2012
2012
January:
2012-01-13 Agnetha receives ELLE’s Fashion Legend award
at Grând Hotel in Stockholm. http://elle.se/staende-ovationer-for-agnetha-faltskog/
2012-04 -23
Release of The Visitors Deluxe Edition, including the demo medley
‘From A Twinkling Star To A Passing Angel’, the first previously unreleased
ABBA recordings since 1994! http://abbasite.com/articles/news/the-visitors-deluxe-edition-released-in-april!
From 'The
Complete Recording Sessions' by Carl Magnus Palm:
26th May, 1981:
Polar Music Studios: Recording 'Another Morning Without You' (a working
title of 'An Angel Walked Through My Room', a working tittle of 'An Angel's
Passing Through My Room', a working title of 'Like An Angel Passing Through
My Room (version 1)'.
Benny Andersson (keyboards), Lasse Wellander (guitar), Mike Watson (bass),
Ola Brunkert (drums).
Surely the most difficult track on the new album, the ballad 'Like An
Angel Passing Through My Room', would be subject to a number of different
attemps before the group finally settled on the released version. This
first recording featured contributions from both Agnetha and Frida, as
well as keyboards, guitar, bass and drums, presumably a far cry from the
bare synthesizer and vocals arrangement that was featured on the album.
3rd June,
1981:
Polar Music Studios. Recording 'An Angel's Passing Through My Room (working
title of 'Like An Angel Passing Through My Room (version 1)'.
A drum overdum by Roger Palm
5th June, 1981:
Polar Music Studios. Mixxing 'Like An Angel Passing Through My Room (version
1)'
Four different miexes of this recording that ultimately would remain unreleased.
The first one was named 'flash', the second 'normal', the third 'amazon',
and the fourth 'combination'.
23rd October, 1981:
Polar Music Studios. Recording 'Twinkle Twinkle' (working title of 'Like
An Angel Passing Through My Room, No.2').
Benny Andersson (keyboards), Lasse Wellander (guitar), Rutger Gunnarsson
(bass), Ola Brunkert (drums).
Exactly why this remake of 'Like An Angel Passing Through My Room' was
named 'Twinkle 'Twinkle' on this day is not known. However, extensive
overdubs were made, including vocals, but apparently something was still
unsitisfactory about this version, since a third and final version would
be recorded a few weeks later.
'I seem to remember that this was an attempt at turning it into a disco
track,' says Benny. "It didn't work out, though, because we ended
up with a 'Lay All Your Love On Me' sound-alike, It's never any fun to
repeat something that you've already done - we always tried to avoid that."
8th November, 1981:
Polar Music Studios. Recording 'Like An Angel Passing Through My Room,
No.3' (working title of 'Like An Angel Passing Through My Room').
With less that a month to go before the album was due to be released,
a final attempt at recording a satisfactory version of 'Like An Angel
Passing Through My Room was made. Thus, this day saw the recording of
the bare synthesizer-and-vocals only version that was eventually released
on the album.
The sound of the ticking clock actually came from Benny's mini-moog, and
Michael Tretow remembers Benny trying for hours to figure out just how
to get the right ticking sound. "I remember the recording of almost
every track on the 'The Visitors' album as an uphill struggle, and this
was no exception,' says Benny. "When we finally hit on the arrangement
with the tick-tock sound and that strange echo on Frida's voice, we thought
that we at least had found something that gave the song its own identity.
Frida also vividly remembers the problems with the recording of 'Like
An Angel Passing Through My Room', and she is not completely satisfied
with her own vocal performances. "It was very difficult to find the
right mood, and I remember trying several different ways of singing it
before we landed on the final version. It turned out okay, but it's not
a favourite." Perhaps Agnetha summed it up best when she said that
the track left the listener "waiting for something that never comes."
(International ABBA Magazine, April 1982).
10th and 11th November, 1981:
Polar Music Studios. Mixing 'Like An Angel Passing Through My Room'.
Two mixes made over two days, both of which remain unreleased.
13th November 1981:
Polar Music Studios. Mixing 'Like An Angel Passing Through My Room'. This
mix was included on the album.
Additional
info found on http://agnethannifrid.blogspot.com/
However the biggest surprise is the inclusion of the previously unreleased
track, ‘From A Twinkling Star To A Passing Angel’. This track (there are
in fact 4 different versions!) was recorded during the sessions for 'The
Visitors'. We are proud to say that we have had the uptempo version of
the song in our own vaults for years and it is truly a gem! It features
clear vocals by Agnetha backed up by Frida. This makes for an interesting
sound as the melody later on developped into 'Like an angel passing through
my room' which
features only Frida. 'Twinkle Twinkle' is perhaps the 'even better version'.
For fans: you should keep in mind ' Why did it have to be me' versus 'Happy
Hawaii'. This is how these two song compare aswell. The release of unreleased
ABBA material on 'The Visitors deluxe' marks the first time since the
'Thank You For The Music' box set in 1994 that ABBA have opened their
private vaults to release a previously unreleased track.
THE VISITORS – DELUXE EDITION
DISC 01: CD
1. The Visitors
2. Head Over Heels
3. When All Is Said And Done
4. Soldiers
5. I Let The Music Speak
6. One Of Us
7. Two For The Price Of One
8. Slipping Through My Fingers
9. Like An Angel Passing Through My Room
Bonus Tracks:
10. Should I Laugh Or Cry
11. I Am The City
12. You Owe Me One
13. Cassandra
14. Under Attack
15. The Day Before You Came
Extra Bonus
Track:
16. From A Twinkling Star To A Passing Angel (demos)
DISC 02: DVD: 1.
Two For The Price Of One (Dick Cavett Meets ABBA)
2. Slipping Through My Fingers (Dick Cavett Meets ABBA)
3. When All Is Said And Done (Original Promo Clip)
4. ABBA In London, November 1982 (The Late Late Breakfast Show, BBC)
5. ABBA In Stockholm, November 1982 (Nöjesmaskinen, SVT)
6. The Visitors TV commercial I (UK)
7. The Visitors TV commercial II (Australia)
8. The Singles – The First Ten Years TV commercial I (UK)
9. The Singles – The First Ten Years TV commercial II (Australia)
10. International Sleeve Gallery
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