Pop Foto, October 1978: Will ABBA move to America?

Have the four musical Swedes that we all know as ABBA now surrendered to the big money? To the American dream and the Hollywood promise? Can we, continental Europeans, kiss ABBA goodbye now? Or are the stories about ABBA moving abroad just rumours and can Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Anni-Frid stand a lot more rudeness of the Swedish media, before they exchange Stockholm for Los Angeles?

One thing is for sure in the total confusion surrounding ABBA’s future. There are things happening around the Swedish super-group, that clearly point in the direction of a move to America.
Firstly, the group has rented a luxurious residence in the centre of American pop-music, that’s big enough for themselves and the two Ulvaeus-children. Secondly, the past year there have been so many unpleasant reports about the group in the Swedish media that the ABBAs are getting sick and tired of it. Thirdly, for quite some time especially Björn and Benny have been playing with the idea of a second ABBA-movie; and what better place is there to tape it than Hollywood?
It all sounds rather disturbing, and you’d almost get the impression that the ABBA-move is definite already, but luckily this isn’t true. Because ABBA has a lot of reasons to stay in Sweden! Of course, there’s the upbringing of little Christian and his sister Linda that – Agnetha is adamant about it - has to take place in Sweden. And then there are the splendid, brand-new houses and the recording-studio, that ABBA has build. Don’t forget those either. Of course, Björn and Benny haven’t build that money-consuming thing to go off and record their records in the US now. On the contrary, ever since the studios were ready, the two ABBA-men have been busy with new ABBA-material, that will be used for the next album. The record should be finished around Christmas and will definitely be recorded in Sweden.
Because the people to whom it concerns refuse to make any remark in the direction of the move-issue, we can only focus on the hopeful words by Stig Anderson, the ABBA-mastermind. “ABBA leaving Sweden? That will never ever happen! They’re much too Swedish for that!”
Let’s leave it at that.