by S.E. Fitzsimons

"They were underrated by serious critics and treated as just a bouncy little pop group.  A lot of idots still think of them as that, but they were much more"    - Tim Rice, lyricist Jesus Christ Superstar.

    Throughout the history of popular music, rock's supergroups had usually emerged either from American or Great Brittain.  But in 1974, this rule was broken when the Swedish quartet ABBA performed a song called "Waterloo" at the Eurovision Song Contest, a forum notorious for producing one-hit wonders.
    At the time, it was assumed that ABBA, too, was headed straight for oblivion.  As is common in succes stories, ABBA proved the critics wrong, but the ABBA story itself is hardly common.  The four Swedes were years ahead of their time, for example, few Americans realize that ABBA pioneered the art of music video nearly a decade before MTV existed.  Still, ABBA was seldom credided for anything they accomplished, because the press only embraced American and British pop stars.  ABBA's fans, on the other hand, considered the group a musical blast of brisk, Scandinavian air, and bought enough records to make ABBA one of the largest-selling groups in the history of recorded music, perhaps the most succesful since the Beatles.  They were surely the biggest-selling group of the 70s outside the U.S.
    The driving force behind ABBA's succes was their manager and part-time lyricist, Stikkan "Stig" Anderson.  He coined the group's name by forming an acronym of the members' initials; A for Agnetha Fältskog, B for Björn Ulvaeus, B for Benny Andersson (no relation to Stig), and A for Anni-Frid Lyngstad.  (Note: When the group first came together, they were known by their Christian names, "Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid"  Therefore, the individual members will be referred to by their first names throughout this story.)  Stig Anderson did not take an active part in putting the group together, though; ABBA envolved naturally, as four stars from four very different areas of the Swedish music scene met, and eventually became two couple, the lovers whose music conquered the world.

Origins
    Agnetha, Ase Fältskog (pronouned ah-NEE-ta OH-say fell-SKOOG) was born April 5, 1950 in Jonkoping, Sweden.  Agnetha started singing in her father's local revue when she was five.  She studied piano and accordion, and also began composing melodies.  In her late teens, Agnetha worked as a telephone operator at an automobile firm during the day, and performed with locals band at night.  She sang on a demo recording that found its way into the office of a talent scout named Lille Gerhard, who invited her to audition.  Thus Agnetha landed a recording contract, and her self-penned balled "Jag Var Sa Kar" ("I Was So In Love"), became her first #1 hit in Sweden, when she was only 17 years old.
    As Agnetha's succes flourished, her working relationship with German record producer Dieter Zimmerman blossomed into a romance.  The two were soon engaged, but later called off the wedding.
    In addition to playing "Maria Magdalena" in the Swedish production of Jesus Christ Superstar , Agnetha frequently toured the Swedish folkparks, small venues, similar to American county fairs, that featured live entertainment.  Through touring, she crossed paths with the man who would be her future husband and ABBA partner, Björn Ulvaeus.  When Agnetha met Björn in 1969, she marched up to him and introduced herself in her typically assertive manner.  The shy young man was somewhat taken aback, but not for long - they quickly fell in love, and the Swedish press called it the the pop music romance of the year.
    Clean-cut Björn Christian Ulvaeus (whose last name is pronounced ool-VEE-us) was born April 25, 1945 in Gothenburg, Sweden, but actually grew in a town called Vastervik.  At the age of 16, he and some friends formed a skiffle group called the West Bay Singers (named afer the English translation of Vastervik, "West Bay").  Prolific songwriter Stig Anderson and talent scout Bengt Bernhag has just started a new record label, Polar Music.  On the prowl for up-and-coming talent, Anderson and Bernhag discovered  the band, and renamed it the Hootenanny Singers, because they felt that the group needed a catchier name than the West Bay Singers.
    The group's records sold well by Swedish standards; nevertheless, Björn had grown increasingly bored with folk music.  As a result, when he met pop songwriter Benny Andersson at a party, Björn was eager to work with him.  Although he briefly attended college in 1967, Björn left to persue music full-time; he and Benny founded the production firm Union Songs.  Stig Anderson, who dreamed of putting Sweden on the musical map of the world, instantly sensed the duo's potential as future international stars.
    Björn's partner, beared Goran Bror 'Benny" Andersson, was born on December 16, 1946 in Stockholm Sweden.  His father and grandfather were accordion players, and he inherited their talents.  Benny learned to play both accordion and piano, but the accordion remains his favourite instrument.
    Benny began playing in various bands, and met singer Christina Gronwall.  He and Gronwall never married, but they lived together until 1966 and had two children, Peter and Helene.  He began playing keyboards for a pop group called the Hep Stars in 1964.
    Until ABBA, the Hep Stars were the biggest Swedish band ever.  The first songs Benny wrote, such as "No Ronsense" and "Sunny Girl", were huge hits for the Hep Stars.  Still, the group self-destructed over time, because it had not paid any taxes.  Plans for a Hep Stars film fell apart, and the members were all deeply in dept.  Benny eventually paid off all his back taxes, with money earned through songwriting.  Around this time, he fell in love with jazz singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, whom he had previously met while touring.  They were engaged in August 1969, and moved into a one-room apartment, where Benny played his beloved piano almost constantly - much to Anni-Firds's dismay.
    Auburn-haired Anni-Frid Syni "Frida" Lyngstad was born November 15, 1945 in Narvik, Norway. Her mother, a 19-year-old Norwegian girl named Synni Lyngstad fell in love with Alfred Haase, a young German soldier stationed in Narvik during Nazi Germany's occupation of Norway.  When Haase was sent back to Germany, the boat that he had been traveling on sank, and Synni never heard from his again.
    Meanwhile, Synni found herself pregnant and embroiled in scandal.  When the baby girl was born, Synni named her "Frida", a name implying home for peace, but the townspeople rejected both her and her tyskbarn ("German child").  Synni died shortly thereafter, so Anni-Frid was brought up by her grandmother.  They emigrated to Sweden, settling in a town called Eskilstuna.
    Anni-Frid's grandmother instilled in her a love of singing that would last a lifetime.  At 13, Anni-Frid lied about her age to get her first singing job.  She eventually formed a big band of her own, The Anni-Frid Four, and fell in love with bassist Ragnar Fredriksson, when she was only 15.  She married him when she was 18, and they had two children, Hans and Liselotte.  Anni-Frid worked to be a good wife and mother, and continued working as a jazz singer on the side.  In September 1967, she won a television contest with a song called "En Ledig Dag" ("A Day Off").  This led to more television, and an album for EMI, by which time Anni-Frid and her husband had divorced.  He agreed to care for the children full-time, while she went to Stockholm to persue her career.  Despite this, she remained close to her children, as she still does today.
    In 1971, Anni-Frid recorded another album, produced by Benny Andersson, for EMI.  That same year, she and Agnetha sang backing vocals on "Hej Gamle Man" ("Hey, Old Man"), a song from Benny and Björn's first album.  This is considered to be the first "unofficial" ABBA song, although it was credited only to "Björn and Benny".  They thought it might be interesting for the four of them to form a group; by performing together, they would no longer have to be separated from each other for long periods while touring.  So they named their group the Engaged Couples, and debuted in a nightclub on a very appropriate date: Valentine's Day of 1971.  Clever as the idea was, their first live performance together was an unmitigated disaster, so they gave up on the idea of forming a quartet...for a time being.

The early years,

Björn and Agnetha were wed, July 7, 1971, but their joy was shattered whey they learned that Bengt Bernhag, who had helped launch Björn's career, had commited suicide.  Stig Anderson, grieving the loss of his friend and partner, asked Björn and Benny to produce for Polar Music fulltime,
    The duo's album Lycka ("Happiness") had been moderately successfull, but they were determined to succeed outside Scandinavia.  They realized that they needed to write in English, the international language of music.  One of their early English collaborations was "She's My Kind Of Girl", which won a song contest in Japan, and became a hit there, in 1972.  Two more singles followed in Japan, both in Swedish and English.  The third, "Love Has It's Way's", was released to commemorate Björn and Benny's promotional trip to that country.
    Björn and Benny returned to the studio to record "People Need love", with Agnetha and Anni-Frid as backing-vocalists.  Studio engineer Michael B. Tretow was largely responsible for creating the layered hrmonies that would become ABBA's signature sound.  Upon hearing the finished product, Björn and Benny realized that the women had to be credited, as their vocals were too prominent to be ignored.  The idea of a group with the unwieldy name of Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Frida" alarmed even Stig Anderson, who delighted in flaunting convention.  Reluctantly, he included all four names on the record label, until a more suitable name could be found.
    On February 10, 1973, they entered a sog called "Ring, Ring" in the Eurovision Song Contest, hoping to gain international publicity.  Agnetha was nine months pregnant, so arrangements were made for Anni-Frid to sing solo, if necessary. (The baby Linda Ulvaeus, was born less than two weeks after the tryouts, on February 23.)  The public wanted the quartet to represent Sweden in the contest, but the official jury had other ideas; it voted "Ring, Ring" into third place.  Nevertheless, the album and its title tracks (English and Swedish versions) occupied the top three positions of the Swedish charts, and the single also reached #1 in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Holland and Belgium.
    Stig Anderson, realizing that the foursome was on the verge of international success, wanted to give it a simple name that would transcend langurage barriers.  The Swedish public joined in the effort, when a newspaper asked its readers to suggest names.  Both the majority of the readers and Stig Anderson decided upon an acronym of the four members' initials: ABBA.  This created a new problem, because there was already a fish cannery in Sweden called Abba, which probably explains why that name came so readily to mind among the Swedish readers.  Legal details were worked out, and the group's name was differentiated from the fish cannery's by being spelled entirely in capital letters.  With public support and a brand-new name, ABBA was literally ready and willing to take on the world.
    1974 was a crutial year for the group.  It needed to follow up "Ring, Ring" with another strong single, because its demo tapes were still being ignored by record companies in English-speaking countries.  There was only one way it could reach an international audience: it had to enter Eurovision one more time.
    A sense of urgency surrounded ABBA's preparations for the Eurovision tryouts but fortunately, he official jury had been eliminated, so the public would select the winner.  ABBA was working on a new album, and "Waterloo" stood out as a potential Eurovision enty; it was an upbeat song, driven by Benny's pumping piano and the women's soaring harmonies.  With the jury out of the picture, the Swedish public was finally able to select ABBA to represent its country at the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England.
    The contest was broadcast live to 500 million people throughout Europe on April 6, 1974 and ABBA intended to make their few moments on stage unforgettable.  They performed in glittery, futuristic satin outfits, with a conductor dressed as Napoleon, for a touch of humor ("Napoleon" was actually Sven-Olaf Walldoff, who had worked with Agnetha since her first album, and who continued working with ABBA for many years.)  Critics were polarized into two faction: stuffy conservatives who disliked ABBA's modern music and clothing, and those who were delighted that Eurovision bad finally been dragged, kicked and screaming, into the twentieth century.  The public seemed ready for a change, as well; ABBA won by a landslide.
    At this point Stig Anderson's marketing genius was launched into high gear.  He negotiated with individual labels in each country, to determine which one would give his group the most support in that part of the world.  Epic, ABBA's U.K. label, was highly supportive from the beginning, shipping 100,000 copies of the single to record dealers on a sale-or-return basis.  Ironically, though, "Waterloo" was ABBA's breakthrough hit (even reaching #6 in the U.S.) in every country except Britain, where they were considered just another Eurovision one-hit wonder.  ABBA's next British single "Ring, Ring" and the Waterloo album both reached only #32 in the U.K.  Meanwhile, the follow-up American single, "Honey, Honey" peaked at #7 on the U.S. charts.  ABBA' s luck in Britain was unfortunate, because Waterloo was more than just a collection of mediocre songs surrounding the monter hit.  It explored a variety of styles: rock, pop, ballads, jazz and even reggae - years before it became "cool" for Caucasians to do reggae music.  While developing their musical identity, they still had a minor name problem.  The Waterloo album credits read: "ABBA (Björn, Benny, Agnetha, and Frida".  "Agnetha" was difficult for English speakers to pronounce, so she was given a nickname - "Anna" - which appeared on the Waterloo LP cover in some countries.  This album included the fifth and final version of "Ring, Ring"; there had been versions in Swedish, and German, and three different English-language remixes; Agnetha sang solo verses on all of them, except two of the English versions.
    On the heels of the "Waterloo" single, ABBA kicked off its first European tour in November 1974.  Stig Anderson felt that ABBA should tour outside Sweden while interest in the group was still running high, so a Swedish folkpark tour was postponed until summer, much to the annoyance of Swedish tour promoters who had expected ABBA to tour their own country first.  A music video of "Ring, Ring" was made for television, as a way of introducing ABBA to audiences in countries where the group had been unable to perform live.  In the past, the few artists who had made such videos only did so after they had become popular through touring or television.  Conventional wisdom dictated that ABBA was bringing the cart before the horse, but it worked for them, as it now works for new artists on MTV.
    To follow up their first international smash - and hopefully to regain lost ground in the U.K. - ABBA released another album in 1975, simply titled ABBA. More promotional touring followed, including some American television appearances.  Like Waterloo , the ABBA album ran the msical gamut, up to and including Benny's unique classicial/rock instrumental, "Intermezzo No.1."  Most prominent was ABBA's new overall sound, which would come to be called "Europop" (or "Technopop"), yet a classical flavor prevailed throughout.  The LP spawned three hits in the United States. "SOS" and "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", both of which peaked at #15, and "Mamma Mia", which reached #32.  For a non-English group that had never toured the States, ABBA achieved unprecedented success on the American charts during these early years.
    In the U.K., "So Long" was the first single from this new album.  It, as well as "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do", failed miserably in that country.  Great Britain, the land that had launched ABBA's international career, seemed to be the group's "Waterloo".

Breakthrough
    "SOS" suddenly became the first in a string of nine #1 hits in the U.K.  The video might have contributed to its success; unusual camera angles and special effects added to the charm of the four attracted Swedes and their fresh, youthful sound.  The British public eagerly awaited the next ABBA single, "Mamma Mia" which stormed to #1 in Britain, and many other countries.
    The "Mamma Mia" video was sent to Australia, where ABBA was still virtually unknown.  The video's visual "hook" - extremely tight shots of the band's instruments and the four members' mouths as they sang - predated Huey Lewis's similarly-styled "Hip To Be Square" video by nearly a decade.  One airing of the video in Australia created a huge demand for ABBA, so RCA rush-released the single.  ABBA was becoming the supergroup of the 70s.
    As the string of hits grew ever longer, interviewers and critics tired to determine ABBA's "secret formula" for success.   But no such "formula" exists in this imperfect world; Stig Anderson would invariably retort, "If there's a formula, why don't you find it?"  Frustrated with their own inability to sum up the group's appeal,  the press accused ABBA of being "commercial", writing songs that would be automatically accepted by the masses.  ABBA's only "formula" was to record songs which they themselves liked; they were simply fortunate that millions of people worldwide shared their taste in music.
    The group's personal appeal to fans of all ages was also lost upon the press, which unfairly criticized ABBA for lacking personality.  What fans saw in ABBA were two charming young couples, who were living proof that true love and true equality between men and women were not necessarily mutually exclusive.  While Björn and Benny were the songwriters and producers, they were always open to suggestions from the women.  Björn in particular, wanted Agnetha to write some songs for the group, but she was always too busy taking care of the children.  Yet, both Agnetha and Frida aggresively contributed ideas when they were in the studio.  The group had no star and no leader - every ABBA song was a team effort.  They were all superstars, yet their love and respect for one another kept them appealingly humble.
    Perhaps one reason that ABBA seemed almost immune to ego clashes and creative conflicts was that all four members had outlets for their individual creativity outside the group.  Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson continued to write songs and produce records for many other Swedish artists.  Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad also remained active as solo artists in Europe.  Many casual ABBA fans are not aware that two of the group's biggest English-language hits were originally the women's Swedish-language singles.  "SOS" was from Agnetha's 1975 album Elva Kvinnor I Ett Hus ("Eleven Women In One Building").  A future ABBA classic, "Fernando" was on Anni-Frid's 1975 LP, Frida Ensam ("Frida Alone").
    Stig Anderson could easily adapt these songs to either language, thanks to Björn and Benny's unique songwriting method.  The duo's "dummy" lyrics were in a blend of Swedish and English that they jokingly called "Swenglish", a language that was almost a telepathic code between them.  Amazingly enough, neither of the men could or write music, and they never took notes while writing together.  In their opinion, if a song was so poor that even the songwriters couldn't remember it, who else would?  Furthermore, Benny was such a naturally talented musician, that he could play complicated classical pieces entirely form memory, after hearing them only once.  Therefore, they felt that learning to read and write music would be detrimental to their songwriting method, which was so dependent upon their inner instincts.
    Indeed, ABBA's musical instincts appeared to be unfailingly accurate.  1976 saw the release of  ABBA Greatest Hits, a commection of past-topping singles, the better songs from the Ring, Ring album, and the new single "Fernando".  This song peaked  at #13 in the U.S., and was a worldwide smash, especially in Australia, where ABBA-mania had reached epic proportions.  More people there watched a single ABBA special on TV than the first moon landing!  To this day, "Fernando" remains an all-time favourite in Australia.
    That same year, ABBA became the first Western group to have records sold on the open market behind the Iron Curtain.  They even filmed a TV special in Poland.  ABBA accepted goods such as oil for payment, because they made more money in record sales than Eastern European countries had in their reserves.
    America seemed to be on the verge of succumbing to ABBA fever when the group's next single, "Dancing Queen", became its first #1 hit in the U.S.  Its powerful vocal performances and Benny's signature grand piano sound separated it from the standard disco fare.  In October, ABBA returned to America for a promotinal tour and TV appearances.  One TV producer offered to let Benny and Anni-Frid get married on a variety show, before a live studio audience.  The couple politely refused, as they did not yet wished to wed.
    ABBA's aptly-named Arrival album was released later in 1976, sporting the now-legendary logo of the group's name, the first "B" was reversed, to symbolize the symmetry of the two couples.  This LP was ABBA's first gold album in the States, reaching #20 on the LP charts.  It would spawn more hit singles after "Dancing Queen": the Germanic "Money, Money, Money" and the haunting "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (which climbed to #14 in America).  The title track was Benny's second instrumental offering, a lush mix of keyboards, with the women's voices also utilized as "instuments".  In 1976, it defied classification; today, such music wold be called New Age.
    The group's next major tour began on January 28, 1977.  This tour also included dates in the U.K.  Two concerts were to be held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.  For the 12,000 concert tickets offered, 3,5 million requests were received by mail.  More fan hysteria awaited ABBA, as the tour continued to Australia, where a film crew shot live footage for a planned concert movie.
    In the autumn of 1977, a young West German fan named Andrea Buchinger read an article about ABBA in Bravo magazine, which recounted the story of Anni-Frid's past.  Buchinger realized that her uncle - Alfred Haase - was Anni-Frid's father.  Haase had three children of his own in Germany... and was still married to the same woman who had been his wife before he had met Synni Lyngstad in Norway.  Although Anni-Frid admitted that it was difficult for strangers to develop a father-daughter relationship, she was overjoyed to know that she was not an orphan, after all.
    During recording of the next ABBA album, Agnetha was pregnant once again, so Anni-Frid sang some of Agnetha's backing vocals, as well as her own.  Björn and Agnetha's second child, Christian, was born December 4, 1977.
    ABBA: The Album was released in 1977, to coincide with the premiere of ABBA - The Movie.  It featured Björn and Benny's first attempt at a musical, The Girl With The Golden Hair, which told the story of a singer who loses control over her life after becoming famous.  The complete musical was performed live during the 1977 tour, with Anni-Frid and Agnetha identical costumes and blonde wigs, playing different sides of the same character.  One song form the musical, a rousing rocker called "Get On The Carousel", was never released because Björn and Benny used portions of it for "Hole In Your Soul", which was included on The Album.
    ABBA - The Movie blended ample live footage of the Australian leg of the 1977 tour with an simple plot: an inept Australian DJ makes every mistake in the book (and then some) as he desperately follows ABBA across Australia, trying to get an interview.  Without revealing the ending, suffice it to say that the film lived up to ABBA's reputation for making original, beautiful visuals, and became a box-office hit in many parts of the world.
    The quartet's succes showed no signs of slowing down in the new year.  It had ended 1977 with one more smash single, "The Name Of The Game".  This was quickly followed up by the mega-hit "Take A Chance On Me", which is arguably the epitome of ABBA's creative genius, with its intricate vocal harmonies and rich musical arrangements.  A new monthy British publication, ABBA Magazine, gained eager subscribers all over the world.  There were so many advance order for The Album in the U.K. that it went platinum in that country before it was even released.
    By 1978, ABBA had achieved worldwide domination - except in the U.S.A., they were merely succesful, rather than phenomenal.  Their American management Scotti Brothers, declared May 1978 "ABBA Month", promoting the group to the fullest.  This effort pushed "Take A Chance On Me" to #3 and The Album became ABBA's first platinum American LP, reaching #14 on the album charts.  Yet ABBA never had the sustained support here that they enjoyed elsewhere.
    The four members had more on their minds that just music and business, though; they had personal lives, the details of which invariably ended up as front-page news, because of their enormous worldwide popularity.  Benny and Anni-Frid finally wed on October 6, 1978, much to the delight of ABBA's fans.  However, trouble loomed - Björn and Agnetha announced that they were getting a divorce, but it would not effect their work with the group.  Even so, from that moment on, fans were somewhat disillusioned, and secretly wondered if an ABBA split was imminent, because two of the lovers whose music had conquered the world were no longer in love.

Times Of Joy --- And Times Of Sorrow
    None of this affected ABBA's busy work schedule, however, January 8, 1979, ABBA arrived in New York City, to perform in the Gift Of Song concert at the United Nations, for UNICEF's, "Year Of The Child".  Each artist or group donoted the royalties of one new song to UNICEF.  ABBA contributed "Chiquitita", a Spanish-style ballad which later climbed up to #29 in America.
    The Voulez-Vous LP - recorded in the group's own newly-build, technologically advanced Polar Studio - was released in 1979.  Accompanying the U.S. release of Voulez-Vous was a flyer announcing ABBA's first (and only) North American tour.  This album contained the hit single  "Does Your Mother know", an old-fashioned rocker with Björn, rather than women, singing lead.  It soared past the trendy disco hits to #19 on the American charts, as did the LP itself, which went gold
    Björn (who was writing all of ABBA's lyrics by this time) was fond of saying that there is more to music than "Git down, baaay-bee!" when critics berated ABBA's melodic sound.  Even ABBA's clothing was reviled by the press yet the baggy pants, oversized tops, capri leggings and such that the women favored in the late 80s are now staples in many wardrobes.  The group's tasteds seemed to be tuned into the future, and it refused to let critics pressure it into looking back.
    Predictably, the Voulez-Vous ablum was another smash hit, especially in France.  It is interesting to note that Madonna was in France at the time, and the introduction of her 1986 hit "Papa Don't Preach" was arranged uncannily like that of the Voulez-Vous track "As Good As New"" classical-style strings suddenly cut off by modern dance music.  No artist in Europe during that period could escape ABBA's influence, although many tried to deny it, in order to appease the critics.  The German trio Arabesque, for example, recorded a song called "Friday Night" that was actually mistaken for an ABBA bootleg.
    In the midst of all this international success, Björn had met his future wife, Lena Kallersjo.  She traveled with him when ABBA began its North American tour on September 13, 1979 in Edmonton, Canada.  While the band was on the road, ABBA Greatest Hits Vol.2 was released. "Summer Night City" finally appeared on this LP, along with a new single, "Gimme!, Gimme!, Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)".  By the end of 1979, ABBA was listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records as the largest selling group ever in the history of recorded music. [Ed. note: More recent editions return the Beatles to that position with over one billion sales worldwide.]
    The new decade would herald even more ABBA accomplishments.  ABBA Music Show became the first "audio/visual album" ever released on home video, in March 1980.  At the time, their videos were already far superior to those of other artists, who were only beginning to experiment with this new medium.
    ABBA phonetically recorded a Spanish version of "Chiquitita", which became one of the biggest-selling songs of all time in Latin America.  This led to an entire Spanish album, Gracias Por La Musica.  Spanish lyrics were writen for many of the group's most popular songs, and ABBA recorded new instrumentals for one of them.  The group eventually did four more songs in Spanish before disbanding.
    "The Winner Takes It All", released worldwide in early 1980, was ABBA's last Top 10 hit (#8) in America.  Its unforgettable melody and heartrending lyric proved that ABBA had not lost their touch, but the innocence of the group had been shattered by the reality of Björn and Agnetha's divorce.
    ABBA was maturing, and the lyrics of their 1980 LP, Super Trouper began reflecting more of their personal experiences.  Reviewers had always attacked ABBA's lyrics, yet ABBA did not face a language barrier so much as a barrier of prejudice against their nationality.  The Super Trouper lyrics baffled critics who lacked Björn's mastery of words - in any language.  For example, "The Piper" had an intriguing Latin refrain: "Sub Luna Saltamus" ("Dance Beneath The Moon").  And few native English speakers realized that "Super Trouper" was an old, English-language showbiz term for a spotlight.
    As the Super Trouper LP conquered the worldwide charts (#17 and gold status in America), planned promotional trips to Britain and West Germany were cancelled when there was a threat to kidnap Agnetha's children.  While under police protection, Agnetha met and fell in love with policeman Torbjorn Brander; their romance lasted for some time, but they ultimately parted ways.  Such personal difficulties seemed to be contrasted by professional triumphs: "Lay All Your love On Me" was issued only as a limited-edition 12-inch single in Britain, and became the first #1 12-inch single ever on the U.K. charts.
    In January 1981, Björn and Lena Kallersjo were married in a private ceremony kept so secret that even the other members of ABBA did not know about it until afterward.  Neighter ABBA's fans nor the press suspected that an even bigger bombshell was on the horizon: Benny had fallen in love with another woman, Swedish TV personality Mona Norklit.  Seemingly out of the blue, Benny returned home one evening and confessed everything to his wife, who was devastated by the news.  On Valentine's Day 1981, Benny and Anni-Frid announced they were getting a divorce - exactly 10 years after the four members of ABBA had first performed together as the Engaged Couples.
    This divorce increased speculation that ABBA would soon disband, and the press pounced on the story.  A British newspaper printed a lenghty article about the group, which shamelessly sensationalized their marital problems.  ABBA sued, but by then the article had been reprinted all over the world.
    1981 saw the release of The Visitors, ABBA's most ambitious album ever.  It's little track "The Visitors (Crackin' up)", was largely midunderstood by politically ignorant American reviewers of the Yuppie era, who thought it was about a woman going insane.  It was actually about a woman "crackin' up" with terror, because she was about to be apprehended by a Gestapo-like police unit ("The Visitors"), for being involved in a plot to overthrow an oppressive (though unnamed) government.
The LP The Visitors briefly appeared on the American album charts, but never went gold.  Like Super Trouper, the lyrics of The Visitors examined complex emotions, but were presented in more varied musical styles.  "One Of Us", ABBA's last #1 hit in Britain,, was laden with European influences, up to and including mandolins "When All Is Said And Done", blending folksy acousic guitars with a throbbing synthesizer bass line, evoked images of the American West, and reached #27 on th U.S. charts.  "I Let The Music Speak" hinted at Björn and Benny's desiere to write a musical, and showcased the women's vocal versatility to the utmost.  ABBA had come a long way from the pure pop style evident in the Ring Ring LP.
    This new sound had evolved gradually and among its trademarks were the the mesmerizing tones of Benny's Yamaha GX-1 synthesizer, one of only three GX-1s that Yamaha ever build.  Two eere used for experimental purposes, and ABBA purchased the third in 1975.  Benny's keyboard wizardry, combined with this synthesizer's unique voices, enabled ABBA to expand their musical horizons.  Many of today's synth-pop performers could learn from ABBA that artists should control the technology, rather than vice-versa.  ABBA's level of artistry was such that they won the prestigious Golden Grammophone award in 1981.  Polydor International, ABBA's German label, created this award in 1965 to honor its top-selling acts, who have demonstrated consistent artistic excellence in their music.  This insistence on quality, as well as quantity, is why ABBA was one of the few non-classical artists ever to win the Golden Grammophone.
    On December 31, 1981, Benny and Mona Norklit were wed; the day afterward, ABBA performed before a live audience for the last time.  Dick Cavett traveled to Stockholm to interview the group before its concert performance.  Cavett spent most of his time defending himself from ABBA's good-natured wisecracks, much to the delight of the fans in the studio audience.
    The TV special, orginally titled Dick Cavett Meets ABBA, was aired in several countries. However, the interview portion was usually edited outside Sweden, to eliminate the "the boring American presenter" (Cavett) as one British reviewer put it.  Apparently, even the U.S. distributors must have agreed, for only the concert portion was included when the program was broadcast in the States.
    The final ABBA album to include new material was called The Singles - The First Ten Years, which sailed to #1 in Britain.  Released in late 1982, it was a double album of all the group's past singles, plus two new songs.  The first, "The Day Before You Came", was released worldwide, and it became a sizable hit in Europe. Although Björn and Benny had insisted all along that the women's harmonies made the ABBA sound, this single contradicted that theory entirely.  Agnetha sang lead throughout, and the only hint of the inimitable ABBA harmonies was a faint background chorus.  "The Day Before You Came" was unmistakably ABBA nonetheless, thanks to Benny's keyboard work, which had always played a major part of the ABBA sound since "Waterloo".
    "Under Attack", ABBA's final single in Europe, was understandably not as successful as "The Day Before You Came".  Fans had grown accustomed to ABBA's more sophisticated sound, and "Under Attack" resembled the group's very earliest work, with only Agnetha's lead vocal altered with a vocoder, to modernize this track.
    The odd B-sides of both of these singles better represented ABBA's never style.  "Cassandra" was a richy orchestrated waltz-tempo ballad.  "You Owe Me One" was a forerunner of today's big-beat dance music, without the thin vocals of today's disco divas.  Anni-Frid, who sang lead on both sides of these B-sides, was known to practice a vocal for weeks, to interpret a song to the best of her ability.
     In the early 1980s, ABBA did not break up, as much as drift apart; all along, the four members had done work outside the group, and these projects simply began to take precedence over their work as ABBA.  Agnetha briefly tried her hand at acting, and starred in a Swedish film, Rakenstam ("Casanova"), before resuming her singing career.
    The members' solo outings seemed to be more successful in the years when fans still had reason to hope for a new ABBA album.  Record companies worldwide began releasing the group's previously recorded material in countless compilation LPs and cassettes, in lieu of a new studio LP.
    ABBA's last album to be released worldwide was ABBA Live; the CD version (which was never released in the U.S.) included three bonus tracks.  This album was at once a godsend and a disappointment to ABBA fans.  It mainly consisted of hits performed much like the studio originals, rather than the extended live versions and unreleased live songs that fans were expecting, such as "I Am An A/Four-Letter Word", the only song ever featuring Benny singing a solo.  The complete Girl With the Golden Hair mini-musical was conspicuously absent. Furthermore, half of the "Does Your Mother Know/Hole In Your Soul" medley was cut from the live LP/CD (the second half only appears on an Argentinian compilation album, Por Siempre ABBA).
    While ABBA did go back into the studio to record new material, none of these songs was officially released.  Some of them ended up on bootleg recordings, or were rewritten for inclusion in Björn and Benny's Chess musical.  Polar Music insisted that the four members were simply taking time out from ABBA to pursue solo rojects, and fans fervently hoped that this was true.  However, as time wore on, it became increasingly apparent that ABBA was coming apart as slowly and inexorably as they had come together in the early 1970s.

Beyond ABBA, The Solo Careers
     During the final days of ABBA, Anni-Frid appeared to be the first to sense the end of the ABBA dynasty.  She sold here shares in the group, moved to London, and expressed her desire to embark upon an international solo career.  Because the name "Anni-Frid Lyngstad" sounded too Swedish for international audiences, Anni-Frid changed her professional name to simply "Frida", the nickname by which she was already know among ABBA fans.  After hearing Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight, Frida was so enthralled with Collins' work that she asked him to produce her solo album.  Collins agreed to work with her, and in 1982, Frida's first English-language LP, Something's Going On, was released worldwide.  The first single from this album was "I Know There's Something Going On".  Driven by Collins' trademark drums and Frida's numbed-with-pain lead vocal, the song went up to #13 on the U.S. charts, and the video was frequently aired on MTV.
    Critics pounced on Agnetha Fältskog's first English solo album Wrap Your Arms Around Me, which was produced by Mike Chapman and released by Polydor in 1983.  She scored a #29 hit in America with an extended remix of her "Can't Shake Loose" single (written, coincidentally, by Russ Ballard, who had also written Frida's "I Know There's Something Going On").  People magazine labeled Agnetha's album one of the 10 worst LPs of the year.  Conversely, Rolling Stone began reviewing ABBA related records more favorably than they had in years past, even giving The Singles five stars.
    Chess, Björn and Benny's long-awaited musical, written in collaboration with famed lyricist Time Rice, began to take shape in 1984.  RCA released a double album of songs from the musical, which was about to open in London.  Rice, a long-time admirer of ABBA's work, was amused by reviewers who commented on the musical's "brilliant" lyrics, because many of them had been lifted directely from the dummy lyrics Björn had written, such as "One Night In Bangkok" (performed by Murray Head), which reached #3 in America.
    These lyrics had been written by the same man responsible for all the "terrible" ABBA songs yet critics viewed the Chess lyrics as excellent, assuming Rice alone had written them.  Rice, with his characteristically British penchant for sarcasm, never let the press hear the end of it.  When Chess finally opened, it was a huge smash on the London stage.  Its tale of two chess players - one American and one Russian - caught up in a love triangle and a web of tension between East and West, captured the imagination of theater-goers, some of whom traveled from overseas to see the show in London.
    Also in 1984, Frida's Shine album was released in Europe.  Produced by Steve Lillywhite, its intrumentals were somewhat lacking in energy, yet Frida's vocals still managed to "shine" through.  Of interest were the songs "Don't Do It", written by Frida herself, "Slowly", written by Björn and Benny; and the "Shine" single's odd B-side, "That's Tough", co-written in part by Frida and her son, Hans Fredriksson.  The album was not much of a hit, and it was the last solo LP Frida recorded, as of this writing.
    Like Frida's Shine, Agnetha's 1985 album, Eyes Of A Woman was not released in America, although did surfuce on cassette in Canada.  Agnetha and her producer Eric Stewart, co-wrote its first single "I Won't Let You Go".  A half-hour television special titled A For Agnetha was filmed to promote the album.  Narrated in English by Agnetha herself, it was aired throughout Europe.
    Meanwhile, since Chess had fared so well in London, plans were made to bring the show to Broadway.  Its plot was changed drastically: instead of both chess players losing in different areas of their lives, the Broadway version depicted The American as the final winner.  Despite America's jingoistic mood during the Reagan years, this change diluted the entire meaning of the musical, and it flopped on Broadway.  Rice disassociated himself from some of the new lyrics, with a disclaimer printed on the booklet of the Broadway's Chess album (also released by RCA.  Yet another version of Chess was written for the post-Berlin wall era, but the original London Ches album remains superior, both lyrically and muscially.  In 1990, when Chess toured the U.K. again, it became on of the most successful touring musicals of all time in that country.
    Agentha traveled to Southern California to record her 1987 solo album, I Stand Alone, produced by Peter Cetera.  In preparing for the cover photo, she enlisted a hairstylist who had worked with Madonna to give her a new, choppy hairdo.  Most of the fans hated Agnetha's bizarre hairstyle, so she wasted no time in letting her hair grow back to normal.  However, it was only Agnetha's hair that made headlines, because the album itself did not justice to her talents.  The first single "I Wasn't The One (Who Said Goodbye)", was a tired duet with Cetera.  "We Got A Way" was one of the few upbeat tunes in this morass of Barry Manilow-ish ballads.  Unfortunately, due to time limitations, Agnetha did not write any of the selections on the album: her talents were sorely missed.
    Björn and Benny continued to produce other artists, such as the Swedish duo Gemini, and are currently at work on a new musical.  Its working title is The Immigrants, and it is scheduled to open in November 1992, in Stockholm.  Whether this musical will equal the success of Chess remains to be seen.
    Today, Björn lives with his wife Lena, and their children, Emma (age nine) and Anna Linea (age four).  They lived in a mansion in London for a while, but eventually returned to their native Sweden.
    Benny, his wife Mona, and son Ludvig (who is now nine) also remain in Sweden, living in a country home near Malmö.  Aside from his work with Björn, Benny will be writing the theme music for a major European soccer match in 1992.  Furthermore, he has recorded two instrumental albums Klinga Mina Klockor ("Ring My Bell's") and November 1989.  The first album featured a choir comprised of many Swedish singers, including Frida.
    Frida, who has lived in many countries throughout Europe, has since married a German prince named Ruzzo Reuss, a Swiss banker by profession.  Frida seems to have retired from solo work, since her 1984 album Shine.  Instead, she has become an active environmentalist: "I no longer have the desire or the patience to remain an apathetic observer", she declared in 1989.
    Agnetha and her children, Linda and Christian (now 18 and 13, respectively), have two homes in Swden, one of which is a farm in Ekero (near Stockholm).  For many years, it looked as if Agnetha would never remarry.  However, on December 15, 1990, she married a Swedish surgeon Tomas Sonnenfeld.  As far as her future in music is concerned, Agnetha is reportedly contracted to WEA to do at least one more solo album.
    Although their vastly different lifestyles tend to keep them apart, the former bandmates bear no aminosity towards one another.  In January 1986, for example, ABBA briefly reunited for a Swedish TV documentary called Har Är Ditt Liv ("This Is Your Life") about their friend and mentor Stig Anderson.  On this program, they performed his song "Tivedshambo" with only Benny Andersson's accordion for musical accompaniment.
    Yet, in 1990, ABBA's relationship with Stig Anderson turned into a bitter legal battle.  Benny and Agnetha filed suit against Stig Anderson, to collect royalties they have not yet received from record sales.  Two other companies are also involved in the lawsuit: Chaperon Ltd., London (which owns Frida's share in the group), and Batrax Rotterdam Besloten Vennootschap, Holland (which owns Björn's shares).  Some observers have speculated that this legal dispute may have had its origins many years ago, and might even have contributed to the group's split.  The only people who could confirm or deny such a theory are the ABBA members themselves and, so far, none of them has indicated that this had anything to do with the group's demise.
    One reason for the concern over royalties, according to ABBA's attorney Lennart Kanter: "ABBA sold more records than the Beatles or the Stones.  An now, ABBA fever (seems to be) rising again, in Australia and discotheques the world over".  In fact, four Austalian singer have gone so far to form a popular copycat group called Björn Again, that perfoms past ABBA hits!
    When this renewed interest in the group, ABBA fans might someday see their favorite band receive the posthumous accolades which they so richly deserved during their heyday in that most maligned of all decades, the 1970s.  For what more could a band ever hope to achieve, than to break language-barriers, pave the way for future European acts, and pioneer music video...without succumbing to ego trips, alcoholism, drug abuse and the like?  To paraphrase one of ABBA's most beloved songs, their millions of fans only say to them, "Thank You For The Music".
 

Author;s Note: "Tusen tack" to everyone who helped contribute information for this article: Christopher Kimberley, Dough Wilson, Humyus Weedan, Noel King, Maria Cordonero, Teri Dunford, Steve Feldmeier, David Welbourne and Carina Nisson.  Although space limitations prevent inclusion of all names, their contributions are nevertheless greatly appreciated.
 

Publiced in Goldmine, March 8, 1991, Vol. 17. No.5  Issue 277

 

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