Pop Foto, 1978: Anni-Frid: "My dad should get a little trendier!"

Although ABBA's Anni-Frid may have found her long-lost father recently and although she may be ecstatic that she finally knows who he is, she can't be completely satisfied with him yet. That's what Pop Foto noticed when we followed Anni-Frid in West-Germany, where her father lives. "My dad should get a little trendier!" the pretty Swede declared jokingly, and dad Alfred would know what she meant too!

"It's hard to imagine, but if you have never known that your father was still alive, let alone who he was, then a first meeting with your own father is a complete shock. A tremendously enjoyable event too of course, but still... You don't know each other, you have both lived a completely different life," Anni-Frid told us while we were having a stimulating cup of coffee with her, Benny and her father Alfred Haase. Earlier on, in the luxurious limousine that took us to the expensive hotel in the city centre, Anni-Frid and her father had already been squabbling. And now, with Benny and a couple of 'trendy' pop journalists, as Anni-Frid called them, as extra referees, it all had to be figured out.
"Tell us what's on your mind, dad," Anni-Frid said jokingly to her 'old man' and after clearing his throat and a couple of coughs he commenced in a shy way: "Well... for example, the way you wear your hair with all these crazy little curls, I don't like that half as much as the straight hair that you were wearing a couple of months ago when I met you for the first time (see Pop Foto December '77)!" He looked a little insecure at his daughter, who sniffed in an offended way. "And then," he continued, "you are wearing these wild clothes, I mean, you are not eighteen anymore! You are a grown woman, not a young girl!"
"Now wait a minute, mister Haase," we objected. "But Anni-Frid is an artist as well and artists always look a little extraordinary. That's the way it should be!" Anni-Frid looked at us in pleased way and nudged Benny who had been following the conversation with a smile on his face, apparently glad that he didn't have to share his opinion. "Well, tell us what you think about it," Anni-Frid hissed. "Well yes, I completely agree with that," Benny replied. "And you, dad," Anni-Frid continued, "for you I will buy a couple of cool baseball shirts and some trendy jeans, something modern! And when you come back to Sweden, we are going to buy you some other hip clothes!" Dad Haase paled visibly and we, poor auditors, burst into laughter because of his anxious face, an example that was swiftly followed by Benny and Anni-Frid herself. During the course of the conversation it became clear that Anni-Frid and her father don't agree about a lot of things yet and sometimes this even turned into a heated debate! But still, at the end of the afternoon, when Anni-Frid and her 59-year-old dad had been able to speak their minds, all differences were put aside. Although Anni-Frid obviously had to have the last say in the matter. "But still I think you should get a little trendier, dad! Just wait until I have you with me again in Sweden!"