Thursday 13 August 2009

Pop Foto, December 1978: Mozart is causing Agnetha nightmares

An article from Dutch magazine Pop Foto about ABBA’s promotional schedule in December 1978 and January 1979. The pictures of Agnetha, working with singing instructor Inga Sundström, were taken in September 1978.
For quite some time, Agnetha has been aware of the fact that it takes more than just a sweet face to remain on top of the pop business. That’s why she’s doing her sport exercises every day, she’s following her dancing lessons willingly and... at least once a week she’s dreaming about a man that couldn’t do any harm at first glance...

The subject of Agnetha’s nightmares is called Mozart and it’s not so much the person Wolfgang Amadeus himself that Agnetha takes a dislike to, but the singing scores that this child prodigy once wrote. For that matter, twice a week Agnetha can be found at the house of singing instructor Inga Sundström in Stockholm, where she works for hours on end with this famous lady on the quality of her singing voice, with the help of Mozart’s melodies and musical pieces by other classical composers. Agnetha doesn’t really mind Inga saying ‘stand up straight’ and ‘let your tongue relax’, but this Mozart is a different matter...
Still, Agnetha realizes that she will have to work on that famous, clear ABBA-sound, because ABBA’s schedule is chock full with important dates, at which one wrong note could mean a fiasco in the eyes of millions. Before and after the Christmas days, the ABBAs have a couple of dates for important television performances. While a small mistake during recordings of a new album or single can always be corrected in the studio, in front of the television cameras you will have to give the best sound that you’ve got, because nothing can be done a second time!

The first important television show after ABBA’s trips to Tokyo and Los Angeles, BBC’s Mike Yarwood Christmas Show, where ABBA performed two songs, has already been recorded. But after their well-deserved Christmas holiday, ABBA is in for a true mega-assignment. At the beginning of January, they will be performing at the Unicef Gala, you know, that magnificent music celebration, initiated by the Bee Gees and the American TV-presenter David Frost, the proceedings of which will go to Unicef, the organization that’s raising awareness for children all around the world. When you keep in mind that, apart from ABBA, the following artists will perform in New York: Andy Gibb, Olivia Newton-John, Barry Manilow, Elton John, Rod Stewart, the Bee Gees themselves, Kris Kristofferson and his wife Rita Coolidge, then you’ll understand that ABBA will have to sound at their utmost best!
Apart from all these important appearances (at which there’s yet another BBC-show, that we’ll probably not be able to admire on the screen before Easter), Agnetha, Anni-Frid, Björn and Benny are working very hard on the last recordings for their new album and single, that are almost finished and are due to be released in January. All these busy affairs put together are making it impossible for ABBA to even consider a new (world)tour for the first few months. “But,” the ABBAs themselves are saying, “fortunately, our fans in Europe and America will not get the chance to forget about us, thanks to all these shows and new records!”

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