Abba

[misterclaudel]

I would love to do the Tron thing....with them would be even better and I thank many of you that agree that they were lumped into Disco....they have a huge body of work and many great songs....I didn't care for them until I met my wife over 20 years ago she played them to annoy me and I just gave it a chance and I was shocked at the merit of the melodies and lyrics,,,they are infectious.....If my Wife asked me to go see them live I would go.....she went to many a show with me but she said Smashing Pumpkins was way too loud....she and her Boss got tickets to see Air Supply(gags) and her Boss had to back out and she asked me and I said can I bring my noose? She took her daughter....my god for a band that hasn't released anything in decades charged $125.00 a tike!!! If I would have acted sooner I could have gotten an Elton John ticket cheaper then that! I was mad she spent that much money on third rate band! But her Boss gifted then to her....so that was cool. Bands that are even half decent come nowhere where I live.....I would have to drive 3.5 hours or more.....My Wife surprised me with Tickets to Belle & Sebastian....most of you will say who? I have been trying to see them for 23 years....we drove 6 hours there and back.....it was worth it! And I do think it was cool that Abba was mentioned on this site....I was waiting to be kicked off or hung!

[Lord Reith]

ABBA were definitely cool in the early-mid 70s. They fit right into the whole glam thing going then. It was only when punk came along in 1977 that people started to say they were uncool. But they also said the same thing about The Beatles and all the groups from the past. When I was at school, everyone hated The Beatles. When I said i was a Beatles fan they would mock me and sing Yellow Submarine (and I've never really forgiven Paul for writing all those granny songs and giving the beatle-haters a perfect gift). But if you had said you were an ABBA fan, you would literally have been beaten up.

I was glad in the 1990s when a whole bunch of famous musicians "came out of the closet" and declared their love of ABBA songs. Bono I suppose being the most notable.

[Rusty]

ABBA were definitely cool in the early-mid 70s. They fit right into the whole glam thing going then. It was only when punk came along in 1977 that people started to say they were uncool. But they also said the same thing about The Beatles and all the groups from the past. When I was at school, everyone hated The Beatles. When I said i was a Beatles fan they would mock me and sing Yellow Submarine (and I've never really forgiven Paul for writing all those granny songs and giving the beatle-haters a perfect gift). But if you had said you were an ABBA fan, you would literally have been beaten up.

I was glad in the 1990s when a whole bunch of famous musicians "came out of the closet" and declared their love of ABBA songs. Bono I suppose being the most notable.

I was very disappointed with their Voyage 2021 CD. It seemed to me like they were just going through the motions. I don't know what others thought.

[MrP]

first album in 41 years
all in their mid to late 70's

i believe your expectations were misguided

ABBA were definitely cool in the early-mid 70s. They fit right into the whole glam thing going then. It was only when punk came along in 1977 that people started to say they were uncool. But they also said the same thing about The Beatles and all the groups from the past. When I was at school, everyone hated The Beatles. When I said i was a Beatles fan they would mock me and sing Yellow Submarine (and I've never really forgiven Paul for writing all those granny songs and giving the beatle-haters a perfect gift). But if you had said you were an ABBA fan, you would literally have been beaten up.

I was glad in the 1990s when a whole bunch of famous musicians "came out of the closet" and declared their love of ABBA songs. Bono I suppose being the most notable.

I was very disappointed with their Voyage 2021 CD. It seemed to me like they were just going through the motions. I don't know what others thought.

[mojofilter]

I was 16 when I first heard them on my local Top 40 station, where the DJ played "Waterloo" without a 45 center, and it wobbled back and forth enough to make you seasick. Funny how some memories just stick with you. I don't think I heard anything else by them until the mid-1990s. I was aware of the British series "The Young Ones" so I knew who Rik Mayall was. One night the CBC showed his short film "Dancing Queen," co-starring Helena Bonham Carter, in which the song plays a central role. Now that is a great record. I do love pop music from the '40s until the '80s, but I've never met another person who listened to ABBA. I've known lots of people and looked through all of their record collections and nobody had any of their records. The people I hung out with were, like me, invested in trying to become rock and roll musicians, learning how to cop licks from Zep and Floyd and Cream and Jimi, fumbling with the blues, so ABBA never came up. I wasn't aware of any hatred for them, they were just in a different bag that we weren't into.

In over 20,000 records, the only thing I have by ABBA is an album compiled and shared on BZ by the late member TheLazenby, of what their last album, "Opus 10" might have sounded like, if it had been released. I listened to it once, and it went in one ear and out the other. In all honesty, it's not them, it's me. I recognize craftsmanship when I hear it, but none of the songs were memorable to me.

I had no idea that they were known as a disco group. Did they even make any disco records? Or was it more a case of them becoming internationally famous during the disco period and they just got lumped into it?

[misterclaudel]

They never did a disco record I know of....just because it sounded poppy they lumped it all in with Disco and that wasn't right....They wrote very simple but very melodical Just thinking and one of their songs came into my head.....I watched a Doco on them like last year and they never but one time let their recording sessions be videotaped....I think they were craftman of great pop songs with great hooks.....it's like the Bee Gees they have a whole back catalogue before Saturday night fever which is fantastic BTW and when the disco thing died people didn't want anything to do with them....they had the songs done even before RSO Records asked for songs for the movie....they were experimenting with more R & B sounding songs...Robert Stigwood is to blame for disco's beginnings and endings and he floated away on a Yacht of money....Literally! Same with Abba....lumped into something they weren't and people hated them. But if noone likes them then why did they have a play and 2 moves actually 3 if you count Muriel's Wedding.....about them? People dig them....that's that!

[Lord Reith]

They were not disco as such but the band they used had definite disco tendencies. But the backing on their songs is always really intricate and interesting, not just a boring disco beat.

I heard them say they double tracked the drums on their songs. Not sure if that's true but they certainloy had a 'wall of sound" sort of thing going.

The early albums and singles are melodic masterpieces. The lyrics are terrible, but that doesn't matter and frankly their English lyrics are better than my Swedish lyrics.

I thought later on they strayed too far into what I'd call "musicals without a cast". The songs became less like pop songs and more like pastiches.

[rtbcIII]

What's this about Lord Reith's Swedish lyrics??

[misterclaudel]

They were not disco as such but the band they used had definite disco tendencies. But the backing on their songs is always really intricate and interesting, not just a boring disco beat.

I heard them say they double tracked the drums on their songs. Not sure if that's true but they certainloy had a 'wall of sound" sort of thing going.

The early albums and singles are melodic masterpieces. The lyrics are terrible, but that doesn't matter and frankly their English lyrics are better than my Swedish lyrics.

I thought later on they strayed too far into what I'd call "musicals without a cast". The songs became less like pop songs and more like pastiches.

I agree with your statement here....they did drift toward the end they did sound "Musical" like....but bands change...some not for the better. I dig that Wall of Sound stuff Mr Spector did.....Brian Wilson tried to achive that ....I STILL don't know what the big deal with Pet Sounds is...One or two good tunes at best....maybe it's just me.... But I was listening to a mix on Youtube while doing it is whatever I do but The Beatles " I Want You(She's So Heavy) came on and I just stopped and really listened....it was SO heavy, no pun intended and just sounds dirty and gritty and some of Paul's Bass work is amazing! My point being bands either crank out the same album for 20 years and fans dig that but Abba went another way lot fans but The Beatles just kept going in wonderful directions....that song kinda makes me think of what Grunge was.....just dirty and down right raw....There is a new Grunge Supergroup out called "3rd Secret....man they are great! A lot of the Grunge bands say they were heavily influenced by The Beatles and I might have read that Nirvana liked Abba...Kurt liked melodic songs. Also keep up the good work Sir....

[AllTogetherNow]

I had no idea that they were known as a disco group. Did they even make any disco records? Or was it more a case of them becoming internationally famous during the disco period and they just got lumped into it?

You NAILED IT

Regards

ATN