Happy 79th birthday, Benny!

 Today we wish a very, very happy 79th birthday to the man behind the music, Benny Andersson!

 

Många Gånger Än

 So I've been doing some research for a new YouTube video that is kinda a remake of an older video with more accurate information, a lot of which is actually coming from Remko van Drongelen's "Frida Beyond ABBA."  In that book he includes information on recording sessions for songs that Frida contributed backing vocals for, like for example, Harpo's Moviestar or various Ted Gärdestad albums.  And among the list of songs that Frida contributed vocals to are a good number of songs from Agnetha's 1972 När En Vacker Tanke Blir En Sång album.

I've always known that from 1971 onward, the ABBA members sang backing vocals on each others' work frequently.  Like Björn, Benny, and Agnetha all appear on Frida's Man vill ju leva lite dessemellan, Kom Och Sjung en Sång, and Ska Man Skratta Eller Gråta, and Vi Ar Alla Bara Barn I Borjan, but I didn't know that Björn recording backing vocals was actually a lot less frequent than I would have thought. For example, he does not sing on Frida's Min Egen Stad, leaving only Benny and Agnetha, nor does he sing on the majority of tracks from Agnetha's När En Vacker Tanke Blir En Sång, leaving only Frida and Benny.

The tracks that feature both Frida and Beny are Kanske var min kind lite het, Sången föder dig tillbaka, Tågen kan gå igen, and Dröm är dröm och saga saga.  Up until now I had assumed that the prominent male backing vocals on Tågen kan gå igen, were from Björn, but now I know that its, in fact, Benny.

Which leaves me to wonder now, what about the prominent male vocals on the track Många Gånger Än?  There are no prominent female backing vocals other than from Agnetha, and since the track is not listed in in "Frida Beyond ABBA" as having an appearance from Frida, we know she's not on the track.  

Again, I always just assumed it was Björn singing the backing vocals, but considering Björn does not sing on any of the other tracks from her album, I think it is safe to assume that it is actually Benny singing backing vocals on Många Gånger Än, which I honestly find to be so incredibly adorable!  I can't think of any other song from ABBA's discography or any other ABBA-related track that features just Benny and Agnetha, so that kinda makes this a very unique track in that way, and I'm happy to have possibly discovered this new aspect of the song!

Happy 78th birthday, Benny!

 Wishing the maestro himself, Benny Andersson, a very very happy 78th birthday! Grattis på födelsedagen!

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. ❤️

Swedish Birdsong - sounds of 90 well-known birds

So Benny Andersson is apparently a very big fan of birds, which comes to no surprise as a lot of ABBA songs mention and reference birds, a very common theme in their songs.  The earliest ABBA song to my knowledge to reference birds is Dance (While The Music Still Goes On) from ABBA's Waterloo album, but even prior to that, in Benny's pre-ABBA days, one of his earliest compositions "Sound of Eve" has bird sounds throughout the song.  

In 1990, on Benny's own Mono Music label, together with Lars Svensson and Dan Zettsrtrom, Benny released a CD compiling 90 different birds songs from Sweden's own birds, titled Fågelsång I Sverige, or Swedish Birdsong.

I've mentioned in the past that I'm a bit of a bird fan myself, one might even call me BirdFan456 hahaha jk but I have always had quite a fondness for birds.  Originally it was ducks, but birds have been a part of my family's history as well - my Great-Grandfather had in total two budgies, and my father had a blue-fronted amazon parrot.  Now I love all birds (even the hawks who moved into my yard and were eating all the little birdies and rodents.... It doesn't mean I like hawks though.)  I have had three budgies, and they are my absolute favorite, and I also love spending a lot of time bird watching, specifically the ones in my backyard.  There are so many wonderful creatures, so many different birds of different sizes, and it's just amazing.  Bird are amazing.

So, of course when I found out about Benny's bird CD, and the fact that it's not just a CD but also is available as a box set with a book on the different birds featured in the CD as well as a cassette, I had to get it.  So I found the boxset available, new on Discogs, and it arrived fairly quickly all the way from Sweden.

Now did I really need to buy this CD considering all the tracks are readily available on YouTube and Amazon Music?  Probably not, but at the same time, I get to have something tangible that combines two of my biggest and most meaningful interests in my life - birds and ABBA.

So now I have a nice, new bird book to add my collection of bird related things!  And in case you're curious about that nice fancy shmancy photo book in the back right called Becky's Book Of Birds....

I did self-publish a photobook of my own featuring some of my own photography of various birds (and other furry friends) from over the years.  Because I chose to make it hardcover, the price is kinda pricey, but it's on amazon if you are interested.

50 years of ABBA - celebrating ABBA's Eurovision Win

 It was exactly 50 years ago today, that ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest.  They had done something so unique for the time, performing a more rocky song than had ever been performed before, crafting an intricate image that helped them to stand out.  They pushed the boundaries and ultimately created a new standard for all future Eurovision Song Contests. 

Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Frida did an absolutely outstanding performance, with an amazing song, and an incredible appearance, and they couldn't have done it if not for their close bond and determination to win.

Their win was well deserved, and today we celebrate with them on this absolutely iconic and incredible day.  Happy 50th anniversary, ABBA.  Hip hip hurrah!

Happy 77th birthday Benny!

 Wishing a very happy 77th birthday to the one and only Göran Bror, the master of piano, our Benny Andersson!

Happy ABBA day!

 49 years ago today, ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest with their epic performance of Waterloo, skyrocketing them into worldwide fame and success, and the rest of course is history! :D

Happy 76th birthday, Benny!

Today is Benny's birthday!  I hope he has a wonderful day celebrating with his family and friends! <3

Happy 75th birthday, Benny!!

 Wishing a happy 75th birthday to the one and only Benny Andersson, 1/2 of ABBA's songwriting duo and piano player extraordinaire! Thank you for the music!! ❤️🎉

 

ABBA-Tar Drawing

I haven't done a new drawing in a while, but I had to do a drawing of the new ABBA-tars. :D 

Happy 74th birthday, Benny!

 Today Benny Andersson turns 74!  Happy birthday Benny!!  I hope he has an incredible day celebrating with his family and loved ones. :)

Here's a drawing I did in honor of Benny's birthday.

There's a speedpaint for it as well on YouTube for you to enjoy. :3

New ABBA Drawing

 It's been a while since I've had time to really sit down and work on a realistic drawing.  I so rarely have inspiration or the attention span to work on long portraits anymore, but when I do, I think I do a pretty good job.  For fun, my sister and I decided to work on this drawing of my favorite four Swedes.  We're both good artists yet we've never collaborated like this before.  So here is my most recent drawing of ABBA, drawn with graphite pencils and a touch of a white gelly roll. :)

In other news, I've mentioned this so many times, but can you believe that this year I've officially been an ABBA fan of 10 years??  I can't believe I've devoted almost half my life to this band, but hey, it's been the best and I have no plans of stopping anytime soon. :)

Happy 73rd birthday, Benny!

Today's Benny's 73rd birthday!  Grattis på födelsedagen!  I hope he has an absolutely amazing day celebrating with his family and friends.

In honor of his birthday, I drew this picture of Benny and filmed this speedpaint as well. :)

My Sims

For those of you who don't know, I started playing the Sims 3 just over a year ago, and while the game can be considered a waste of time (especially when playing it for several hours at a time... oops), I quite enjoy the game.  One of the things that I find most exciting is being able to create and customize my own sims.  I get to make my own original story characters and bring them to life, make some of my favorite TV show characters, and I also get to make some of my favorite celebrities. And of course I made ABBA.

While I can't say they're perfect and look 100% like them, I'd say I did a pretty good job.

 For their casual outfits, Agnetha's is inspired by this outfit from 1973, Bjorn's outfit is inspired by this one from 1975, Frida's by this one from 1976, and for Benny's, I used this outfit from 1977 as reference.

 For their career outfits, I gave them outfits that are inspired by the cat dresses, but of course they're not all that accurate since there isn't much to use among the sims outfits as well as the Custom Content that I have a lot of.

And for their fancy outfits, I gave them these outfits from 1980.  (I know the hair is wrong, but until I get better hair, this is what I have for now.)

And here are some better closeups of their faces.

Did I do a good job recreating ABBA in the Sims 3?  I think I did. :)  Maybe I'll try to get more custom content later to try and get some better hair for them, but I'm still really happy with how they turned out.  Anyways, that's all for now. 

Happy 72nd birthday, Benny!

Today is Benny Andersson's birthday!  This musical genius turns 72!  Happy birthday Benny! :D  This drawing was slightly complicated to do with all the extra details in the background and tree and leaves and stuff, but it was well worth it since I'm honestly so proud of the way it came out.  If you're interested, you can watch the speedpaint video I uploaded to YouTube. :)

ABBA Color Pencil Drawings

Back in February of this year, I had decided that I wanted to test out my new Prismacolor Premiere color pencils that I had gotten in November by drawing some nice portraits of all four ABBA members.  I had a particular photosession in mind and immediately got to work on drawing the first picture which was of Agnetha.  Unfortunately, I was having lots of difficulties, one issue being my color pencils were breaking and splitting lengthwise for some reason (I found out that it was because of my sharpener, btw) and another being the drawing just wasn't turning out right.  I ended up abandoning the drawing for a few months and picked it up again in July.  I ended up making decent progress and ended up finishing the drawing in just a couple of days.  With my new sharpener and a new set of color pencils (because I had worn out the white color pencil that I use for blending - my dad so kindly surprised me and bought a whole new set!!!), I was able to work on the remaining three portraits and just today I finished the last one and scanned them all on. :D

And here they are finally, the four portraits that I've been trying to work on for the past few months:

 Of all the drawings, I think I like the way Frida came out the best, but they're all really good and I'm really proud of myself.  Hopefully the next time I start a project like this it won't take as long to finish, lol. 

ABBA wearing the same clothes years later

Weird title but I've had this idea for a blog post for a while now only I never got around to actually working on it. xD  One thing that I've noticed about ABBA is that they ted to wear a lot of their clothes more than once.  I mean, everyone does, right?  But I think a lot of celebrities tend to not re-wear the same clothes, especially clothes that they got years before, and so this kinda shows how normal and down the earth ABBA are. :)

ABBA in 1974, shortly after winning the Eurovision Song Contest.  Note Agnetha's dress.

A still from the Money, Money, Money music video from 1976.  Agnetha's wearing the same dress 2 years later.

A promotion picture from 1974. 

Frida wears the same shirt in 1975.

Agnetha also tends to wear that same vest and shirt several times throughout 1974 and 75.  Sometimes even paired with the same flowered jeans. :)

Agnetha's wearing this jumpsuit in 1976 during the advertisements for National.

Agnetha's wearing the same jumpsuit a year later while pregnant from Peter in 1977.

Another picture from 1977 in color.

Agnetha and Frida wearing Melbourne football club shirts in 1977.

Agnetha wears the same top during a performance of Chiquitita in 1979, 2 years later.

Agnetha and Frida both had matching dresses in 1976, but Agnetha seemed to wear hers a lot throughout 1976.

But the dress makes an appearance again in 1977.  Also notice Frida's dress.

It's the same dress from this photoshoot later that year.

Agnetha wears these very pretty boots with her Arrival flightsuit in 1976.

She wears the same boots at a photoshoot at Drottningholm Castle in 1977.

She also wears the same shirt in 1978.

Agnetha wears the pretty striped dress during a photoshoot in 1977.

Agnetha wears the same dress at the premiere of  ABBA the Movie in late 1977.

Frida wears the same outfit from the premiere in the Take a Chance on Me music video in 1978.

She even reuses the same boots while on tour in Japan, 1980.

Agnetha also has a matching shirt to Frida's in red which she is seen wearing in Japan in 1978.

She also wears the shirt while on tour in 1979.

ABBA in 1976.  Note Bjorn's simple, striped shirt.

Bjorn wears the same shirt while filming additional scenes for ABBA the Movie a year later.

He wears the same shirt again here in early 1978.

And here while in the US, same year.  I should also mention that he wears this shirt a lot throughout the year, even on the cover of the Summer Night City single.

Agnetha wears this very large silver top during a photoshoot in 1977.

Here she's wearing the same top as a dress at an event in 1978.

ABBA in 1978.  Agnetha's wearing this really pretty white jumpsuit.

She wears the same jumpsuit again 3 years later for a photoshoot in 1981.

I have more pictures which I can include but I think this post is getting to be a bit long so I'll end it here.  I hope you enjoyed this rather random post and please et me know if you want me to do a part two at some point. :)