Ask Ian..... 7 July 01

Q		A
*‘ABBA – The Movie’ update:*		I've had quite a bit of e-mail these past couple of weeks regarding the availability of 'ABBA - The Movie'. Yes, it's true that copies of the video do appear regularly on auction sites such as eBay, but they are inevitably second hand or even dubbed from a store-bought copy. Similarly, there are several video services in the USA that have NTSC copies listed for sale, but these are probably dubbed from the UK PAL video - 'The Movie' has never been released on video in the USA. Similarly, 'The Movie' has never been released in Australia, though the 1989 UK issue (with this cover) was fairly common in import record shops and even some mainstream shops, despite the legal notice that the video was "Not for sale or rent in South Africa or Australia". I've also been told of a service in the USA (I assume it's a cable TV channel) called Charter Communications that has 'The Movie' available "on demand" - a viewer can call up and have the film transmitted directly to their television. 'The Movie' is also screened semi-regularly on TV stations like Channel 4 (in the UK), and various music channels in North America and Europe. However, I've been told that the version shown in North America has been trimmed to fit commercial breaks, and some scenes have been completely cut out. My original answer still stands - currently, brand new, original, off-the-shelf copies of 'ABBA - The Movie' are unavailable. Universal does have plans to re-release 'The Movie' on DVD and possibly VHS (and maybe even a limited cinema re-release), though at the moment there is no firm release date, and it seems highly unlikely that it will be during 2001.

Do you have any information whatsoever on the alleged ABBA demo 'Agadir Till Bergshagen' which was released on the bootleg 'We Should Be Together' in 1999? Is this really an ABBA demo, I mean it does sound like one, but why is there no information on this track to be found in 'The Complete Recording Sessions'? I'm also wondering why so many of Agnetha's and Frida's English solo songs are unavailable on CD? Why doesn't Universal include them on a new compilation CD? I think Agnetha's 'That's Me' CD was a great start. But there is more in the vaults... Thank you very much for your help. "Abba 1980"		When 'Agadir till Bergshagen' (and another instrumental, 'The Wild Heart') first appeared on a bootleg CD in 1999, there was quite a bit of discussion on ABBAMAIL about the origins of these two recordings. There were theories that they were demo recordings intended for 'Chess', or music that Benny had written for a film, but a conclusive answer was never found. But it has been established that neither were "ABBA demos". Frida's two and Agnetha's three English solo albums have been released on CD, though I'm not 100% sure whether they're all still available. The compilation 'The Voice Of ABBA' collected both girls' English singles, some album tracks and three songs that had been released as single B-sides and had not previously appeared on CD. The only released tracks not available on CD are some single edits, one or two B sides, one single that Agnetha recorded in the early 1970s (which I imagine will probably be included as bonus tracks on her reissued Cupol albums by Royal Records), and a few 12 inch extended mixes. Yes, there's undoubtedly more in the vaults (for example, there are several known unreleased songs from Frida's 'Shine' album sessions), but it seems unlikely that they'll ever see the light of day. I understand that Frida herself has vetoed the international release of a "greatest hits" compilation of her solo work (a la Agnetha's 'That's Me'), and also wouldn't allow unreleased recordings from her early Swedish career to be included on the compilation 'Frida 1967 - 1972'. Here's an update on Agadir till Bergshagen: Just read your answer regarding the demo's Agadir till Bergshagen and The wild heart. Here's what I know. Both were recorded in 1983, intended for Chess. They were discarded and the only ABBA connection is that B&B always kept unreleased songs for possible ABBA release (certainly at that stage). The interesting story is the way these songs got out. A tape with these was given to a fan by Benny's son with the warning to keep those songs to himself. This fan shared them however with another fan in good trust, but that guy released them on one of his fanCD's 'We should be together'. When Benny was asked about 'The wild heart' he first said there was no such song. When that fan said he could hum the tune for him, he changed his mind. Apparantly he was quite shocked to hear such un unfinished got out! Hope it helped Remko

Is there any chance Benny and Bjorn will ever agree to release songs like 'Monsieur, Monsieur', 'In The Arms Of Rosalita', 'Get On The Carousel', 'I Am An A', 'Under My Sun', the first versions of 'Does Your Mother Know', 'On And On And On', Dancing Queen' and 'Like An Angel..' as well as 'I'm Still Alive', 'Just A Notion' and 'Just Like That'? I mean, the songs mentioned first are just alternate versions of later released songs and since B&B released the first versions of 'Thank You For The Music' and 'Summer Night City' I don't understand why those aren't available either since they are quite different from the released songs. As for 'I'm Still Alive' and 'Just A Notion', these are still original compositions, right? There have been cover versions, but why doesn't Universal release the originals? As for 'Just Like That', I don't get why ABBA don't want to release that song-even though Agnetha once stated that she liked it and was hoping that it was going to be released one day. I understand B&B don't want to release it because they released it with Gemini but they also released the song 'Slowly' with Gemini even though they'd written it for Frida's album 'Shine' and she'd released it one year earlier. Why doesn't Universal go ahead and release these songs? Don't they know that this would sky-rocket the sales of the albums they would be included on? "Abba 1980"		That was certainly a long-winded way of asking a short question! Firstly, I can't imagine that Björn and Benny could be convinced to allow any more unreleased recordings to be released. They've long been adamant that such things should stay unreleased, though I'm sure that Universal would love to release more "from the vaults". Apparently, there were plans to include more "alternate" versions of songs on the 'Thank You For The Music' box set in 1994, but along the way this idea fell by the wayside, and only 'Summer Night City' and 'Thank You For The Music' made an appearance. 'Just A Notion' was going to be included in full, but according to Carl Magnus Palm's website, "It was intended to be included in its entirety, but after Björn, Benny, and Michael Tretow had attempted to mix it, Björn and Benny apparently felt that there was no way they could make the recording sound good enough to be presented as a "new" ABBA track, as opposed to how they felt about Put On Your White Sombrero and Dream World, which in their opinion were more complete." It's true that Gemini did record 'Slowly' after Frida's recording, but unlike their version of 'Just Like That', it was essentially the same song (with a couple of personal pronouns changed - "you" instead of "he" and that sort of thing). Whereas Gemini's 'Just Like That' was essentially a different song, with just a few lines of the chorus and the title remaining from ABBA's version. And Björn and Benny maintain that it would be "confusing" to have two different songs with the same title. Personally, I wish that they would release ABBA's version, so that people will stop asking about it! As to whether releasing such recordings would result in "skyrocket" sales, I doubt it. There might be a few thousand hard core ABBA fans that would be interested, but I don't think the world at large would really care - the release of other songs like 'I Am The City' or 'Put On Your White Sombrero' barely rated a reaction from the general public, and many reviewers if they commented on these tracks at all, didn't rate them highly in comparison to ABBA's released work. The 'Thank You For The Music' box set may have sold over 250,000 copies (judging by the "limited edition" numbers), but that's taken many years to achieve those sales.

Can you explain to me please what the hell is a digipack? I am trying to decide should I be ordering the digipacks of the newest version of the ABBA CDs or just the plain old versions. What is the difference and is one better than the other as far as presentation etc? Thanks, Brian Canada		A digipack is a cardboard sleeve (not unlike a gatefold LP sleeve), with a plastic tray glued into one side to hold the CD. The booklet is usually either glued into the cover opposite the disc, or inserted in a pocket. Sometimes digipacks have fold-out panels as well. I have no idea what the new ABBA digipacks look like - I haven't seen them yet - but I imagine that the artwork will be very similar if not identical to the standard jewel case versions. These days digipacks are often released as a limited edition when an album is first released. They are usually rather attractive and a good collectible, but extra care needs to be taken so that the covers don't end up worn, creased and scratched. I'd recommend getting plastic sleeves (which should be available from any good record store) if you buy the digipacks.

I wonder if there are any sites where I can find ABBA CD's in Spanish. I know that their music was very popular in Latin America and many of their songs where translated and performed by ABBA in Spanish. Any suggestions as to where to find these CDs? Thanks, Belinda Brock		There’s only one CD you need to buy to get all 15 of ABBA’s Spanish recordings – the 1999 remastered version of ‘ABBA Oro – Grandes Exitos’. It has the ten songs originally recorded for the ‘Gracias Por La Música’ album in 1980, the two songs recorded for each of the ‘Super Trouper’ and ‘The Visitors’ albums in 1980 and 1981, and ‘Ring Ring’, which was recorded in 1973 but not released until 1993 (on ‘ABBA Mas Oro’). There are several other CDs available – ‘Gracias…’ was released on CD in Japan in the late 1980s, ‘ABBA Oro’ was originally released in 1992 with just the ten songs from ‘Gracias…’, and this was followed in 1993 by ‘ABBA Mas Oro’, which had the other five Spanish recordings. You’ll want to get the version of ‘ABBA Oro’ with the black cover with gold writing (it looks identical to ‘ABBA Gold’), not the gold cover with black writing, which is the original 10 track CD. The remastered ‘ABBA Oro’ should be available from just about any on-line CD store, or failing that, the ABBF Record Service.

1.) Could you please link me to latest photographs of Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, Anni-frid. Also could you please link me to the latest photograph which four of them taken together? 2) Could you please tell me what were Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, Anni-frid up to after the split up of ABBA, where there Private lives are concerned. Thanks a mill. Trevine Bastians from Sri Lanka		Some recent photos of Frida can be seen on the German ABBA News site at http://www.abba-news.de/polar-prize.htm and on ABBAMAIL's Latest News page in May 2001. A recent photo of Benny with his son Ludwig can also be seen on the May 2001 News page. The most recent photos of three ABBA members together (Björn, Benny and Frida at the Toronto premiere of 'Mamma Mia!') can be found on Latest News pages for May 2000 and July 2000. The most recent photos of Agnetha can be seen on ABBAMAIL's Latest News page for October 2000. The most recent photos of the four ABBA members at the same place (but not photographed together) arriving at Görel Hanser's 50th birthday party in June 1999 can be seen at http://www.abbamail.com/gorelpic.htm The most recent photo of the four together was taken in January 1986, and is in the book 'From ABBA To Mamma Mia!' It's way too hard to try and write here what the four former members have been up to since ABBA disbanded almost 19 years ago! Very briefly: Agnetha released several solo albums, married again in 1990 (and divorced 2 years later), published her "autobiography" in 1996, and lives a life away from the public eye just outside of Stockholm. Recurring rumour has it she's recording a new album. Frida recorded a couple of solo albums, then retreated from the public eye. She became heavily involved in environmental issues, married her third husband in 1992 (and was widowed in 1999), recorded a Swedish-language album in 1996, and is currently retired from the music business. Björn and Benny have written the musicals 'Chess' and 'Kristina från Duvemåla', both have remarried and had children, Benny has recorded a few solo albums of folk and classical music, Björn is heavily involved in the "ABBA musical" 'Mamma Mia!' For more, you might want to keep an eye out for the upcoming ABBA biography 'Bright Lights, Dark Shadows: The Real Story Of ABBA', to be published in September 2001. Or check out the many ABBA websites that have biographical information on the ABBA members - you'll find them in the "links" section of www.abbaworld.net.

I wonder if you know when the new CDs of Abba will be available??? The remastered ones with the new booklets. Is this gonna be all the albums including the "Abba live " one?? Niki, Gloucester England		According to HMV UK and Tower Records UK websites, the release date for your part of the world is 16 July 2001. Check out ABBAMAIL's Latest News page to see the front covers of the new CDs. 'ABBA Live' is being deleted and won't be included in the new series of CDs. Thankfully, many fans will say. There are plans to release a new ABBA live CD in the future, possibly at the same time that 'ABBA - The Movie' will be re-released on DVD.

Firstly, the liner notes for 'Chiquitita' in the 'Thank You For The Music' set state that the song was recorded in December 1978 after an earlier attempt had been discarded. This is followed by a note to 'see Disc Four', but there is nothing on that last disc (that I can find) which refers to or resembles 'Chiquitita'. Does this mean that 'In The Arms of Rosalita' was originally slated for inclusion, but eventually left off? Secondly, I was wondering if you, or anybody, knows anything about the earlier working version of 'Like An Angel Passing Through My Room' called 'Another Morning Without You' (referred to in The Complete Recording Sessions)? Has a set of lyrics for this version ever surfaced? Thanks! Darren Lloyd		An earlier version of the tracklisting for the 'Thank You For The Music' box set included something called 'Chiquitita Story' on disc 4. Apparently, this would have been a medley (not unlike 'ABBA Undeleted') of the various working versions of 'Chiquitita', so presumably it would have included 'Rosalita'. But somewhere along the line, the track was dropped, but the reference to "see disc 4" was left in by accident. I've unfortunately never heard any of the early/alternate versions of 'Like An Angel Passing Through My Room' or seen any lyrics from these earlier versions. I'm not aware of any of these versions that have "leaked" out of the studio like so many other unreleased recordings.

Do you know how many copies of the ABBA/LIVE '77 flexi disc were pressed originally??? Thanks from Germany, Henric.		I'm not really sure, I had to ask around about this. One figure quoted was 500 copies, but as ABBAMAIL's Graeme says "since they seem to be appearing in every record shop, sex shop and porn theatre in Stockholm these days", there may well be many more copies than this.

Are there any Agnetha/Frida collaborations of any kind post ABBA bar the 1986 and 1999 50th birthday parties for Stig and Gorel (I think it was)? Terry		The only known collaborations between Agnetha and Frida since the end of ABBA (all of which also included Björn and Benny) are: most famously, on 16 January 1986 when the former ABBA performed Stig's first hit 'Tivedshambo' for a 'This Is Your Life' style TV show (Stig's 50th birthday was actually in 1981, and for that occasion ABBA wrote and performed 'Hovas vittne'); and at Görel Hanser's 50th birthday party in Stockholm on 21 June 1999, when ABBA sang a special birthday song, 'Med en enkel tulipen'. All four members of the group also attended Thomas Johansson's 50th birthday party in August 1998 (Thomas is another old friend, and was the group's tour promoter), and though Frida, Benny and Björn sang The Beatles song 'With A Little Help From My Friends' together, Agnetha did not join them on that occasion. Frida reportedly invited Agnetha to sing the duet 'Alla mina bästa år' on her 'Djupa andetag' album in 1996, but Agnetha declined the offer for personal reasons. Frida of course went on to record the duet with her friend Marie Fredriksson of Roxette.

Can you please tell me who is credited with the lyrics to 'Belle' (Frida's French duet version of 'Arrival') and does it feature any of the other three musically? Terry		The lyrics for 'Belle' were written by Alain and Daniel Boublil, for the musical 'ABBACADABRA'. Frida sang the duet with French star Daniel Balavoine. The other members of ABBA had no input into the recording or the French musical, which had new lyrics to ABBA's songs woven into a story featuring familiar fairy-tale characters. Incidentally, Alain Boublil wrote the lyrics for ABBA's French version of 'Waterloo' in 1974, and went on to write international hit musicals such as 'Les Miserables'.

I work with people with Asperger Syndrome. Here is a boy (Thomas, 23 year) who's only interest in life is Linda Ulvaeus. He listens to her Christmas-album every day, and knows a lot about her. I think it would be very very funny for him to meet her or talk to her on the phone. How could we do that? All the best, Johan Dalsgaard, Faroe Island		I sorry to say that I really have no idea how you might get in contact with Linda - presumably, through her management, though I have no idea who that might be.

Hello my question is about Benny and Agnetha. Was there ever any romance between the two of them? Also what are Bjorn and Agnetha's children doing now are they married etc.? Rebecca Ducham		No, there was never any romance between Benny and Agnetha. That sounds like the sort of thing one might read in one of the more scandalous press reports that thrive on stories of cat fights between the girls and partner swapping between the couples. Björn and Agnetha's daughter Linda is an actress who has appeared in a few films and television shows in Sweden, and also had a small role in Benny and Björn's Swedish musical 'Kristina från Duvemåla'. She lives with her fiancé Jens Ekengren, and on 27 January 2001 the couple had their first child, a daughter named Tilda. At last reports, Björn and Agnetha's son Christian was studying at university and had a girlfriend, but that's about all that's known.

What was the name of the movie that Agnetha's daughter acted in a few years ago? I believe it was nominated for best foreign film. Have you seen the movie? Was it good? Is it available for rent in the USA? What name does she go by? Also, where does ABBA rank in worldwide record sales? I would think they would be at or near the top along with the Beatles. Can you list the top 4 or 5? Thank You, Bill, NJ USA		The movie featuring Linda Ulvaeus (she goes by her real name) was 'Under solen' (Under The Sun), released in 1998. Linda played the minor character Lena. The film was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 1999 Academy Awards (where, coincidentally, 'ABBA - The Movie' director Lasse Hallström was nominated for Best Director for 'The Cider House Rules'), but it doesn't appear to be available for sale or rent in the USA as far as I can find. You can read more about 'Under solen' on the Internet Movie Database. Yes, I have seen the movie, and I quite enjoyed it, though it's definitely a "quiet" movie. Some reports say that ABBA are ranked number 3 in worldwide sales, after Elvis Presley and The Beatles, though how accurate this ranking is anybody's guess.

Did ABBA ever perform ‘Angeleyes’ on TV? Thanks again! Yvon from France		As far as I'm aware, no. ABBA did very little television promotion around the release of the 'Voulez-Vous' album and its follow-up singles, probably as preparations for their 1979 concert tour of North America and Europe kept them very busy. The group performed several songs from the then yet-to-be-released album on the TV special 'ABBA In Switzerland 'in February 1979, but 'Angeleyes' wasn't amongst them.

Hey Hey, I like to ask you two questions: 1) If you listen very carefully to 'Does your mother know', you can notice that there is someone shouting in the instrumental part of the song. Is this a mistake in the recording or did they do that on purpose? 2) Are they really singing FUCKING IN THE MOONLIGHT at the fade out of 'Summer Night City' (never heard it... pull up the volume at the end!) or am I dirty minded? Thanks Richard		Question 1: Yes, I've noticed that faint shouting in the background since first hearing 'Does Your Mother Know' in mid-1979. I'd guess that it's there to add a bit of excitement and atmosphere to the recording - it's not the first or last time I've heard this sort of thing on a record. Question 2: It's long been speculated that ABBA sing "fucking in the moonlight" rather than "walking in the moonlight" in the fade out of 'Summer Night City'. In fact, at the time of the single's release, there were reports from the UK that the BBC had banned airplay because of this (though it was coyly reported that the offending line was "love making love in the moonlight", which makes absolutely no grammatical sense, and the phrase "love making" appears elsewhere in the song, and since that phrase was a quite common euphemism at that time, it hardly seems worth the bother of banning the song!). Whether ABBA actually did indeed sing "fucking in the moonlight" or not will probably never be confirmed, though there is a theory that it seems unlikely, given ABBA's "family image", that they would have done that. Personally, I like to think that they did, as a little kick against their clean-cut image!

Where can you purchase Abba items such as T-shirts online? Thanks, Sven Brunso		ABBAMAIL has an "ABBAMAIL" T-shirt available, and an iron-on transfer produced in Australia in the 1970s (though actually using the iron-on is not recommended, given its age). There's also a range of other ABBA merchandise on sale, both new and vintage. Go to the Merchandise site to see these, or write to get a catalogue. The ABBF Record Service also has an ABBA T-shirt available, as well as a range of other ABBA memorabilia.

Is the songs on 'ABBA GOLD' placed after which song that was there best seller (Dancing Queen) till their 19th best seller around the world? Øystein Sundelin, Oslo, Norway		No, I don't believe so. Some of the songs on 'ABBA Gold' (such as 'Lay All Your Love On Me' and 'Thank You For The Music') were hit singles in just a few of countries. I think the order of songs is fairly random, though with some grouping - for example, the Spanish-influenced songs 'Chiquitita' and 'Fernando' are together, as are the disco-flavoured hits 'Voulez-Vous', 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!' and 'Does Your Mother Know'.

About ten years ago I happened to pick up a copy of Abba 'Super trouper' from a second had record shop. It was an ex-radio copy and was and still is in near mint condition. I think that it was not played much as the record was in near perfect condition. When I checked the record I found that one side had the Abba label of 'Super Trouper', but the other side had the label of David Bowie, 'Scary Monsters'. How rare do you think this is as I have never heard of anyone with a copy of 'Super Trouper' like this' What do you think it would be worth? Thanks, Andrew		What an unusual find! Is it just the label that is wrong, or is one side of the record actually 'Scary Monsters'? I'm not really sure if there's any extra value to misprints like this - they're extremely uncommon and not often seen, and I've never heard of this particular mispressing before. I remember as a teenager in 1976 my local record shop had the 'SOS' single with the 'SOS' label on both sides of the record - presumably, the song wasn't actually pressed on both sides. On the day that I finally decided to buy this oddity, it had been sold! I imagine that as a curiosity your record and others like it might have a little value, but probably not much more than a standard pressing.
I'm hoping you can help me out. I ride in a quadrille team (a team of four horse & rider combinations) and the new musical 'Mamma Mia' inspired us to use ABBA music for our musical freestyle. However one of the limitations is that we need to get just instrumental music with no words, kind of like how iceskaters in competition have their music. Do you know of a good CD recording that has ABBA songs with just instrumental? We prefer more upbeat music that will get the audience's attention, not the classical elevator type that will pit them to sleep. Thanks! Kim		There have been quite a few instrumental recordings of ABBA songs over the years, with albums by the London Symphony Orchestra, James Last, karaoke recordings and even 'Hooked on ABBA'. I really have no idea what would be most suitable for your needs. I'd suggest check out some on-line CD stores for ABBA albums - often searching for ABBA will also list cover versions, and many also include audio samples.
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