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The Last Video
For those of us ABBA fans that
were there and for those that were not there but know the story, 1982 as far as
ABBA were concerned ended off with the double album ‘The Singles – The First Ten
Years’ and the singles ‘The Day Before You Came’ and ‘Under Attack’.
The album was a success in many
parts of the world and put ABBA back where they duly belonged, at the top of the
album charts. However, the compilation albums two singles did not fare as well
as the album, despite ‘The Day Before You Came’ being hailed as an ABBA classic,
it’s release as a single did not really do much at the time.
Along with these releases, ABBA
celebrated their tenth anniversary in London as well as appearing in many
television appearances to promote their 1982 end of year releases. The best of
all must have been their German television appearance in Saarbrucken. They were
welcomed with a totally enraptured response from the audience when they appeared
on stage even though the three songs performed were mimed to a studio playback.
Whilst being interviewed in
London, ABBA vehemently denied that they were splitting and that ABBA they very
far from breaking up. All four ABBA members appeared to be very relaxed and once
again, for the first time in a long time, were happy to be together as a group.
The trials and tribulations of recording ‘The Visitors’ album the year before
seemed to have been forgotten and Benny and Frida seemed relaxed together
despite their recent divorce.
Once again, these four
delightful people gave us something to hope for where they were concerned. The
had a double compilation album on top of the charts, two mediocre singles that
had failed to inject any excitement with the record buying public, but yet, they
were positive and were definitely coming back.
Despite this positive ness from
the four, it did not happen. We were all left wondering what had happened. ABBA
simply went away after 1982 and just did not come back.
During the 1980’s, there were 3
and 2 solo albums from Agnetha and Frida respectively, Chess from the boys
during the 1980’s and even a rumour of a new ABBA album EP in 1986, but that
turned out to be a pipedream for the fans.
There was no official
announcement that ABBA were over, despite Agnetha’s apparent comment to a
Swedish newspaper in January 1983 that ABBA were finished, which was in direct
contrast to their comments just two months earlier towards the end of 1982. ABBA
simply did not say goodbye and I can only assume at the time that they wanted to
keep their options open, dip their toes into a couple of solo ventures and
re-group after a break of a few years. I know on quite a few occasions where
Frida stated in interviews that ABBA were not finished and heard Bjorn in an
interview saying it was time for a new ABBA album. Well, so many years later, we
know it never happened and more than likely never will.
Since the end of 1982, we all
managed to survive the next ten years without very much from the ABBA camp until
1992 when it all re-started again, and with this renewed interest, we’ve been
privileged to have access to so many things where ABBA are concerned that it is
mind boggling and I’m sure there are many of us that have at one time or another
over the last few years wondered when is it going to stop? Hopefully it doesn’t
and will carry on.
I found one of the most original
and unique releases over the last few years has been ‘The Last Video’.
A lot of time and effort went
into this production, not to mention money! The one-liners and quotes from so
many ABBA songs are classic. I’ve often thought that this production was
specifically aimed at the hardcore ABBA fan and not the general public. The
references made and the quotes from ABBA songs, only a real fan is going to
grasp. The same with the elevator scene from ABBA – The Movie when the mini
ABBA’s bump into the big ABBA’s.
It’s quite amazing that with
technology today, the elevator scene from ABBA – The Movie could be manipulated
to fit in with this production and still look authentic. The four puppets were
extremely well done and handled very well. The banter between the two Benny and
Bjorn puppets in the behind the scenes material is classic, discussing what they
could do together in the future, meanwhile we know that they have really
achieved it together! The making of this production was also interesting to see.
I did not realise puppets could be such hard work!
Yes, the production is a send
up, but a send up done very well all the while capturing what ABBA were in the
1970’s. The caption on the back of the cover – ABBA makes a small scale comeback
in The Last Video – is highly appropriate and the fact that all four ABBA
members appeared in this production, even if it was not at the same time, really
meant something to me.
They disappeared at the end of
1982, but came back for a production 22 years later involving all four of them,
simply titled ‘The Last Video’. At least, with this production, ABBA did say
goodbye to their fans as ABBA the way they have been remembered, even if it did
take them a long time to do it!
If you have not seen ‘The Last
Video’, do try. It’s quite funny, lighthearted entertainment and a refreshing
blast from the past.
Neil
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