how Melania Trump is Feuding With Husband Donald Trump!  And I'm sure if I were to actually open these magazines, I would find loads of quotes and statements that just aren't true and were very likely never said by the people mentioned in the tabloids.  So, did the ABBA members actually say the things that were said and how can it be proven that they were actually said?  Just because it's from an interview in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s doesn't mean it's true.  Idk.

Uhm, now I have always been confused about the this one account of ABBA's 1979 Boston Flight Fiasco, a story that is actually really close to my heart because, while it was extremely traumatic for the ABBA members, specifically Agnetha, it marks the one and only time ABBA ever stepped food in my home state.  I have been to that airport, and every time I pass by that airport on the highway, I think, "Omg ABBA were here in 1979!"  But anyway, Carl Magnus Palm talks about the time that Agnetha was traumatized from the flight, and after playing the Boston show that evening, had to cancel the Washington DC show and hid away in her room as she was physically sick and then Stig came pounding on her door, and this information seems to come from ABBA's Tour Manager Bosse Norling, but interestingly, Bosse Norling is not listed among the people who was interviewed for the book, so where did this quote come from, and why does it sound so sensationalized?  I don't know, is it possible that it is not accurate?  Like I have tried and tried for years to try and find a source for those little details after seeing that scene badly recreated in that garbage TV documentary, When All Is Said And Done, and I still have yet to find any source for it other that Carl Magnus Palm's book.  So yeah.... Also, if the whole "Agnetha locking everyone out of her room, refusing to let anyone in, not even Stig who was angrily trying to get in, and then only letting a doctor come in who then told everyone that Agnetha was sick with the flu and was vomiting and having indigestion" comes from Bosse Norling, doesn't that go contrary to Bosse Norling telling a journalist from the weekly magazine "Se", "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL people in the world don't sweat, says ABBA's tour leader Bosse Norling. You're not allowed to take pictures of them like that.  ABBA do sweat! Of course they do, after two tough hours on stage. But their image - fresh, clean and good - mustn't be disturbed."    Just something to think about.

Also I would think this book would have included information on how after ABBA cancelled their Washington DC show, ABBA fan Amy Carter, aka the daughter of the president at the time, was disappointed so Benny, Bjorn, and Frida got to visit the White House to meet Amy Carter.  I'd think that's a pretty big deal, but there's no mention of that either.  It's like actual positive and pretty impressive things in ABBA's life just isn't sensational enough, so why bother mentioning it in the first place?

Another thing I am confused by is the mention of John McCain, who was apparently a big ABBA fan, using ABBA's Take A Chance On Me as part of his political campaign in 2008.  Carl Magnus Palm quotes Benny as saying something along the lines of not wanting John McCain to use their song because anyone associated with George Bush is bad, and I know CMP has the benefit of accessing Swedish articles and news reports, but I have also been looking all over to try and find a source of Benny saying that and can't find it.  All I can find on the topic is this interview from John McCain, saying: "It's more difficult to play 'let's take a chance on me' than I thought," the four-term Arizona senator told reporters aboard his campaign plane.  "It gets expensive in a big hurry and if you're not careful you can alienate some Swedes," he joked. "If word gets out to Stockholm that we're using Abba music, then there'll be a worsening in U.S.-Swedish relations."  And then this article claimed ABBA sent a cease and desist, but again, can't find a source for that.  So like, idk.  

I've mentioned before when reading prior Carl Magnus Palm books that he seems to have something against Stig Anderson.  And while that is still true for this book, like every quote from Stig has to be a "Stig snapped," or "snapped Stig angrily" and the like, it actually handled the whole ABBA vs. Stig lawsuit fairly respectfully and the book did positively talk about Stig's efforts a lot, with less of a "Stig did okay here but remember, he is bad and did bad things!" mentality that I was picking up on in Carl Magnus Palm's ABBA at 50 book.  

If this book claims to be the 100% truly accurate story of ABBA, why is it that when Carl Magnus Palm discusses a song and then says, "Bjorn says this song is not inspired by real life" does he then act like what Bjorn said is not true?  Like specifically on the song One Man, One Woman, CMP says the song felt too raw and real to be nothing but a fictional song despite the fact that Bjorn denies it.  Also CMP claims that Benny's singing voice was bad and too nasally which is why he never sang lead again on an ABBA song, but my understanding was that Benny didn't like his singing voice all that much?  Also Carl Magnus Palm will basically insert his opinion on whether an ABBA song, namely ABBA's early songs from the Ring Ring and Waterloo eras, is bad and dull, but unless the ABBA members say they think the song was bad, then you can't say the song is bad in this truthful accurate story of ABBA.  He also says that the songs with Bjorn and Benny's vocals just didn't age well because their voices are bad when compared to Agnetha and Frida, and I can't disagree more.  Like, you're really trying to say that amazing songs like "Another Town, Another Train" and "Rock 'N' Roll Band" are bad?  I know I come from the type of obsessed fan that believes that every ABBA song is good, as you can tell by my recent posts on ABBA songs throughout this year, but to say that a song didn't age well because you the author doesn't think it aged well doesn't mean it didn't age well.  Like, I can say a song is good and amazing or a song is bad and terrible, but that doesn't make it fact.  A song is a song, and at the time of release, I bet the ABBA members all thought the songs they had just recorded were good.

Also, I mentioned in my review on the ABBA documentary, ABBA: Against The Odds how that was the only thing I've seen to actually point out how disrespectful it is to only see Agnetha as a sexy butt, and this book absolutely talks about how Agnetha's butt was glorified, but it doesn't really talk about how disgusting it is to treat a woman like that.  In fact, Carl Magnus Palm often refers to Agnetha as the SeXy one, Frida as the depressed one, Bjorn as the low-confidence one, and Benny is just Benny hahaha, and basically uses these character traits to basically represent them throughout the entire book.  Like, Agnetha will always be the sexy one, Frida will always be the depressed one, and Bjorn will always be the one with low self-confidence.  They can just never break free of those molds.  And I'm not doubting that Frida allegedly has depression and Bjorn allegedly has low self-confidence, I'm just saying these things are not what defines them. 

Overall though, despite my concerns and questions on the validity of Carl Magnus Palm's sources, I did enjoy reading the book.  I felt like I got to know the ABBA members a bit as people and not just as the way they presented themselves publicly to promote their music. I got a feel for the members individually, and I especially enjoyed the part of the book about the ABBA members early childhoods and beginnings, the early days of their pre-ABBA careers, etc.  Though the one thing that cracks me up is how wildly inaccurate the last chapter of the book ended up being, with quotes from Benny talking about how an ABBA reunion is basically never going to happen, and basically saying how ABBA reuniting is completely off the table, and lo and behold, ABBA did reunite, not just for recording the two new songs in 2017 and then the whole rest of the Voyage album, followed by the premiere of ABBA Voyage the show in 2022, but also in 2016 when the four of them were at the Mamma Mia! the party premiere and all stood together for like three minutes.  

So yeah, those are my thoughts.  And again, just to reiterate, there is no doubt that a lot of time and research was put into this book, and I sincerely applaud the effort that Carl Magnus Palm put into this book.  I just wasn't all that impressed.  The book just felt too sensationalized to me.

So with that, I'd give this book a 6.5/10.  Just my opinion of course, this doesn't mean with 100% truthful, real accuracy that this book is bad. ;)