Pop Foto, April 1980: ABBA don’t want to travel themselves into poverty any longer!

An article from Dutch magazine Pop Foto, published around the time that the Japanese tour was completed and recordings for the Super Trouper album had been started.
“We’ve never longed for a holiday as much as after that terribly exhausting world tour,” Björn stated. Add to that, the fact that ABBA hasn’t made any profit on that energy-draining tour and you can ask yourself whether the group will ever take on such a journey again...

The four Swedes had to take weeks and weeks to catch their breath after their tour through America, Canada and Europe. Benny and Anni-Frid spent their holiday at the Caribbean Sea and sailed from coast to coast with a luxurious sailing boat. Meanwhile, Björn and Agnetha stayed behind in Stockholm, but they both went their separate ways. Björn with his girlfriend Lena Källersjö and, according to rumours, Agnetha with her new love interest Mats Ronander, guitarist with ABBA’s band.
When everyone had taken enough rest, more work was already waiting for them. But this time it was a chore that the quartet was far more excited about than such an extensive tour. In the Polar Studios in Stockholm, recordings for the new ABBA-album began. An album that will primarily contain songs that Benny and Björn have composed on the Bahamas.
“We want to take as much time as possible to record that album,” according to Benny. “After the tour through Japan, taking place this month, we will continue with the recordings at our own pace. Every album should be better than the previous one. And that takes time!”
And manager Stig Anderson is willing to grant ABBA that time. Stig: “When we had to grant every request for concerts and television performances, we would be on the road for the next ten years. But for the time being, I’m turning every offer down.”
Besides, those tours only cost money. A large sum of money had to be paid to make up for the costs of that world tour. But what do you expect, when you take along an extensive company of band members, technicians and tour managers for three months.
“The tour through Japan will probably be the last one for the time being,” according to Stig Anderson. “I think we won’t do any live performances for the next two years. Apart from that, we all want to take some more time for our private life as well.” And rightfully so...