Ask Ian.....22 December 2002

Q		A
Could you tell me what historical event if any is behind the song ‘Fernando’? István Bozó, Hungary		There’s no specific historical event behind ‘Fernando’. Björn says in the book ‘ABBA – The Complete Recording Sessions’ "I got this strong vision in my head of two old revolutionaries in Mexico, sitting outdoors one night, reminiscing."

I'm looking to do a grade eight elementary school play with the song ‘Chiquitita’ at our Christmas concert. I need to find a site that has a free download karaoke. I need the song ‘Chiquitita’ in the karaoke format. Please help! Fern, desperate in Northern Canada		Try http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~wingnut/ - I think it may have what you’re looking for.

Any ideas where to download the ‘Chess på Svenska’ cover from? I can't buy the CD anywhere in my neck of the woods so have to download it. Help please. Thanks, Tom		You should be able to find the cover on the official Chess site or Mono Music. However, you can buy the CD from Skivhugget (enter "chess" as the artist, not title, in the Search field) or the ABBF Record Service, so it doesn't really matter that it's not available in your neck of the woods.

Could you please tell me why it is so hard to get a copy of Gemini's first album? I would like to get a copy but it is impossible to find on the Internet. ‘Geminism’ appears to be everywhere, but not their first one. Cheers, Mark Butler, Australia.		Gemini’s self-titled first album has never been re-released simply because first PolyGram and then Universal Music have forgotten about it. There has been a lot of call to re-release it, so maybe that will eventually happen. Second hand copies sometimes appear on eBay, but usually for a high price. Cheaper CD-R copies can be found more often.

I'm a fan of both ABBA and The Who, both were very big, talented groups in Europe. Did either one outdo the other as far as fan turnout at concerts, financial income, etc.? Brian Picking, Ohio USA		I would guess that The Who have outdone ABBA, simply because they have toured for almost four decades. The biggest crowd ABBA ever played to was 20,000 – 30,000 in Australia in 1977, whereas The Who have played concerts in front of huge crowds of 100,000 people, and continue to tour despite the recent death of John Entwhistle.

Can you tell me if there is a good ABBA cover band in Australia? Regards Andreas		I’m told that BABBA from Melbourne and ABBALANCHE from Sydney are quite good. Both tour Australia regularly.

Do you have any recent pics of Agnetha that you can post on your website? Ted Gibson Minnesota USA		The most recent known photographs of Agnetha were taken in 2000. You'll find some on the site Agnetha Then and Now (in the After ABBA galleries).

I have a question about the book ‘Bright Lights Dark Shadows’. I have just got it from my library but it is in English L I have started reading it but I REALLY look forward to the Swedish version. Is it going to be a Swedish version? If yes, WHEN?? Evelina Lindgren		There are no plans for a Swedish edition at the moment. The German edition will be published soon, and a Russian translation will probably be out some time next year. See Carl Magnus Palm's website for more information.

This weekend I went to a party hosted by a colleague of mine. We visited Musikteatret HolstebroHallen in the town of Holstebro, Jutland, Denmark. And we had an argument about whether ABBA ever played there or not. He says yes, I mean no! Who is right? And if they played a show in Holstebro, when was it? Thank you for the answer! Yours Carsten Tolbøll		I can find no listing of ABBA ever playing in Holstebro on any of their tours from 1973 to 1980. The only concerts that ABBA played in Denmark were in Copenhagen. Check out the ABBA Annual site for a complete diary of ABBA history.

Very often you can read that there was a "Frida auction for misery". Is she in misery or was it for another goal? Eddy Lanciers, Belgium		Misery is a town in Switzerland. Frida lived in nearby Fribourg for several years. For more information, check out an earlier Ask Ian page - you'll have to scroll just over halfway down the page.

I am so happy to read about ‘The Definitive Collection’ DVD being corrected in the many aspects that it needed! I don't know how return policies are around the world, but in the USA, once you open the cellophane on an audio visual purchase...it's yours! IF there is a defect on the product then the store will let you exchange it for the same product only.... and that's ONLY if you have the receipt. AND it can't have been more than 30 days ago or they won't take it back at all! I am frustrated... other than shelling out another $25 for a new DVD... which may not even be the right one to begin with at which point I'd be stuck with another bad copy... what do I do to get a revised copy of this DVD? Sincerely, Mark, Ohio USA		I’ve heard that several people in various countries have contacted their local Universal Music office and have arranged an exchange of the original DVD for the fixed up version. I suggest that short of buying another copy (which should by now have replaced all stock on sale), you could try that approach.

I'm a Spanish fan of ABBA and I wish to know if the ‘Mamma Mia!’ musical has played in Spain. If the answer is yes, I would like to know when and in what place. Thanks. Kisses, Jessica		No, ‘Mamma Mia!’ has not yet played in Spain. A Spanish version has been considered, but there are no definite plans yet. Keep a lookout on the official Mamma Mia! site for further news.

I heard a song on Terry Wogan programme this morning about a young girl growing up and going to high school and thought it was called ‘Schoolbag in Hand’. Can you please help in finding the song for me and where to purchase it from? Margs and Syl in Wales		That song is called ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ and you’ll find it on ABBA’s final studio album ‘The Visitors’, released in 1981. You should be able to find ‘The Visitors’ on CD in any good music shop. The song is also featured in the musical 'Mamma Mia!'.

I want to know why Agnetha and Björn divorced? Cláudio Amaral, Angolan.		After seven years of marriage, and having married so young (Agnetha was just 21), they simply grew apart. There were no sinister reasons such as extra-marital affairs, despite what some stories circulating have said.

I would love you to send me some ideas of outfits worn by ABBA. My daughter and her friend are being them in a fancy dress. They are only 11. As much as I love ABBA’s songs I can’t remember what they wore and I have to make their outfits so a bit of help would be great ASAP. Penerababe AND Please tell me where I could buy ABBA costumes as my two friends and myself are doing an ABBA skit for our friend's birthday party which is in 1/03. Violinsac		There’s nowhere I know of where you can buy "ABBA costumes". I recommend that you look up some photos of ABBA (a good site is ABBA Picture Gallery) and either make something or try to find something similar in a second-hand clothing shop.

How do I get hold of a CD or tape with 'When The Waves Roll Out To Sea'? Thanks again, Peter Skuce, England		It’s appeared on a couple of bootleg CDs, notably ‘Giving A Little Bit More’ and one that features every known permutation of 'Just Like That' - 'When The Waves Roll Out To Sea' features the verse of ABBA's original unreleased version of that song. These are often listed on eBay.

I was recently cleaning some old boxes of junk out of my basement and found an old music magazine from the 80s (I think it was Melody Maker). Inside, there was a half page dedicated to announcing quick music facts. One of them mentioned Frida – saying something to the effect of "this month's 'pigeons in heat' are fun couple Frida Longhyphenatedscandinaviansurname from Abba and Big Country drummer Mark Brzezecki. Fun couple of what?" Obviously the writer took a tongue-in-cheek approach, but it was a surprise because I have never seen any other reference to this relationship, not even in ‘Bright Lights, Dark Shadows’. Have you ever heard of this coupling? It does make sense given that he did play drums on her ‘Shine’ record, but perhaps the fact they were seen together lead to this speculation. Can you shed any light on this? Thanks Ian! Paul, Canada		I’ve never heard of Frida having a relationship with Mark Brzezecki, and I can’t really imagine that it happened, seeing as at the time she was in a relationship with another man, Bertil "Bobo" Hjert (owner of poster publisher Scandecor), who lived in Paris where ‘Shine’ was recorded. I imagine that the Frida and Mark were probably seen together somewhere during the ‘Shine’ sessions, which in typical tabloid fashion led to this unsubstantiated bit of gossip.

In what country did ABBA had the most success? (in terms of sales, tours, popularity) the country with the least amount of success? (P.S. I am going to guess the most being England and the least the USA) Thanks, Walt (USA fan)		That’s really hard to say. It could be said that ABBA had the most success per capita in Australia, where they played to the biggest crowds of their career, and still hold the record for the two highest selling albums in the country (‘The Best Of ABBA’ and ‘Arrival’) and the second biggest single ('Fernando', which was the biggest selling single until Elton John's Princess Diana tribute in 1997). However, in parts of Europe such as West Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands, ABBA had the longest running consistent success, with top ten singles beginning in 1973 and going all the way to the end of their career, and at home in Sweden each successive album outsold its predecessor, selling up to five times more than the previous highest selling albums in Sweden. It’s tempting to single out the USA as ABBA’s least successful territory, though there they had several top ten hits spanning from ‘Waterloo’ to ‘The Winner Takes It All’. However, in places like Japan and parts of South America, ABBA didn’t really take off until 1978/79. Also, in parts of Eastern Europe they had limited official releases, though reportedly illegally imported records sold well on the black market. In the early 80s, Stig Anderson mentioned in an interview that there were only three countries in the world where ABBA records were not sold – China, North Korea and one other (that has slipped my mind and I can't track down the article just now).

Will ABBA ever have a shrine or a place that collected all of their sales awards and other memorabilia that fans could visit in the foreseeable future? (like Elvis’s Graceland) Thanks, Walt USA fan		There is a small permanent exhibition at the Musikmuseet (Music Museum) in Stockholm, including a couple of costumes, a guitar, awards, memorabilia and an interactive computer with ABBA information. The Hard Rock Café in Stockholm as a largish section of ABBA memorabilia, with gold records (including the large frame with 23 gold singles presented to ABBA during ‘The Singles – The First Ten Years’ promotion in London in 1982), a set of ABBA dolls, photographs, awards and other memorabilia. In 2000/2001 there was ‘ABBA – The Exhibition’ at the Nordiska Museet (Nordic Museum) in Stockholm, which had several of ABBA’s original costumes, instruments including Benny’s famous GX1 synthesiser, and much ABBA memorabilia, though this was not well displayed, the exhibition focusing on ABBA’s role in Swedish history, rather than on the group itself.

Since winning Eurovision and receiving countless gold and platinum awards, has ABBA won an award, like a Grammy or a Juno, that recognized their music or honored their music in a specific category from any country? Thanks, Walt (USA fan)		ABBA never won a Grammy, though they did win a number of international awards in 1981 – Best Vocal Group of 1981 by the American Guild Of Variety Artists; the Ampex Golden Reel award for the ‘Super Trouper’ album; Best Album Recorded and Produced in Sweden for ‘Super Trouper’ by the Academy of Swedish Music and music magazine Musikrevy; and the Silver Bravo-Otto award, voted by readers of Bravo magazine in West Germany.

What is the situation re royalties? With the rights etc being sold to PolyGram/Polydor (I get confused here), does each member of ABBA still receive royalties as original performers? I presume Björn and Benny receive an amount as writers. A little long winded I guess but even the ‘Bright Lights, Dark Shadows’ book by Carl confused me a bit. Can you help? Denis Lee		In 1990, PolyGram bought Sweden Music, parent company of Polar Music International, which gave them ownership of ABBA’s recordings (and in 1999, PolyGram merged with Universal Music). Polydor was one of PolyGram's labels (and actually the "Poly" in PolyGram). As performers, songwriters and producers the ABBA members still receive royalties. See the next question for more on this subject.

You mentioned some time ago that certain members sold their stake in the ABBA enterprise. Is this true? If so, are the members still compensated for albums and videos sold? How is it determined – flat rate or per unit? Thanks, Walt (USA fan)		The four members sold their stake in the Polar Music company during the early to mid 80s, a separate issue to performer and writer royalties. Frida and then Bjorn sold their mechanical (performer) rights when they moved from Sweden to the UK, though as I understand it, Björn retained his writer and producer rights. I’m not sure whether they receive a dividend from those who now own those rights, or indeed whether the rights have reverted back to them. Royalties are generally a percentage per unit, and for ABBA this is no exception. I really don’t know much about this whole situation beyond what’s recorded in ‘Bright Lights, Dark Shadows’.

ABBA visited many countries during their numerous world tours over their brief career. What country did they enjoy the most? The least? What country did they visit the most? The least? And what country did they wanted to spend more time in but didn’t? Walt, USA fan		ABBA probably visited West Germany and the UK most frequently, for promotional trips and television appearances. It’s hard to say for sure which countries they enjoyed the most or would have liked to visit again – more often than not, they were too busy performing or doing interviews, or could not see much of where they were visiting because of the constant presence of fans.

I travel very frequently to Sweden. In my last trip I got a taxi and went for a drive to Ekerö where, I believe, Agnetha still resides. I also know which one is Benny's place in Stockholm. Are there any pictures of Agnetha's house in Ekerö? Does she still reside there? Thanks Ernesto		Yes, Agnetha still lives at Ekerö. Some Agnetha fan sites have photos of her house, though I prefer to help Agnetha maintain her privacy - the reason she moved to Ekerö in the first place. Benny lives on Djurgården near the centre of Stockholm.

Is there any news about the new ABBA live CD? A few months ago I read this on "latest news" site. Greetings Nico, Netherlands		Vague plans to release a new live CD, probably in conjunction with the re-release of ‘ABBA – The Movie’ on DVD, have been announced. However, there’s still no firm news on if or when a live CD may be released. Keep on checking the Latest News.

A friend told me that he saw years ago a special version of the Spanish ABBA album ‘Mas Oro’ with one more bonus song... and this 11th song was ‘Waterloo’!?!? He didn't buy this CD and so I didn't believe him... till yesterday. At http://www.lyricmania.com/s.lm?id=19346 I found ‘Mas Oro’ with 11 songs listed and with the complete lyrics of ‘Waterloo’ in Spanish. Is it possible that ‘Waterloo’ is recorded in Spanish??? Greetings from Germany, Matt		It’s fairly certain that ABBA never recorded a Spanish version of ‘Waterloo’. They had planned to record one during a promotional visit to Madrid in May 1974, but this apparently didn’t happen. The original 1993 version of ‘Mas Oro’ had 10 songs (the 10 originally on the ‘Gracias Por La Música’ album), while the 1999 remastered version had all 15 of ABBA’s released Spanish recordings. It’s extremely unlikely that there would have been another version of the CD out there that no one in the worldwide network of ABBA fans has ever heard of. Possibly there was a cover version with these lyrics, and someone has put it on this site to try and impress (or fool) people with a supposed previously unknown song.

Can you tell me who is doing the high-pitched vocal on the instrumental parts of ‘The Day Before You Came’? Eric, The Netherlands		It’s Frida who sings that part. According to the book ‘The Complete Recording Sessions’, she "invented" the line she sings.

This may have been asked dozens of times, but for me it's one of my last unsolved questions: Why don't Benny and Björn work together with Micke Tretow any more? He's a fantastic sound engineer and the best creative partner they ever had. What is he doing these days? Greetings, Michael, Germany.		I think the answer may lie in how Benny and Björn’s came to work together in the first place. Michael came into their team through having worked with Björn during his Hootenanny Singers days. For the past decade or so, Benny has been the sole producer on his solo albums and projects like ‘Kristina från Duvemåla’, and mostly worked with Mono Music's Bernard Löhr as engineer. It could also be asked "why don’t Benny and Björn produce together anymore?". Michael did work again with Björn during the transcription of ABBA’s songs for the musical ‘Mamma Mia!’, and in recent years he’s also worked with Jon Astley on digitally remastering ABBA’s recordings. Most recently, it’s been reported that he is working with Agnetha on her alleged new solo album, though last year he suffered a couple of strokes and has taken some time to recover.

I have a strange request. Back in 1977 or 1978 one of the major woman's magazines in Australia (either New Idea or Woman's Day) ran an ABBA story complete with their favourite recipes, and one of them printed was a recipe for Swedish Meatballs. Would you at all have a copy of this recipe or know how I might be able to get it... many thanks Sally Hofman Australia		I'm sorry Sally, but after searching for ages through my old cuttings, I just can't find it. I do seem to recall it though - perhaps one of our readers will be able to find it for you.

I have an original ABBA Live in Concert ticket dated Sunday 6th March, 1977. A friend mentioned that some people may be interested in purchasing the ticket. If this is true, what is the best site to put it on line? Regards, Tania AND Is there anywhere other than eBay where I can sell my ABBA memorabilia? I was lucky enough to win a competition to meet them when they toured Australia in 1977. I have autographs and a VERY rare media kit, which was issued only to journalists at their Sebel Town House, Sydney press conference. The media kit is in pristine condition and has not one item missing. It includes the single ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’/’Happy Hawaii’ which has never been played. I have many other items as well and would love them to go to a genuine fan who would take good care of them. Look forward to your reply - thank you. Kathy Woodall NSW, Australia		eBay is usually the best bet – it’s very popular with fans looking for ABBA rarities.
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