US magazine Songwriter: article from July/August 1981

ABBA Manager/Co-writer

STIG ANDERSON

Sweden's Mr. Record Business

By Pat & Pete Luboff

STIG ANDERSON IS KNOWN in Sweden as Mr. Record Business, or simply, The Industry. His Sweden Music and Polar Records are mega-million-dollar operations. And that's no small thanks to the mega-million-selling pop group that he manages, ABBA. With sales of over 100 million albums, ABBA - Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, and Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad - have overtaken the Beatles as the biggest-selling group in pop music history. Anderson and ABBA aren't just record moguls, either. They've invested their earnings in everything from oil to art galleries to real estate to bicycles. ABBA is, in fact, one of the richest corporations in Sweden, and may soon be listed on the Swedish stock exchange.

But underneath all that booty, Stig Anderson really is a songwriter. In the 1960s he wrote an incredible 2,000 lyrics, and in 1969 was awarded a Swedish Grammy as Lyricist of the Year. In May of 1971, seven of his lyrics reached the Swedish Top 10 simultaneously. He then collaborated with the writer/members of ABBA, Benny and Bjorn, on such ABBA hits as Fernando, The Name Of The Game, and Move On.

Anderson started writing songs as a teenager, and soon was hustling them to publishers and writers. "They always replied, 'I haven't got the time to look at this deeply enough, sorry, we are not interested, he recalls. "But there was one very famous Swedish composer who really listened to my songs and asked me to visit him, because he was also an artist. He carefully looked at my songs and said, 'I think there are some very good songs here and you should go to my publisher and give him my regards that I think they are good.' So I did, and that was the reason I got my first song published in 1950. I was only 19."

Four years later, the young songwriter scored a hit in Europe, and, with a borrowed $100, started his own publishing company, Sweden Music. "I decided I didn't really have to go a publisher," he says, "because I had done everything. I had written the melody, written the lyrics, placed the song, and had it recorded by an artist. There was no reason to give it away." And his reason for choosing the company's name seems prescient, considering his subsequent farflung success: "I thought Sweden Music sounded very good and international."

But before he devoted himself totally to songwriting, Anderson juggled his publishing business with his role as a teacher of mathematics and chemistry. "I was kind of half-half," he admits. "Half teacher, but my heart was always where the songs were. I was a publisher in my kitchen, and when I was very busy I gave the pupils a half day off and went home to answer my correspondence."

We interviewed Anderson at his home in the middle of Stockholm's equivalent of Central Park during a "working vacation" last year. Deer and royalty are his only neighbours. He's come a long way from being a teacher with songs in his heart and a publishing company in his kitchen.

SONGWRITER: What were those first years as a songwriter and publisher like?

ANDERSON: That was a tough time. I had my family, two children, a house, a car and no real income for maybe two years because, you know, it takes a long time for your royalties to reach you. So I had a feeling in my stomach for a couple of years. But thanks to my background as a songwriter, I started translating for Scandinavia German songs, American songs, and English songs for which I had sub publishing rights.

I was very lucky, because there was an American song called You Can Have Her which was very big in the States, and I became the sub publisher for that one. I wrote the Swedish lyrics for it and it became a monster hit here in Scandinavia. All of a sudden in the mid'60s I was an established publisher which, I believe, is thanks to the fact that I had the background being a songwriter. I had that feeling for songs. I also think I am two persons in one, because I'm a good organizer and I can be a businessman. That isn't common, because usually when you are a songwriter you have your guitar and you drink your bottle of wine, as they say...

SONGWRITER: How did you progress from publisher to producer to record company owner?

ANDERSON: It came natural because, as you have seen all over the world, the record companies start publishing companies, and the only thing for a publisher to do is start a record company. During the '60s and early '70s, we were successful both as publishers and as an independent record label. Mostly we were working with local artists, because in every territory there is a big local market. You go to Germany and you have German artists singing in German. We have a big Swedish local market. We tried some of our things in other parts of the world, and despite the fact that we didn't have any success in the States, we had some successes in other parts of the world, such as Japan and South America.

SONGWRITER: How did you get together with ABBA?

ANDERSON: Bjorn was the leader of a group which was very big here, and Benny was the leader in another group. When they met and decided to start writing together, it was very natural for them to come to me and ask me to write the lyrics for them.

SONGWRITER: Why?

ANDERSON: Because I had helped Bjorn before in 1968, and that was really the embryo for ABBA. And then, of course, they met the girls, Agnetha and Frida, who were well-known artists in their own right. Bjorn and Benny used them in the studio as a backup group, and they called the group Bjorn and Benny. In '71 they had some big hits in Japan using that name, and in '72 we nearly hit the American charts with the release we had on Playboy. That was a very bad situation, though, because when they played that record on American stations there were no records available. So how can you hit the charts? In '73, we had a big hit in Europe called Ring, Ring under the name of Bjorn, Benny and Svenska Flicka, but that was an impossible constellation for Spanish people to pronounce. It kills them!

"I think that the very good thing we did for the pop market is that we got American and British people to understand that a pop song can come from anywhere in the world. "

SONGWRITER: It would take them longer to say the name than to hear the record!

ANDERSON: Right, right. It wasn't until 1974 that I decided we should call the group ABBA. They were against it at the start, but I successfully persuaded them. The first time we used that name was at the Eurovision song contest in Brighton, England, and we won. That contest is very big here in Europe, but it doesn't mean a damn thing in the States, in Japan, or in Australia. But we were No. 1 all over Europe with Waterloo, and we had been No. 1 for three weeks on the English charts. I tried to place the master in the States with CBS and they turned it down twice.

SONGWRITER: We heard that there's a story behind how you broke Waterloo? ...

ANDERSON: That was before the actual final in Brighton. We had won the Swedish song contest so we knew that we were going to represent Sweden in Brighton. I had about four weeks between the Swedish contest and Brighton, and I was very well-prepared. The morning after we won here, I had all my master tapes available, a Swedish version and an English version, and I had photos, films, etc. I took the plane and swept over Europe to every record company who represented us already and said, "Press it, and have it ready tomorrow." Thanks to that, they started playing it on stations all over Europe. When we came to Brighton, people in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy already had heard it on the radio.

SONGWRITER: How do you break a record in Sweden?

ANDERSON: That's a good question and very difficult to answer. Today we break records here mostly in discotheques, and it's very hard because we have just one station. On the other hand, since people aren't used to that much music, they listen to the music that's played. Maybe in the States you have to play it 50 times, but here if you get it played twice it could be enough.

SONGWRITER: Is there something unique about the American market that makes it hard to break into? We know there was all this talk before the tour about how ABBA wasn't so successful in the United States. Is that still true?

ANDERSON: I think so, despite the fact that we have had three or four gold records, a platinum record, and three or four gold singles. That is something an American artist would like to have and there aren't too many who do. We say we haven't been successful in the U.S. because, compared to the success that we have had in other countries, it's nothing. We're the biggest thing that ever happened in Japan. We recorded Chiquitita in Spanish and they say it's the biggest single in 15 years in Argentina and other South American countries. We sold more than one million in Mexico.

SONGWRITER: Returning to songwriting, tell us how a song evolves when you cowrite with Benny and Björn.

ANDERSON: We work very closely together, but not today, unfortunately, because I have so many other things to do. I am a businessman today. Usually, they write a melody and I listen to it and say "I like that part, I like that part, I like the whole melody, or I dislike the whole melody." Then I come with the lyrics, and they say, "No, we don't like those.” Then I have to go back and write something else.

SONGWRITER: So they always write the melody first?

ANDERSON: Yes. When we agree that the melody is there. Then I start thinking of lyrics. You try to find a title people can remember. When you hear a song, a melody deals with something even without any lyrics. That's why it can take a very long time to get the right lyrics, the right title. With Fernando I think it took me maybe three months to find the lyrics.

When you are a lyricist, you first have to find where the title is in the song. Is it in the first line, the last line, or somewhere in between? You must have the feeling, because the song can probably have the title in different places. It depends on the melody. In Fernando, for example, it could probably have been on the first line, but that's a damn long title for a start.

You also must ask, "Is it a happy song?" Then it must have happy lyrics. Or "Is it a sad song?" It's hard to describe - it's really a feeling. I believe it's important to get a catchy, international title which people can remember in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Brazil. You must remember that in Brazil they don't speak English.

SONGWRITER: When you're writing, you're actually going for a world market?

ANDERSON: Yes. We look at Sweden as one of the countries of the world. We don't care more about Sweden than any other country. We care more about England, Germany, France and Japan because they are much bigger markets.

I think that the very good thing we did for the pop market is that we got American and English people to understand that a pop song, a pop artist can come from anywhere in the world. For 15 years I heard my beloved colleagues in the world say, "Why doesn't anything come from Sweden, dark Sweden?" and I said, "Well, when we get the right talent, we'll be there." They said, "Prove it," so I had to do that!

"The producer is as important as the artist and songwriter. I can hear potential hits on records that are poorly produced. That's a shame for the songwriter.”

"The basic thing in this industry, really, is the song. Record people and publishers tend to forget that sometimes and think they are the big ones."

SONGWRITER: How about the arrangement and production? - How much do you concern yourself with those when you write?

ANDERSON: When we have rewritten the song to the point that we are convinced, the three of us, that this is the best we can do, we will discuss the arrangement. The melody and lyric are like a naked body. You must put a nice dress on it. That's the arrangement.

Should there be an accordion, a trumpet, a violin? When we have discussed this, Bjorn and Benny go into the studio and come out with something that's very hard to recognize, because the tempo has been changed. You see the result instead of the song. The song's a tango when you go into the studio, and when you come out, it's rock and roll. Today it's very, very important what happens in the studio. The producer is as important as the artist and the songwriter. I think in order to make a hit, you must have the right song, the right lyrics, the right artist and the right producer. It's the combination. One of these can destroy the whole thing. I can hear potential hits on records that are wrongly produced. That's a shame for the songwriter. Then, of course, if you believe in the song, you have to try once more with another artist and another producer.

SONGWRITER: Do you have any advice for young songwriters today?

ANDERSON: I think when they send their songs to someone they shouldn't give up if they get the song back with these remarks: "not suitable for production." They should try and try and try, because that's the only thing you can do. Try, and work very hard, and as long as you have the talent you will succeed one day.

SONGWRITER: Does Polar Music deal only with ABBA, or are you a publisher that other songwriters can go to with songs?

ANDERSON: ABBA only records their own songs. But one day we might start a production company, maybe in the States, maybe in London, and write and record other artists as well. For the moment, we simply haven't got the time. We have so many offers from big artists in the States and from the big record companies in the States to produce artists for them. But the problem with ABBA is that Bjorn and Benny must be in the group when it's touring, and when we are in the studio they must be there singing and producing. If Bjorn and Benny were free from ABBA, we could do so many other things. We could even split up Bjorn and Benny. Bjorn could produce one, and Benny could produce one, and they could write songs together for these artists. The basic thing in this industry, really, is the song. When you come down to the composer and lyricist - these are the people we build the whole industry on. Of course, record people and publishers tend to forget that sometimes, and think they are the big ones.

As we sped through the streets of Stockholm toward his offices, he told us that other interviewers were always asking him about money. He said he enjoyed talking to us, because we spoke to the "real" Stig Anderson: the songwriter.

Pat & Pete Luboff would like to thank Gunilla Marcus Luboff, aka Mrs. Norman Luboff, Swedish TV and radio personality; and Norman Luboff, choirmaster extraordinaire (and Pete's dad), for arranging the above interview.

SONGWRITER

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Cathy Olds Newcastle, Australia