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15 things you didn't know
about ABBA http://tennessean.com/entertainment/arts/archives/04/08/56501549.shtml?Element_ID=56501549 Perhaps the most surprising thing about ABBA, the worldwide pop sensation of the 1970s, is that it had only one No. 1 hit in the United States — and it only stayed there for a week. Granted, there were three other top- 10 hits and nine other singles that cracked the top 30. But only Dancing Queen reached the pinnacle of music success in April of 1977. Here's more you may not know about Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog: 1. When the group decided to call itself ABBA, combining the first letters of their first names, members had to ask permission from a fish factory in Sweden, also called ''Abba.'' As the story goes, the factory responded with a yes, as long as the group didn't bring them any embarrassment. 2. By the time the group came together, each of its members had already had individual success. Ulvaeus, for example, was part of a group called the Hootenanny Singers, and Andersson, the Hep Stars. 3. The members of the Hootenanny Singers and the Hep Stars met in the summer of 1965, when both tour buses ended up on the same road at the same time. They got together later and spent the evening singing old Kingston Trio songs. 4. Ulvaeus has credited his initial interest in music to the likes of Elvis Presley and Little Richard. 5. Lyngstad learned traditional folk songs from her grandmother and made her first stage appearance at age 11; Fältskog began performing at age 6, and by the time she broke up with a boyfriend at age 17, she had the material for I Was So in Love, which topped the Swedish charts. 6. In the early days, Andersson spent three weeks selling washing machines door-to-door, but he failed to actually make any sales. 7. Lyngstad and Fältskog came into the picture as romantic partners of Andersson and Ulvaeus. 8. When the group first started, the members tried to throw in comedy to entertain the crowd; Andersson and Ulvaeus, for example, performed one skit as little boys with lollipops. 9. The group entered a Swedish preliminary of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 but were beaten by a duo with a tune that translates ''Your Breasts Are Like Nesting Swallows.'' 10. ABBA didn't release a live album until four years after the group disbanded. 11. Waterloo, the song that catapulted the group into stardom, was an international hit, but it reached only No. 6 in America. 12. In typical mid-1970s glam-rock style, members of ABBA made quite a statement with their costumes; the group employed a team of four designers who provided more than 500 outfits. No expense was spared; costumes were hand-made, hand-painted and made from supplies from across the globe. 13. After ABBA broke up, Fältskog went on to release several English solo albums, including I Stand Alone, which was produced by Peter Cetera. 14. The band was known for making ''music promotional films,'' a precursor to music videos, long before there was MTV. 15. Though the group made its last recordings in the early '80s, ABBA GOLD, a greatest-hits album released in '92, topped the charts in 14 countries. Thanks to ABBAMAILers Luke Rogers, Australia and Dominic "Ice" Wallis, UK |