Many people who write to me with their questions about ABBA often add messages of thanks or support. Though I usually edit these out when your questions are published on the ABBAMAIL website, I want you all to know that really appreciate your kind thoughts and comments – especially those of you who write to me regularly.

Recently I had a lovely e-mail from Ted of Minnesota in the USA who, echoing the sentiments of many others who’ve written to me, asked:

"I am amazed at your wealth of knowledge about ABBA, how did you acquire so much knowledge about the group?"

Well, I guess that’s one of the benefits of being a part of the ABBAMAIL community. I’ve been an ABBA fan for 27 years now, and over time I’ve collected books, magazines, newspaper cuttings, records, CDs and videotapes that I’ve devoured and somehow committed to memory.

Since ABBAMAIL started almost 6 years ago, so many ABBAMAILers have shared so much information that has seeped into my brain. As people from all over the world started to ask questions about our favourite group, it stirred up my memories and I took it upon myself to answer as many questions as I could, to help people learn as much as they can about ABBA. Which also led to Graeme asking me to write this regular column.

Also, I have to thank my dear friend Carl Magnus Palm for his excellent books ‘ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions’, ‘From ABBA To Mamma Mia!’ and ‘Bright Lights, Dark Shadows: The Real Story Of ABBA’. Without his meticulous research, all of us would be a lot poorer in our knowledge of all things ABBA. His books are always at my side while I’m writing the answers to your questions.

Finally, there’s a few of you that have been extremely helpful in supplying additional information when my memory (or resources) have failed me, or filled in gaps that I just didn’t know about. You can see their updates on many previous Ask Ian pages. Particularly, thanks to ABBAMAILer Paul Carter, who seems to fill his head with even more ABBA trivia than I can manage!

I’m always happy to receive your questions, but there are a few things that I’d like to ask of those who Ask Ian:

You’ve probably noticed the recent addition of my FAIQ (Frequently Asked Ian Questions) page. I’ve put this together because there are a lot of ABBA questions that come up again and again (and again!). So before you write to Ask Ian, I suggest that you take a look at the FAIQ page. If your question is listed, there’s no need to write to me, as the best available answer is already there. As more information comes to hand on any of those questions, or if more questions keep coming up, I’ll be updating that page.

This column has been going now for a couple of years, so there’s a lot of questions already been asked – around a couple of hundred so far. Take a browse through the older questions – you may find your question has already been asked.

When you write to Ask Ian, I’d prefer if you could send your messages in plain text. When I receive your questions, I paste them into a table, and often when emails are in HTML, with fancy fonts and formatting, I have trouble changing them into (and making them stay in) the Ask Ian format, no matter what I do!

I get a lot of people asking if I can supply them with photographs, videos or recordings that they don’t have. As much as I’d love to supply everyone with everything that they ask for, unfortunately I just can’t do that. It would be a never-ending and very expensive task. As you may know, ABBAMAIL has a range of merchandise, including unofficial CDs and fan videos. Purchase of these will not only get you some rare ABBA performances, but you’ll also be supporting ABBAMAIL and helping us to continue this unique community for ABBA fans everywhere.

I also ask that if possible avoid writing with a question that needs a response straight away (for example, "I hear that there’s an ABBA tribute tomorrow, can you tell me about it?"). Because I don’t always get the chance to sit down and answer your questions immediately, an event this close will most likely have passed by the time I can respond. If it’s current, you’ll probably find what you’re looking for on ABBAMAIL’s Latest News page – you'll find the link in the menu bar on the left.

Regular readers will have noticed that sometimes it takes a while for me to get around to answering your questions – often, the column is updated just once a month or even less frequently. I have a full time job and a life beyond of ABBA fandom (yes, believe it or not!), so sometimes it takes a while for me to find the time to sit down and respond to your many questions. 

I’d love to be able to devote more time to Ask Ian, but unless I win the lottery or find a kindly benefactor to finance the lifestyle to which I’d love to become accustomed, I'll have to continue fitting this in when I can. So I apologise now if it seems like I’m taking forever to answer your questions. I will get to them all eventually, it just takes time – especially for those tricky questions that I have to dig through my archives (spread through several room of the house and in the attic) for an answer!

Thank you all for your questions and your support. I hope that you continue to enjoy Asking Ian as much as I enjoy being able to help you here. Though it can be extremely time consuming, it’s also a hell of a lot of fun!