- Title: VARIOUS: PROFILE OF THE SWEDISH BAND ABBA
- Date: 6th April 1999
- Summary: HANOI, VIETNAM (RECENT - FEBRUARY 3, 1999) (RTV) SWEDISH REVIVAL BAND 'ARRIVAL' SINGING MAMA MIA
- Embargoed: 21st April 1999 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM, HANOI, VIETNAM, VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVA9JSLVN8X6U6R4RY6P9NELWLSC
- Story Text: 'Waterloo' may have been the song that catapulted the Swedish band Abba to international fame in 1974, when the super troupers won the Eurovision song contest -- but now revival is 'The Name of The Game'.Twenty five years on and 350 million record sales later Abba has not lost any of it's disco magic.
On April sixth, a quarter of a century to the day, Abba stepped onto the stage wearing silver platform boots, swathed in shiny polyester and blasting out the chords of 'Waterloo'.The night they won the Eurovision song contest at the Brighton dome in the south of England, they took the world by storm.
Kitsch and camp, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus co-writers of the songs and the two girls Agnetha, married to Bjorn and Anni-Fryd or Frida, married to Benny, spelt out Abba.They came on the scene like an explosion in a polyester factory, reaching a new level of cool in the decade that fashion forgot.
And yet the songs they wrote were such brilliant pop that the generations have found it impossible to avoid their relentlessly catchy beat.Abba has lost none of its appeal, and still never fails to get young and old up on the dance floor.
Abba's revival was further fuelled by the hilarious ever-touring Australian band 'Bjorn Again', which in turn led to the release of Erasure's ' Abbaesque' in 1992.And then Abba soundtracked two highly popular Australian films in the early nineties: 'Muriel's Wedding' and 'The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert'.The revival of Abba's sunny optimism has led to steady sales since 1974, transforming to a remarkable 15 million for Abba Gold alone.
There are numerous tributes to Abba coming in many guises from the Swedish imitation band 'Arrival', to British pop-group Steps, who in the eve of the millennium are belting out the seventies hits with a nineties tilt.
In the 1980s the group and their marriages split, but now 17 years since their demise, fans still hold out for a reunion.
Although it looks unlikely that the band will get back together, a show in London's West End, is doing its best to fill the hole that has been left by the break-up.Benny and Bjorn who earlier worked together on Tim Rice's musical Chess, have collaborated on another brand new musical, 'Mamma Mia'.
The idea was that the musical worked in it's own right, rather than just have a vehicle for Abba's songs.Members' of the cast say that audiences have gone to previews of the musical expecting a life story of the band.Instead 'Mamma Mia' is a new play by the award-winning playwright Catherine Johnson, that uses the group's songs.
The story is based on a relationship between a mother, 'Donna' played by Siobhan McCarthy and her daughter, 'Sophie' ingenue Lisa Stokke.Sophie is getting married and wants to find out who her father is so she can invite him to her wedding.She narrows it down to three and unbeknownst to her mother invites them all to the wedding.
Johnson said writing a musical that would lend itself to the songs was no easy task.But once she started examining the lyrics, she said, they were more meaningful than she had at first believed.
But going on the results of previews so far, the show has managed to capture some of the old Abba magic and perhaps even some of the burlesque clothes.
As for the cast, they didn't even have to learn the words to any of the songs.
There's no doubting that Abba has spanned the generations, whether it's nostalgia or love, they still have a place in many hearts.
As for Bjorn, he's less sentimental, but he's still going to be celebrating the quarter of a century that has passed since his Eurovision win.He's working, of course, with Benny on 'Mamma Mia'.But he's also in touch with Agnetha and Frida.Frida had some success singing but now, married to a German Prince, is an ardent environmental activist.Agnetha, married several times, had brief fame with an acting and solo career in Sweden, but now lives as a recluse on an island 30 miles from Stockholm.
On the same day as the anniversary of 'Waterloo' Polydor Records is releasing the 'Singles Collection', featuring all 28 original A and B sides, including 'Waterloo' in German, French and Swedish in a limited edition of 20-thousand.Abba already has 350 million record sales under its belt, and the multi-million sales of 'Abba Gold', the 1992 compilation of the group's hits, is a phenomenal number for songs that have already enjoyed a period of huge success. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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