from OKEJ #6/99 translation by Grant Whittingham ABBA Teens - Cooler than the original!
ABBA Teens say that they are not trying to be better than ABBA - just different.
We are so f*cking good!
It could have been SO bad! Four teenagers singing pepped up versions of ABBA's biggest hits. But ABBA Teens were successful right from the start! Now it has blown up a storm around the youngsters - a wind which could take them to the world! In Sweden they have already sold gold!
It was only a matter of time before ABBA would become trendy again. Of course, it has happened at regular intervals since the Swedish pop miracle split up at the beginning of the 80s. Compilation albums have cropped up time and again, and always sell a huge number of copies.
ABBA is *big business*, and now the next generation is taking over the running of the music heritage. 21st century ABBA is here, and they are called ABBA Teens. The debut single, a fun new version of Mamma Mia, became a thunderous hit in no time and the four teenagers have already been able to hang up gold records on their walls at home.
What a start!
- Yes, laughs Amit, but then one could say that we already had a large number of fans from the start, ha, ha!
There are probably those who think the idea behind ABBA Teens is complete sacrilege. This group understands this, but at the same time, they encourage those who are doubtful to try to see ABBA's music through new eyes.
- ABBA are of course the ultimate for some people, explains Marie. They can't be touched! But ABBA is still here all the same. ABBA Teens is not about doing it better, just different. We are doing something that the new generation can relate to.
Amit explains:
- Of course there are those who think we are much worse than ABBA, but there are also those who like us better. That is because of the age, what one listens to, and has listened to.
All four have their own relationship to ABBA's music.
- I was sung to sleep with ABBA songs when I was little, laughs Amit. My parents really liked their songs.
We can actually find a direct link to ABBA:
- Yes, my grandmother played the organ and accompanied Anni-Frid Lyngstad when she sang in a church.
Sara, Dhani and Marie also came into contact with the music through their parents.
ABBA Teens is not the group's own idea. It was the producer Niklas Berg who got the brainwave and contacted Lasse Kuhler's dance school where 30 students were chosen to audtion.
- We didn't know what it was all about then, says Sara. Just that it was something to do with ABBA.
They got to sing and dance to a song of their choice, and then the decision was made. Then they found out what it was about.
- I thought that it would be good fun, says Amit. This was something I wanted to do.
Sara looks a little shamefaced when she admits:
- I was a little scared!
She is supported by both Marie and Dhani.
- If you release a record there is of course the risk that you will become famous, and I didn't know if I wanted that, says Dhani.
- I even thought of singing badly in the last test so as not to be chosen, laughs Marie.
But that didn't happen. They took the chance, and none of them is sorry.
- ABBA Teens is great fun, says Dhani.
It looks like most agree.
Why is it going so well for you?
- Because we are so fucking [Grant - the word jävla is not always as strong as this in it's meaning - it can also mean bloody or damned - but in the title of the article they blanked out the letter "ä" which we would do with the "u" in fucking] good, says Amit with self confidence.
>From the beginning, it was thought that the group would be called ABBA Kids but the group put a stop to that.
- No, it sounds like toothpaste for children, giggles Sara. Of course, we're not kids anymore.
No, they are teenagers, but yet none of them have boyfriends or girlfriends (although Amit doesn't want to say yes or no, so perhaps he has found a sweetheart). They don't flirt with each other either.
- God no. We are just good friends, says Sara. I could never be in love with Amit, for example!
She gets a murderous look back.
- What? Why wouldn't you want to? In any case, us guys glance a little at you girls ... thats how it is!
ABBA Teens are on the verge of an international breakthrough, and the future is looking bright. But first comes summer
A fabulous shot of ABBA TEENS |
