Happy 81st birthday, Björn!

 Today we wish our dear Björn Ulvaeus a very, very happy 81st birthday! Happy birthday, Björn! 🎉🎉🎉

 

Gemini & Geminism - A Deep Dive

 I've been meaning to do an in depth post/review on the duo Gemini and their albums for quite a while now, but I am a procrastinator...  

For this biographical portion, this is mostly written up from memory, and while I believe it to be accurate, if there are errors I do apologize.

 Gemini is the name of sister and brother Karin and Anders Glenmark's musical act in the 1980s.  The two of them and ABBA have intersected plenty of time prior to the creation of Gemini.  Together with their aunt and uncle Bruno Glenmark and Ann-Louise Hanson, Karin and Anders would compete against ABA in both the 1973 and 1974 Melodifestivalen.  Bruno Glenmark had a recording studio in the basement of his home, and ABBA would go on to record parts of their 2nd studio album in that recording studio.  Anders even played the guitar on Money Money Money, and he and Karin both provided backing vocals for Frida's Ensam and Agnetha's Elva Kvinnor I Ett Hus albums, and Karin and her aunt Ann-Louise Hanson also sang in the backing choir for some of Ted Gardestad's albums, which Agnetha and Frida both contributed to.

  All of this to say, Karin and Anders were both really prominent musicians, and the amount of work that they did outside of what I listed above is quite incredible.

  In 1982, Bjorn and Benny were bitten by the musical bug, and together with Tim Rice, started conceptualizing a story based off the Cold War, a love triangle of sorts set in the world of chess players and chess competitions.  Bjorn and Benny would develop the music, and Tim Rice would write the lyrics, and they gathered a group of prominent musical vocalists to sing the parts of the various characters for what would become the concept album, like Elaine Paige (Tim Rice's then partner), Tommy Korberg, Murray Head, and Barbara Dickson.   But before that, they had to actually write the songs.  

In typical Bjorn and Benny fashion, they tried to recycle melodies that they had tried to use as ABBA songs but simply never worked in their minds.  The most well known one being Just Like That, which got separated into two different songs that they tried to fit into the Chess story somehow.  The verses for Just Like That were harvested into a demo that had multiple different titles and versions, but the most well-known one online is When The Waves Roll Out To Sea. This song did not end up making it into the concept album or into the complete musical, however in 2002 when Bjorn and Benny worked the musical into a Swedish version, the song did get put back, this time called Glom Mig Om Du Kan.  

The chorus for Just Like That was also worked into a separate track, still called Just Like That, with whole new verses, and a demo version exists, sang by Elaine Paige.  However, this song also did not make it into the musical and never did.

If you're interested, I have a more detailed video on the Chess demos (with some facts wrong, like the inclusion of Glom Mig Om Du Kan for the Swedish version of Chess, but I did not know that at the time of making the video). 

For a lot of the demo recordings for the songs from Chess, Bjorn and Benny worked with Karin and Anders to provide vocals.  They even had Agnetha step in for one of the tracks, Every Good Man, that went on to become Heaven Help My Heart in the completed musical. (I've heard it said that Every Good Man was already an existing ABBA demo, hence why it's Agnetha on the track, but most accounts seem to state that it was recorded new for Chess.)  Anders Glenmark would record the demo vocals for One Night In Bankok, and - I'm not 100% sure if this is accurate but I've heard it said so I'll mention it here - they liked his performance so much that's why his vocals ended up staying in the official version of the song, where as Murray Head only sang the verses.  Ultimately the chorus ended up being the part that stood out the most - even my Dad remembers hearing One Night In Bankok play on the radios here in the US in ~1984/85, and little did everyone know that it's in fact Anders Glenmark they were hearing even though the song was credited solely to Murray Head.

Anders and Karin would go on to provide backing vocals to the entire Chess concept album, and can I just say that their vocals are honestly one of my favorite things about the album? 

On a quick digression and tangent - I realize that I really hate the way the backing vocals ensemble are done in musicals.  That's part of the reason why I hate Mamma Mia musicals - it never sounds beautiful or harmonious, instead just sounds annoying and I absolutely despise how ABBA's beautiful songs can be made to sound so ugly and so much is to blame on the ensemble.  I also get that for some weird reason that I will never understand, that is the way musicals are done.  And I came to this realization because I have been trying desperately to enjoy the performances for the new Chess on Broadway, but the ensemble, who I am sure are doing a good job, just ruin it for me.  And every time I try to listen to the cast album, even with superb singers Lea Michelle, Aaron Tivett, and Nicholas Christopher (his performance on Endgame though - Fantastic!), it just does not compare to the vocals from Karin and Anders. 

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  Now, after the Chess concept album was released, Bjorn and Benny still had plenty of material left over from Chess that had the potential to become good songs.  So Gemini was born.  Anders was a good songwriter in his own right, and would write several songs, together with Bjorn and also with Ingela "Pling" Forsman, who had written songs with Agnetha in the past.

 Gemini's first album, simply titled Gemini, was released in 1985.  The album is very 80s, lots of synths, and in my personal opinion, a lot of the songs are quite slow, but they're pretty good.  I personally love actual 80s music (not the stereotypical 80s sound that shows like Stranger Things personify - but actually music from the 1980s) - it always reminds me of listening to the oldies radio when I was a kid, so I do really like it.

When I was younger and just getting into ABBA and would spend hours scouring YouTube and Wikipedia, I came across Gemini, and of course I was a hater.  I think in some childish way, I thought Bjorn and Benny had replaced ABBA with Gemini, putting their sole focus into this band rather than continuing with ABBA, and I was very stupid for thinking that.  I hate that I had this predisposed negativity that stayed with me until I actually gave the album a proper listen, and when I did, my mind was changed almost instantaneously.

I don't want to go about comparing this album to Bjorn and Benny's work with ABBA - constantly comparing them to ABBA is part of why I couldn't make myself listen to it for so long.  The fact that album includes a new version of the song Slowly, that Bjorn and Benny had given to Frida for her 1984 Shine album, as well as the new reworked version of Just Like That, the version that resused the chorus from the original ABBA demo, as well as the closing track Another You, Another Me that honestly to my ears sounds like it could have been an ABBA song, doesn't help with that.

These are all my opinions obviously and how I interpret the songs - if you interpret the songs differently that's fine as well. 

1. Slowly - This song is written by Bjorn and Benny, and honestly follows a pretty standard B&B formula about a relationship falling apart.  It's very reminiscent of One Man, One Woman, talking about how the love in the marriage has simply faded away and there's nothing left, but unlike OMOW, there is no sense of hope that they can work through this, and it's honestly devastated. Although Frida had already released a version of this song the year before, Gemini's features slightly different lyrics.  One change being in the opening verse.  In Frida's version of the song, she's singing about her partner, "We take so much for granted, he and I/We share a life in one dimension", while in Gemini's, they're singing directly to the partner, "We take so much for granted you and I/We share a life in one dimension."  And in the third verse/pre-chorus, Frida sings "I'll be the woman in his arms tonight, if he should need someone to hold him tight. He's like a child", but in the Gemini version, they sing "If you need someone in your arms tonight, I'll be that someone but it won't feel right, cause something's wrong."  I love both versions of the song obviously, but I gotta say, especially in that last pre-chorus, the lyrics kind of hit harder.  I like how the energy of the song builds after each chorus, with end of the song pretty much ending in a cry.  It's a good song, and I really like it. 

2. Too Much Love Is Wasted - Another Bjorn and Benny classic. Karin takes lead vocals on this song, which is another song about a relationship on the verge of burning out, but it's at least a little more hopeful, as the narrator realizes that this is a repeating cycle and she's determined to try and push through.  I wouldn't say it's a super upbeat song, but it is very reminiscent of ABBA's happy music paired with sad lyrics.  The song ends with the line "I lost one lover, and I don't intend to lose another..." before fading out, and every time I listen to it, for whatever reason it always makes me think of the ending of Don't Shut Me Down, with the last line being "I have learnt to cope, and love and hope is why I am here now" before it fades out.  I think this song is my favorite on this album, and it's really pleasant.

3. Slow Emotion - the first upbeat song on the album! Written by Bjorn and Benny, the song features Anders on lead vocals.  The song seems to be about someone who is kind of slow to warm up to love or pursuing a relationship, and they've met someone who is the complete opposite and is very quick to make a move.  The narrator is a bit shocked and surprised by how fast the other person is moving, and is hoping they'll wait for him to warm up.  I honestly wouldn't compare this to any ABBA song - it sounds unique enough, works well, although the lyrics are a little simple, and is pretty straight forward.

4. Just Like That - Although I don't think I'll ever agree with Bjorn and Benny that their original ABBA version of Just Like That sounds disjointed, this version of the song has grown on me.  It's basically the same story of ABBA's version - about a short-lived, one-night stand possibly, relationship that was always supposed to be temporary, but the narrator has caught feelings and now their entire life is in shambles from it.  Karin sings lead on the song, and she is able to capture the feelings of yearning in her vocals.  Just like I'm able to enjoy both Frida's and Gemini's version of Slowly, I have learned to love both versions of Just Like That as well.

5. Falling -  The first song on the album to be written by Anders Glenmark together with "Pling".  The song is about someone trying to break free from a relationship that for some reason they keep on going back to even though they know they're not changing their past behaviors.  And the narrator just chooses to ignore the past issues and try again, and the cycle just repeats "every time you look at me, I am falling."  The song is simple, but t's very much about relationship dynamics that I personally enjoy writing about in my own personal books, so I like it a lot.

6. Have Mercy - Written by Bjorn and Benny, this song is quite slow and is a plea or prayer for mercy as the world is in turmoil, with violence and misdeeds prominent.  The lyrics kind of remind me of "Ode To Freedom" from Voyage a little bit, although Ode to Freedom is a little more hopeful, where as Have Mercy doesn't really offer any thoughts of hopefulness.  Anders and Karin each sing a verse on the song, singing the chorus together.  The song kinda gives me religious vibes haha, but also it's kinda fitting to today's day and age with how horrible world affairs have been lately. 

7. Live On The Love - Written by Bjorn and Anders Glenmark.  I honestly would have loved if the two of them collaborated together more.  The song is very interesting - it seems to also be about a kind of tumultuous relationship with lots of unsurenesss.  Possibly it's about cheating, how their partner comes home late after the kids are asleep, and the narrator is aware that they're losing their partner, but is tied between trying to act cordial or let the relationship continue to die, and this relationship is just painful. Each chorus is a bit different, which is unique, and it's a very interesting situation.  Musically I find it a bit... boring...?  but it's not a bad song at all.

8. In The Middle Of Nowhere - Written by Anders Glenmark and "Pling", I think the song is about trying to get back to a relationship that has already ended, but they're trying to reach out and follow after the relationship, as their love has grown again for that person.  I'm going to be honest, I'm a little confused by the lyrics, like what does "Writing every little word in calligraphy" mean...?  But I like the sound, the chorus is fun, and I do like how Anders and Karin alternate singing each verse.

9. Another You, Another Me - written by Bjorn and Benny, I think this song is about meeting again after maybe initially meeting and the relationship not working out.  But now, here they are, "Another you, another me", and they've changed, and now somehow they're in love and everything's just working out.  The music itself sounds kinda sad, but the lyrics seem to be telling a positive story.  Similarly to the way slowly is structured, after each chorus, the song builds and adds even more energy.  And the final chorus has Karin singing so strong, and it just sounds amazing, especially on the final "And I can't see. mo I can't tell you how it came to be, another you, another me."  I think this song is a very good closing track, and very powerful, and it does sound like it could have been an ABBA song in another life.  But it is beautiful as is, and Karin does a fantastic job on this track.

I feel like album is generally pretty consistent sonically and lyrically.  The album isn't telling a story, but rather singing about all types of  relationships, good and bad, and overall I like it.  This is probably one of the first times I really delved into the lyrics, mostly I just listen to this album because I like the overall sound, so this was nice.

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Two years later, in 1987, Gemini released their second and final studio album, titled Geminism.  It features mostly songs by Bjorn and Benny, with two by Anders and Ingela "Pling" Forsman, and one by Anders and Bjorn together.  I actually listen to this album a lot more than I do the first one and it's interesting because I only listened to this album for the first time in December.

1. TLC -  This song is fun. A long time ago I saw their performance on Jacob's Stege and thought they were so weird, but I love this song now.  Written by Bjorn and Benny, it's about someone who always makes mistakes, they get into fights, they drink, they smoke, and their poor partner has to put up with it, but the narrator promises they'll change and all they want is tender loving care.  Again I'm not trying to constantly compare this to ABBA, but it's kinda like the same story as I Can Be That Woman from Voyage, but maybe that same woman before she hits rock bottom.  The music is upbeat, but the lyrics are a bit sad if you think about it.  But on a whole, the music is fun, and kinda sounds tropical.

2. Beat The Heat -  This song kinda reminds me of a performance I'd hear in Glee, and it's funny because I haven't even seen Glee so maybe it's just my brain making that association, but it's all I can think about when I hear it.  Written by Anders Glenmark and "Pling", and sang by Anders, the song seems to be about it being crazy hot in the summer, the weather is sweltering, but the narrator is also feeling the heat as they're pining for someone, and they want to beat the heat by getting heated together.  The song is kinda kooky, but it's also quite fun.  Also the instruments in some parts like just before the chorus make me think of Under Attack by ABBA.

3. Mio My Mio - I feel like this song is kind of out of place for this album, as it was written by Bjorn and Benny for a children's fantasy film Mio In The Land of Faraway, based off a book by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.  I haven't personally watched this film, but it features some pretty big names, Christopher Lee and Chistian Bale, and also Timothy Bottoms who I know as the Dad from the American Girl Chrissa Stands Strong film.  The song is sang by Karin, and it is a very beautiful song, very spiritual sounding, kind of ethereal.  Karin also does the vocals for the song in Swedish and Russian!

4.  Ghost Town - Written by Bjorn and Benny, this song is kind of like a nightmare horror story.  Tim Rice mentioned in a podcast that this song was also recycled from Chess outtakes, and I think I can hear that.  It almost sounds like it reuses some elements from One Night In Bankok, but that could just be me.  Sang by Karin, the song recounts a past encounter where the narrator gets into car trouble, her car dies, and she's stranded in a ghost town for a bit, but it's a literal ghost town.  Like she hears sounds, voices, but no one is there except for her.  It's very weird haha, and not my favorite track on the album, but it's quite unique at least.

5. I Am The Universe - Written by Bjorn and Benny, this song is yet another "I Am The [..]" to add to Bjorn and Benny's repertoire. ([I am the" Tiger, I Am The City, I Am The Seeker, etc.)  Its also kind of spiritual and philosophical.  I don't really understand it either, but it's pretty.

6.  Sniffin' Out The Snakes - This song is written by Anders and "Pling", and is very weird to me.  I like the chorus, but the verses are kinda weird.  I'm guessing the song is about someone's partner cheating and lying, but the narrator is good at "sniffing out the snakes" and will find out and uncover her secrets.  A slight digression, but I've been listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac songs lately, specifically from Tango In the Night and Rumors, and most of the songs that Lindsey Buckingham sings leads on I like to call "Weird Lindsy Buckingham songs", and this song kinda reminds of a weird Lindsey Buckingham song.  

7. I'm A Bitch When I See Red - Written by Bjorn and Benny, this song is about a woman who likes the domestic life, wants to raise a family, but her husband is cheating on her with "another woman and she's better than me" and she's had enough of it.  So she's going to fight.  I can't tell if she's fighting to keep the man, like is she planning to compete with the other woman, or is she going to fight her husband?  The last verse is, "When the novelty's wearing off, Where d'you think you're gonna be. When you find she wants a home and kids, just like me/When she finds you're not the man she thought you were, but a liar and a cheat/I can hardly wait. My revenge will be so sweet."  And I can't tell who she's plotting her revenge against.  The husband?  The other woman?  Are they working together?  I don't know, but it's interesting.

8. There's No Way To Fool A Heart - Written by Anders Glenmark and "Pling" - first of all I LOVE THIS SONG.  It's my favorite from the album.  I'm guessing it's about someone playing hard to get, but the narrator is like, "If you want my love just say it", and doesn't want to play any games.  He just wants to finally admit they're in love.  I don't really know why, but this song makes me feel very nostalgic, the music, the sound, is just perfect to me, and I find it so pretty, especially in the final chorus when it starts to sound like there's a full on choir.  I don't really have more to say other than I just love it.  Also at the end, Anders kinda starts sounding a bit like Daryl Hall haha. 

9. Wild About That Girl - written by Anders and Bjorn together, this song is about a narrator falling head over heels over a woman he meets at some place, and he wants to ask her to dance, and make her his. It's simple, but upbeat, and very catchy.  I get the chorus stuck in my head a lot, and my poor budgies have been inflicted with me singing "I'm wild about that bird, I'm wild about that budgie..." to them all the time haha. 

10. Nearly There - Written by Bjorn and Benny, this song is a very upbeat, catchy song.  It seems to be about someone not believing in love, but then suddenly they get that spark when meeting someone, and now they're starting to believe in love.  Simple, but fun nonetheless.  A good album closer.  And honestly I feel like this one could have also been an ABBA songs, like I can picture Agnetha and Frida singing this song, maybe Voulez-Vous era.  But again, it's fine as is.

I think overall this album, while being a bit weird haha, has more positive songs than the last one.  Even though I liked more of the songs from the last album, this one I've been gravitating towards more, as my two favorites really make the album for me.  

I'm honestly so mad at myself that it took me so long to really give these albums a listen, and part of that is also because none of the tracks were available in high quality anywhere, not even on streaming platforms, but recently, after Karin passed away, they were finally uploaded to streaming platforms.  i haven't personally listened to them to see if there's anything different about the mixes as I've been listening to my CD rips, but if you ever want to give them albums a try, now it's a lot easier to do so!

I have grown to really love Karin and Anders' voices, both individually and when they're singing together, and even when they're just providing backing vocals, you can distinctly hear that it is the two of them singing.  (They also provided backing vocals for Agnetha's Eyes of a Woman album - specifically on the track Save Me.)  

Thank you for the music, Karin and Anders.   

52 years of Waterloo

 Today marks 52 years since ABBA's incredible and groundbreaking Eurovision win with Waterloo! Happy anniversary, ABBA!

 

14 Year Blog-iversary

 So today marks 14 year since I started this blog, which is so crazy to think about.  I started this blog originally as a place to host my drawings of the ABBA members, and it became a place to share my thoughts and obsessions about my favorite band in the world.  I started this blog as a child, not expecting anyone to really view my blog.  I don't really know how many viewers I have now, Blogger doesn't really have an easy way of tracking that information, and if anyone who found my blog back then is still following today, I really appreciate it. :)

A quick update - I apologize for being kinda quiet here lately. I am still actively listening to ABBA quite often (we recently but a thumbdrive of our own ripped music in the car, and I put a couple of ABBA albums on it - just a couple so as to not overwhelm everyone hahaha - and it still brings such joy when one of the albums I put comes on), and I am just as obsessed - I just haven't really had much to talk about.  I still get ideas for YouTube videos, I just haven't really had the energy to actually do the work and compile them.

But, in some more uplifting news, on February 6th I adopted a new friend for my budgie Mordecai.  His name is Pebbles and he is an absolute sweetheart.  He seems to have some beak overgrowth issues and some feather breaking tendencies that seem to be due to some past trauma that he had in his previous life, but otherwise he is quite happy here, spending a lot of his day foraging for millet and seeds, singing, and trying to get Mordecai to play with him.  Mordecai does play with him, but my boy always has been a bit of a grumpy bird, so he's not always in a playful mood, but the most important thing is that they get along and Mordecai's depression has subsided. <3  

Although I've never been the most vocal about myself and my personal life, only giving tidbits and small details about my life, I realize longtime viewers have basically watched me grow up, and that is quite humbling to think about.

Again, I appreciate anyone who's stuck with me this long, and happy anniversary to this silly little blog of mine. :3 

ABBA - A Little Golden Book Biography

 On March 3rd, the new Little Golden Book Biography about our favorite foursome, written by Jeneanne DeBois and illustrated by Maike Plenzke was released, and thanks to pre-ordering it on Amazon, the book arrived that same day!

I feel like I've kind of cemented myself as being someone extremely critical of every ABBA and ABBA-related book release, always anticipating inaccuracies or alleged facts that haven't been proven so the book just ends up being another gossip mongering tale to add to all the other gossip-fueled stories, and at this point, I had kind of given up on the idea of their being an accurate telling of ABBA's story in book format.  

With this is a children's book with ~20 pages, and assuming it's targeted mostly at an American audience,, I wasn't anticipating there to be a lot of room for super detailed story telling, and, being a children's book, I expected the story to be extremely simplified, only acknowleding the songd featured on ABBA Gold at most, certainly making a big deal about Mamma Mia!, and barely going into details on the members life pre-ABBA. 

So I was extremely surprised and excited to find that the book went beyond my expectations.  The book dedicates one page to each ABBA member and their pre-ABBA work, presenting them in age order actually, like the first page is about Bjorn, next is Frida, followed by Benny, and then Agnetha.  The Hootenanny Singers and the Hep Stars are even acknowledged and illustrated as well!

 

Although the text is super simple and not overly detailed, not going into all the fine details of ABBA's story, the book acknowledges that the road to success after ABBA's Waterloo win was not easy, with the fear of being a one-hit wonder, and critics being a bit harsh.  Songs like Dancing Queen, SOS, and Mamma Mia, are mentioned as big hits, as well as I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, which is not a title you'd think of if you're someone only familiar with ABBA Gold.  The only studio albums discussed are ABBA and Arrival, but the book isn't really going in a linear, extremely biographical direction, but rather as an introduction to the band.

 The illustrations are super cute, and do a pretty good job representing the ABBA members and their ever-changing appearances throughout the years.  As someone who is obsessed with ABBA's costumes, I'm really happy to see that there is even a page dedicated to ABBA's outfits, and they're even drawn accurately, as well!

December 11, 1982, is mentioned as the date of their final performance, which is a super specific detail that I wasn't expecting the book to include.  After that, it writes that the members' went their separate ways, and doesn't go into any detail on their solo-work post-ABBA, which is fine since this book is dedicated to ABBA the band itself.  Then there's one page that shares a little bit on the success of ABBA Gold and the Mamma Mia! musical and films.  

Then, the book concludes with a page on ABBA the Museum, and to my pleasant surprise, ABBA's 9th and final album to date, Voyage, with an illustration of the ABBA members at the Voyage show premiere.  No mention of the Voyage show though.  Interestingly, the book doesn't acknowledge any other crucial players in ABBA's story, like Michael B. Tretow, or Stig Anderson, either.

I really really liked this book.  Without being overly detailed, the book manages to share ABBA's story in a way that feels fresh and new, yet also manages to include information that isn't super broadly known among the non-obsessed, casual ABBA listeners. 

Now, I know this is being super critical and this probably doesn't bother anyone other than me, and it also doesn't affect the story telling whatsover, but the outfit they drew Frida in on the cover isn't 100% accurate, as Frida never wore the skirt piece of the white 1979 tour with the blue thigh-high boots, and she only wore the blue thigh-high boots on the Japan leg of the tour when her hair was longer and styled differently than pictured on the cover.  Also, they forgot to give Bjorn a beard in the image of them in 1982, but again, this is just me being a quibbler. 

All in all, I'm actually quite impressed with this book, I'm happier than I expected to be.  It really felt like the author and illustrator know their stuff and share a love for this band, and they managed to translate that love into the text and drawings.  I can totally see myself someday reading this to my nieces as an introductory piece, and I suppose if there are children who read this book and want to know even more about the band, then that's where my children's book can come in and provide even more details. ;)

Major applause to Jeneanne DeBois and Maike Plenzke.

If I'm being super critical, I'd rate this book a 9.75/10, but I'm happy to round that up to a 10/10, and if you have young kids who you think would be interested in getting to know ABBA, then I highly recommend this book.

Happy 15th birthday, Agnetha Dollskog

 We've entered the year of 15th anniversaries for my dolls, which is so crazy to me.  15 years is a long time to be celebrating a literal doll's birthday, but there's nothing wrong with it.  Happy 15 years to my first homemade ABBA doll. :'D

 

Rest in peace, Lena Ulvaeus

Today Bjorn's second wife, our dear Lena, passed away at age 76.  Lena and Bjorn first met at a party at Benny and Frida's place in probably early 1979, and became a couple pretty quickly. (and to the people who get upset that Bjorn "moved on so quickly" from Agnetha, the two of them had been separated for quite a bit already, and the announcement to the public was in January 1979.)  Bjorn mentioned during the daily countdown on ABBA's instagram back in 2021 that when he wrote Super Trouper, it was inspired by missing Lena while out on tour.  The two of them went on to marry in 1981, and together Bjorn and Lena had two beautiful daughters, Emma and Anna.  Unfortunately Bjorn and Lena divorced in 2022, after 40 years of marriage.

I hate that from the get-go, ABBA fans were hateful towards Lena, always comparing her to Agnetha, never accepting that these are real people.  The way that media would always compare the two ladies in appearance, hairstyle, dress, etc.  It's just plain rude.  I wish I could say I wasn't a part of that initial dislike of Lena, but when I first became an ABBA fan as a literal child and was just discovering the love story that was the basis for the ABBA members' all meeting each other, only then to read about how they all divorced, I too was upset that what looked to me like true love had been broken.  And I am so sorry and regretful that I even felt that way, and I've matured and I have nothing to be upset at Lena about (or Mona, Benny's wife), and I appreciate her.

I remember when I was younger and would browse the internet and read fan experiences and encounters meeting the ABBA members back in the 70s and 80s, so often I would read stories of how fans would go to Bjorn's house hoping to meet him, but he wouldn't be home.  However instead Lena would greet them kindly and was always super friendly to the fans.  

Just like we still to this day celebrate Agnetha and Bjorn's marriage long after they've split, there should be no reason to not celebrate Lena and Bjorn's marriage as well.

 Rest in peace Lena.  Sending lots of love to her entire family.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, Happy New Year, may we all have a vision now and then, of a world where every neighbor is a friend

 

2025 in Review

 Well, another year has gone by, and it was definitely a year.  Some interesting things happened in the ABBA world, like ABBA Voyage celebrating it's 3rd anniversary and them updating the setlist for the first time by removing some songs and adding new ones.  Frida and Benny were both present for the anniversary celebrations, and seeing the ABBA members is always such a treat.

Bjorn and Frida both celebrated their 80th birthdays this year, an amazing milestone!!  

We lost a few of ABBA's close friends and associates this year - Michael B. Tretow, Karin Glenmark, Jan Kling.  It has been absolutely heartbreaking and devastating to see so many important names pass away over the years, so many people who helped shape and played important roles in ABBA's story.  

One thing that I've been quite excited for is the rumors going around that ABBA Voyage might be building a venue in Hell's Kitchen, New York.  While I've only ever been in New York one time in my life and that was almost 20 years ago, in theory getting my scared-of-traveling-self to New York is doable and even more doable than traveling to the UK.  

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Personally, this year's been full of ups and downs.  I unfortunately lost a lot of motivation for my YouTube channel, mostly due to burnout and lack of inspiration, but at the same time, I've pretty much made a video on almost every topic I can think of.  People still actively watch my older videos, leave comments frequently, and they seem to bring people joy, so that's nice.  

The loss of my bird Darius really hit me hard. I know that every time I adopt an animal, that eventually they will pass away and it's going to hurt. I'd lost Skyler only two and half months before adopting Mordecai and Darius, so the fear of losing them was already on my mind from the day I adopted them.  I saw a post online that said that having a pet leaves you with so many of the most incredible days, followed by one of the worst days, and it couldn't be more accurate.   

I really wasn't prepared to lose Darius so soon.  He was only 5 years old, and I think reasonably healthy.  I weighed him and Mordecai every week, and I always closely monitored the two of them for any changes in behaviors and physical appearance.  They had routine vet care, and anytime I suspected something more serious was going on, I'd bring them to the vet.  I still don't fully know what happened to Darius, definitely something going on internally, and I can't help but worry that there were signs I missed, and if I had brought him to the vet sooner than I did, even though I brought him to the vet pretty quickly after I noticed something was wrong, maybe something more could have been done.  Now I'm constantly worrying myself looking for something wrong with Mordecai, as I'm worried that every little thing he does can be a sign that something's wrong.  But the vet was fairly certain that what Darius had was not contagious, and not to be morbid, but I think if it was contagious, I don't think Mordecai would still be here.  

In some ways the grief has been easier after losing Darius because I've had Mordecai still here to maintain a semblance of routine.  But watching Mordecai, a tiny little bird, have to navigate such big feelings has been rough as well. Grief has been hitting him really hard, and he has good days when he's happy and cheerful, and bad days when he just wants to sit on the roof of his cage and disassociate for hours. But I'm so glad we're able to work through this together, and I love him so so much.

I went to my third ever concert this year, and my first stadium show. I went to see the Jonas Brothers, performing in my home state which was really special, and... concerts a very loud and I think I start to disassociate and get too overwhelmed at concerts, and getting there was very stressful to me, but I think I'm glad I went.  Not sure I'd go to another, but I'm not saying I won't.

As usual, I also spent a lot of time with the outdoor animals.  I have really been enjoying being outside, all seasons, and this year I got to fulfill  another lifelong dream of befriending the squirrels.  Turns out they really like nuts, imagine that haha.  With squirrels being a lot bigger than chipmunks, their accidental bites hurt a little more than chipmunks, but I'm happy to say that they don't accidentally bite me as much anymore because we're good friends. I got to watch a lot of baby turkeys grow up this year as well as several mamas brought their babies through, and they're not scared of me which is so cool.  

I don't want to get my hopes up, but it would be really nice if 2026 would bring better and brighter things into my life right now. But, aside from my bird dying and my overall lack of creative motivation, the year was okay.  Not the best, and could definitely have been worse. 

Happy new year, everyone.

- Becky/ABBAFan456 

New ABBA The Museum Kimonos

 I was just browsing the ABBA the Museum website and happened to see that they've just remade the kimonos.  And I was pretty excited because, as stated in my lengthy post from August about the problems with ABBA the Museum's costumes, ABBA the Museum did not make an accurate kimono.  Now, I'm not trying to diss ABBA the Museum for attempting to sell ABBA costume replicas, because so few of those exist, but when the product is described as being a replica of the ABBA members' stage costumes, I expect to see a replica, not just something inspired by the kimonos.  And sadly, these kimonos are just as flawed as the first one.

The first issue is not with the costumes themselves, but with the item description, which is as follows:

This kimono is a replica of the stage costume worn by Frida during the Japan leg of the tour. Designed by Owe Sandström, the piece reflects a creative fusion of Japanese and Swedish aesthetics. Sandström chose the traditional Japanese kimono silhouette and adorned it with motifs from Swedish flora—specifically, the Columbine, a classic garden flower. 

(Obviously it says a different ABBA members' name per product description, I just copied the one for Frida's.  Everything else is the same.) 

Now, if you're familiar with ABBA's story, which I would assume ABBA the Museum would have to be because they are the official ABBA museum after all, you know that the Kimonos first debuted in 1976.  Not 100% certain on this, like I can't find a source for this other than my own brain, but I do believe the kimonos were created for the purpose of taking them to Japan, but ABBA didn't end up going to Japan until 1978.  Bjorn and Benny did end up wearing the now-two year old costumes during the short promotional trip, specifically for three of the performances (Knowing Me, Knowing You, The Name Of The Game, and If It Wasn't For The Nights), although Benny was oddly wearing Agnetha's kimono rather than his own.  

 The first official appearance of the Kimonos was in one of the commercials for Japanese Electronics Company, National, in August 1976.  And roughly a month later, the kimonos were worn during the performance of Why Did It Have To Be for the TV special, ABBA-Dabba-Doo.  The final time the ABBA members wore all four kimonos together was in November 1976, when they appeared on the French TV show Les Rendez-vous du Dimanche.  

The kimonos were not worn during the Japanese leg of the 1979/80 World Tour.  So I don't understand why they would say that in the product description,

Now onto the actual costumes themselves.

In the previous iterations of the Kimonos that ABBA the museum sold, they simply scanned in one design out of the 3-4 that appear on each ABBA members' costumes and repeated it in a couple spots on the kimonos.  The kimonos were also full-length, more accurate to traditional Japanese kimonos, but not accurate to how ABBA's costumes were designed.

This time, they have made shorter kimonos, more in line but not quite as short as ABBA's original Kimonos.  They've also scanned in more of the original designs, not just the one, and have made the costumes more accurate in color.  

They almost had me fooled that they'd made an accurate replica this time, however, yet again, the placement of the designs is wrong, again.

To compare, here is an updated chart featuring my drawings of the designs in the correct placement, and the new ABBA the Museum costumes.  (For some bonus fun, can you tell from where on the original kimonos they took the designs from???)  ((ALSO just a reminder - these drawings I did of the floral designs are not 1000% accurate because I had to piece them together myself using images of ABBA's kimonos))

Agnetha: 

  Frida:

 

Benny:

 

 

 

 

Bjorn:

 

 

 I'm just so baffled as to why they've done this, why they can't just put everything in the correct placement.  If they just looked at my charts, they would see how inaccurate they are, but they don't even have to use my charts because they have the actual original costumes right there on display in the museum to consult with.  I just don't understand.

 

 

 Now we know that I have beef with a lot of ABBA tribute bands, but why is it that some of their costumes are more accurate in terms of design placement than the ones sold at the ABBA museum???

 

  

PLEASE do better ABBA the museum, or at least don't list your costumes as replicas.  Please and thank you. <3

 

Somewhat related - I saw this shirt at the Polar Music store, and I think it's such a cute, but subtle way to wear an ABBA themed garment, featuring the design on collar of Frida's Waterloo Costume.  It may be ridiculously expensive, but it's super cute regardless.  If ABBA the Museum wanted to sell more ABBA-inspired clothes like this, I wouldn't have any complaints with that.

 

 Alright, rant over.  Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

Also, one nice thing about these new kimonos is the nice high quality scan of the design that's on the back left of Agnetha's sleeve that I unfortunately had to make up half the details for on my doll kimono because there were no high quality reference photos.  Unfortunately this means, oh the horrors, my doll costume is slightly inaccurate, but at least I can saw it's placed in the correct location lol)

 

Darius

 My sweet blueberry boy Darius passed away today. He was one of the smartest birds I have ever met, he was spunky, he was clever, and he was the best. Mordecai and I will miss him so so so much. Fly high, my angelic boy. 💙💙💙  

 

Happy 80th birthday, Frida!

 Today we wish our beloved Anni-Frid Lyngstad a very, very happy 80th birthday.  Grattis på födelsedagen, dear Frida!

 

Happy 14th birthday, Bjorn Uldollus

 And just like that, today we celebrate 14 years since I put in the finishing stitches of my homemade Bjorn doll.  :'D   Happy birthday Bjorn Uldollus!

 

ABBA-Coded

 So, for those of you who don't know, although I think I've mentioned it quite a few times on this blog haha, I am a fan of Sabrina Carpenter, and I think I've considered myself to be a fan since just before her EVOLution album came out in 2016.  Getting to see her rise in popularity over the last couple of years, watching her shift from genre to genre, and produce songs that feel more true to herself with her fun sense of humor and love for innuendos, has been extremely exciting to watch.  She's become a pretty iconic singer, and I can't help but feel proud!

I've also been quite happy to see that she's quite the ABBA fan herself (literally just made an update to my Sabrina being an ABBA fan video last night), and has stated that ABBA is one of her favorite bands, listed ABBA as an inspiration behind some of her songs, even one of the costumes on her most recent tour was inspired by ABBA Voyage.  She's covered ABBA songs frequently, named her cats after Bjorn and Benny, and even got to meet Bjorn when she was in Stockholm on the last stop of her tour! So in short (and sweet - haha couldn't help myself), Sabrina is a big ABBA fan.

Just over a week ago, Sabrina's 7th album, Man's Best Friend, came out, and I listened to it, and was initially quite turned off by the nature of sexual themes in this album, just something that I personally am turned off by, but not saying it's a bad thing just to be clear.  So while listening to the entire album, I was veering towards not liking it.  However I'm also someone who likes to read comments, see what other people's opinions are on topics, see what interest people and what doesn't, etc, and when I got to the last track on the album, titled Goodbye, without reading the comments yet, I for some reason found myself thinking, "Hey, this sounds like it's inspired by ABBA."  I'm not usually someone who actively looks for ABBA inspiration in songs, and often times when people say a song by any artist sounds like ABBA, I cannot for the life of me hear what they're hearing and would love if they would elaborate, which they of course don't.  

After listening to the song, I opened the comments, and already it was flooding with people saying it sounded like ABBA, which meant I wasn't the only one thinking that either, haha.  And considering Sabrina has stated that she is a massive ABBA fan and already included ABBA in the inspiration behind the soundscape of her song "Please Please Please," it's no surprise that she would find ways to use that inspiration in more songs, and that's awesome.  I'm happy for her.

Now, all of this that I just shared is relevant, but kinda not really what I'm trying to post about haha.  This is me we're talking about, so obviously I'm here to complain about something, hahaahahhaa.

One thing that I noticed in a lot of the comments on her song Goodbye, was people saying the song sounded like a specific ABBA song, and what do you know, most of the titles that people were suggesting were from ABBA Gold.  People were saying, "omg this song sounds like Fernando!" or "this song sounds like Voulez-Vous!", or this song sounds like Chiquitita, and most commonly, people were saying the song sounded like Take A Chance On Me!  Now, I'm not someone who understands BPMs, tempo, rhythm, and all that jazz, and I am simply an ABBA fan, and a person who likes music and listens to music, and I know for a fact that Goodbye, which is a bit of a slower track with rich harmonies and cheeky humor mixed in, does not sound like Take A Chance On Me. Another common thing that people were saying was that the song is so "Mamma Mia! and ABBA-coded."

I feel like a lot of people in today's day and age, are familiar with ABBA, and considering ABBA Gold is literally their most popular compilation album, it makes sense that ABBA Gold is pretty much everyone's frame of reference when it comes to ABBA.  And then you have the success of Mamma Mia! the musical and movie franchise that I personally despise but a lot of people really like.  Add on top of that the impact that ABBA have had on the Queer community, and that is basically what comes to mind when people think of ABBA: Mamma Mia!, Dancing Queen and all other songs from ABBA Gold, and Queer.  No knowledge of any other songs in ABBA's catalog, very little knowledge of the members of ABBA and their story, and that the songs somehow have to do with a girl trying to find which of her three dad's is her actual dad.  And I'm not saying that you have to be an obsessed ABBA fan like I am to be able to like ABBA or speak on ABBA, but what I'm trying to say is that a lot of people think they know ABBA without actually knowing about ABBA, and as a result, they end up sounding a bit silly when comparing modern artists to ABBA.

I went on about this a bit in a previous rant already, but one thing that really ticks me off is how people were comparing the band The Last Dinner Party to ABBA, and they would rattle of titles of ABBA songs, all from ABBA Gold, and say that The Last Dinner Party sounds like those songs.  No other details or insights on what makes the song sound like an ABBA song, just that it does.  

Similarly, before Chappell Roan officially released her song The Subway, all there was to listen to were live audios from the various live performances.  I actually really like that song a lot, haha, and I was a frequenter to "Chappell Roan performing The Subway Live - Highest Quality!" videos, and often would read the comments see people in the comments comparing the song to the Cranberries, which makes a little sense as Chappell Roan is a fan of the Cranberries, and, more surprisingly, comparisons to ABBA.  And I'm just here, like, "How?"  The only connection I could think of was perhaps due to ABBA being quite prominent and well loved by LGBTQ+ people, fans were simply trying to compare Queer artist Chappell Roan to another "queer" band ABBA, without having knowledge on ABBA and their only frame of reference for ABBA is the fact they've become known to be a Queer Band.  (And to be clear - I am not trying to say its a negative that ABBA have become known as a Queer or Gay band!)  Chappell sings in a completely different style, her vocals, while absolutely stunning and powerful, aren't harmony focused like ABBA's (again, not a negative, just pointing out a difference), and structurally the song doesn't match any ABBA songs.  So, I don't get it.  And as far as I can tell, Chappell has not listed ABBA as an inspiration to any of her music, either.

And falling back to Sabrina's song "Goodbye", when people say the song sounds like any song from ABBA Gold, it's simply falling back to their basic knowledge of ABBA.  Obviously because it has an alleged slight Spanish flavor, clearly that means it's inspired by Fernando.  And because the song has "Ahas", something that ABBA are notorious for including in their songs, that means that the song is inspired by "Voulez-Vous", despite the fact that Goodbye is a slower song and Voulez-Vous is an upbeat Disco-esque song.  And despite the fact that the Mamma Mia! versions of ABBA's songs strip away all pleasant sounding harmonies and replace them with Musical style singing that is not layered with harmonies, clearly the harmonies on Goodbye are inspired by Mamma Mia! the Musical...  You get my gist?

So yeah, basically I just wish people wouldn't just throw around ABBA when listening to modern artists simply because they think they know what ABBA is and what makes a song sound like an ABBA song, when what they know is only a fraction of what is ABBA on a whole. And that's basically what I wanted to rant about today.

 

Going back to Sabrina's song, I have been thinking, when I heard Goodbye for the first time, why did I immediately think of ABBA?  Seeing as I'm actually familiar with ABBA's songs outside of the ABBA Gold tracklist, I feel like I am a little more qualified to share my thoughts, haha.

 I think the first thing that stood out to me was the chorus, where Sabrina sings "Goodbye means that you're losin' me for life/Can't call it love, then call it quits, can't shoot me down, then shoot the shit/Did you forget that it was you who said/goodbye?", the way the harmonies build, and the message of the song - the first thing that came to mind was Put On Your White Sombrero, another Spanish-flavored song in ABBA's repertoire that isn't Fernando. (Although I wouldn't say Sabrina's song has a Spanish flavor, I think the only connection to that is because she says Goodbye in several languages throughout the song, including a couple of phrases in Spanish.)  

The story of both songs are quite similar as well, with the whole sentiment essentially being, "You didn't find me to be good enough for you, so goodbye loser," and I mean, there is literally the line "Think of this day as a showdown/Goodbye, my friend, this is the end for me and you."  Then you add the little piano or keyboard flourishes in the chorus that sound similar to the piano flourishes in the chorus of Dancing Queen, and on top of that the "Aha"s, which aren't tied to any specific ABBA song as they appear in so many.  The instruments sound very real as well, nothing sounds overly computerized, much like what would appear in a song from ABBA's era.  However, while the song includes all of these elements, the song itself still sounds like something from Sabrina's catalog, not sounding like an ABBA rip-off at all, simply taking inspiration from a band that Sabrina admires and packaging it into a love-letter of sorts while still keeping it her own and still sounding like Sabrina.  If that makes any sense.

And while this song hasn't been confirmed to be an ABBA-inspired song in any way, considering Sabrina is an ABBA fan who is actually familiar with ABBA's songs, including those outside of ABBA Gold's Tracklist, it wouldn't surprise me if the song was heavily inspired by ABBA.  But those are just my thoughts.

ABBA: A Little Golden Book Biography

 If you remember, way back in 2013, I had the idea to publish my very own children's book about ABBA, something that I realized didn't seem to be available anywhere.  As a kid, I would go to the library in search of anything related to ABBA, and the only band-related biographies written with children in mind were about the Beatles.  So I had no choice but to beg my library to inter-library-loan biographies about ABBA that were not written with children in mind, and while I'm not saying that ABBA's story was scandalous or dirty in anyway, but discussion of "Sexy Bottoms", "Sex-Appeal", and "Sex" is definitely not something that a child should be reading about.  Never mind that those topics are not important or crucial to ABBA's story at all, but of course every author has to include something about that because they can.

So, I wrote and illustrated a book on ABBA, self-published it on Amazon's Create Space, now known as Kindle Direct Publishing, and that was that.  I have since done over that book twice, and not to toot my own horn, but I think I was able to fill a big gap in the ABBA book world.

Since my book's initial release in 2013, there have been a few more ABBA children's books that I can think of off the top of my head - "Sagan om ABBA" or "Pop Story" as its titled in English by none other than Bjorn Ulvaeus, and a french children's book on ABBA titled "Mes premières chansons d'ABBA", and I'm sure there are a few more as well.

But anyway, as of today, a new children's book on ABBA has been announced.  Published by Penguin Random House, author Jeneanne DeBoise and Illustrater Miake Plenzke are releasing a story on ABBA as part of the Little Golden Book Biographies series!  I grew up with access to Little Golden Books, and in the cereal aisle at the grocery store, they literally have a small shelf designated to all the newest Little Golden Book biographies (and I'm currently on the lookout for the new Chappell Roan biography haha), so this is quite exciting.

Despite ABBA's worldwide success, books on ABBA are not common in the US, at least not in my part of the US, so the fact that a major publishing company that releases books worldwide, America included, is releasing a book on ABBA, I am quite excited that there will be yet another way for children who might have in interest in ABBA to read about ABBA in a nice, child-friendly way.  

Now, will the book be accurate?  I'll have to find out when it's released in March, 2026, but I'm optimistic!

Official ABBA Costume Replicas - A Study on Accuracy

As you all know, I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to ABBA costumes.  Since I started my sewing journey in 2011, my goal was to recreate for my dolls as many ABBA costumes as possible, as accurately as possible.  As someone who is not a professional and is limited by my skill set and abilities, that task has not been an easy one and try as I might, I don't think I'll ever be able to achieve 100% accuracy, but I do the best and I can and I accept where I am unable to achieve a better result. 

Examples of so-called "ABBA costumes" 

I can't remember exactly when, but I remember when ABBA the Museum started selling ABBA costumes.  It had me super excited, because it meant people didn't have to rely on those weird so-called ABBA costumes that look nothing like what ABBA wore.  If this was made by ABBA's official museum, surely they would be as accurate (and hopefully high quality) as can be.  

 I guess one thing to consider when selling replicas of ABBA's costumes is how practical do you want them to be.  Maybe not everyone wants to go around wearing cat dresses and kimonos that are rather short and not overly practical.  So it didn't bother me too much when ABBA the Museum released official Cat Dresses where they sit a bit longer, and can be worn more as an actual dress rather than a very, very short dress.  The most important thing was that the cat on the front was accurate, which it is.  Unfortunately the cats have been scaled up to fit the larger size, so if you wanted to cut the cat dresses and add slits to the sides for the purpose of accuracy, it would look a bit off, assuming that would bother you liked it would bother me haha.  But all in all, it looks nice.  

A comparison of the ABBA the Museum cat dresses vs. Agnetha and Frida's cat dresses.

But how then am I supposed to feel about official replicas as sold at ABBA the Museum, that are seemingly intentionally made to be not accurate?

In 2015, ABBA the Museum also began selling replicas of ABBA's kimonos.  Unlike ABBA's original kimonos, they chose to make them more in the style of a traditional Japanese kimono in terms of length, and does it bother me slightly?  Yeah, but overall it was quite exciting to me as I had been attempting yet again to recreate ABBA's kimonos, and figured I could use the nice, clear images of the costumes for my recreations!  Boy was I surprised when I was compiling all my reference photos and noticed that the designs did not match up with the designs on ABBA's kimonos.  It simply didn't match up.  

For reference, this is what the placement of Agnetha's original kimono is

And this is my rendering of what I believe to be an accurate rendition of Agnetha's kimono designs. (I drew these designs up back in 2020 when i was working on my doll kimonos.  As far as I can tell, they are as accurate as possible based on all my reference images, but I can't guarantee 100% accuracy. Feel free to use them as reference for your own kimono remakes if you want!)

And when you compare it to the museum's kimono, you can see that they simply used the design on the front of Agnetha's left sleeve and used just that rather than use all of them for some reason.

They did the same with Frida's kimono, taking the design from her front right sleeve and using that instead of all the other designs.

 

 

 

And when Bjorn and Benny's costumes were added to the collection, same issues happened.

Instead of utilizing all of the designs, they used the design from the Front Left of Benny's kimono, albeit they did put it in the correct place at least.

And for Bjorn's costume, they used the design from the front right of his kimono, but it on the bottom right, and then made a new design of 4 flowers where the bottom right of his kimono clearly has only 3.

Another costume remake that they sell at ABBA the Museum is a replica of the cape Agnetha and Frida wore in the beginning of the 1979/80 tour during Voulez-Vous. They title it the polar cape and state that it is a replica.  Because of that claim that it is a replica, I was enticed to buy it, but after looking at the preview picture, I was again surprised to find that it in fact was not 100% accurate. For some reason they shifted the design over so it's off center.  interestingly, they had an earlier version of the costume that wasn't shifted, but when they released it with a better fabric, they shifted it. I have no idea why.  I thought that was the only issue, and ultimately decided I could live with the simple off-centered-ness, and I will say it feels so nice and drapes really nicely.  Although, considering I am quite short and Agnetha and Frida are a lot taller than I am, it is rather big on me haha.

 It even helped me to then look for a good satin to use for my remake of the capes for my dolls.  However, what would you know, when I was working on my doll costumes, I discovered yet another inaccuracy.

A rendering of the ABBA the Museum cape,

And a rendering of the actual cape.  Hopefully you can see the difference.  (Also I have a permanent warp in my eye due to eye-issues, and OMG drawing this with the grid lines on my art program was so difficult haha)

Now don't get me wrong, everything that I have ever bought from ABBA the Museum has been exceptional quality. Expensive, as well, but the quality makes it feel worth it.  And I really do appreciate the effort to make replicas of ABBA's costumes, but my question is, why are they choosing to make the costumes inaccurate?  Especially considering at the ABBA Voyage webstore, they're also selling replicas of Agnetha and Frida's capes from the opening of the Voyage show, and as far as I can tell, while certainly not as extravagant as the designs are printed on rather than embroidered and embellished like the actual things, they are seemingly almost identical to the ABBA-tars costumes.  (Granted I still haven't been to the show, so I can't necessarily verify that at this time.)

I also have these capes and they are so fun and swooshy, and because I enjoyed wearing them so much, that's what convinced me to buy the Polar Cape replica despite its flaws haha.

I guess, all this to say, perhaps it's just me being a perfectionist, and others aren't bothered by this, but I just hope that maybe ABBA the Museum will consider updating their costume replicas further, and producing an even more accurate result.  I really really enjoy their products, (and I just saw that they made a bucket hat and other accessories using the pattern from Benny's fur jacket as seen in the Mamma Mia! music video - that is absolutely adorable!), I just want to see more accuracy, especially where they have the means to compare to the actual costumes as they have most of them on display at the museum. 

And they clearly don't mind making updates, as they already released a new version Agnetha Waterloo beanie that is I think more accurate in terms of pattern.  It doesn't have sequins glued on, like you can do with the original crochet kit, instead having tiny clear sequins that don't resemble Agnetha's original beanie, but it seems to fit my head better than the crochet kit one (but that the crochet kit fitting weird could be due to user error as I crocheted it myself.)

On a semi-related note - I came across a dress on Thred-Up that looked quite similar to Agnetha's Fernando dress.  It's quite a bit shorter than Agnetha's actual dress sitting just above my knees, and obviously it's not meant to be a replica at all, but I decided to get it and have been calling it my Fernando Dupe dress.  The brand is Misslook, and I had to add a lining into it because it was way too sheer originally.  But I have been enjoying it a lot. :3