ABBA The Museum Opens in Sweden

[Tusk]

The Abba Museum has been opened in Stockholm Sweden.

http://travel.cnn.com/does-your-mother-k...?hpt=hp_c2











Next year will mark the 40th Anniversary they first appeared and performed in Brighton, England for the 1974 Eurovision Contest where they won singing "Waterloo". In this interview with CNN, even though Bjorn nixes a reunion, he jokes that if England wins this year, meaning the Eurovision will be in England next year, they 'might' reunite for the 40th anniversary
http://edition.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c2#...museum.cnn
(The CNN host is kind of an idiot though )



I know, most of you are probably tired of me babbling on about this group, but 370 Million + albums sold, world wide, means that I'm not the only one that has a special fondness and a place in my heart for the Swedish Fab Four.

Following the footsteps of their musical Idols, Lennon and McCartney and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson will be remembered as two of the most prolific pop song writers of the 20th Century.

[Tusk]

I've mentioned many times that my ABBA fondness came from growing up in the UK, that they were HUGE back then. Sometimes it feels like hyperbole for a mostly (in America) laughed at 'kitsch' group.....

Well, count me, an unapologetic ABBA fan (second favorite to the Beatles) as completely floored by this headline:

ABBA overtake Beatles on all-time album sales list
(in the UK)

ABBA’s Gold: Greatest Hits has overtaken sales of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to become the UK’s second biggest selling album of all time, according to the Official Charts Company’s sales data

While both albums have now sold over 5.1 million copies in the UK, the Swedish band’s 1992 Best Of collection has nudged ahead of The Beatles’ iconic 1967 album by nearly 15,000 copies. An estimated one in five British households owns a copy of either Gold or Sgt Pepper’s.

ABBA founder / songwriter Björn Ulvaeus told OfficialCharts.com "It’s feels unreal - outselling the greatest record of all time!"

Queen’s 1981 Greatest Hits album remains the UK’s biggest selling album of all-time with 5.9 million sales. Adele’s landmark 2011 album, 21, and Oasis’ 1995 second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, complete the Top 5.

The Official Top 5 Biggest Selling Albums Of All-Time are as follows*:

ALBUM TITLE ARTIST YEAR OF RELEASE SALES TO DATE
1 GREATEST HITS QUEEN 1981 5.9 MILLION
2 GOLD - GREATEST HITS ABBA 1992 5.1 MILLION
3 SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND BEATLES 1967 5.1 MILLION
4 21 ADELE 2011 4.6 MILLION***
5 (WHAT'S THE STORY) MORNING GLORY? OASIS 1995 4.6 MILLION

***Just goes to show how much of a MONSTER album "21" is for Adele... if Haley could just capture one fraction of that market ....

Glad to see all this talking in the wind about ABBA, that I wasn't imagining how big an impact they had in the UK....to outsell the Fab Four's, arguably, greatest album on their home turf?!!

Congrats to Bjorn, Agnetha, Frida and Benny

[My Alter Ego]

I've mentioned many times that my ABBA fondness came from growing up in the UK, that they were HUGE back then. Sometimes it feels like hyperbole for a mostly (in America) laughed at 'kitsch' group.....

Well, count me, an unapologetic ABBA fan (second favorite to the Beatles) as completely floored by this headline:

ABBA overtake Beatles on all-time album sales list
(in the UK)

ABBA’s Gold: Greatest Hits has overtaken sales of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to become the UK’s second biggest selling album of all time, according to the Official Charts Company’s sales data

While both albums have now sold over 5.1 million copies in the UK, the Swedish band’s 1992 Best Of collection has nudged ahead of The Beatles’ iconic 1967 album by nearly 15,000 copies. An estimated one in five British households owns a copy of either Gold or Sgt Pepper’s.

ABBA founder / songwriter Björn Ulvaeus told OfficialCharts.com "It’s feels unreal - outselling the greatest record of all time!"

Queen’s 1981 Greatest Hits album remains the UK’s biggest selling album of all-time with 5.9 million sales. Adele’s landmark 2011 album, 21, and Oasis’ 1995 second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, complete the Top 5.

The Official Top 5 Biggest Selling Albums Of All-Time are as follows*:

ALBUM TITLE ARTIST YEAR OF RELEASE SALES TO DATE
1 GREATEST HITS QUEEN 1981 5.9 MILLION
2 GOLD - GREATEST HITS ABBA 1992 5.1 MILLION
3 SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND BEATLES 1967 5.1 MILLION
4 21 ADELE 2011 4.6 MILLION***
5 (WHAT'S THE STORY) MORNING GLORY? OASIS 1995 4.6 MILLION

***Just goes to show how much of a MONSTER album "21" is for Adele... if Haley could just capture one fraction of that market ....

Glad to see all this talking in the wind about ABBA, that I wasn't imagining how big an impact they had in the UK....to outsell the Fab Four's, arguably, greatest album on their home turf?!!

Congrats to Bjorn, Agnetha, Frida and Benny

Sir Tusk, validation always feels good, and apparently you've received it. I was somewhat surprised to see that Queen had the number one spot, but not unhappy.

That Adele's "21" is within such striking distance of albums that have been out for years (still continue to sell, mind you) is mind boggling, really. But good for her -- and here's to Haley (and Candice, for that matter) coming out with her/their own versions, and may both do half as well as Adele's.

[Tusk]

Not sure if it's validation that I'm seeking per se....
It's just one of those things, when you can see the 'value' in something and it's beyond your comprehension that others don't see it too.

It's a complete mystery to me what it is about ABBA that is so abhorrent to American music fans who otherwise have discerning ...not sure if 'taste' is the right word.....

I look at everything about ABBA, what incredibly talented and dedicated craftsmen they were, how prolific and unique they were, there was nobody else like them although many have tried. Even the British tried to copy their template with their contribution to Eurovision in 1976 called the Brotherhoood of Man with the horribly treacley "Kisses For Me".... They actually won that year with that song


^^This was an example of bad music

The Women of ABBA, Agnetha and Frida were ridiculously good vocalists. The group sold and had number 1s every where on the globe. Everywhere, of course, but the States (Dancing Queen was their only number one).

Some have blamed it on ABBA's resistance to traveling and touring, especially the US. In a documentary, an American promoter said he tried to convince ABBA's manager that, to be big in the States, get a number one album, you have to tour.

Stig Anderson replied, first we have a number one....then we tour. A difference in perspective.
(They were successful everywhere, I'm not sure they felt they needed to validate themselves to the US)

Their Idols were Lennon, McCartney and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, they were fascinated with the production. What inspired them was studio work. They had done a lot of touring already in the bands they were in before they became ABBA. They were already successful performers.

Personally, I think the core difference is that ABBA's music lacks that 'blues' quality to their music.

Rock and Roll is primarily an American invention, bourn out of blues, jazz and country. That was where the spark was lit. The emotion was from the point of the down trodden. When the British Invasion happened that brought bands such as the Animals, the Who, even the Beatles, embraced and enhanced Blues development. Clapton, McCartney, Burden, Lennon, Plant, Page, Beck.... all bluesmen, but from England. So that's why there has always been a kinship and respect in Rock and Roll between the UK and the US.

ABBA on the other hand, in Sweden, did not have the 'blues evolution' that occurred in the UK. They were in the land of the ooom pah pah's, accordians and yodeling. Their cultural/musical background was generally upbeat and Germanic. If you listen to their catalog, in most of their songs, even their sad ones, there is a lack of a "Blues" influence. I'm not sure if I'm saying it right.

It is that difference, their musical grounding absent the Blues influence, which is the difference IMO .....

I don't know, the UK loves ABBA, somewhere in that kinship, musically, there is a separation. How can two countries with such similar tastes differ so much when it comes to ABBA? The UK ABBA and the US Them .... completely opposite
(Of course I over generalize to make a point, not all of the US/UK Love/Hate ABBA

They have passed Sgt Peppers.... I still can't believe that , but it is a testament to the longevity and popularity of these songs, almost 40 yrs ago.

I mean this is the Beatles, in the UK .... Even I never thought this might occur. It is a monumental achievement.

[My Alter Ego]

Unrelated to the ABBA Museum, but very much related to ABBA, they celebrate -- or, at least observe -- an anniversary now: 40 years.

Mamma Mia: ABBA mark 40 years since breakthrough

Four decades on from the flares, fame and fabulousness, the members of ABBA say they have no regrets -- not even about the clothes.


http://seattletimes.com/html/entertainme...nabba.html

[Tusk]

I remember watching ABBA in the Eurovision Song Contest, it was a transforming event as their songs started to fill the airwaves all over the UK.
Bjorn had said if the 40th was in Brighton, England, where they won it, he might've considered it, but alas, not meant to be

[XAtlantic]

Here's a very long and thoughtful article in the Guardian of today on Abba - worth reading! Title: "Abba on drugs, Eminem and why writing great pop is a job for young people"
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/ap...a-lyngstad

One passage that made me think of Haley is: "We never repeated ourselves. We worked so hard to find different styles every time."

The new songs "My cake", "Better" and "You were there" are all deeply and fundamentally different, too.

[My Alter Ego]

400 million records -- that's a lot of records!!

Thanks for sharing, XAtlantic.

[Tusk]

And that's without America 'on board' in their hey day. If they'd care to give effort to capture the US market in the '70s, it could've approached 600 mil.

But they'd already captured the rest of the world and were unwilling to gruel out another US tour to extend their popularity here. By that time, though, Agnetha began to have phobias about suffocating crowds and flying (during a flight on their only US tour, their plane encountered significant turbulence, which made her realize her children would lose BOTH parents, she was married to Bjorn,in one crash. From that time, she only took boats or trains and insisted she and Bjorn travel separately as to not leave their children, parentless, if disaster were to happen )