ABBA - just the facts A article written in May 2007

ABBA was a Swedish pop music group active from 1972 until 1982, & the most successful to come out of Scandinavia. The quartet topped charts worldwide from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. They remain a fixture of radio playlists & continue to sell albums. The group has reportedly sold more than 370 million records, making them the sixth best-selling act after Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, & Michael Jackson.

ABBA was the first pop group from mainland Europe to enjoy consistent success in the charts of the Anglophonic world (the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Republic of Ireland, Australia, & New Zealand), & their enormous popularity subsequently opened the doors for other Continental European acts.

1969–1971: the formative years
Benny Andersson was from the age of 18 a member of The Hep Stars (1964–1969), a popular Swedish pop-rock group in the mid to late 1960s that performed mostly covers of international hits. The Hep Stars were most successful in their early years, their live shows invariably creating mob scenes, many of their fans being teenage girls. Andersson played keyboards & eventually started writing original compositions for his band, most of which became major hits: "No Response" (#3 in 1965), "Sunny Girl", "Wedding", "Consolation" (all of which hit #1 in 1966), & "Speleman" among others. Benny met Björn Ulvaeus in June 1966, & started writing songs with him. Ulvaeus occasionally played guitar with The Hep Stars on stage, & Andersson soon stepped in, adding piano during The Hootenanny Singers' recording sessions. Andersson also had a fruitful songwriting collaboration with Lasse Berghagen, with whom he wrote & submitted the song "Hej, Clown" for the 1969 Melodifestivalen, the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest finals. The song tied for first, but re-voting relegated Andersson's song to #2. Andersson had also submitted another song for the contest, which was rejected, but became a huge hit for singer Brita Borg: "Ljuva Sextiotal" — written with Ulvaeus.

Björn Ulvaeus was from the age of 18 fronting The Hootenanny Singers (1963–1974), a popular Swedish folk-skiffle group. Ulvaeus started writing material for his band, & also attempted a solo career alongside it. His band & Andersson's Hep Stars sometimes crossed paths while touring, & on such an occasion in June 1966 Ulvaeus & Andersson decided to write a song together. This, their first attempt, was "Isn't It Easy to Say", later recorded by The Hep Stars & more songs were to follow. Stig Anderson, manager of the Hootenanny Singers & founder of the Polar Music label, saw much potential in the collaboration, & encouraged them to compose more. In 1969, the pair wrote & produced some of their first real hits together: Brita Borg singing "Ljuva Sextiotal" ('Merry Sixties'), & The Hep Stars' "Speleman". As their respective bands broke up, they teamed up & eventually recorded their first album together in 1970, called Lycka ("Happiness" in Swedish), on which they included their own compositions & handled all lead vocals. Ulvaeus was still recording & performing with the Hootenanny Singers until the summer of 1974, alongside ABBA, & for 20 years this band held the record, spending 52 weeks in a row with their hit single "Svensktoppen", one of The Hootenannys' 40 hits on the radio charts.

Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA's youngest member, had a #1 record in Sweden when she was only 17 & was noted by the critics & songwriters as a talented composer, most of her songs being in the schlager style. Along with her own compositions, she also recorded covers of foreign hits & performed them on tours in Swedish folkparks. She became one of the most popular Swedish female pop singers of the time. She even submitted a self-written song for Melodifestivalen when only 17 ("Försonade"), but it was rejected. Agnetha had briefly met Anni-Frid Lyngstad during a TV-show in early 1968, & Björn Ulvaeus too at a concert venue a few months later. During filming of a Swedish TV special in May 1969, she met Ulvaeus again, & they eventually became a couple & married in 1970. In 1973, she starred as Mary Magdalene in the original Swedish production of Jesus Christ Superstar & attracted favourable reviews. Between 1968 & 1975, Fältskog released five studio albums.

Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad sang from the age of 13 with various dance bands & worked mainly in a jazz-oriented cabaret style. In the summer of 1967, she won a national talent competition, & then signed with EMI, as her professional musical career began in earnest. Lyngstad released several singles & performed regularly in the folkpark circuit & made appearances on radio & TV. She had met Björn Ulvaeus briefly in 1963 during a talent contest, & Agnetha Fältskog during a TV show in early 1968, but it was during the last year of the decade that she would link up with her future colleagues. On 1 March 1969, she participated in the Melodifestivalen, & her entry, "Härlig är vår jord", came fourth. This is where she for the first time met Benny Andersson in the TV studio, as he was the composer of "Hej, Clown", which came second in the same competition. A few weeks later they met again during a concert tour in southern Sweden & soon they became a couple. Andersson also invited Lyngstad to sing backing vocals with Fältskog on the Björn & Benny debut album, Lycka (October 1970), & during this time he also started producing Lyngstad's debut album, Frida, which was released in March 1971 & praised by critics. Lyngstad also played in several revues & cabaret shows in Stockholm between 1969 & 1973. After ABBA formed, she recorded another successful album in 1975, Frida Ensam, which included the original Swedish rendition of "Fernando", which became a huge hit in Scandinavia before the English version was recorded.

1972–1973

The cover of "People Need Love," the first single released by the group in 1972.Although Ulvaeus & Fältskog were married, & Andersson & Lyngstad were engaged, all four of them were pursuing their own separate musical careers in the first few years of the 1970s. However, Stig Anderson, owner of Polar, was determined to break into the mainstream international market with music by Benny & Björn ("One day the pair of you will write a song that becomes a worldwide hit", he predicted) . He encouraged Ulvaeus & Andersson to write a song for the Swedish preliminary of the Eurovision Song Contest, Melodifestivalen, & after two rejected entries in 1971 ("Det kan Ingen Doktor Hjälpa" & "Välkommen Till Världen"), they submitted "Säg Det Med En Sång", which would be performed by newcomer Lena Anderson. "Say It with a Song" came third, convincing Stig he was on the right track. The song became a huge hit in Sweden.

Ulvaeus & Andersson persevered with their songwriting & experimented with new sounds & vocal arrangements. One of the songs they came up with was "People Need Love", featuring guest vocals by the girls, who were now given much greater prominence. Everyone involved felt enthusiastic about the new sound & Stig Anderson released it as a single, credited to Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid. The song reached #17 in the Swedish charts, enough to convince them they were on to something. The single also became the first record to chart for the quartet in the United States, where it peaked at #114 on the Cashbox singles chart & #117 on Record World's singles chart. Billed as Björn & Benny (with Svenska Flicka), it was released there on Playboy Records. However, according to Stig Anderson, "People Need Love" could have been a much bigger American hit, but a small label like Playboy Records did not have the distribution resources to meet the demand for the single from retailers & radio programmers .

The following year, 1973, they decided to have another try at the Melodifestivalen, this time with the song "Ring Ring." The studio sessions were handled by Michael B. Tretow, who experimented with a "wall of sound" production technique that became the wholly new ABBA sound. Anderson arranged an English translation of the lyrics by Neil Sedaka & Phil Cody & they thought this would be a surefire winner, but in the Melodifestivalen, February 10, 1973, it came third, & thus never reached the international contest. Nevertheless the proto-group put out their first album, called Ring Ring, still carrying the awkward name of Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida. The album did well & the "Ring Ring" single was a hit in many parts of Europe, but Anderson felt the true breakthrough could only come with a UK or US hit.

The ABBA name
In the spring of 1973, Stig Anderson, tired of unwieldy names, started to refer to the group privately & publicly as ABBA. At first this was as a joke, since Abba was also the name of a well-known fish-canning company in Sweden. However, since the fish canners were more or less unknown outside Sweden, Anderson came to believe the name would work in international markets & so it stuck. Later the group negotiated with the canners for the right to the name.

The first time the name "ABBA" is found written on paper is on a recording session sheet from the Metronome Studio in Stockholm, dated 16 October 1973. It was first written as "Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida", but was subsequently crossed out with "ABBA" written in large letters on top.

The first single released by ABBA was "Waterloo", in the spring of 1974.

The group name ABBA is an acronym formed from the first letters of each group member's name: Agnetha, Björn, Benny & Anni-Frid (Frida).(British grammar rules prefer the name written as 'Abba'). The first 'B' in the logo version of the name was reversed on the band's promotional material from 1976 onwards & became the group's registered trademark.

1974–1977

"Waterloo" (1974).Just as in 1972 & 1973, Ulvaeus, Andersson & manager Stig Anderson believed in the possibilities of the Melodifestivalen & Eurovision. In late 1973, the composers were invited to contribute a song for the 1974 contest, & from a number of newly written compositions, the foursome chose the upbeat "Waterloo"; the group was now inspired by the growing glam rock scene in England. "Waterloo" was an unashamedly glam-style pop track produced with Michael B. Tretow's wall-of-sound approach.

ABBA won their national heats on Swedish TV on February 9th 1974, & with this third attempt were far more experienced & better prepared for the international contest. With an album's worth of material released when the show was held at the Brighton Dome in England on April 6th, the song won & catapulted them into British consciousness for the first time & to the top of the charts all over Europe.

"Waterloo" was ABBA's first UK #1 single. In the US, it reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, paving the way for their first album there (their second album, Waterloo, now billed as ABBA) — although it only peaked at #145 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

ABBA's follow-up single, "Honey, Honey", reached #27 in the US, & also became a top three hit in Germany. However, in the UK, a cover version of the song by the act Sweet Dreams made #10 on the chart. This was primarily because ABBA's British record company, Epic, decided to re-release "Ring Ring" (albeit in a remixed format) instead. It failed to reach the Top 30, increasing growing speculation of the group simply being Eurovision one-hit wonders.

In November 1974, ABBA embarked on their first European tour, playing dates in Denmark, West Germany, & Austria. It wasn't as successful as the band had hoped, since most of the venues didn't sell out, & due to a lack of demand, they were even forced to cancel a few shows, including a sole scheduled concert in Switzerland. The second leg of the tour that took them through Scandinavia in January 1975 was entirely different: they played to full houses & finally got the reception they hoped for. For three weeks in the summer of 1975, ABBA compensated for the Swedish tour they had tentatively scheduled for the previous summer, but had to cancel after their Eurovision triumph. They played sixteen open-air dates in Sweden & Finland, attracting huge crowds. Their Stockholm show at the Gröna Lund amusement park was seen by an estimated audience of 19,000.

The release of their third album, ABBA, & their single "SOS" consolidated their presence in the UK, where the single hit the top ten & the album reached #13. The group were now no longer regarded as a flash in the pan.

"SOS" became the first song with a palindromic title recorded by a group with a palindromic name to hit the pop charts.[citation needed] British success was further solidified with "Mamma Mia" reaching the UK #1 spot at the end of January 1976.

In the US, "SOS" reached #10 on the Record World Top 100 singles chart & #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, picking up the BMI Award along the way as one of the most played songs on American radio in 1975.

Yet the success of the group in the United States remained uneven. While they managed to break into the US singles market where, by early 1976, they already had four Top 30 singles, the album market proved to be tough to crack. The eponymous ABBA album generated no fewer than three real American hits, & yet it only peaked at #165 on the Cashbox album chart & #174 on the Billboard 200 chart. Opinions were voiced, by Creem in particular, that in the US ABBA had endured "a very sloppy promotional campaign".

In March 1976, the band released the compilation Greatest Hits, despite having had only six Top 40 hits in the UK & the US. Nevertheless, it became their first UK #1 album & included "Fernando", which had originally been written in Swedish for Lyngstad's 1975 Andersson-produced solo LP, Frida ensam (or Frida alone), prompting a subsequent English-language recording by the group. One of ABBA's best-known & most popular tracks ever, "Fernando", did not appear on the Swedish release of Greatest Hits. It would have to wait until 1982's The Singles: The First Ten Years to appear on an album in an English-language version credited to ABBA. The track was later included in the Australian release of their 1976 album, Arrival. Greatest Hits took ABBA into the Top 50 on the US album charts for the first time & eventually went on to sell more than a million copies there.

In the US, "Fernando" reached the Top 10 of the Cashbox Top 100 singles chart & #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, ABBA's first American number one single of any kind. In Australia, as of 2006 the song still held the record for the most weeks spent at number one (15 weeks) (along with The Beatles' "Hey Jude").

"Dancing Queen" (1976) The next album (their fourth), Arrival, represented a new level of accomplishment in both songwriting & studio work, prompting rave reviews from more rock-orientated UK music weeklies such as Melody Maker & New Musical Express, & mostly appreciative notices from American critics. In fact, hit after hit flowed from Arrival: "Money, Money, Money", "Knowing Me, Knowing You" & their most enduring & definitive hit, "Dancing Queen". In 1977, Arrival was nominated for the inaugural BRIT Award in the category Best International Album of the Year. By this time ABBA were very popular in the UK, most of Western Europe & Australia.

Their popularity in the US would remain on a comparatively smaller scale, & "Dancing Queen" became the only Billboard Hot 100 #1 single they ever had there (they did, however, get three more singles to the #1 position on other Billboard charts, including Billboard Adult Contemporary & Hot Dance Club Play). Nevertheless, Arrival finally became a true breakthrough release for ABBA on the US album market where it peaked at #20 on the Billboard album chart.

In January 1977, ABBA hit the road. By this time, the group's status had changed dramatically & they were clearly regarded as superstars. They opened their much anticipated tour in Oslo, Norway, on 28 January, & mounted a lavishly produced spectacle that included a few scenes from their self-penned mini-operetta. The concert attracted immense media attention from across Europe & Australia. They continued the tour through Western Europe & ended it with two sold-out concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall. Tickets for these two shows were available only by mail application & it was later revealed that the box-office received 3.5 million requests for tickets. There were, however, complaints about the group's performance lacking "personality" & being "too polished" & "sterile".[citation needed]

After the European part of the tour, in March 1977, ABBA played eleven dates in Australia. The trip was accompanied by mass hysteria & unprecedented media attention, & is vividly captured on film in ABBA: The Movie, directed by Lasse Hallström.

The Australian tour & its subsequent ABBA: The Movie, produced some ABBA lore as well. Agnetha Fältskog's blonde good looks had long made her the band's 'pin-up girl', a role she disdained. During the Australian tour, she performed in a skin-tight white jumpsuit, causing one Australian newspaper to use the headline "Agnetha's bottom tops dull show". When asked about this at a news conference, she replied, "Don't they have bottoms in Australia?"[2]

In December 1977 (January 1978 in many territories), ABBA followed up Arrival with the more musically & lyrically ambitious fifth album, The Album, which was released to coincide with ABBA: The Movie. Although the album was less well-received by the critics in the UK, it did spawn more worldwide hits: "The Name of the Game" & "Take a Chance on Me", both of which topped the UK charts, & reached #12 & #3, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US. This album also included the ABBA signature tune, "Thank You for the Music", released as a single in the UK in 1983, & had been the B-side of "Eagle" in countries where the latter had been released. Part 2 of this article

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