Happy 79th Birthday, Frida!

 To our beloved princess, 1/2 of ABBA's impeccable vocalists, absolute powerhouse and crazy talented singer...  Dearest Frida, happy, happy 79th birthday!

 

Collection Update

  So it's been a good minute since I've done a proper collection update.  The last one I did was in June last year, and since then amassed a few more ABBA items.  Obviously some of these items I have already talked about considering I've already written reviews for them, but I'll include them in this because they deserve to be included in one big post.

To start, I purchased ABBA's new compilation album The Singles - The First Fifty Years in its CD format.  I haven't actually ripped the CD or listened to it, so I can't tell you if the mixes are different or not, but even if I don't necessarily think this compilation album is worth getting, I'm happy to have it in my collection.  Now the booklet claimed to include rare unseen photos of ABBA, and from what I can tell there's only two unseen photos, and they're just outtakes from photo sessions that we are already aware of.  I personally live for outtakes, especially ones that show the "goofy" side of ABBA, however I'm not sure this compilation album which is supposed to be a bit of a conclusion to ABBA's story, something to round it out, is the place for these "goofy" photos.  I'm not complaining of course, please ABBA provide us more goofy ABBA photos, but you know, just a thought.

This year my hyper fixation was ABBA books, as I really enjoy reading over the weekends, especially big books that take a while to finish.  

The first one is Frida Beyond ABBA, a book that, as I already mentioned in my review, is a must have.  It's amazing, well researched, and such a respectful book and a very good read, too.  Of course I can't help but question a couple of sources, specifically the ones that come from Bright Lights, Dark Shadows, but that aside, this book is in my opinion one of the best ABBA books to exist.

Speaking of Bright Lights, Dark Shadows, I purchased this book specifically because I wanted to know if it was a good book.  I've always seen so much praise for Carl Magnus Palm, people considering everything he says to be true, as if he is the only ABBA expert, which of course is strange when there are things in this book that are not accurate and are counter to things the ABBA members have said....  There is no doubt that this book was well researched and a lot of work was put into it, but I just question the sources, especially where they come from tabloids which are known to be untruthful, and also what are the intentions of the including extremely personal details in this book?  Why do I have do know that Agnetha had intense diarrhea and vomiting after the Boston plane incident?  Out of respect to the people, wouldn't it have made sense to just tell us that she was really sick?  Regardless, I respect Carl Magnus Palm for putting in the effort for this book, especially as the original version of the book was released at a time when there were hardly any "accurate" ABBA books, I just, don't like the book.  Out of curiosity, I have gone ahead and pre-ordered the new and revised version of the book in hopes that maybe things have been edited and changed, and I will definitely compare and contrast them when i get my hands on the book.

I purchased this book due to a misunderstanding on my end, and it's a pretty good book on it's own, telling in great detail how the record companies would promote ABBA's music back in the day.  It was a good read, but also not necessarily my interest area.  However, the section at the end all about Michael B. Tretow's tapes are absolute Gold!  It was written in the style of ABBA The Complete Recording Sessions, a book that I have yet to get my hands on and hope to someday get my hands on a physical copy, and if the section on Michael B. Tretow's tapes was that good, I'm sure the Complete Recording sessions will be awesome!  

Back in February I purchased a couple of things from ABBA the Museum, including this souvenir book.  It's very short, very sweet, but lovely, nonetheless.

Speaking of ABBA the Museum, do you remember back in the day I used to sell cat dress t-shirts on Zazzle?  They would sell like crazy, and shortly before my zazzle shop got shut down, ABBA the Museum came out with their own official ABBA Cat Dress t-shirts, and I couldn't help but feel that I inspired their cat dress t-shirts!  I am not complaining in anyway btw, and this all alleged, but I'm glad that since 2014 ABBA have been selling t-shirts that look so much better than the silly little drawings I did with MS Paint hahahhahaa, but I finally got my hands on the shirts that I may or may not have inspired.  Here they are as modeled by me and my sister. :')

Of course to celebrate ABBA's 50th anniversary, I went ahead and got myself some Waterloo themed apparel.  I just gotta say, as someone who has bought a few different concert/band merch, I'm happy to say that ABBA Voyage and ABBA the Museum's t-shirts are some of the highest quality merch t-shirts I've ever purchased, and I love wearing them.

Late last year I bought this small denim jacket from the ABBA Voyage store.  Very expensive haha, but it's such a cool jacket and I enjoy wearing it.  Unfortunately even the smallest jacket is too large on me, the sleeves are too long and it's a bit oversized, but that's more of a me being too petite, but it would be nice if they sold it in XS.

At ABBA's polar music store, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary, they sold this ABBA necklace with a star guitar charm and a little 50th anniversary charm as well.  Sadly it doesn't feel as high quality as the ABBA necklace as sold at ABBA the Museum that I have worn every single day since buying it, and I saw a lot of reports that it breaks easily, so I don't wear it much at all, but it's still nice.

That is a second stud in my ear not a weird red splotch on my ear haha

The Polar Music Store was also selling official ABBA earrings, which I immediately jumped on!  I have been dying for official ABBA earrings ever since I got my first piercings, so I'm glad they released them.  Although when they first arrived, the ABBA logo on one of them was put on backwards, so I had to flip it myself, but other than that, they're nice and sturdy and I have worn them pretty often.

I decide to add ABBA's 1986 live album to my collection.  I don't listen it often as the studio overdubs bother me, but it's nice to have it in my collection.

I also got ABBA Oro, so I could finally have my hands on all the Spanish language tracks in one place.  Also I just have to say, although I love ABBA's classic logo, it kinda looks out of place on this cover idk way.

I always feel weird including my own custom things amongst collection updates, but I got a poster of my birthday drawings that I did last year.

And although not directly ABBA related, I went ahead and got this CD and booklet on Swedish birdsong that was produced by Benny, as 1. I love Benny, and 2. I love birds, so it was the perfect fit.  Now it sits amongst all of my bird-themed items in my room. :D

So that's all I have for now.  I should mention I have been meaning to do a post like this for a good while now, but alas, the undiagnosed ADHD got the best of me and I kept on procrastinating....

Costume updates...

 2 and a half years ago, I began recreating these 1975 tour outfits again because you know me, I'm never satisfied.  But this project was actually a nightmare to work on, with several rage quits and lots of money spent...  But, they're finally done.  Unfortunately these are not my favorite recreations ever, which I of course explained in more detail on my sewing blog, but it is what it is, and I did the best I could with what I had. :3

3 years of ABBA Voyage

Three years ago today, ABBA's 9th and final studio album to date, Voyage was released! I still will never get over the fact that my favorite band ever, the group that I have pretty much dedicated the last 14 years to, actually made music again - the one thing they had had pretty vowed not to do during their 40 year hiatus.

When Agnetha and Frida sing together on top of Bjorn's crafty lyrics and Benny's impeccable compositions, the result is just magical. Even after 40 years, they still managed to capture the same essence that was ABBA from the 70s and 80s into 10 new tracks.

 Last night while working on this drawing (which I'm aware is not from any of the Voyage sessions but that's because I've already drawn pretty much all the voyage pictures haha), I listened to the entire Voyage album from start to finish.  It's nothing new for me to listen to the album from track 1 all the way to track 10 because I'm always listening to ABBA's albums in full, but as I was listening, I couldn't get over how unequivocally ABBA it is.  Even with 39 years since their last recording session, the sound of ABBA was there.  And I'm not just talking about their voices and the music.

We have songs that are about the close bond that people can have (I Still Have Faith In You), slow ballads as well as upbeat dance-able tracks (Just A Notion) and then some happy tracks with hint of melancholy (Don't Shut Me Down and When You Danced With Me).  We have songs about family - be it relationship/marital/divorce issues (No Doubt About It and Keep An Eye On Dan) or just family life (Little Things.)  We have songs that seem downright depressing until the final chorus of the song when we're left with a hint of hopefulness that maybe things are going to be alright in the end (I Can Be That Woman.)  And we have songs that are profound and philosophical (Ode To Freedom) and songs that are commenting on issues with today's world (Bumblebee.)  Just to name a few recurring themes.

I feel like a lot of people who just know ABBA as the band that provided the music to Mamma Mia or as just the band who has only the tracklist of ABBA Gold, aka uncultured dummies hahahhaha jkjkjkjkjk don't realize that these are all topics that ABBA have covered throughout their prior 8 albums.  I've talked a lot of this in my song analysis series that I will get back to posting when I feel like it, but here are some examples of past ABBA songs that are about the same topics. 

Relationship/Marital/Divorce issues: The Winner Takes It All, Hey Hey Helen

Philosophical: Move On

Social Commentary: What About Livingstone

Family life: Slipping Through My Fingers

Songs that are kinda depressing but then leave us with a hint of hopefulness at the end: One Man, One Woman

Close bond/friendship: The Way Old Friends Do

And these are just the ones that I can name off the top of my head.

Even from the moment I first heard the Voyage album in full, it just felt like an ABBA album.  Everything about it screams ABBA, and I cannot be more grateful to have been there to witness this momentous album, and still to this day listen to this album on the regular. 

Happy 3 years of Voyage, the Album. ❤️