Ask Ian..... 22 June 2001

Q		A
I believe that the following songs were all number 1 in Australia but I would like to know for how many weeks they stayed at number 1: MAMMA MIA, I DO, SOS, FERNANDO, DANCING QUEEN, MONEY MONEY MONEY. Thanks in advance! Dean Morrison Manchester UK		Those six songs were indeed all of ABBA's number 1 hits in Australia. 'I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do' was first to the top on 13 October 1975, staying there for 3 weeks. 'Mamma Mia' immediately followed it, on 3 November 1975, and stayed at number 1 for 10 weeks. Then 'SOS' replaced 'Mamma Mia' at number 1 for one week, on 12 January 1976. Which meant that ABBA were at number 1 for 14 weeks in a row with 3 different songs! 'Fernando' hit the top spot on 5 April 1976, and stayed there for a massive 14 weeks (an Australian record, equaled only by The Beatles 'Hey Jude') until its last week at number 1 on 5 July. 'Dancing Queen' made number 1 on 6 September 1976, and stayed there for 8 weeks (until its last week, 25 October). 'Money, Money, Money' got to the top on 15 November 1976 and stayed there for 5 weeks (its last week at number 1 was 20 December). Pay a visit to ABBA - The Worldwide Chart Lists if you're interested in more details of ABBA's chart positions in Australia and many other countries.

I have quite a few questions on Frida’s daughter’s death Anne Lise-Lotte. How come if she died in the U S it wasn’t known. And you don’t hear much about it and they don’t show a picture of her. And do you have a picture of her that is Anne Lise-Lotte and if you do will you show me it? Thank you, Natalie		I guess that the news didn’t become public until a couple of months after Anne’s sudden and tragic death because no one made the connection between her and Frida, probably because she was going by the name Anne rather than Lise-Lotte, and had married and used her husband’s surname. I believe that the news broke only when one of the family placed an “in memoriam” notice in one of the Swedish newspapers. Understandably, Frida doesn’t like to dwell on this tragedy, and the media seem to be respecting her wishes, which is probably why it’s not often discussed. A fan site, Frida Shine has a few pictures of Anne in the picture gallery.

Where can I find the lyrics for ABBACADABRA??? Øystein R. Sundelin Oslo, Norway		I’m sorry, but I really don’t know. There are many, many ABBA sites with song lyrics, and I’m sure that there must be at least one out there with those lyrics (in fact, I’m sure I’ve seen them somewhere). All I can suggest is that you try the “links” section of www.abbaworld.net. With so many sites, it’s hard for me to remember what’s on them all!

I am just wanting to know where would be the best place to obtain rare ABBA videos. I notice that the website isn't selling videos anymore and I would really like to know where to get rare TV appearances, live, interviews and so forth. Also just out of interest did ABBA ever perform the song "Under Attack" live or on TV at all. Thanks, Joshua		There are still a small selection of rare fan videos available from ABBAMAIL – Merchandise. Also write to ABBAMAIL via post for a copy of their catalogue which has more merchandise. ABBA did indeed perform ‘Under Attack’ on television (lip-synched or mimed, not live) in November and December 1982 – in West Germany on ‘Show Express, in Sweden on ‘Nöjesmaskinen’ and in the UK on ‘The Late Late Breakfast Show’ via satellite from Sweden, which was in fact ABBA’s last ever public appearance together as a group. Incidentally, the version of ‘Under Attack’ performed on TV had a “cold” ending, rather than fading out as it does on record (and CD). This “cold” ending version was released in Sweden on a cassette-only compilation ‘ABBA Guld Hits’ and in Denmark on a cassette ‘The Winner Takes It All’, both in 1988 (both of which of course were deleted long ago).

My name is Paul, I'm 24 and I was born in Australia but I live in Italy since 1978 and this lead directly to my first question: 1) Why ABBA's popularity diminished so much after the 1977 tour? Was it just because people were tired of them after such a big exposure in the previous years? 2) Do you know where I can find the 1975 mix of ‘Medley’ in mp3 format? How much this mix is different from the 1978 one? 3) I have some doubts regarding the lyrics for ‘Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)’: I really don't hear the line "dance and forget our time is gone", I tried and I tried but I always hear "dance, sento che our time is gone"; "sento che" is Italian for "I feel that". What do you think about it? Take a listen to the song... Bye Paul		What a lot of questions! Question 1: there are many theories about ABBA’s drop in popularity after the Australian tour. The most obvious one is the infamous Australian “tall poppy” syndrome – build something up, then cut it back down. ABBA’s massive overexposure during 1976 no doubt had an effect of alienating some people. There was even a something of a backlash starting as early as mid-1976, when ‘Countdown’s studio audience would openly “boo” when ‘Fernando’ was number one for the umpteenth week. It’s also been said that releasing no new music for 8 months after the tour didn’t help, and then releasing a recording as far removed from ABBA’s previous sound with ‘The Name Of The Game’ may have also been a part of the problem. Some feel that a more upbeat number may have been a better choice for a single. Indeed, ‘Hole In Your Soul’ was scheduled to be the first single from ‘ABBA – The Album’ in Australia, then was changed almost at the last minute – a catalogue number had even been assigned, though no copies were ever pressed. And by the end of 1977 it was too late to regain the ground lost after the tour. Although many of ABBA’s subsequent singles and albums made the Australian top 10, ABBA’s universal popularity was well and truly over. Question 2: I’ve got no idea how different the 1975 mix of ‘Medley’ was to the 1978 one (released on the B-side of ‘Summer Night City’), though I imagine it was slight, probably more to compensate for the fact that the recording had been transferred from 16 track to 24 track tape. The book ‘ABBA – The Complete Recording Sessions’ by Carl Magnus Palm describes the difference as “almost but not quite identical”. Sorry, but I don't know where you might find an MP3 of the 1975 mix. In fact, I've never heard it myself, though I have seen the album it was originally on in a couple of fans' collections. I'd suggest that you try Napster or one of those other sharing sites, though I understand that the name ABBA is now blocked. I hear that many songs can still be found by searching for ABA or ABBBA or other misspelled variations Question 3: that line in ‘Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)’ is most definitely “dance and forget our time is gone”.

Can you tell me which of the ABBA members were and still are smokers? Thank you. Andy		I have no idea whether any of them still smoke. In past years all four members smoked, though some managed to hide it in public better than others - for example, Benny would often be photographed with a cigarette in hand or hanging from his mouth, while I’ve only ever seen one photograph of Björn with a cigarette, though in a couple of past interviews, his smoking is mentioned. Agnetha is of course well known for smoking (and being caught having a cigarette in A Stockholm restaurant while she was taking part in an anti-smoking campaign!), and while Frida was also fairly discrete about it, she can be seen smoking in the TV special ‘Something Going On – The Making of a Record Album’, as well in some photos in the gallery of the official ABBA site.

I have two questions: 1. What happened to the translation of "Kristina"? Do you know anything about the cast, release date on CD, etc.? 2. Where can I buy a videotape with all the solo clips by Agnetha and Frida? Does such thing exist at all? Thanks! Sunil		At the ‘Mamma Mia!’ after show party in Melbourne recently, a fan asked Björn what was happening with the English translation of ‘Kristina från Duvemåla’ – he replied that “the deadline is September.” Presumably that means that’s when the translation must be finished. Whatever plans there are after that, I don’t know. There was talk some time ago about a concert version being staged either at the Royal Albert Hall in London or in Minnesota in the USA (location of the ‘Kristina’ concerts in 1996) sometime later this year. Only a few of Agnetha and Frida’s solo videos have been made commercially available, in Sweden on the tape ‘Music Show 3’ in 1983, in the UK on ‘ABBA More Video Hits’ in 1988, and in the USA on the tape ‘ABBA Again’, all of which were the same basic collection. But of course, all of these home videos have long been deleted. There are a couple of collections of the girls’ solo videos and television performances available from ABBAMAIL – Merchandise or write to ABBAMAIL via post for a catalogue

I presume that Frida wore an Arsenal shirt when ABBA came to London in 1979 because she likes the colour red? Best wishes, Julian. (Arsenal & ABBA fan).		On ABBA’s 1979 tour of North America and Europe, Frida wore a jersey for a local sporting team at each of the concerts, while performing ‘Why Did It Have To Be Me’. Of course, in London she wore an Arsenal jersey.

Can you tell me when and where in Sydney is the ‘Mama Mia’ concert? Angela Machado		‘Mamma Mia!’ is not a concert, it’s a musical based on ABBA’s songs. It’s currently playing at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne (its premiere was on June 9, 2001). There are apparently plans to do a “national tour” once the Melbourne run is over. At this stage, it’s an “open-ended” run, with no set end date. There have been reports that when it finally does get to Sydney, it will play at the Lyric Theatre at Star City Casino.

I was in this launching pad to Abba and I noticed in the discography section that you have three pictures of the albums the one in the middle is in the shape of a video does that mean that there is a video to each of these albums, I’ve never seen any in Australia, but that guy from the Aussie fan club in his shrine room to Abba seemed to have had them can these be obtained. Pls let me know thank you, Fred.		Those pictures you describe on my site www.abbaworld.net are actually the audiocassettes of each of the albums released by Polar Music in Scandinavia in the 1970s/80s. They are on my site courtesy of Yvonne, an ABBA fan from Sweden, who originally placed them on her site Yvonne’s ABBA Heaven, and she was kind enough to let me borrow them for my site. I highly recommend a visit to her site – along with a plethora of Scandinavian ABBA releases, she has many galleries of ABBA pictures published in Sweden that haven’t been seen hundreds of times before. I couldn’t say what you might have seen on TV in “the Aussie fan club” guy’s “shrine room” that may have looked like videos, but they may have been private videos with home-made covers, something many fans do for their own collections.

I live in Sri Lanka. Could please tell me whether there is a ABBA fan club in Sri Lanka and from where I could buy the ‘Super Trouper’ and ‘Visitors’ albums. Will ABBA start recording again? Thanks a lot. Trevine		There is no ABBA fan club in Sri Lanka that I’m aware of. There are several “unofficial” fan clubs in several countries around the world (you can find them in the “links” section of www.abbaworld.net). The Official International Agnetha, Benny, Björn, Frida Fan Club accepts members from all over the world. There are also many e-mail lists (such as ABBAMAIL) where ABBA fans write to each other – perhaps you may be interested in joining one. Those two albums should be freely available on CD in any record shop of from just about any on-line CD store. They are about to be re-released internationally (at the end of June 2001) with revamped artwork, new liner notes and bonus tracks. It’s highly unlikely that ABBA will ever record again. Since they stopped working together in 1982 it’s becomes less likely that they will reunite publicly, as the four members now have other interests, both musically and in their private lives.

Please can you help? I'm trying to find the music, guitar tabs etc. for ‘Does Your Mother Know’ if any one can you can! Many thanks Gav		There’s a few websites with guitar tabs (look in the “links” section of www.abbaworld.net, under “sites by category/music files”). There’s also several music books available, including ‘ABBA Gold’ which has ‘Does Your Mother Know’. If you can’t find it in your local record or bookshop, try the distributors at http://www.musicroom.com/.

Could you tell me which of ABBA’s singles and LPs went gold or platinum in Canada? Gary Mabb		I don’t have a lot of figures unfortunately. According to an article that appeared in ‘ABBA News’ (a trade publication distributed by Polar in the 1970s) in 1979, ‘Voulez-Vous’ went platinum “within three weeks”, both ‘Arrival’ and ‘The Album’ had gone double platinum, while ‘Greatest Hits’ had sold 600,000 copies. According to the same article, the singles ‘Take A Chance On Me’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’, ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘Fernando’ had all gone gold. More recently, according to Billboard magazine (April 1999) ‘ABBA Gold’ had gone 4 times platinum at that date, but has probably sold many more copies since then, as it’s been a permanent chart fixture since the premiere of ‘Mamma Mia!’ in Toronto. You should visit ABBA – The Worldwide Chart Lists to check out ABBA’s chart placings in Canada.

I’m Fernando from Colombia. There is a rumour that ABBA made a Spanish version of ‘The Day Before You Came’, but that song is maybe in the famous ABBA vaults. Do you know something about it? Do you know if ABBA made more Spanish versions not published? Who can help me to get the both video versions of ‘I Wasn’t The One’ (Spanish and English) from Agnetha and ‘The Last Time’ video too. Thank you very much. Fernando Alvarez		I’ve never heard any rumour myself of a Spanish version of ‘The Day Before You Came’, and indeed none was ever planned or recorded according to the book ‘ABBA –The Complete Recording Sessions’ by Carl Magnus Palm. There are no unreleased Spanish versions of ABBA songs in the vault, but according to ‘The Complete Recording Sessions’, ‘Does Your Mother Know’, ‘Eagle’ and ‘Angeleyes’ were under consideration but not recorded for the LP ‘Gracias Por La Música’ in January 1980. The Spanish version of ‘Ring Ring’ was recorded in 1973, but was not actually released until 1993 on the CD ‘ABBA Mas Oro’. I don’t know where you might find copies of those Agnetha videos – they have never been commercially released, and as far as I know they’ve not even been screened very often. I’m not aware of a video for ‘Yo No Fui (Quien Dijo Adiós)’ (the Spanish version of ‘I Wasn’t The One (Who Said Goodbye)’. A fan may be able to help you with those videos – I actually don’t have them myself!

Can you tell me please why Agnetha and Bjorn split up? From the song ‘The Winner Takes it All’ one would assume that he left her, but I was told it was she who dumped him for another? Thanks, Bunny from Newcastle, Australia		According to all reports (including from Agnetha and Björn themselves), they simply grew apart. There was no one specific reason why they split up, and there were no other people involved. Both found new partners not long after they separated – indeed, Björn is still married Lena, who he met literally one week after the separation. Sadly, Agnetha went through a string of short relationships following the divorce. The song ‘The Winner Takes It All’ is not necessarily an accurate description of their break up, but Björn has said in many interviews, their private lives did “colour” many lyrics, particularly in the later years of ABBA.

I just saw Bjorn Again the other evening here in Vancouver! I am dying to get a bootleg CDR or 2 of a GREAT live Abba show. Can you help me out? What would you recommend? Can you direct me to any lists? I live in Canada and would really only want a live album that is considered to be great! Thanks for your time! David		I’m not aware of any Björn Again bootleg recordings out there. There are a couple of commercially released CDs, including one recorded live at the Albert Hall in London. I don’t know whether there are any lists for Björn Again fans (I’m not a fan of ABBA cover bands, and don’t follow what’s going on with them), but I don’t doubt that there are some out there somewhere. Check out their official site http://www.bjornagain.com/ or the links section of www.abbaworld.net – there’s a page listing “cover bands & tributes”.

I have a series of collector's cards showing pictures of ABBA (mainly from '74/'75). All of them have a blue frame and show the name ABBA. I believe these are the ones known as bubble gum cards but I'm not sure. I would like to know where they come from and how many different cards there are. Thanking you, Yvon Jouandon – France		It sounds like they’re from a set released in The Netherlands, I think in 1975. You can see an example at http://www.morticia.demon.nl/pers/verzamel.jpg on the ‘ABBA In Holland’ site, or a full set on ‘Yvonne’s ABBA Heaven’ at http://yvonnesabbaheaven.lantech.se/ ABBAphotoalbum/MyCollectorCards/Part3/Part3.html

Who would I send an email to get permission to play songs at a venue and use the logo, this is for a nonprofit organization .Do I email the abbasite or Universal Records? Thank you, Jac		Try your local Universal Music office – they own the rights to ABBA’s recordings. I can’t see any trouble with being allowed to play the songs – most venues already pay licencing fees to play music anyway. They may object to using the logo however.

There is a well known Abba photo of the group wrapped in silver foil. If you look closely there appears to be a certain part of Bjorn's anatomy peeking from below his silver foil. How accurate is the rumour that it really is his... well you know? Terry		I’ve had a close look at the photo (a scary thought, really! ;-) ), and I can’t say that I can see anything. I can’t imagine that ABBA would have been nude underneath the tin foil – I’m sure that they would have had underwear on. You’ve got a dirty mind, Terry! ;-)

How many of Abba's hits were also recorded in Swedish? I am aware of ‘Waterloo’ and ‘SOS’ but are there others? Terry		ABBA’s Swedish recordings are: ‘Ring Ring (bara du slog en signal)’; ‘Åh vilka tider’ (the B-side of ‘Ring Ring’, there’s no English equivalent of this song); ‘Waterloo’ and ‘Honey, Honey’. ‘En karusell’ was released as a Björn & Benny single, and is a Swedish version of ‘Merry-Go-Round’, which was the B-side of ‘People Need Love’. ‘SOS’ was recorded in Swedish by Agnetha for her solo album ‘Elva kvinnor i ett hus’ in 1975, using ABBA’s existing backing track, while ‘Fernando’ was recorded by Frida actually before ABBA recorded their English version, making ABBA’s a cover version of a Frida song! All of these Swedish songs can be found on the CD ‘Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Annifrid På Svenska’, which is now out of print, though the ABBF Record Service lists it as still available. The Swedish versions of ‘Ring Ring’, ‘Waterloo’ and ‘Honey, Honey’ are included as bonus tracks on the about to be reissued ABBA CDs ‘Ring Ring’ and ‘Waterloo’.

I would ask you is the unrealised theme ‘I Am An A’ used by B&B for making the mega ‘Chess’ hit - ‘I Know Him So Well’? And - how many copies less have ‘The Day Before You Came’ and ‘Under Attack’ been sold in UK, compared to, for example, ‘Super Trouper’ or any of the Top 10 singles? Thanks, Goran		Yes, the tune that ended up as part of the chorus of 'I Know Him So Well' was originally in the chorus of 'I Am An A', performed by ABBA on their 1977 tour of Europe and Australia but never recorded. Part of the same melody was also used in 'Free As A Bumble Bee', one of the previously unreleased songs that were included in the medley 'ABBA Undeleted' on the 1994 box set 'Thank You For The Music'. Finally the tune found its rightful place in the chorus of 'I Know Him So Well'. I’m sorry to say I’ve really got no idea how many copies those two singles might have sold in comparison to earlier ones. Record companies don’t often give out sales figures for individual records, unless they can boast about so many hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of copies sold. You can check out their UK chart positions on ABBA – The Worldwide Chart Lists.

I was wondering if you could confirm me that ABBA provided backing vocals on Mireille Mathieu's cover of ‘The winner takes it all’, "’Bravo, tu as gagne’. Is it really them on the background???? A million thanks!!!! George from Greece		Three of them did. According to the book ‘ABBA – The Complete Recording Sessions’ by Carl Magnus Palm (a must for every ABBA fan!), the track was recorded on 10 and 11 December 1980, at Polar Music Studios. Benny played keyboards (of course), and joined Frida and Björn on backing vocals. Björn and Benny also produced the track.

I am an avid collector and my husband loves Abba. For his birthday one year, I bought him an Abba album. When I gave it to him, he noticed straight away, the uniqueness of this vinyl album. The words ABBA did not have one back to front B and one normal B. Both the cover and both sides of the label were printed with the B's around the right way (i.e., both B's like this...ABBA.) Over the years, we have heard stories about incorrectly printed labels and now wonder if they are collectible items and how much they are worth - that is, as misprinted labels and covers. We would like to insure them separately if they have any unusually high values. If not, we will just keep them insured in our normal house and contents insurance policy. I would be grateful for any information you could offer. Thank you, Jane Ward		The ABBA logo with the first B reversed was officially launched on 1 July 1976, and first appeared on the ‘Dancing Queen’ single in August. All ABBA records released before that date had ABBA written normally, that is with both Bs facing the right way around. Even after that date, many record labels still had ABBA written normally, or sometimes (such as on some singles from New Zealand that I’ve seen) with the second B reversed or just upside down, rather than the first. There’s no particular added value for any records that don’t have the backwards B, with one exception: in Australia, the first batch of ‘Dancing Queen’ single covers had both Bs facing forwards – apparently, there was a dispute over the logo with a publishing company that already had 2 Bs facing each other as its logo. However, the dispute was obviously cleared up quickly, as on its release date (9 August 1976) covers with the regular logo were available, though an unknown number of the covers with both Bs forwards also appeared. A television special in 1994 spread a piece of misinformation that there were only 3 copies mis-printed, and gave its value at over A$400. However, this is far from correct – there’s many more in circulation, and I’ve frequently seen them at record fairs here in Sydney for no more than A$6. You can see this version at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/ 5073/images/singdancing1.jpg

Where can I purchase ‘ABBA Forever’ the video? I live in Australia but I have never seen it in a store. Can you help me please? Michael		The video ‘ABBA Forever Gold’ is a compilation of the previously released ‘ABBA Gold’ and ‘More ABBA Gold’ videos. It was only available for a very limited time in Australia towards the end of 1996. However, it’s still freely available in the UK – you could try a UK-based on-line store such as Blackstar. You’ll find this store and others listed in the links section of www.abbaworld.net.

Would you know the source of this picture of Agnetha? I think it was from an Australian mag in 1977 <<BeachBabe.jpg>> Thanks: George Bollig		Those pictures were published in the Australian magazine ‘People’ in the May 12 1977 issue. They were taken when ABBA were on their Australian tour in March that year. However, the pictures that you’ve sent me have been fiddled with – Agnetha is of course not topless and/or bottomless in any of the original photos. You can see the originals in ‘ABBAMAIL’s Beach and Bodyguard Extravaganza’ gallery

Do you know anything about the ‘Absolute ABBA - The Interview’ CD? Thanks, Phyllis		Not a lot I’m sorry to say. All I really know about it was released in 2000 by a company called Chrome Dreams, and that it’s available at places like amazon.com and probably anywhere else on the net that sells CDs. A small snippet of an interview with Björn can be heard on Amazon’s UK site (www.amazon.co.uk). I don’t know when the interviews on the CD were recorded. Perhaps a reader can shed some more light on this one?

Could you please help me, I am trying to find a copy of a video for my friend, his was stolen when thieves stole his video and TV. The video was the ‘Tenth Anniversary special 1977/87’ it was a Roadshow home video it had an "Arrival" back cover and a group head shot on the front cover. If you know where I could get a copy please let me know. It would make my friend’s day if I could get a copy we are both in our early 40s and will always love ABBA. Thank you for taking the time to read this email. Rodney Laitt		I know this video well. It was the first ABBA video to be released in Australia, first as a rental only in late 1987, then later on sell-through, around May 1989 (the cover of the sell-through version was slightly modified from the rental one). Unfortunately, it’s long discontinued. The tape was a direct copy of the Swedish video collection ‘ABBA Music Show 1 + 2’, which was also released in the USA as ‘ABBA’ (a.k.a. ‘Stig Anderson Presents ABBA’) and in the UK as ‘ABBA The Video Hits’. All the songs on that video are included on the ‘ABBA Gold’ or ‘More ABBA Gold’ collections. I suggest you either get those two, or if you really want the ‘Tenth Anniversary Special’ tape, try an auction site like eBay – you might get lucky.

I'm looking for the compilation (album, CD or others) where are the song ‘Tweddle De Tweddle Dum’, ’Sacramento’ and others songs of the same period, can you help me? Can you say me the album where these songs were? Thanks, Roberto De Salvatore		There are no such ABBA songs with these titles.

Hello! My name is Dasha, I’m 18, I live in Vladivostock, Russia. I would like to know if ATeens have their own emails.*		Not that I know of, though there are reports that at least one of the group regularly contributes to an on-line A*Teens forum. Even if I knew their private addresses, I would not be willing or able to breach their privacy and pass them on.

Just a note. Was the crazy guy wearing the skintight blue suit when singing "Does Your... " on the Ch. 9 ABBA fest aware that it was an exact replica of Bjorn's 1979 concert suit??? Who was he?? Mark Reed		I have no idea whether he wore that outfit because of its resemblance to any of Björn’s stage costumes. And I have no idea who he was, and I shudder to remember that awful, awful, AWFUL excuse of a television show. As the Comic Book Guy on ‘The Simpsons’ would say: “Worst episode ever”.
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