Hitkrant, May 1981: ABBA doesn’t have time for the sun

Did you plan your holiday yet? You probably did, because summer is approaching with rapid strides. You start to wonder about the holiday plans of several artists. Take ABBA, for example: like we reported earlier, the Swedish quartet has rejected the three songs that had already been recorded, out of which the single would be chosen. This meant for Björn and Benny: back to the writing table and piano to compose new songs, and for the whole quartet: back into the studio. Is there any time left to relax and enjoy the sun?

We gave Stockholm a call to inquire about ABBA’s plans and Björn reported that there will indeed be little time for any holiday. There’s work to be done, because the single is now long overdue.

“Up till June, we will definitely be busy in our studio here at St. Eriksgatan, to seek out a new single. If everything goes according to plan, it will be released at the end of July.”
What about the three rejected songs, what will happen to those? “Well, they have not been rejected in the sense that we won’t use them at all. All three of them will be included on the album that’s due to be released towards the end of the year. According to our and Stig’s opinion however, there just wasn’t a suitable single among these songs.”
And the holiday? There’s laughter on the other side of the line: “We aren’t even thinking about that! For the time being, we are far too busy with recording.”

Alright, in case there will be time for a couple of days off, where will Benny, Björn, Frida and Agnetha go? “It’s almost certain that we will stay in Sweden, on our island or on our boats. We love the Swedish summers so much, that we don’t think it’s necessary to go abroad. We go there enough on our promotional trips and tours.”
But didn’t we hear that Björn spent his holiday on Hawaii last year? Laughter again. “Holiday? Working very hard, you mean! I literally ran my legs off, because I entered an international cross-country run, with hundreds of competitors from all kinds of countries.”
We ask him about the result of that competition, but Björn is a little hesitant about that. “Let’s just say that I definitely didn’t finish last. But I certainly didn’t finish first either!” We understand: you can’t be the best at everything.