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I started off 2005 reflecting on 2004 where ABBA were concerned, and what a way to start 2006 with a column on ABBA in 2005, and what a year 2005 has been. So much happened from the ABBA camp, and once again, in quite a few instances, many of our credit cards took quite a beating!

One of my personal highlights most certainly had to be all four ABBA members turning up in Stockholm on February 12th for the opening of Mamma Mia! It certainly was nice to see the four of them appearing in the same place at a public event after so many years. I for one never thought that it would happen, but they did it, once again proving so many ABBA fans wrong, myself included.

They may not have been together, but they were there. For those fans that were present at the event, the euphoria must have been amazing. From what I have read, Agnetha it seems stole the show when she arrived dispelling all rumours that she had no intention of being present. It is such a pity that the four of them did not pose for a photograph together even though it was not an ABBA event. One thing that really irked me about that night was the photograph published of Agnetha with her hands waving the photographer away, which when published added more fuel to the ‘recluse’ and her ‘anti-ABBA’ image that has hounded her for so many years. It really was in bad taste and totally unnecessary especially in view of the fact that she was merely trying to distract the attention from herself as she was not the main event that night! In a way I suppose she was. When was she last seen in a public place where Björn, Benny and Frida were also present?

I got to see the Mamma Mia! musical in Johannesburg when it graced our shores, which was nice. It was great to see again. It was a pity that the chosen venue was not that suitable. There were far too many people in the audience and once again proved that South Africa cannot move people in and out of venues such as the one where the show was held. One entrance and exit for a venue that was stated to have held 4,000 people is ludicrous. The queues were unbelievable and the facilities available to the public were insufficient.

I was seriously hoping that either, Björn, Benny or Frida, would be present for the opening night in Johannesburg, the performance we went to, but alas, it was not the case. Björn did grace a performance in Cape Town with his presence, so if he could do Cape Town, he could have done it as well in Johannesburg as far as I am concerned! It was almost like a snub in a way, he’d been to so many other opening nights around the world.

The people I had arranged to go to the show with really enjoyed themselves and after all the years I found it amazing that many people whom I spoke to about the show still thought it was going to be a show by ABBA! However, despite that, I did feel kind of warm inside knowing that so many people in South Africa still like ABBA.

Another highlight in 2005 was the re-mastered release of the Polar solo albums by Frida and Agnetha. It was nice to have those added to the collection with the additional bonus tracks, some that I now have on CD for the first time. I have yet to see any of these CD’s in our shops! Both Agnetha and Frida enjoyed solo success with their first singles here, so surely with a little promotion, copies of the CD’s would be sold.

I was a little disappointed when the announcement for the Frida box set was made. I could not justify spending that amount of money for the set that included the three albums I had purchased a few months ago, but that disappointment was soon relieved when I learned that the DVD I would be able to purchase individually, which I’m still eagerly waiting for. It would have been nice to end the year off with that little item in my clutches! I’ve subsequently seen the pictures of the box set and now I’m wondering whether I should buy it. I will more than likely end up doing so as I’ll only regret not buying it later on.

My videotape of ‘ABBA – The Movie’ literally died a week before my DVD arrived, and when it did, I was immediately transported back to 1977 when ABBA fever was in full swing. It was so nice to see the film in such good quality and the bonus disc was nice to watch. The interview was great, but I would have liked to have Agnetha and Frida participate, even if not together, a few words individually would have been appreciated. The DVD of ‘ABBA – The Movie’ was most certainly welcomed by myself, it was very long overdue, but as they say everything comes to those that wait, and the wait was worth it. I’ve watched it a few times and even after all these years, I still enjoy it and have yet to tire of it. I saw a few copies in one of our CD shops just before Christmas, the single disc version, but at least it is on display and available here. Took long enough to get here though I must admit.

The blue box arrived towards the end of November, and like my biscuit tin from 1999, is one of my prized ABBA pieces in my collection, expensive but worth every cent I paid for it. I love the fact that the original album context has been kept in place especially with the listing of the tracks in the format that they were on the original albums. The pictures on the covers are so clear, more so than on the re-master CD covers. The bonus tracks listed on the inserts together with the silver picture on the reverse is very tastefully done, especially in view of the fact that the original format of the albums has been kept in mind and maintained. The CD’s are quite a novelty looking like vinyl records with their plastic sleeves, which have brought back many memories of fighting with my old vinyl LP’s and their plastic sleeves, I’m still doing it with these CD’s all these years later. The ‘Rarities’ CD is also nice and to finally have the full length video version of ‘On and On and On’ is great. The blue box chronicles ABBA’s illustrious career in the manner that it was set out to do and for me is one of the highlights from an ABBA perspective in 2005.

In October disaster struck where ABBA were concerned. I had the interior of my house re-painted and the painters knocked the biscuit over scattering all the singles and when I was putting them back in order, I noticed ‘The Name of The Game’ was gone. Michelle was amazed that I knew it was not there and then the search started. By then the curtains had been re-hung and all the furniture was back in place. I think I spent an entire day searching the dining room and lounge for it. I practically dismantled both rooms and could not find the single. I was really peeved, quite irate in fact and the painter nearly met his own Waterloo! To the everyday man in the street this type of thing would be trivial, but to me knowing a part of a collection was missing, it would irritate me until I’d found it. I managed to find the cardboard version of the biscuit tin locally, but the price was ludicrous and not worth paying to replace one single and then what would I do with the others? I went onto e-Bay and eventually found one for sale on it’s own. It cost me GBP2-00 and now the biscuit is complete and both box sets stand firmly on display in the lounge, disaster was avoided and the painter is still alive!

I was immensely proud to be an ABBA fan, when towards the end of the year; ‘Waterloo’ was voted the best song to ever come out of Eurovision. That was nice and a true homage to a great group and a great song. The fact that none of the members were there to collect the award did not really worry me, after all, who expected them all to be in Stockholm in February? I can’t really complain about much where ABBA are concerned, I’m just grateful that their name is still being marketed and whatever they release is appreciated where I am concerned whatever it may be. I ended my January 2005 column with the following: - Who knows what to expect from the ABBA camp in 2005, but whatever it is, I know I’m going to enjoy and appreciate it as and when it comes my way, and if it’s not on the same scale as 2004, well I’ll look forward to it and enjoy it anyway! I think I can safely say the same for 2006! Who knows what these four will surprise us with next.

Neil