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Interesting topic and one that has been the centre of my attention for a quite a while.

There have been quite a few articles going around the net about ABBA and the circumstances that led to their ‘unofficial’ split in January 1983.

Neither of the four ABBA members have ever blamed any other member of the group for their demise, however, the tensions and enmity in the group at the time have seem to be firmly embedded in the minds of the public. Thankfully, the four ABBA members speak fondly of each other these days and have pleasant memories of each other, not that this matters to the public that once ABBA were idolized by.

In so many walks of life, you come across people that are successful, in their personal capacity, a partnership or part of a major conglomerate. However, change the dynamics of the circumstances of the situation and everything may not remain on the same tangent, it may elevate to a higher level, remain the same, or simply fall apart.

I take myself for example. I’ve been in a business partnership for the last 13 years and as a result, between my business partner and myself have built up an extremely successful business in that time. Yes, there have been times when the one gets extremely irritated with the other when you literally want to throw in the towel, and simply say, ‘stuff it, I CAN do this by myself, what am I doing here?’ And, yet, when the dynamics change, it doesn’t work.

There is also a client base involved, where each one of us involved in the business has those who wants to deal with the one only and not the other, and then there are those who think the one is so unprofessional that they would prefer to deal with the professional one, which at the end of the day, is actually a good cop, bad cop scenario. The one simply complements the other, and whether the public like it or not, they are actually dealing with both, which, in a nutshell, is a well-balanced business relationship where all parties concerned benefit.

However, there are pit-falls, both parties or any others involved may not necessarily agree with each other and this is where dissention comes in. I’m grateful, that in my position, both parties involved in the business have realised that neither of us would be where we are today, if it were not for the other. The one may do more in certain aspects of the business relationship whilst the other is more focused on other issues where the other is lacking, which in short is a perfect symbiotic relationship.

There have been instances over the last few years, where I have been headhunted by other industry leaders in my profession wanting to strike up a business deal with me to sever ties with the business partner that I have, with whom I have not only built up quite a successful Company, but have also become a force to be reckoned with in the market place of my industry.

The promises of becoming a leading figure within their organization are tantamount to where I am today, and, I must admit, that no matter how tempting their offers have been, circumstances around me, and common sense have stopped me from doing that. I have a business partnership that has worked for the last 13 years, why change the recipe? Stick to the knitting is what I always say to people, if it works don’t change it. I simply don’t wish and neither want to change the dynamics.

I have to believe, and seeing that this is an ABBA forum, the same can be applied in the music industry where ABBA were concerned in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.

I remember the speculation that Agnetha was about to leave ABBA in 1979. This was no doubt after her and Björn’s separation and impending divorce to a worldwide media had been announced. I was only a kid back then, but it hit the front or second page of your local newspaper, no matter where in the world you found yourself. ABBA were at the height of their career and all of sudden this dreaded ‘D’ - DIVORCE, came along, and what a publisiced affair the Ulvaeus/Faltskog divorce was.

At the end of the day, and despite the rumours that Agnetha was leaving ABBA due to a split in matrimonial ties with Björn, ABBA, carried on for quite a few years after that Christmas Eve of 1978 and those early worldwide headlines in January 1979. They all simply chose not to change the dynamics at the time.

I would like to think that today, both Björn and Agnetha thank their lucky stars for standing together and making sure that ABBA carried on until there was literally no more to give and in the process made sure that they held their original ideals when they formed the group in esteem.

The four of them were a team; they were used to backing each other up, stood together, wrote and sang for each other. But their circumstances changed, the meaning of ABBA changed, the needs of Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid, changed, sad really. The dynamics of these four people changed, they changed the ‘stick to the knitting’ recipe due to their own personal needs at the time, there was no longer a need to be ABBA, each of the four of them had experienced this monumental success as a member of ABBA, and at the end of 1982 they wanted something different. They tried it alone and were not met with the success they experienced with ABBA. The dynamics had been changed.

As an individual, I thank my lucky stars for the business partner I have, we work well together, we understand each other, we laugh, we cry and we do still rant and rave at each other, but, we have never changed the recipe, and no matter what the circumstances, we soldier on, and I hope we will continue to do so for many years, as they say, the, grass is not greener on the other side!

Neil