Oh Görel. I am absolutely devastated to hear of her passing. Görel Hanser was such an important person in ABBA's story, having been present from before the band was even created, until today as the band's manager. She kept everything in order, working behind the scenes, and publicly as ABBA's spokesperson.
She was hard working and dedicated, and remained a close friend to the ABBA members.
I'm fortunate to have had a few opportunities to speak with Görel through email. She was always on top of the what had to have been hundreds of emails to her mailing address at Mono Music, and when I would send in an inquiry, she would almost certainly reply by the next day. The first time I wrote to her I think was when I sent in some drawings, asking if she'd be willing to share them with the ABBA members, and she agreed. Then I had some questions of navigating copyright issues, and she gave me some very helpful answers. Then I followed up on ways to publish my book within those copyright guidelines, and she told me that as long as there was no use of their logo or their exact likenesses, I would be fine. And lastly, she had arranged for me to get Frida, Benny, and Bjorn's autographs through the mail, and I got to send in some new drawings that I drew up for each member, including the drawing above that I sent in for Görel as well. My biggest regret was having completely forgotten to ask for Görel's autograph as well.
Görel was always so kind and helpful, giving so much of her time to fans and always being available. Everyone is going to miss her so much. Rest in peace Görel. We all love and miss you so much.
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.
On October 30th, Karin Glenmark passed away at the age of 73. Both Karin and her brother Anders' story have been so intertwined with ABBA's, from their early days of competing against ABBA in the 1974 Melodifestivalen, together with their aunt and uncle, to providing backing vocals live during Agnetha's 1975 performance on Sommarnöjet, to Anders playing backing guitar on ABBA's Dancing Queen and Money Money Money, to eventually both Karin and Anders contributing the majority of the backing vocals for Bjorn and Benny's Chess Concept Album. Karin and Anders even provided backing vocals for Agnetha's 1985 solo track "Save Me." And then of course there is Gemini, Karin and Anders' band that featured tracks mostly written and produced by Bjorn & Benny. And also Anders' went on to produce Frida's 1996 album, Djupa Andetag.
When I was younger, I used to disdain Gemini, fueled by the fact that I was upset that ABBA had ended and Bjorn and Benny had been focusing on the duo instead. Plus Benny once said (can't find the source, I'm sorry) that Karin sang better than Agnetha and Frida! But, I've matured a lot since then, and I've really grown to appreciate Geimini's music, to the point that I have their first album on my phone, and their songs often play when I have my phone on shuffle. I have yet to actually listen to their second album, but I've literally had the tab up on Discogs to purchase it, so the news of Karin's passing really hits hard.
Aside from her music with Gemini, Karin also had a few solo albums and singles released from 1980 until 1996. I have never actually listened to them before, but I'm inclined to now.
Karin has always had a strong and powerful voice. One of my all time favorite vocals from her is on the final track on Gemini's first album, "Another You, Another Me." The song is definitely very ABBA-esque with the lyrics, which were written by Bjorn, so I've always had a soft spot for the song anyway. An absolute favorite performance of mine is during Chess in Concert in 1984, when Karin stepped up to fill in for Barbara Dickson who had suddenly gotten sick during Endgame. Another song that demonstrates Karins beautiful, softer vocals are Mio Min Mio, and also Karin's performance/cover of Agnetha's 1967 hit "Utan dej mitt liv går vidare". I also have always really enjoyed Gemini's performance of TLC on Jacobs Stege in 1987, with the song being an extremely fun an upbeat track.
Rest in peace, Karin. Thank you for the music and the memories.
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!
Yesterday Michael B. Tretow, ABBA's iconic sound engineer, passed away at 80 years old. Not only was he the man behind their legendary sound, he was also one of their closest friends, from Bjorn's early days as a member of the Hootenanny Singers and onward. He mixed not only all of their albums with ABBA (excluding Voyage), but also a lot of the ABBA members solo work during and after ABBA, like the Chess concept album and Agnetha's Wrap Your Arms Around Me. He also worked on albums from the rest of the Polar family, like Lena Anderson and Ted Gardestad.
He was a kooky guy with a fun sense of humor, which can be heard in his own solo work. You can also hear snippets of what it was like working with him in the studio and the rapport he had with the ABBA members in the ABBA Undeleted medley.
He was a core part of ABBA's story, and he will be greatly missed. Rest in peace, Mr. Tretow.
I'm not really one to go sharing ABBA/ABBA related news because it's too hard to keep up and I don't have the motivation, but I had to share this considering one of my top favorite artists got to meet a member of my top favorite band today. Considering Sabrina has been singing ABBA on many of her Short n' Sweet tour stops as a surprise song, and she's even named her cats Benny and Bjorn, I actually can imagine how exciting this must have been for her because I think I would feel the same way if I was presented with the same opportunity :')
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.
So ABBA have a new compilation album coming out in October, titled "The Singles - The First Fifty Years", which I find to be an absolutely hilarious title, which is of course based on "The Singles - The First Ten Years" released back in 1982 to celebrate ABBA's 10 year anniversary from the group's formation in 1972.
The album contains all of ABBA's official single releases give or take from the 70s and 80s, with the addition of the five singles from ABBA's Voyage album, making this a nice compilation of ABBA's singles from the span of their entire career.
The album is available for pre-order on all of ABBA's official stores, like the museum and the universal music store, as well as Amazon. I wasn't initially going to pre-order it because it's nothing I don't already have, and dare I say, there's nothing really to entice the consumer to buy it?
Back in 1979, when ABBA were releasing Greatest Hits Vol.2, the album included ABBA's newest single at the time, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight), and aside from the single release, this album was the only LP that featured that song, and it also included Summer Night City, yet another albumless song. Fast forward to 1982, and for The Singles (The First Ten Years), the album includes two more albumless singles, The Day Before You Came and Under Attack. Also, although not included on the initial release of the album, ABBA's Greatest Hits from 1976 as it was released in the US, included the albumless track, Fernando. All three compilation albums featured something new, something that would entice the audience to buy that compilation album,.
But The Singles (The First Fifty Years) doesn't have anything new. There's no new single, nothing to really grab anyone's attention aside from the fact that this album is celebrating fifty years of ABBA, which is exciting in its own right! I feel like this album is mostly targeted towards the existing ABBA fans, the ones who must buy every single ABBA album, compilation or studio, but not the casual listener, like all three former compilation albums from ABBA's active years were meant to do. Now I know that ABBA are an already established act, and I'm also not asking ABBA to release anything more. I'm more than satisfied with all that we have, I know better than to ask for more music from ABBA (and I'm also well aware that ABBA LOVE to surprise us and then out of nowhere announce that they recorded an entire new album not just two new songs and then cause me to give them all my money yet again...), I just think more thought could have gone into this compilation album.
Although I wasn't planning on preordering this album, especially as I can't spend over $100 on the compilation album in record format, I did see that it was available on Amazon in its CD form, and because I have prime, I was like, well okay might as well give more money to ABBA.
But that's actually not what I'm here to complain about hahahhahaa. It's the cover of the album. First of all, I love the fact that they used an image of ABBA in their prime. ABBA in late 1975, as they looked when they were working on their most successful studio album Arrival. ABBA in their prime. Not ABBA in 1982 like as was originally featured on the back of ABBA Gold. (They have since changed the image on more recent releases of the album.). As an obsessed ABBA fan, I never complain about ABBA and their work, I'm always an optimist, but I just have to say, especially where ABBA Gold was my second introduction to ABBA, seeing ABBA at their most worn out and bored as they looked in 1982 as the first visual impression of the band was really confusing to me back in 2010. Like I had a hard time connecting the way they looked on that image from 1982 to the youthful and energetic sound that I was hearing when listening to each track. But anyway I digress.
I also love the title, I think it's a fantastic title. I like that it's in the style of ABBA's last compilation album from their active years as a band. ABBA's The Singles (The First Ten Years) is such a stunning album cover, I love the layout of the font, yet, this new compilation looks poorly made in comparison, like a sloppy copy of the original, or more like a bad Disney live action money grab version of the original amazing film.
I think what bothers me the most is that the modern graphic design, the even letter spacing of digitally applied text doesn't match the 70s appearance that ABBA has. The drop shadow looks artificial, and it lacks the beautiful hand-written quality of the 1982 album. It literally looks like the sloppy YouTube thumbnails that I produce for my videos, and I am not professional in any way and that's certainly reflected in my thumbnails hahahaha.
So, although I love the concept of the album cover, it's really really bothering me, I decided to try my hand at fixing it up a little. I literally spent all morning trying to figure out photoshop as I have it but hardly use it, and the end result is not perfect in any way shape or form. I am not a graphic designer, I really don't have the eye for that sort of thing, but I had to do something to make this album cover look better.
I tried to keep it more in the style of the original 82 compilation album, the font a little more squished. I didn't include drop shadows, and I didn't keep the byline in all caps. I think it looks pretty good, I think it looks more in line with ABBA's other compilations albums, so if the people at UMG happen to see this simple edit I did in an hour (not including the time spent to learn photoshop....), feel free to use it hahahhahaa.
Well, what a morning! Having only gotten online as of 50 minutes ago, what a wonderful surprise to see photos of the ABBA members arriving at the Royal Palace in Stockholm with their family and loved ones. I believe Agnetha arrived with either Christian, her and Bjorn's son, as I saw some report, or her manager, Bjorn arrived with possibly one of his and Agnetha's granddaughters as well as his girlfriend Christina, Frida arrived with her partner Henry, and Benny arrived with his son, Ludvig and I believe Ludvig's wife Milana. Then the ceremony was livestreamed on SVT (I missed it but have caught up!), and oh my goodness, what a treat to see all four members of ABBA, literally my favorite people in the world, together again once more.
What an honor to be able to witness ABBA reuniting, both muically and just the four members together in public standing next to each other, so many times over the last 8 years. First we had the opening of Mamma Mia the Party in 2016, Bjorn and Benny's 50th Anniversary celebration in 2016, ABBA reuniting for the recording of I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down in 2017, then for the subsequent recordings of Voyage from 2018-2021 and the motion-captures for the ABBA Voyage show, 2022's premiere of ABBA Voyage, and now this, where our beloved members of ABBA received the Royal Order of Vasa for outstanding efforts in Swedish and International Music Life.
Congratulations Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha, and Frida. This award is so well deserved.
2 years ago was the premiere of ABBA Voyage, when much to our surprise and astonishment, the four ABBA members reunited, in public, as the entity ABBA, for the first time in nearly 40 years, and probably the last time. (Although ABBA are being awarded the Royal Order of Vasa sometime this month, although I don't know how/when/if the ceremony will be and if ABBA will attend, so we will see....)
I remember watching a live stream of the red carpet and watching ABBA step out, and what a moment it was! Definitely one of the many highlights of 2022. And of course ABBA stepped out on the stage again after the first premiere of the concert was over, and it was an extremely emotional moment.
And of course we can't not talk about the ABBA Voyage show itself! I still have yet to see it for myself, but all the promotion, all the rare glimpses at shots from the show in promotional material, the bootleg photos/videos, all of them just make me all the more excited to finally get to see the show for myself and I can't wait to someday be able to experience that.
So happy 2 years, ABBA Voyage! Here's to many many more, be it in London, Las Vegas, Australia, or all three!
(I drew this picture last year but apparently neglected to share it here. In fact I have a lot of ABBA-related drawings that I neglected to share, but last year was a very tough year for me... so yeah....)
So yesterday was the Grand Finals of 2024's Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Malmo, Sweden coincidentally the same year that ABBA celebrates their 50th anniversary since they won the Eurovision Song Contest. So of course it seemed very plausible that ABBA would do something to celebrate. There were so many rumors that the ABBA members themselves would appear on stage, that they would sing Waterloo, you know, all four 70+ year old members of ABBA, and people were setting their expectations a little too high.
Instead, the ABBA-tars materialized on stage, and for those who have already been to ABBA Voyage, the segment was no surprise as it was literally taken straight from the ABBA Voyage Dialogue as the ABBA digital ABBA members reminisce over their Eurovision win, with the exception of two new lines recorded by Bjorn and Benny, which are, "Yes we can! Hello Malmo, hello Eurovision!" The already pre-recorded lines from ABBA Voyage are:
Frida: "Thank you for still having faith in us! Really it's an amazing privilege to be together again."
Agnetha: "But do you remember where it all started?"
Benny: "I remember picking up my winnings after a very special bet I made on a very special competition."
Agnetha: "I remember Bjorn standing on the coach because his costume was so tight that he couldn't sit down."
Bjorn: "Thank you for sharing that. And then I remember the UK Jury and what they thought about us. They gave us zero points!
Benny: "But let's take a look at some old footage, just to jog our memory."
Bjorn: "Aw do we have to? I don't like watching myself. Bad self-confidence I suppose."
Frida: "Bjorn, it's not about self-confidence. It's about having a sense of humor."
Agnetha; "So here we are!"
All four: "The Eurovision Song Contest, 1974!"
And this is where the ABBA Voyage show would have a projection on the screens that come down from the ceiling of various ABBA performances of Waterloo, a bit in the style of my All Performances videos dare I say hahahaha. However, after a compilation of various ABBA videos and the first verse and chorus of Waterloo, past Eurovision Song Contest Winners, Charlotte Pirelli, Carola, and Conchita Wurst, who all looked absolutely stunning btw, came out and performed the rest of the song. A very lovely tribute to our beloved ABBA. (I won't be watching it again because I personally cannot stand listening to other people sing ABBA, but of course they did a fabulous job, I just can't listen to it. Hehe.)
Anyways, the whole concept of ABBA Voyage, getting the opportunity to perform for forever and ever as their younger selves, is exactly how ABBA want to be remembered. Even though I disagree with them, ABBA feel like it would be wrong to ruin their image and come out as old people and try to sing like they used to, especially when the music that they already recorded is exactly what they wanted to release. If you want to listen to or watch ABBA perform, you can already do that will all the studio tracks that they crafted as perfect as they could, and all the TV performances and concert footage that exists. So it makes perfect sense that if they would reunite specifically for a show that doesn't "tarnish" their existing image.
I think because they chose to reunite for the ABBA Voyage show, and consequently two new songs, and then a whole new album, people were getting to used to the idea of ABBA reuniting, like it's something they'll do again and again, and expected them to do it again for Eurovision. But if you think about it, there have been so many anniversaries and events where you'd think ABBA would have done something to celebrate. 25 years since winning the ESC, 40 years, 50 years... but ABBA are the same and always have been the same. So why would they change?
However this year, the ABBA members actually had something to give. It may not be new, at least to the people who have already been to Voyage (you lucky ducks you), but here we have ABBA having already reminisced about winning the Eurovision Song Contest. If they were only going to say the same thing that they already said, in typical ABBA fashion, why record a new thing when they can just reuse what they already did?
I personally am quite happy with the really high quality footage of the ABBA-tars talking on the stage. As I haven't been blessed to see ABBA Voyage the show live yet, it was such a treat to see them like this, and I really really enjoyed seeing the ABBA members joke and talk and laugh on stage with each other. The Avatars themselves also look stunning.
So all in all, it made me happy and I'm satisfied with what they gave us.
Also, shoutout to the ESC official YouTube channel for not making the clip available in my country. I know America is not involved with the Eurovision Song Contest, but that doesn't mean that devoted and dedicated ABBA fans shouldn't be able to see the footage from the show. It totally doesn't feel alienating at all. :) :) :) >:(
Also to the people who were so disappointed that ABBA didn't show up and don't understand what the ABBA Voyage show is, THESE ARE NOT AI! STOP CALLING EVERYTHING AI!!!!!! Ugh.
It was 20 years ago today, in 2004, that Agnetha released her fourth English language solo album, My Colouring Book. The album comprises of 13 covers of some of Agnetha's favorite songs from her childhood and throughout the early 70s, songs that she loves and remind her of happier times, exactly how some of us feel when we listen to her songs and ABBA's songs.
I've always loved this album. I mean I love all of her work, but this album is quite special. It was the first time Agnetha had released a new album since her 1987 album, I Stand Alone. Her voice is exceptionally strong on this album despite it being 17 years since she released anything, and her sings all of the songs with such passion and emotion. Although I'm not the biggest fan of cover songs, I personally always believe that the original versions are best, I've never had a problem with covers that are respectful of the original work, not changing too much but also adding a very minuscule touch of originality. Throughout Agnetha's entire career, she has covered a lot of artists but always did it in the best way, and the same goes for this album.
Coincidentally, not realizing this album was coming up on it's 20th anniversary, I listened to this album in full a couple of days ago while drawing, and it's still such a good song. I like all the tracks, well except for Past, Present, Future as that track is just so weird to me (this is my personal feelings on the song itself, not on Agnetha's presentation of the song!), but my top favorite would have to be I Can't Reach Your Heart, Sometimes When I'm Dreaming, and Love Me With All Your Heart. But again, all the tracks are good.
One of my favorite thing about Agnetha is that she makes music on her own terms. She doesn't give into public pressure to release more music, she does project was just one entirely made up of her own passion for artists and songs she loves, and she did it completely out of her own volition. She kept promotion of it to a minimum, as that seems to be one of her least favorite parts of making music, yet it went on to be quite successful. And to this day, I think, it still is a really good, successful album.
I've mention in the past how Agnetha's A album from 2013 was the first solo project from either of the ladies of ABBA that I was actively there for. I didn't know of ABBA yet at all when this album came back - I was only three years old, so I couldn't have been aware of it, but it's nice to know that I was around at the time of this album's release. :)
... that ABBA arrived in Brighton, England, in preparation for their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Brighton Dome! In just three days the event would begin and ABBA were gearing up to perform their entry, Waterloo, in front of thousands of people in the audience and watching from home as well! Little did they know that in just three days time, they would be changing history, and proving that a band like them, coming from the relatively small country of Sweden, could win, and change history books forever!
Honestly, this is such an exciting time. There has been so much ABBA hype everywhere (Well not everywhere as where I live in the US, I have not seen or heard anything in regards to ABBA, but that's what I get for being an American). There are a lot of exciting documentaries releasing in the coming days to celebrate, large events in celebration of ABBA in Sweden and ABBA's voyage show in London, Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Frida each being awarded a special award by the King of Sweden, and who knows what else our beloved ABBA have planned up their sleeves....
It was just announced last night by a bunch of news outlets that ABBA are rumored or "in talks" to have an ABBA Voyage show in Las Vegas, and that news absolutely made my night, assuming it's true. If it is, let me just say, getting to Las Vegas, as in a flight within the US, is something that my anxious and introverted self could probably do, whereas getting myself to London sounds more complicated. So if ABBA are actually making an ABBA Voyage show in Las Vegas, it seems that this dedicated and obsessive ABBA fan might finally be able to go to an actual ABBA concert, and what a dream come true that would be! So please please please please PLEASE let this be true. Please and thank you. :)
It has been a while since angry, ranty Becky has appeared on this blog, and well, she's back, and she's angry lol.
Okay, so recently I came across this video on instagram that was sort of supposed to be a parody lumping together all ABBA songs to make a stereotypical ABBA song, or like Every ABBA song, and it kind of made me mad for a few reasons. Number 1, there really is no way to make a stereotypical ABBA song. ABBA have so many songs over a 10 year catalog + the songs recorded for Voyage after a 40 year hiatus. Their albums showcase a variety of different styles, genres themes, songs of melancholy and songs that emanate pure joy. There are songs about breaking up, the pain of divorce, and songs about
loving one another. Songs about being a parent, and songs about pure
love. Then there are the songs that make you laugh, and songs that are
really just a joke, like Two For The Price Of One and Crazy World. Honestly, the punchline of Two For The Price Of One still cracks me up, especially because without that last line you'd be like WHAT THE HECK IS THIS SONG? THIS IS SO CREEPY!!, and then all of Crazy World is like this huge misunderstanding and how the main character sees something, completely jumps to the wrong conclusions, and then it all turns out to be a big nothing. It's FUNNY! But I digress.
There really is no way to sum up
all of ABBA's songs into one parody song. ABBA's gone through so many
different styles of songs, the only thing that remains common is the
ABBA sound, the harmonies, the layers of vocals, the magical sound of
Agnetha and Frida's combined vocals, with added backing vocals from
Bjorn and Benny. All of that makes an ABBA song, but there is no one
single topic that all ABBA songs cover. Now I've always been one to
point out common themes and phrases that show up throughout their entire
discography. That's literally what my YouTube channel is about, yet
these are things like using the word "blue" to as a feeling, or using "Aha" a lot, or making up characters in their songs.
Really, if you want to be making a stereotypical ABBA song, you should
take notes by watching my videos haha, but honestly, there is no way to
make a stereotypical ABBA song. It's nearly impossible to replicate
their sound, or fit all their different genres into one song. Like, not
every ABBA song is going to sound like Dancing Queen or other popular
hits from ABBA Gold. And even on ABBA Gold, do any of their songs sound
similar? Does Fernando really sound like Dancing Queen, or Thank You
For The Music like Take A Chance On Me? No! And that's because no ABBA
song sounds the same.
What mostly really bothers me about this video is the fixation on adult & minor relationships in ABBA songs. This video makes the assumption that ABBA's songs are in a way glorifying a relationship with someone 17 and younger being with an adult. First of all, there are only two ABBA songs that mention ages, those being Man In The Middle and Dancing Queen. I don't personally understand what being "only 17" means, like is it's trying to show how young the character of the dancing queen is, how mature she is for her age, how she's done so much in her life while only be 17, idk. But the song doesn't in anyway say that she is actively like flirting with people older than her. In fact the other people at the club she's dancing at, the king she's looking for, could also be 17! You see what I'm getting at?
And then in Man In The Middle, the song I don't think in anyway is trying to say that the Man who is in the middle is doing a good thing. The song mentions who the guy is 50 and the girl is only 17, but when you listen to and most importantly READ the lyrics, you can see how the Man is not a good man. I've seen quite a few reviews where people really dislike Man In The Middle, specifically because of the line about the man being 50 and the girl 17, and yeah, I think we can all agree that's creepy. But the song is trying to say how this man is not a good guy. Especially in the third verse, where it says:
But you see that man made a big mistake
even though he’s got all his servants and a mansion beside a lake
and the money too, all that he can spend
he can buy the most, nearly anything but he can’t buy an honest friend
And then the whole chorus:
’Cause he’s the man in the middle
never second fiddle
just like a spider in a cobweb
hard as a hammer
not the kind of boss
you double-cross
’cause he’s the man in the middle
knows the way to diddle
he’s never bothered by his conscience
deals with the devil ’cause he wants to be
man in the middle, the middle, the middle
in the middle
In my personal opinion, this song is not in any way glorifying this behavior. It's specifically talking about a BAD man who does BAD actions. But he doesn't care because he IS BAD. Do I need to make it any clearer? Of course you can dislike any song you want, but I think it's important to keep in mind that this is a bad character. Okay?
Now, there is also the song Does Your Mother Know, which in all honestly, is a super weird song. I will give you that. The song certainly gives me a bit of an ick, as the man in the song is clearly an adult and singing about flirting with a child. HOWEVER, when you actually listen to the words of the song, you'll see how it's actually about a man turning down the advances being made at him by a child because SHE IS ONLY A CHILD. And he's actually asking her if her mother knows what she's doing? At a time when there were so many rock stars in the 70s and 80s, and even earlier, who were ALLEGEDLY known to have relations with minors, which is really really REALLY bad and also ILLEGAL I should mention, can we just appreciate a song that is actually discouraging this behavior? Yes I think the wording could have been done better, even flirting with a minor is not right, but the song is AT LEAST trying to discourage such wrong behaviors, especially where it is the adult's job in that situation to be the responsible one and make sure no ILLEGAL actions are being done, and actively discourage the kid from pursuing such wrong things. But the responsibility ultimately falls on the adult. Which the main character of Does Your Mother Know is trying to do.
So all the more so, there are no ABBA songs that promote relationships between minors and adults. Okay?
Also, very important to note, almost all of ABBA's songs are not about
actual situations in their members' lives. Unlike singers of today who
like to write deeply personal songs about their own personal lives
((which is not a bad thing)), ABBA's songs are not like that. It would be
dumb to think that ABBA in 1975 would have experienced a rough divorce
like in Hey Hey Helen or be jealous of their partner for choosing their
love for violin over interacting with them like in Dum Dum Diddle,
etc. There may be a fe2 of songs INSPIRED (emphasis on the word inspired) by real life events, like
The Winner Takes It All, When All Is Said And Done, and Slipping
Through My Fingers, but that is just taking inspiration and is not
actually telling the story of the ABBA members personal lives.
Now, just last night I think it was, Saturday Night Live did an ABBA parody. As you can probably tell by this whole ranty post, I really do not like parodies. I don't like Mamma Mia, I don't like tribute bands (unless they can to it properly, but I've already ranted about that on my blog in the past), and that's just me. If you like those things, good for you.
So clearly, I'm not the target audience for this parody. Especially as they got the costumes so inaccurate, like I know EXACTLY which outfits they're parodying, but if they went as far as they did to research costumes, and attempt to recreate them and even give them and decent wigs, can you at least try to make them more accurate? Plus they're saying this FICTIONAL album came out in 1978. Why then did they make them look like ABBA from 1974??? WHYYY?????
But the thing I'm most upset by is the FIXATION on characters in ABBA songs being aged 17. I literally just went over the number of ABBA songs that mention ages, that being TWO. TWO SONGS out of a good 9 albums worth of songs. If there were more songs that mention ages in songs, don't you think I'd have done a compilation on it by now?
If the SNL skit had actually been more properly researched, maybe just maybe I could accept it and possibly enjoy it . Like I'm glad that ABBA are still getting recognition and are popular enough to even merit a skit being about them, but if you can't be bothered to get your FREAKING FACTS STRAIGHT and make sure there's an actual TRUE basis to your statements, I'm sorry but maybe don't try it at all. You just end up making yourself look stupid.
Also, I know I'm being nitpicky, but there couldn't have been an Xmas version of Chiquitita released in 1978, as it came out in 1979.
If you enjoy these parodies, no judgement to you of course. And no hate from me to the creators of these ill-researched parodies that were based on a completely false foundation. I just hope they'll do better if they really feel the need to be a next time. Let's pray there won't be lol.
Today, Agnetha's new album of reworked tracks from A, originally released 10 years ago in 2013, released! This project has been met with a lot of feedback from fans, both negative and positive, and I thought I'd share some of my thoughts as well. I should mention, as an obsessed ABBA fan, I tend to immediately love anything the ABBA members do or release (with the exception of Mamma Mia! the Movie/Musical, hehehehehehhe), but I listened to this album with as much of an open mind as possible.
I think the hardest part for me was trying to forget about the original versions of the tracks when listening to A+. I love A with my whole heart, as I've mentioned in my previous post, the album is very special to me and I love that album so much. So trying to forget about the music style of those tracks while listening to A+ is an extremely difficult feat. On my first listen, I found myself leaning more towards disliking some of the creative decisions in some of the tracks, mainly I Should Have Followed You Home (A+) and When You Really Loved Someone (A+), however after listening to the album a few more times, specifically with headphones on, it becomes a whole new experience.
The album sounds very digital to me, if that makes sense. Like the instruments all sound computerized and synthesized, which in my opinion, makes it sound a little flat. However, I've found that in general, this album is very laid back and chill when compared to A, and when listening with headphones, I've learned to appreciate the more modern chopped vocal style and auto-tuned vocals. On the topic of auto-tune, I understand that it was added on to a lot of the vocals as a style choice, not necessarily because they're trying to perfect her vocals, and perhaps they went a little heavy on the auto-tune, specifically on Perfume In The Breeze (A+), but it's not the worst. The sped up tempo of the vocals on I Was A Flower (A+) is quite noticeable to me, but I actually really enjoy this version.
For me, the real highlight on the album is Back On Your Radio (A+). From my understanding, it was the first track they reworked, and they did a FANTASTIC job. Also Janne Schaffer's added guitar to Past Forever (A+) is AMAZING. I enjoy the added saxophone on Bubble (A+) and whistling on I Keep Them On The Floor Beside My Bed (A+). And of course, I absolutely LOVE Where Do We Go From Here. I've listened to that song almost every day since it came out, and Agnetha's harmonies and voice are so beautiful on that track. I also like that on a lot of the tracks, Agnetha's vocals are very prominent and clear, very front and center.
All in all, the album feels modern and very digital, and I think it's good. It took some getting used to, and trying to ignore the A versions that I know and love from my mind while listening was tricky, but ultimately, I like this album. Thank you Agnetha and Jorgen for this new album, and I can't wait for my CD and T-shirt to arrive from the webstore. :')
Still can't believe that it was a year ago, today, that ABBA released a new album for the first time in 40 years. For me, the songs still feel new, yet at the same time they fit so well with the other ABBA songs, they already felt famillar after a few listens.
I feel so grateful that I got to be there to witness such an iconic musical comeback. I've listened to Voyage so many times since its release, and I don't think I will ever tire of it. Thank you ABBA, for gifting us with such an incredible 9th album, and for finally reuniting.<3
ABBA announced their new album, a new concert, the two new songs, and the start of a new voyage... I remember sitting their, anticipating the live stream event, wondering what ABBA could possibly have up their sleeves. And then the even started. We got to hear I Still Have Faith In You for the first time ever, and I remember I didn't quite know how to react at first. Agnetha and Frida sounded so different yet so familiar. Then came the announcement that ABBA decided to do one more album. The moment Benny said it was available for pre-order on the website, I jumped straight onto their site and of course it hadn't even been launched yet and i couldn't get on. I reloaded the page a million times until like 20 minutes later, I finally got on and pre-ordered the album on record and 2 CDs because I had no idea what was what. Honestly it was one of the best moments of my life, and I still can't believe I got to live through that, experience and witness it all. For the first time in my life, I got to really be a part of ABBA history instead of just reading about it. When Don't Shut Me Down played, I was so ecstatic. That song really have off the same ABBA vibes we all knew and loved, and after a few more listens, both songs quickly became my favorites.
I remember being a bit unsure of the whole ABBA-tar project, quite skeptical of how it would work. I didn't really like the costumes, they took a lot to get used to, but ultimately everything worked out for the best. The Voyage show just played it's 100th show, and people show up night after night to see ABBA perform in their custom built arena. I've only seen clips, fan footage, and I have yet to go myself, but, even though I still have my opinions and concerns, I love this show with my entire heart and soul and I cannot wait to see it for myself someday.
Gosh, I'm just so happy. We're living in a world where ABBA came back together, released an amazing album that I listen to all the time, and made a ground-breaking show that they will be playing for years to come. And then they all got together PUBLICLY at the ABBA voyage premiere, at what will probably be their last appearance ever as a group. I still remember what it was like before the two songs came out, always wondering if and when we'd ever get to hear the new songs. I never game up hope, I remained optimistic about everything, the delays, the ABBAtars, and ABBA gave us so much more than we'd ever expected.
Thank you ABBA, for everything. This last year has been incredible, and I could never have asked for anything better.
Hi. :) I meant to post a lot earlier all about the premiere of Voyage today, but gah, it's just been so much to take in. No I wasn't there today, I don't know if and when I'm gonna be fortunate enough to see the show, but all reviews and buzz around the show have made me super excited. I have my questions about the show, I'm a little confused, but overall, ABBA Voyage has my heart. Especially because in the short 30 second clip that was shared to their social medias of the ABBAtars singing SOS, the fact that they're doing the same movements that they did in 1975/76 makes me soooo happy. I have faith that this show really is truly an accurate representation of ABBA.
Of course the highlight of today was ABBA themselves, all four of them, attending the premiere, giving interviews. I loved seeing them all together again, all the pictures. They all look amazing, and I'm so thankful to live in a time where ABBA got back together again, released music, are premiering a new, ahead of its time concert experience! Gosh, it's just so thrilling, shocking, amazing.
Thank you, ABBA, for the music, for the songs, for everything. For being my inspiration all these years. I am so excited by this new Voyage, this new way to experience ABBA, and I cannot wait to someday see if for myself, whenever that'll be. :)
Hello everyone. Just wanted to share some exciting news! My newly updated version of my book, The Story of ABBA - For Young Readers is now available to purchase. I had a lot of fun working on this project, updating all the illustrations, and adding a little something new about ABBA's amazing comeback. You can find it on Amazon.com. :)
Combining charming illustrations and kid-friendly, easy to read
text, THE STORY OF ABBA by Becky Laine is an unofficial biography of the
Swedish pop group ABBA, written specially for the group's youngest
fans. Now including four new pages all about ABBA's historic comeback.
There aren't many major differences between my initial 2016 version (that is still available to buy if anyone's interested) besides the illustrations, but I did make some slight changes to some of the text, particularly typos that somehow managed to get past my proof reading, and also some factual information that I admit to getting wrong.
On the left we have the 2016 image and on the right we have the updated version.
And then of course there are four additional pages all about ABBA's return to the music scene, with all new illustrations as well.
But that's not all!
As a companion to my new book, I've also released a coloring book, featuring illustrations as seen in The Story Of ABBA, as well as drawings that never made it into the original book. The book is also available for purchase at Amazon.
THE STORY OF ABBA - THE COLORING BOOK is a companion to Becky
Laine’s THE STORY OF ABBA. Featuring 50+, hand-drawn illustrations of
the Swedish pop group ABBA, this unofficial coloring book provides fans,
young and old, the opportunity to visualize the band's history using
their own imagination. With adorable caricatures, this fun coloring book
is sure to be an enjoyable activity for all fans to sit back and color.
The pages are easy to color in as seen in the image below:
I honestly had a lot of fun working on these books and I really hope you all will enjoy it as well!
Okay so I meant to post this when my order from the official ABBA voyage store came like a week after Voyage came out on November 5th, but I like never got around to taking pictures until today. xD
I was just want to start out this post by saying how much I wished I could tell my younger self that ABBA actually did it. They got together, all four of them, and made a new album. Like I remember how excited I was when I got to preorder Agnetha's A album in 2013, and I'd never been able to experience something like that ever again. And I got to do that again you know, hopping onto the ABBA Voyage website the moment Benny said in that livestream "We recorded a new album and you can preorder it now." Like I did that. I got to experience that, and I am so grateful.
Anyways, here is my Voyage haul:
So I think I mentioned it before, but I ended up buying three versions of the album, 2 CDs and one vinyl. I know there were so many fancy shmancy versions of the album available, but I ultimately decided on getting a plain old black vinyl. I also couldn't tell if the special deluxe box was a vinyl or CD, which is why I got that in addition to the regular CD. It is a CD btw. ;)
So the vinyl is really cool. It's a very simple design, not a lot of details, but I like the images of the avatars on the inside of the case.
Like they're really helpful for a project that I may or may not be working on right now... 👀
The vinyl also came with this lovely postcard of ABBA during the recording sessions for I'm guessing I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down. It's nice that they included some form of real life ABBA in the present instead of just the ABBAtars.
And there's also this larger poster that I have stuck to my wall. :D
Next is the Deluxe CD box which comes with a lot of really nice goodies.
There's stickers, art cards, the booklet, and the CD. I'm honestly not quite sure what I'm going to do with the art cards and stickers. I for some reason always leave stickers as they are since I'm like scared of sticking them to something and then changing my mind but they're stuck there forever lolololol. I'm thinking I might stick the art cards and the postcard on my wall as well, but again I have the same problem of sticking them on the walls and possibly damaging them.
A closer look at the CD.
And there's also this poster as well that is also on my wall now. (Also please ignore strawberry shortcake and friends on the wallpaper - I did not choose them, they were on the walls since before I was born xD )
Also I saved the labels that were on the shrink wrap since these are historic now!
And last but certainly lost least is the regular old CD. I decided to leave it in the shrink wrap, unopened. I'm not doing this for any particular reason, like I'm not planning on reselling anything, I just didn't see the need to open it. Plus there's a poster on the inside of it as well I believe, but I think it's the same one as the poster in the deluxe box.
And now for my other goodies. While I was waiting for Voyage to come out, I decided to do some more shopping on discogs since I have an addiction... lol just kidding but I really do like buying things on discogs and decided to add yet another record to my ABBA record collection since I can't get enough of these. xD For fun, I added Gracias Por La Musica to my collection.
And then I decided to have even more fun and purchased ABBA in Concert and ABBA in Japan, again for no reason in particular. :)
ABBA in Japan also comes with some goodies, but again I don't know what to do with them. xD They will probably just stay in the DVD box.
And while these are not official ABBA merch, here are two posters I ordered from my RedBubble store. :) Both are available for sale btw, just the ABBA logo is not there in the I Still Have Faith In You one because I don't think I'm allowed to do that.
I still can't believe that ABBA released a new album despite listening to it pretty much every day since it came out. xD Thank you ABBA, for the music, and for everything. This was a dream come true. :)
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