Pop Foto, March 1978: ABBA was being told off by a mysterious voice

Everything was set. Annifrid and Agnetha had made themselves comfortable in two big hammocks. Benny and Björn behind them. The photographer just wanted to point his unrelenting camera at the famous foursome, when suddenly a raspy, almost frightening sound filled the studio. “You sing out of tune! Bunglers!” it sounded in a squeeky voice. Everyone looked up dumbfounded. Where in heaven’s name did that mysterious voice come from?

It happened shortly before the birth of Agnetha’s son. ABBA gave a couple of photographers from around the world the opportunity to take some beautiful pictures, it would be the last opportunity for a long time to come. Our own pop-photographer got the chance as well to get ABBA in front of his camera. A unique opportunity. No wonder that he went to great lengths to make the most of it. Beautiful hammocks, enormous exotic plants. Lots of things were being dragged in. He even borrowed two colourful parrots at a local pet shop. The photo shoot was going very well, until suddenly that mysterious voice messed things up. “You sing out of tune,” it sounded, “bunglers.”
Agnetha and Annifrid were so startled, they almost fell out of their hammocks. Immediately, a scouting expedition was set out to find that non-musical intruder. They looked everywhere, but without results. Eventually, the photo shoot continued with much reluctance. The next day, our photographer took the borrowed parrots back to that pet shop. “Well?” the friendly retailer asked, “did they say anything?” “W-what do you mean?” The photographer looked at the retailer questioningly. “Well, that red one used to be owned by a choirmaster and he teached him several nice phrases.” “It depends on what you call nice!” the photographer stuttered...
ABBA soon forgot about the occurrence. After all, little Christian was born.

Veronica, 1984: Frida has found her way

Meanwhile, she’s 39, singer Frida Lyngstad, and with ABBA she has made so much money that she would never have to work again. Still she can’t help but continue. To get better and better. And not lose contact with the youngsters. In her style of music she seems to get younger and younger, in her appearance likewise. How does she manage that?

If it was up to Frida, she would get into the studio tomorrow to start working on new recordings. That’s how enthusiastic she is about her third, recently released solo album ‘Shine’, that we talk about, in between recordings for ‘Countdown’. It turns out that, in spite of everything she has accomplished in her life already, she has remained a friendly and, above all, sweet human being, with a very modest and reserved attitude.
On arrival at Schiphol airport, earlier that day, she would easily stand and sign autographs for half an hour, while knowing she was expected at the studio. Her fans come first at these moments, and the technicians will have to have patience for a while, is Frida’s reasoning. When fans at the studio are saying that they think her new single ‘Shine’ is awesome, Frida smiles. “My new album is very modern and a bit heavier than the previous one as well,” she says. “It’s more rock-oriented and I’m very happy about that. I didn’t worry about the fans’ reactions to that. I will never underestimate them. And I know, they will grow with me.”
Frida recorded her first solo album ‘Frida Ensam’ in 1975, the year after she won the Eurovision Song Contest, together with Agnetha, Björn and Benny, with the song ‘Waterloo’. Her second solo album, that was produced by no other than Phil Collins and was called ‘Something’s Going On’, was released two years ago. Frida’s brand new solo album saw the light of day under supervision of top producer Steve Lillywhite (known of his work for groups like U2, Simple Minds, Big Country, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Joan Armatrading and XTC).

“Actually, I wanted to work with Phil Collins again,” says Frida, “but he couldn’t find the time for me. His schedule was already limited due to his marriage and accompanying honeymoon. And I didn’t want to wait that long. That’s when I approached Steve, who I liked very much as well, and I still do. There may not be a lot of people aware of this, but I have an unbounded admiration for rock-singers like Pat Benatar. I want to follow that path as well. And Steve helped me a great deal. I started to raise a little aversion to the music of ABBA towards the end. The title-track of our last album ‘The Visitors’, for instance, is more to my liking than the rest. I know I don’t have to work anymore, I have often been told, but I like what I do and at the moment I’d rather concentrate on the youngsters than on the whole family. This may have something to do with my children, thanks to them I’m starting to feel younger and younger, the older I get.”
For the past two years, Frida has lived in one of London’s suburbs, together with her two children. Not only because of the not so favourable Swedish tax environment, but also because of the music happening in England, that inspires her a great deal. “That’s why I see very little of my ABBA-colleagues,” according to Frida. “I haven’t spoken to Agnetha for a while. I’ve heard that she’s collecting material for her second solo album, that will be produced by 10CC’s Eric Stewart. And Björn and Benny are very busy with their musical Chess. After the recordings of my new album at the Studio de la Grande Armée in Paris, we had a reception over there and Benny and Björn were there as well. They wrote the song ‘Slowly’ for me, that appears on ‘Shine’. Apart from that, Steve Lillywhite’s wife, Kirsty McColl worked extensively on the album, and to my surprise, Big Country-singer Stuart Adamson came up with a song as well. This way, I get a chance to mingle with totally different musicians.”

Frida leads a rather secluded life. She tries to combine her housekeeping and her career as good as possible and one of the few men that she’s very close to, is her father. Chances are slim that we’ll be able to see her perform the coming months, because Frida will probably not get to that. All collaborators on the album have other engagements. Apart from that, a good upbringing for her children is important to her. She thinks it’s excellent that they are now leading a bilingual life and she wants to be with them as much as possible. And to lead a life with them as normal as possible.
“But we also stimulate each other musically,” Frida concludes. “They’re with me all the way and encourage me to continue, to get even better. For the first time, a song written by myself is on this album, something that should happen more often in the future. And together with my son Hans and Kirsty McColl I’ve written the B-side of the single ‘Shine’. Those are very nice things, that are happening to me all of a sudden. And I enjoy it tremendously... Only now, I feel totally responsible for my work. And quite rightly, I can be proud of that!”

Muziek Expres, 1983: Frida doesn't always want to be the star

Björn and Benny are writing hit after hit for ABBA. But now they’ve tried their hands at something completely different: a real musical. Recently, the premiere of Abbacadabra took place in London. And who was present as well? Frida!
“Don’t these songs by Björn and Benny sound fantastic?” ABBA’s own Frida sighs after the premiere of the musical Abbacadabra. She smiles for a while and then continues: “Yes, that may sound very strange coming from me, after all, I’ve sang them myself for years now, but when you’re suddenly in the audience and hear them being sung by different people, that’s really a very extraordinary experience!”
And of course that’s true! Frida was one of the guests of honor at the premiere of the musical, a showpiece in which several fairy-tale figures make an appearance such as Cinderella – played by Finola Hughes who also played a leading part in ‘Staying Alive’ – and Pinochhio. But, among others, a robot and a pirate-queen as well, a part played by Elaine Paige, who became known for her part in the musical Evita a few years ago. So, a multi-coloured company.
The songs and the music are all by ABBA’s Björn and Benny. Apart from old ABBA-successes, a couple of songs written especially for the musical can be heard. Together with the Scottish singer B.A. Robertson, who’s responsible for the part of ‘The Beast’ in Abbacadabra, Frida has recorded one of the songs from the musical: ‘Time’. But apart from that, she’s not taking part in the musical. Smilingly, Frida confesses: “Actually, I like it much better to sit in the audience, listening to the songs that we’re usually singing ourselves!” Still chuckling, she disappears in the festive crowd.

Pop Foto, 1977: Why Agnetha cried silently...

Another hilarious article from Dutch magazine Pop Foto that's bound to make you roar with laughter.
She was fed up with it. She was so terribly fed up with it all that tears were running down ABBA’s Agnetha’s cheeks. For weeks she had been pushed back and forth with her pregnant belly and still everyone was snapping at her. For the ABBA-movie Agnetha would do almost anything, but this just went a bit too far for her!

“Come down now, dear, you will be all right!” Björn was standing at the bottom of the high stepladder and shouted impatiently at his wife. Everyone had been being impatient with her lately. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone? Agnetha felt the tears welling up in her eyes. A sad feeling got hold of her throat. Couldn’t they all understand that she wasn’t able to do everything as quickly, now she had been pregnant for six months. Certainly not rushing off a high and shaky stepladder! A big teardrop was running down her cheek, and another one. Björn was swinging the stepladder to and fro. “Would you hurry up!” he shouted angrily from beneath. Agnetha stood still, clenched her fists and held her breath. She would love to be at home right now, to prepare herself peacefully for her second child. But instead, everyone shouted at her and she hardly saw her little daughter Linda... Her back was aching and her legs were shaking from exhaustion. “Shove it!” she suddenly yelled furiously. “You can all shove it with your stupid movie!” With one stroke she ruined her smudged make-up and sat down at the top of the stepladder, sobbing silently!

“But, but...” a startled Björn stuttered. “Shut your mouth and get her off that stepladder, mister,” Annifrid snapped, whose attention had been caught by Agnetha’s furious exclamation. “Don’t you understand this is all too much for her? You guys seem to think that having a baby is just a piece of cake!” She pulled Björn into the shiny metal elevator that went up from the film studio. “And you are taking her home right now, you hear,” Annifrid growled, just before the elevator doors opened and Björn helped his exhausted Agnetha up, “because when she breaks down, things will be a lot worse!”
Ten minutes later the giant film studio was deserted. Agnetha and Björn had rushed home in a limousine and Annifrid, Benny and a couple of photographers and camera men, all worn out, drank coffee from plastic cups. The outcome of a day’s filming: a few recorded scenes, some photographs for Pop Foto, an exhausted cast...
“It’s all very strainful,” Annifrid beamed, “and we will have to spare Agnetha a little more, but that movie will be finished, you can bet on that!”
Do you want to know more, or actually everything, about this ABBA-movie, that will be in the cinemas at the end of this year? A movie, in which ABBA is pursued by an Australian pop-journalist, who’s after a juicy ABBA-story. Make sure that you don’t miss the next issue of Pop Foto!

Hitkrant, 1985: "First and foremost, I want to be a good mother"

“With ABBA I’ve experienced good and bad times,” Agnetha Fältskog says. “Especially all the traveling and seeing so little of your loved ones is not very easy in the end. It’s not completely impossible that a new ABBA-album will see the light of day someday in the future, but there won’t be any firm group collaboration any longer.” An honest conversation about past, present and future.

Is there a big difference between Agnetha the singer and Agnetha privately?
“Definitely. I think that the image the audience has of me is totally wrong. Everyone seems to think that I’m a very vulnerable woman, who has difficulties standing up for herself. In reality it’s not like that at all. I am very shy, but I know exactly what I want. I like to go my own way. For instance, I realize now, more than ever, that in your life you always have to give priority to the things that are most important to you. For me, those are my children. That’s why I try to travel as little as possible. But I can record an album, I think.”
Why did you choose Eric Stewart as your producer?
“Indeed, finding a suitable producer is not very easy. I had met Eric and the other guys from 10CC a few times already during ABBA’s heyday. But it was risky, because beforehand you never know how you will get along. But things turned out for the best, because Eric is a calm man, it was very pleasurable working with him.”
Why did you write so few songs for the album yourself?
“Because I have very little time for that. Composing songs takes an enormous amount of energy and patience. And every time I get more critical when it comes to the songs. Apart from that, I don’t want to neglect my children anymore, the way I used to do when I was with ABBA.”
There are a lot of love-songs on your album. Is that a coincidence?
“Yes and no. All composers mostly write about love. It’s probably because a human being is full of emotions, that he wants to release while writing a song. Personally, I feel very comfortable with sentimentality and romance.”
Why did you choose ‘I Won’t Let You Go’ as a single?
“Eric and I left that to other people to decide on purpose. When you are recording an album, you’re so much into it that you can’t decide which song should be the single yourself. A convincing majority of my advisers went for ‘I Won’t Let You Go’”.
Are you considering any live performances?
“I don’t rule it out. I would like to get up on stage once again, especially in Stockholm. Actually, I see myself more as a recording artist than a performer, but I still enjoy to perform live.”
Any chances of a career as an actress?
“Why not, actually? I played a part in a Swedish movie not too long ago and I had to play several characters in a television special as well. It felt very good. Singing and acting seems like a fun combination.”
What are your plans for 1985?
“The spring is devoted completely to promoting the album. After that, I want to take an extensive break. At the end of this year, my son Christian will be going to school for the first time. I wouldn’t want to miss that for the world. It’s even possible that I will record a children’s album with him. As you can see, being a good mother comes first for me from now on.”

Story, December 1982: Agnetha and Frida: "Because of ABBA our marriages failed"

Is ten years of ABBA something to celebrate? Björn, Frida, Agnetha and Benny have their doubts about that. They not only look back on big successes, enormous fame and financial prosperity... ABBA destroyed their private lives as well. The foursome, once made up of two close couples, has memories of sorrow and loneliness as well.

ABBA has been together for ten years! So it seems, reason enough for the members of the group to have a celebration. But whether Agnetha, Frida, Björn and Benny will actually do this? In an exclusive interview with Story, Agnetha and Frida reveal how ABBA destroyed their private lives...
It’s amazing how things can change in ten years time! In 1972, Agnetha Fältskog, Frida Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson recorded their first song. And none of the four dared to dream that they’d be famous all over the world a few years later, as the group ABBA. That first record, called ‘People Need Love’, applied to the foursome very much. At the time, Björn was madly in love with Agnetha. And Benny couldn’t keep his eyes off of Frida. And their dream was for the four of them to be happy and famous. And that dream came true. Because in 1974 the young group ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Waterloo’. And from that moment on they scored hit after hit. In the meantime, Björn and Agnetha had gotten married and Frida and Benny had tied the knot as well. “The four of us are so extremely happy in our work as well as in our private lives, it’s sometimes scary,” is what Agnetha once told a journalist. Their happiness seemed to last. Björn and Agnetha had two children together, Linda and Christian. And Benny and Annifrid made a happy family with Hans and Liselotte, the children from Frida’s first marriage.
And then it suddenly went wrong! Enormous problems started to arise for Agnetha and Björn. “Björn was absorbed completely by the music, he hardly paid attention to me anymore,” Agnetha says now, three years after the divorce. “Characterwise, I’m a very homely type of person and I can’t imagine anything more wonderful than sitting on the couch with my husband, watching a good movie on television. When we were just married, Björn felt the same way. But while ABBA was doing better and better, our relationship was getting worse. Towards the end, we only saw each other in the recording studios. I got more and more depressed and eventually I saw a psychiatrist almost every day. Together with him I came to the conclusion that I had to end my marriage to Björn as soon as possible, before I would become a mental wreck. Björn wasn’t surprised at all when I told him I wanted a divorce. He had seen it coming, but he didn’t know how to save our marriage. For Björn, his job will always come first.”

And as if there hadn’t been enough tears shed, a while after that, Frida and Benny’s marriage ended as well. “We’d had some problems for a while,” Frida explains honestly. “But in the beginning we wouldn’t face them. We just ignored them. You can keep that up for some time, but eventually you really have to do something about it. As time went by, Benny and I had made a life of our own and eventually we only came home to sleep. Some time after that, I discovered that Benny had an affair with the 37-year-old TV-presenter Mona Nörklit and from that time onwards he didn’t come home at all anymore. Well, why stay married then? Isn’t it much better for the both of you to start all over again? Since that time, I feel it’s a relief to be alone again. My two children are living independently. Hans is 19 years old and he has made music his profession as well. And Liselotte, aged 15, is attending highschool in America. I finally have time for myself. I love it! I travel a lot and, as you know, I recorded a solo album. What more could you want!?“
Björn and Benny claim to be very happy in their private lives as well. They have both remarried and become fathers again recently. A proud Benny is walking through the ABBA offices with the nine-months-old Ludwig, but when our photographer wants to take a picture, he says sternly: “No pictures, please. I want to keep my private life out of the media as much as possible.”
But Agnetha wants to share something about her children. “I’ve promised myself to spend all my spare time on Linda and Christian from now on,” she says decisively. “In the past, I’ve had to leave their upbringing to the nanny too much. That won’t happen anymore. They need their mother. I don’t want to do any tours anymore either, that will take me away from home for too long. I would have the feeling that I’m failing them and I definitely don’t want that. I took Linda with me to America once, but we both didn’t enjoy it. When I’m at home with Linda and Christian, I’m perfectly happy, so I want to keep it that way.”
So it seems that the fairy tale of ABBA will have a happy ending after all.

Pop Foto, December 1980: Pop Foto's David managed to get many secrets out of ABBA

Pop Foto’s comic strip hero David has been friends with ABBA’s Agnetha for years. When the Swedish group showed up in Paris recently for a television performance, our Dave was the only European who could persuade the foursome to do an exclusive interview. Clever as he is, he managed to get many secrets out of Benny, Björn, Agnetha and Frida.
About 15 million Frenchmen watched the brand new music programme ‘Stars’ recently. No wonder, since only top entertainers such as Julio Iglesias, Olivia Newton-John and ABBA appear on the show. The successful Swedish group performed their new single ‘Super Trouper’, a track from the album of the same name. During their stay at the picturesque Nogent-sur-Marne, only Pop Foto’s comic strip hero David managed to persuade the four to do an exclusive interview.
Benny, about the last album: “Without a doubt, all four of us think this is the best one we’ve done so far. With all previous albums, we always thought there were one or two songs that we had our doubts about. We don’t have that feeling now!” The others nod consentingly.
David: Where does the title ‘Super Trouper’ come from?
“A supertouper is a gigantic searchlight, like the ones they use in the army. Recently, we used one of those big ones at a photo shoot,” Benny says, “and the results were fantastic! Apart from that, it’s a pleasant sounding word that fits the image of the group.”
When asked about the origin of the tracks, Björn answers: “Most songs are the results of experiences in your life, that you want to express in one way or the other. But you do need inspiration! That’s why Benny and I went to the Caribbean Islands a while ago. Barbados, for instance, is a guarantee for good songs, as far as I’m concerned.”
In what way do the lyrics of ‘The Winner Takes It All’ relate to you, Agnetha?
She sighs, before she answers reluctantly: “I don’t like to talk about that, you know. When we taped the promotional film at the marina in Märstrand, I was close to crying. Yes, it was really difficult for me.”
Frida, who is sensing that the subject is rather painful for Agnetha, steps in: “We’ve had problems with our promotional films more often! We wanted to make some recordings at Piccadilly Circus in London, with wild animals, clowns, jugglers... we wanted to create a real circus. But we couldn’t go ahead with this idea, since some stuffy clerks dug up a law from some archive, that declared it’s not allowed to walk around disguised or abnormally in a radius of three miles around that area. Alas, we had that party at the studios near Stockholm.” You have been able already to see some of that footage.
After Benny revealed that he likes the Stones, Queen and Kate Bush, it’s Björn’s turn to name his favourites. Smilingly he says: “First and foremost ABBA, then there’s a big gap, well and then... I like the Eagles a lot. Fleetwood Mac too, but their latest album is horrible!”
Agnetha thinks they actually have too little time to listen to other people’s music. Frida adds: “Except for the groups that do their recordings at our studios. Genesis and Led Zeppelin for instance. We’ve witnessed the realization of the last Led Zeppelin-album from start to finish. That’s why the death of drummer John Bonham was a big shock for us. We’ve had so much fun with him in Stockholm...”
David: Is there any truth in the rumours that you want to leave Sweden? For a while, all four look at each other, wondering who is going to answer.
Agnetha: “Actually, we did think it over, yes. Only two countries were considered: England and Holland. We just think those are the cosiest countries in Europe. But when we were about to go out looking for a place to live and work over there, the disadvantages became clear: the economical climate in England is not that great, and in Holland there’s the language barrier. Especially for our children, attending school!” Frida puts forward that she still prefers Holland, so if there are any plans to move in a few years time...
Björn (jokingly): “But we’ve become a little lazy, that’s why we won’t be visiting Holland for promotion. We will only travel to France, Germany and England. For the time being, there are no plans for a world tour either."
David: Are you still able to make ends meet?
“We can’t complain,” Benny laughs. “In ’82 or ’83, we will be on the share market. People will be able to buy shares in Polar Music International, a company, founded by us, which trades in real estate, loans, food, bicycles and... art!”
David: Do you have anything else to add?
Frida reacts spontaneously: “Don’t forget to give our best regards to all ABBA-fans in Holland!”