1983: Frida - singer is breaking free from ABBA

ABBA splitting up, ABBA not splitting up: when both singers of the Swedish group started concentrating on their own solo projects, the fans were holding their breath. The rumours were immediately denied from Stockholm, but especially because of the solo sidestep of the red-haired Frida Lyngstad, it seemed that ABBA's days had been counted. Together with Genesis drummer Phil Collins, Frida recorded a solo album - titled 'Something's Going On' - that was received exceptionally well, and she announced that she had no intentions to stop at that one album.
The next shock for the fans came when Frida moved, and not just somewhere inside Sweden: she left her home country to move abroad to London. When on top of that it became known that she had sold all of her shares in the ABBA company, it seemed pretty clear that the singer would only work with ABBA on specific projects from now on, but that she would mainly focus her attention on her individual career as a singer. Frida herself claims that she is still a member of ABBA, but for the group it would be very unwise - especially on a business level - to admit that they in fact don't exist anymore. It is obvious: a new future has started for Frida.

Bravo, 1983: A miracle! Agnetha managed to get out of this bus alive!

It happened on October 2 at 7:35 PM on a rainy street in Urkelljunga between Helsingborg and Stockholm. Agnetha was on her way home from her promotional tour through Europe. With her in the luxurious touringcar were her tour manager and advisor Hans Blomgren, her friend, the journalist Britta Akesson and two drivers who took turns driving the vehicle during the long journey through Europe.

Agnetha had just got up from her seat at the right side of the bus to stretch her legs in the sleeping department in the back of the touringcar.

All of a sudden a red light popped up in the dark on the roadside. The driver didn't know that the Urkelljunga road construction authorities had put up temporary traffic lights in this track section due to road works.

He hit te brakes for all he was worth. The back wheels came into a slide in an oil spill. The touringcar tossed around wildly and hit the crash barrier with its left wheels. This caused such an instant standstill that the heavy vehicle turned over on its right side.

The impact took place with such force that the touringcar was deformed completely. The windows were ruptured with a deafening rattle.

Agnetha, who was just on her way to the backside of the touringcar, and her companions were catapulted to the floor, the complete inventory was hurled through the interior and partly landed on the street.

The bus accident triggered a major alarm at the police office in Malmö. Six ambulances hurried to the crash scene with emergency lights and howling sirens. In the dark and on the wet asphalt an eerie scene unfolded; first aid people came rushing in from all directions. They feared the worst. They rescued the five passengers through the broken front window. They were rushed to the Ängelholm Hospital immediately where they were examined thoroughly and had to stay until the next morning.

Agnetha's friend Britta had broken her right leg. Although no bone fractures were established with Agnetha, she did find herself with a mild concussion and a ricked neck. To calm down the cervical vertebra she got a broad neck brace. Apart from that, all five of them had slash wounds and abrasive burns.

Even when Agnetha and the others were still in the hospital, the rumours started spreading. It was claimed that Agnetha was expecting a baby - which would have been the reason for the surprising engagement with her former bodyguard Torbjörn Brander - that she lost due to the accident. This was denied with emphasis by Agnetha: "The pregnancy rumour came about because I was seen shopping in a children's store in London. But there were no baby clothes in these packages, only things for my children Linda (10) and Christian (5)."

Actually it was planned that Agnetha would be transported from the hospital to her house in Lidingö near Stockholm by a private plane on the day after the accident. But she opposed to this plan vigorously: although she was shaken up by the bus accident she did not want to get on a plane.

In great haste, a Chevrolet was rented and Agnetha and her advisor Hans Blomgren were smuggled out of the hospital through the back door. At 8:00 PM she reached her house in Jupitervägen in Lidingö. Several guardsmen were posted outside so that Agnetha could recover from the shock in peace and quiet.

When it comes to travelling, the ABBA singer is really pursued by bad luck. She has a panic fear of flying ever since she found herself in a heavy tornado with a small private plane on the flight from New York to Boston during the ABBA tour in the US.

On the ground, the tornado had caused a number of deaths and casualties. Up in the clouds the ABBA plane was shaken up in such a way that Agnetha had a nervous breakdown on board and woke up the next day at the hotel with a 40 degree temperature.

Even on the day before the bus accident in Urkelljunga, Agnetha had a small accident: during a performance in London she fell down from the stage and bruised her elbow.

At the moment, Agnetha can only be comforted by her fiancee Torbjörn by telephone. Until November he is stationed as a policeman with the Swedish UN troops in Larnaca on Cyprus. That's why he calls his Agnetha every day on the telephone, the same telephone that he used two months ago for a three-hour conversation with her in New York, when they decided to get engaged...

Bravo, August 1983: Agnetha gets caught up with a marriage impostor

Her blonde hair cut in layers and slightly wind-blown, sparkling blue eyes and her glossy lips opened into a cheerful smile: Agnetha actually never looked as wonderful as she does on the photographs that were taken for her first solo album 'Wrap Your Arms Around Me'.

Apart from that, at the moment the Swedish ABBA fans will be able to see a second, totally different Agnetha. In that variety she is wearing her hair decently cut, with an ugly hat pulled over it. She is hiding her pregnant belly under a maternity dress, wildly patterned with flowers.

By all means, Agnetha only slipped into the part of the 'ugly duckling' for her first movie 'Raskenstam' that will have its premiere on August 19 in Stockholm.

'Raskenstam' is the true story about a marriage impostor that took the savings of 120 Swedish women between 1941 and 1943.

Agnetha plays the part of Lisa, the daughter of a fisherman. She is the only woman that Gustav Raskenstam falls madly in love with. He gets married to her and has two children with her.

Agnetha explains: "The most difficult part for me was remembering my lines, although I didn't have very long consecutive lines to speak. During mornings, when my children were at school, or late in the evenings, I was slaving away. Sometimes my girlfriends helped me out with my lines, then they would read out the lines of my adversary."

Another problem for Agnetha was her stage fright, something that she still hasn't got used to even after those many years with ABBA. During the last minutes before a performance, she constantly walks from mirror to mirror, she keeps powdering her face and puts on mascara for the umpteenth time.

Agnetha: "While shooting 'Raskenstam' this was no different. The first few days I was litterally sick due to stage fright. But the more often we had to keep reshooting our scenes, the more confident I felt. At concerts, I also started to feel a little more relaxed after about fifteen minutes."

Agnetha didn't mind that she had to walk around as Lisa in such a conservative and stuffy manner. "I don't think that clothes are all that important," she says. "Especially when one compares me with Frida, who is totally into fashion. When I'm at home I prefer to wear jeans and a pullover. For formal occasions I buy something from a Swedish designer, he calls himself X-it. At the moment I really like the colour green, clothes with broad shoulders, Italian shoes and boots."

It's not certain yet whether 'Raskenstam' will appear in German cinemas as well. But one thing is certain: on September 3 we will see Agnetha again in the television broadcast 'Wetten Daβ...?' from Berlin.

Bravo, 1983: Agnetha is stealing everybody’s show

The fans are taking a sprint next to the arriving bus, to be able to take out their autograph books right on time at the opening bus door. This wasn’t the case only in Bremen, where Agnetha Fältskog introduced her current solo single ‘The Heat Is On’ in the TV show Musikladen, but everywhere where the blonde Swede made an appearance on her promotional tour across Europe. No wonder. Because ever since the ex wife of ABBA’s Björn took a chance on a solo career once again with Tomas Ledin and the single ‘Never Again’, she is looking better than ever before. This individual success made Agnetha self-confident, calm and relaxed. In her appearance as well. She wears her blonde hair in a fringy way and she comes across like a teenager in her casual clothes. But still, Agnetha – who was born on April 5, 1950 in Jönköping – already has two children from her eight-year-long marriage to Björn Ulvaeus: her daughter Linda was born in 1973, son Christian followed in 1977. In the meantime, she has come to terms with the shock of her divorce, now four years ago. Her solo career is nothing new for Agnetha either: she has been playing the piano since she was five years old. When she was eighteen she got acquainted with show business for the first time through her father who was the leader of a Swedish television ballet. Immediately – still that same year, 1968 – she turned up in the Swedish top ten with ‘I Was So In Love’. She quit her job as a telephone operator, that she had started after getting her high-school diploma, to be able to sing in the evenings at a dance bar. She moved to Stockholm, composed and wrote lyrics herself and ultimately she fell in love with Björn. In 1973, at the Swedish heat for the Eurovision Song Contest where ABBA finished in third place with ‘Ring Ring’, she was already heavily pregnant. Today, no one remembers the fact that Agnetha also sung in German before her time with ABBA. In 1968, ‘Ich Bin So Verliebt’ was released, in 1969 ‘Wer Schreibt Heut Noch Liebesbriefe’ and in 1972 ‘Geh mit Gott’. Agnetha’s current single ‘The Heat Is On’ was taken from the album ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’, from which album the next single ‘Shame’ will be taken as well. Who is allowed to wrap his arms around Agnetha privately remains a secret, ever since her relationship with the 39-year-old bodyguard and policeman Torbjörn Brander came to an end one year ago.

Bravo, 1983: A secret competition is going on between the ambitious ABBA girls Frida and Agnetha: who will settle the race?

Björn and Benny are smirking: Frida’s solo successes didn’t leave Agnetha resting on her laurels. She is eager to prove that she can do without her ABBA boys as well...

“Well, what do you think? Which of our both girls will settle the race for the goodwill of the public?” Those are the bets that are going on between Benny and Björn at the moment.
Following Frida’s example, Agnetha has ventured out as a solo artist as well. No matter who will win the bet, both ABBA men don’t need the worry about the continued existence of the group.
Both Agnetha as well as Frida have always confirmed their loyalty to ABBA. That’s why Benny and Björn can watch the neck and neck competition between their both girls with unclouded suspense, in between pushing a pram and writing a musical...
There’s no doubt about it: like before, the music is created by the boys, but the action is coming from the ABBA girls only. It can’t be the money that ignites their ambition. What’s going on with the wild ABBA women?
Frida was the first one to free herself from the group’s safety net (which was a burden at the same time). After almost ten years, she got fed up with wearing the same costume as Agnetha on stage, which became a must for ABBA since the ‘Waterloo’ era. She didn’t want to just sing the songs anymore that Benny and Björn had put on paper. On top of that, the divorce from Benny made her look for a new purpose and challenge. And last year, the time had come. Frida was so ready for a break from ABBA that she mobilized Genesis drummer and solo specialist Phil Collins to produce an album for her. Thanks to Phil’s musical intuition, the record ‘Something’s Going On’ was tailor made for Frida. But Frida didn’t want to set herself apart from her ABBA persona on a musical level only. In place of her long hair, she adopted a – according to herself – red coloured punk hairdo. With ‘Something’s Going On’ she indeed did a lot.
The album turned out to be so successful that Frida wants to start a second solo project even this year – however only with Phil Collins in the producer’s chair.
In the meantime, Frida has distanced herself geographically from ABBA’s head office Stockholm as well. In the beginning of this year, she rented a house in the center of London and she has taken up residence there. However, she will keep her house in Stockholm too. “Because whenever there’s work to be done with ABBA, I will return immediately,” she stated. “I didn’t move to England for tax reasons, like many people think. My reasons are strictly personal. I can live more freely there, in Sweden I was always in the public eye.” And bear in mind: Phil Collins is domiciled in London too!

In the meantime, Agnetha is close on her heels. Since her divorce from Björn, she has learned to stand on her own two feet, after several setbacks. Now she wants to prove it on a professional level too.
As a try-out, she released the single ‘Never Again’ with Tomas Ledin last year. The whole matter was simplified by the fact that the young Swede was not a stranger to her. He already sang in the backing choir on ABBA’s major tour a couple of years ago. Still, for the time being it’s ‘never again’ for Tomas. Because for her solo album, Agnetha has brought a surefire hit producer into the ABBA studio in Stockholm. The American Mike Chapman, who already served people like Suzi Quatro, Smokie and Sweet splendidly. Barely ten days ago, they got to work.
Anyhow, Agnetha can face the end of her musical side leap calmly. If she should fail as a solo singer – something that the name ABBA in the back pocket will easily prevent – she can always concentrate on her second solo opportunity: acting.
She doesn’t want her first movie about the Swedish marriage impostor Raskenstam to be her last. She is looking for new projects.
If you look at it this way, Benny and Björn have reason to be excited about the result of the competition between their girls. Because even when Agnetha doesn’t manage to outcompete Frida in her singing career, there is always the possibility that Hollywood will call on her!

Pop Rocky, 1983: Girl talk with Agnetha: “I would love to get married again...”

With the catchy tune ‘The Heat Is On’, the solo career of ABBA singer Agnetha (33) has started successfully – but privately she isn’t that happy...

The uptempo caribbean song ‘The Heat Is On’ is storming the charts worldwide – not least because it sounds a lot like ABBA. Was that on purpose?
Agnetha: “With ABBA, I have the clearer voice that is less capable of modulation. That’s why I am much more identifiable as an ABBA member than Frida. Apart from that, I didn’t want to seek a contrast to the ABBA sound – like Frida did. I like all ABBA songs. On my solo album, I don’t feel the need to bray out everything that wasn’t possible in the ABBA framework.”
What do your ABBA colleagues think about your album?
Agnetha: “Benny and Björn think it’s a good album. Both of them have had a peek into the studio every now and then and they witnessed the emergence of the project. I can’t say anything about Frida, because I haven’t seen her since she is living in London.”
Will you pursue your solo career as intensively as Frida, who can be seen often on the televison screens and is even planning a tour?
Agnetha: “Oh no, that just isn’t possible in my case. First of all because of my two children, who are far more important to me than any kind of professional success. And secondly, because of my fear of flying. Ever since we ended up in a storm during a flight on a private plane with ABBA and we were out of radio contact for half an hour, I have a panicky fear of flying. That’s why I made my promotional trip to England by bus, for instance. But this takes an enormous amount of time.”
What about the rumour that Mauricio de Angeli of the Oliver Onions – who have written a song for you – is your new boyfriend?
Agnetha: “No, that’s absolute nonsense. That was made up by Swedish newspapers, that saw us having dinner together and photographed us at that occasion.”
Is there a new man in your life?
Agnetha: “No, I live alone with my two children, as I have been doing. It’s not that easy for a woman like me to get to know someone. I wouldn’t want another musician, and I barely meet other men. But I would love to get married again. I’m not the kind of person that could live alone eternally.”
Did the divorce from Björn cause any scars?
Agnetha: “I wasn’t the one who left, but he was. I believe that would leave scars with any wife.”
What are your further plans?
Agnetha: “First of all, I’m having a holiday in Sweden – spending time outdoors with the children. On August 19, my first movie will have its premiere in Stockholm. I’m very excited about that. I don’t know yet what’s going to happen after that.”
Do you think that both male ABBA members will record solo albums as well?
Agnetha: “No, they are working on their musical like before. They don’t have any time for that.”
What do you think about ABBA’s future?
Agnetha: “I wouldn’t be surprised if there will be another ABBA album at some point in the future. But there are no definite plans.”
Don’t you think that your answer must be very depressing for ABBA fans?
Agnetha: “I can understand that. But the situation at the moment is simply the way that I described it.”

Panorama, June 1983: Agnetha: no time for ABBA anymore

Agnetha interviewed by Dutch magazine Panorama, during her promotional visit to Holland in 1983.
Agnetha has shaken off ABBA. Her own career is taking full precedence. Success seems to be assured in advance. However, ‘Europe’s sexiest bottom’ – her nickname in the American press – is not without problems. Fear of flying, the care for her children, the unknown destiny of the Swedish super group, the ongoing gossip and her own fear of failure are the most difficult obstacles on her path, that might lead her to Hollywood.

Everyone in the RAI Congress Centre in Amsterdam is fed up. The stars of the television gala 100 years ANWB are peeved, because the rehearsals aren’t running very smoothly. “If I had known this in advance...,” Julien Clerc sighs, expressing the general opinion among the artists.
The TROS TV orchestra – led by Harry van Hoof – isn’t feeling comfortable because some stars are using backing tapes. The technicians are walking around with sweaty hands, the live broadcast might be getting out of hand.
In the midst of a corny Ron Brandsteder who – together with Holland’s loveliest computer named Willy Dobbe – has been recruited to take care of the connecting chats and an impatient crowd of press hounds, there is still somebody who radiates friendliness and serenity: Agnetha Fältskog.
The blonde from ABBA has come to our country primarily to promote her single ‘The Heat Is On’. With an ultra-luxurious touring car, she met the press on the European continent the past few weeks. Travelling with the futuristic looking vehicle – that remained hidden away from curious eyes in the garage of the Sonesta hotel in the Dutch capital – is equipped with every possible convenience. Apart from a bar and a bathroom, the touring car has a complete videotheque and there are eight sleeping accommodations.
“This way of travelling is new for me,” Agnetha ascertains halfway her bus trip, “but it suits me very well. You are not bothered by waiting time at the airports and all the nervousness that goes with that and you arrive right in front of the door of your hotel. You don’t even notice that you are actually travelling. I prefer to spend my time in that bus than in this dressing room.”
After her personal manager Mary Anderson – daughter of ABBA boss Stig Anderson – has brought her a plate of vegetarian food and a cup of tea, she talks about her fear of flying while she eats. “That has been another reason for me to travel with that touring car. I can’t cope very well with flying. I always dread it.”
With the knowledge in her pocket that – due to her ABBA past – her success as a solo artist is practically guaranteed in Europe, Agnetha Fältskog (pronounced as Ageneitiea Felskoeë) has set her sights on America. ABBA has never been as successful there as they were in the rest of the world. With difficulty, only some of the compositions by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson made the top ten in the United States. However, her friend and colleague Frida (Anni-Frid Lyngstad, the dark-haired singer of the Swedish super group) suprisingly made it big on the American charts with her recently released solo album ‘Something’s Going On’.
Is there still some envy between the two ladies, about which so much has been written?
“Are you kidding? I think it’s fantastic what Frida has achieved together with Phil Collins (the producer). Her success only gives me a lot of confidence for my album. Even more so because my producer Mike Chapman (known from his work with Mud, Sweet, Suzi Quatro up till Blondie) knows the American market very well and he is very optimistic too.”

Frida is already preparing her second solo album in all silence. Even before the release of her album ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’, Agnetha is already thinking about her next project too. Therefore, ABBA seems to be on the sidetrack.
“That’s right,” she confirms in her velvety English, full of half incorrect accents. “The boys have taken on the task to write three hours of music for the musical they are going to create together with Tim Rice (Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita). This means that they won’t have any time to write songs for ABBA for the time being. I really don’t know if they ever will be up for that. Where ABBA is concerned, the future is widely open. We are not saying that we will continue, but we are not saying that it’s over either. I think that the development of our individual careers will be a deciding factor. And I know that it’s getting ever more difficult for Benny and Björn to write for ABBA. They are forced to come up with exceptionally good songs under that name. After ten busy years, that’s really a handicap for them. Everyone demands something new, something special. If they don’t deliver, then ABBA is cheap and the millionaires are only out to fill their pockets. To keep on distinguishing themselves, the boys will need more time, no matter what. According to me, being able to cope with this increasing pressure is far more imporant than for instance the internal personal relationships that leave nothing to be desired, by the way.”
Agnetha thinks it’s out of the question that the Swedish group will perform in the musical themselves. “That would be impossible for us. We would be obligated to perform night after night. None of us is keen on that. For the very reason that we didn’t want to be away from home for such a long time anymore, we decided not to go on tour anymore. We have really had our share the past few years. More than we could handle, because when we started out with ABBA, we actually only thought about making records. For me, we have always been more of a recording act than a concert attraction. Through our music and not least the promotional films, we have reached the top. The concerts in all kinds of countries were done because we wanted to meet the fans. For the moments of being on stage and feeling their support, I would want to go on tour again. That is the only reason for a tour. Opposed to that are many reasons not to do it. Like the preparations that take up a whole year and missing the children.”
She still meets Benny and Björn regularly. Delightedly, she talks about their compliments for her album, that was obviously recorded in their own Polar Music Studios in Stockholm. Agnetha has less contact with Frida since she moved to England to be able to follow the latest trends in pop music. The 33-year-old mother of Linda (10) and Christian (5) doesn’t have any similar plans.
“To England? No, if I would leave Sweden, I would move to a country with a nice climate. I feel best with the sun above my head. But I would have to give it some severe thought, if I had to pick a country. It’s nice to have sun every day, but you have to feel safe as well. That isn’t a problem in Sweden, but – apart from the weather – there are so many things that annoy me. But I don’t want to get into that. That’s purely a personal opinion. Apart from that, every country leaves something to be desired if you know it really well. The idea to move abroad won’t come up for discussion until the children are older and I will be less committed.”
Agnetha’s limited enthusiasm for her home country is partly caused by the ongoing pursuit of the gossip press. Her divorce from colleague Björn, her relationship with ice hockey star Lars- Erik Ericcson and her meanwhile cooled love for policeman Torbjörn Brander – initially the bodyguard of her children – turned Agnetha into the most important source of inspiration for all kinds of rumours and speculations. When her acting part as a pregnant woman in the Swedish movie Raskenstam was deliberately mixed up with her own life, she had enough of it.

A long letter to the editor of the biggest newspaper – Dagens Nyheter – under the device ‘know what you are reading, this is how some magazines practice their job in this country’, brought on a national discussion.
“I’m still proud of that, because more than ever people are now talking about getting back at the slanderers. It was crazy what they were writing about me. All kinds of people bothered me to ask me whether I was pregnant or not and why my boyfriend had left me.”
Fourteen years ago – when she just got back from a six month attempt to conquer Germany with her voice – Agnetha played one of the leading parts in the Swedish version of Jesus Christ Superstar. After that, there were the promotional films and ABBA – The Movie, but she didn’t get to serious acting until the filming of Raskenstam last year. The good experiences with actor and director Gunnar Helström in the movie about a national rascal that made love to every woman, has rekindled her love for acting.
“I don’t want to concentrate on just singing, but if it’s possible I want to develop as an actress as well. How the audience judges Raskenstam is just as important to me as the reception of my records. I am very curious about the reactions. I am very satisfied myself, but that isn’t saying much. But I will have to wait until its premiere after the summer. Fanny & Alexander is now very successful in the Swedish cinemas. That’s why our premiere has been postponed a couple of months. Depending on the success of Raskenstam, I will decide if I will accept other offers. There is one offer from abroad that is very interesting, but I’m not allowed to talk about it yet. I think that I can only accept an offer like that when I am believable with the people and not because I happen to be the blonde girl from ABBA.”
There’s a knock on the door. Mary is back again to take Agnetha. Doesn’t she ever get tired of this?
“I grew up in this atmosphere. My father, who managed a theatre company in Jönköping, sent me up on stage to sing at the age of six. After that, I always wanted to be a singer. And all that fuss surrounding it – like this – comes with the territory,” she smiles once more.

Popcorn, September 1983: Strong words from Agnetha – Sensational, what Agnetha Fältskog has to say about herself and ABBA...

She came fresh from her three-week-long holiday on a Swedish island, she was tanned and eager to talk: Popcorn correspondent Mathias Danneels met Agnetha Fältskog – who will introduce her new single ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’ in the TV show Wetten Daß on September 3 – in Brussels and heard astonishing things...

After Frida, you have now established yourself as a solo singer as well. Will the two of you have any desire at all to keep on working as ABBA’s ‘choir singers’?
Agnetha: “Well, for the time being it will definitely remain that way, but it certainly can’t last forever. In the meantime, each one of us is having so many own ideas and interests. For instance, I’ve ventured out in the acting business – the movie Raskenstam, in which I’m playing the lover of a Swedish Casanova, can actually be seen in Swedish cinemas right now. This movie making was enormously exciting and it was much more fun than filling up the empty spaces in the ABBA sound.”
Does this mean that you’ve had enough of singing with ABBA?
Agnetha: “That’s probably a little exaggerated. But I want to be able to breathe within the group as well. I experience every break from ABBA as very pleasant.”
What is bothering you about ABBA?
Agnetha: “Everyone knows how things are with us. The boys are writing the songs, they are doing all the work in the studio and they only call us when we have to sing. In the long run that’s not satisfying. Because I have a lot of good ideas as well that I can’t execute with ABBA. That’s why working on my solo album was so much fun for me, because I’ve been creatively involved from the first note to the last one.”
Do you believe that Frida thinks the same way?
Agnetha: “I can’t speak on behalf of Frida, we don’t see enough of each other for that. But either way, more than ever Frida is doing her own things too. She is working on her second album and just now she has started filming for a movie in Stockholm. It’s going to be a comedy and Frida is playing the secretary of an industrial executive. Frida as a secretary – you couldn’t even imagine a thing like that...”
No one believes that there will be live performances or a tour anymore. Can we still speak of ABBA as a group?
Agnetha: “Concerts and tours are not the trademark of a group. I have always considered ABBA more as some kind of studio band. Sure, being on stage for two hours and seeing how happy you are making the audience is wonderful. But the travelling and the separation of my children Linda and Christian, the whole stress of a tour is simply too much for me. We have worked so hard in the past ten years that you only realize afterwards that there are so many things that you have had to pass on.”
You are talking about the last ten years as if this period is over permanently...
Agnetha: “In a way, it is. I have tons of wonderful memories but I wouldn’t have the energy to do it all again. I am 33 years old now, I want to concentrate on things that are far more valuable than success.”
In hindsight, what was the most important thing for you in these ten years?
Agnetha: “Definitely the success. And that we have proved for ten years that we are creative, that we are not a one-hit-wonder. After our victory at the Eurovision Song Contest, we were not sure if we would make it. I wasn’t even confident about my voice. Actually, it’s only now – by working on my solo album – that I’m convinced that I’m able to reach a wider range than with my ABBA voice.”
What are your next goals?
Agnetha: “For me, my solo album is the first step on which many others will follow. I want to compose more myself, I don’t want to exist in the heads of the ABBA fans as just a singer. In the near future, I will work a lot in the studio. For me, that’s some kind of toy that the ABBA boys have denied me up till now...”
Will you go on tour at some point?
Agnetha: “There are no such plans. I want to be there for my children Linda and Christian permanently, I think that’s very important. In Sweden there are so many sad stories about young people who are addicted to drugs, alcohol or trying to commit suicide. When I was young, I didn’t even know what suicide was. I will do everything to raise my children with a positive attitude.”

Bravo, March 1983: ABBA ’83, more beautiful and radiant than ever

Time and time again they are pronounced dead as a group, the four Swedes whose initials turned into a worldwide trademark. But the fact that ABBA – being Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Anni-Frid (also known as Frida) – is more alive than ever is proven by the latest pictures from Stockholm. They are looking more radiant and beautiful than ever.
Although privately the two boys and the two girls are going separate ways after their divorces, and although all four of them are having solo projects on the side, when it comes to ABBA as a group they are fully committed.
Like recently for the British television programme The Late, Late Breakfast Show wherein Agnetha, Frida, Björn and Benny were ‘cabled’ onto the British television screens via a live set-up from a studio in Stockholm.
For anyone who hasn’t grasped the intention yet: more and more ABBA is going down the path of a studio group. They won’t have anything to do with touring anymore.
Benny and Björn: “Only the preparations are taking up a year of our time already and therefore we will have to pass on a new album. That’s why we’ve always decided against a tour up till now.”

And Frida admits: “To be on stage is really a tremendous feeling. But we all have our families that we don’t want to be separated from for such a long time. Benny and Björn are having small children at home. Apart from that, every day a different hotel room, packing suitcases and waiting at airports is just too stressful for me.”
For 1983, the decision about new activities has been made already. A new album will probably be released in the autumn, perhaps accompanied by a big television special in the style of the American Dick Cavett Show, wherein the four Swedes chatted extensively about their job and their private lives in 1981.
Still this spring, Agnetha’s solo material should be crossing shop counters. Only Frida is still keeping her fans in suspense. In London, her new place of residence, she is thinking about a second album with Phil Collins. But the course of action has not been determined yet.

Story, 1983: ABBA’s goodbye to the rich life

The end of ABBA is now definitely in sight. They had barely dealt with their personal problems when the group had to face a major financial setback. Recently, the news became public that the ABBA concern has made a practically insurmountable loss of 20 million Dutch guilders.

The ABBA fairytale is over. The love that tied the quartet together in two pairs was long gone already and now that a financial setback of about 20 million Dutch guilders has made the ABBA empire waver, the rich years of love, success and money seem to be over permanently. The four musicians and their manager have made a substantial loss on a business transaction through their real estate company called Kuben and the ABBA members have to make up for this loss of 20 million out of their own pocket. Only the dark-haired Frida isn’t losing any sleep over this, because apparently she sensed the catastrophe and sold her Kuben shares just in time. Apart from that, she moved from Stockholm to London a while later, where the tax environment is much milder.
“And because I want to concentrate primarily on my solo career at the moment, I thought it would be better to distance myself from ABBA and everything that goes with it,” is what Frida told Story a couple of months ago about her move to England. This was probably a wise decision because on a musical level things aren’t going well with ABBA either. Björn and Benny may still work from nine to five every day at the office of their own recording studio Polar Music, but a new single – let alone a new album – still hasn’t appeared yet. But they are planning to release some kind of ABBA compilation album in the spring of 1984 that – according to manager Stig Anderson (51) – will achieve gold status within a matter of time.

“Concerts and new records or not, ABBA is still the most popular group in the world and their records are selling like hotcakes,” according to Stig who also introduced ‘his’ quartet into the world of the big money. For instance, ABBA invested 6 million in a supermarket, 15 million in a multi-storey car park, 15 million in a shopping mall, 10 million in recording studio, 20 million in a luxurious hotel, 8 million in a gasoline depository with a motor car paint shop and 150 million in a warehouse chain. And in many Swedish warehouses trousers, shirts, blouses and socks of the brand ABBA can be found. But there are ABBA books and magazines as well. All in all, the ABBA concern – with a turnover of 180 million Dutch guilders per year – is one of the biggest companies in Sweden. And when Agnetha, Frida, Benny and Björn were invited to a gala dinner with Queen Silvia and King Carl Gustaf in 1979, it was rumoured that the ABBA members had more money than the Swedish royalty. Still Benny insisted to the Swedish press recently: “Money doesn’t mean much to me. I think it’s much more fun to create great music than make a lot of money. When I get up in the morning in a bad mood, it disappears right away when I sit down at the piano. I could live without wealth, but I would die without music.”

But Stig Anderson, who has become a very wealthy man thanks to ABBA, has a different opinion about the matter: “You have to regard music as a consumer article, just like bread and butter. People can hardly live without it. It would be silly if you wouldn’t take advantage of that. If they want music, they are going to get it. ABBA will see to that. In my office there is a sign that says: ‘Everybody talks about money. We don’t. We make it.’ And underneath that I should actually write: ‘And we know how to deal with it as well.’ And that’s the truth, because I turned Benny, Björn, Frida and Agnetha not only into stars but into entrepreneurs as well. And it’s fine by me if the people know that.” It wasn’t a coincidence that Stig wrote the worldwide hit ‘Money, Money, Money’ for ABBA.
Of course it’s true that the four ABBA members owe a lot to Stig both on a musical and on a business level, but he forgets to mention that he has made enormous financial miscalculations as well. For instance, with money from the ABBA concern he bought lithographs by Marc Chagall amounting to 4,5 million Dutch guilders. Unfortunately they turned out to be fake. Gone 4,5 million!
A couple of months later he lost 2 million Dutch guilders in the oil business. That money was coming from the ABBA company as well. At the time, the concern still had enough financial means to cover the losses. But this was different when it turned out recently that Kuben had made a loss of 20 (!) million Dutch guilders. Now Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Stig will have to lend a hand themselves. None of them wanted to comment on the matter.
Only Frida who – like we said earlier – doesn’t have any interests in Kuben any longer, said openly: “These financial setbacks and our personal problems are causing the group to fall apart, slowly but surely. I started a solo career and I moved to London. I’ve said goodbye to ABBA already. Agnetha, Benny and Björn aren’t able to do that yet. But in the near future they will have to realize as well that the fairytale of ABBA is over!”

Pop Rocky, 1983: Agnetha’s musical ‘youth sins’!

There’s a turmoil surrounding ABBA sweetheart Agnetha! Everywhere, her album ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’ (including the hit single ‘The Heat Is On’) is celebrated as her first solo album. But Pop Rocky found out that this isn’t true at all! Since many years, Agnetha Fältskog has been running a flourishing business in her home country Sweden with Swedish language solo albums.
Already back in 1968, Agnetha’s first solo single was released: ‘Jag Var Så Kär’ (‘I Was So In Love’). The record reached number one in the Swedish charts. At the time, ABBA had only just been founded and they only performed under the name Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid. When ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton in 1974 with ‘Waterloo’ and launched an international career, that hasn’t met its equal yet, Agnetha had already released five solo albums on the Swedish market. All of them were very successful in her home country.
But later on, Agnetha still didn’t give up on her Swedish career. For instance, in 1980 ‘Nu Tändas Tusen Juleljus’ was released, an album with Swedish Christmas songs, sung by Agnetha and her daughter Linda.
However, anyone who hasn’t got any of the eight Swedish Agnetha albums in his record collection doesn’t miss out on much. Most of these recordings contain very little of the brilliancy and fire of the ABBA recordings.
In any case, none of the old Agnetha albums is able to compete with her current super album ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’! Is that the reason why ABBA’s German fans weren’t allowed to get acquainted with Agnetha’s eight ‘youth sins’?

These are Agnetha’s musical ‘youth sins’.
‘Agnetha Fältskog’ (released 1968). A lot of schlager and very little sound – her first hit single ‘Jag Var Så Kär’ is included as well. And the record cover speaks of a “natural talent, especially evident due to her self written compositions.”
‘Agnetha Fältskog Vol. 2’ (released 1969). A slightly better effort, but still very schlagerish. However, ABBA technician Michael Tretow is already managing the mixing console here. Good voice, all is well.
‘Som Jag Är’ (‘As I Am’, released 1971). Sweetheart Agnetha is competing with an orchestra. Her future husband Björn is involved as an arranger and ABBA manager Stig Anderson is trying his hands on some lyrics. Hideous.
‘Agnetha’ (released 1971). Now it’s gradually getting ABBA-like – fun arrangements and a couple of backing choirs. Björn is already collaborating on the lyrics industriously.
‘Agnetha Fältskog’s Bästa’ (‘The Best Of...’, released 1973). See the previous four albums.
‘Elva Kvinnor I Ett Hus’ (‘Eleven Women In One House’, released 1975). A Swedish language version of the ABBA hit ‘SOS’ – sung by Agnetha – is included. And all other ABBA members are collaborating as musicians. It can almost be considered as a Swedish language ABBA album.
‘Tio År Med Agnetha’ (‘Ten Years With Agnetha’, released 1979). A compilation album of Agnetha’s best ‘youth sins’! But Agnetha is simply better with ABBA.
‘Nu Tändas Tusen Juleljus’ (‘Now A Thousand Candles Are Being Lit’, released 1980). Christmas with Agnetha and her daughter Linda! Most of these Christmas songs are unknown in our country. Sounds like an ABBA album with Mickey Mouse voices.

Hitkrant, February 1983: ABBA has not reached the finishing line yet - “Persevere until people in the jungle are whistling our songs”

An article from Dutch magazine Hitkrant about ABBA’s ambitions for the future.
“I remain a dreamer, no matter how high on the stepladder I stand. Only after each mountain top is overcome, the vision broadens again.” Or the ABBA philosophy in a nutshell. Björn doesn’t ask himself the question whether it’s possible to reach even higher after a long string of hit singles. “An artist has to keep on looking for challenges. If necessary, create them himself. The musical that we’re working on at the moment is a good example of that.”

The word ‘discipline’ is not often used anymore in our time. Still, strict agreements and an exceptional devotion are the only way to survive for ABBA as well. Björn and Benny look each other up every working day and work on new material non stop for six hours. After a first rough concept, both gentlemen withdraw to take a little off the edges and fine-tune the end result into a unique masterpiece. Can it still be done, ten years after their first success?
“Indeed, it’s getting more difficult to put songs together,” Björn admits wholeheartedly. “After such a long time, it’s inevitable that you get the feeling that you’ve said everything there is to say. Every sentence that I write down, even the most personal revelations, inevitably remind me of earlier work. An iron writing discipline is the only way to escape that. Inspiration for fifteen years of songs can’t be found in a bottle. It has to come from the inside, from your own heart. Otherwise, it’s practically worthless. Even when there’s a day that things don’t run very smoothly, holding on is the message.”
Despite the fact that the criticism on the Swedish foursome was very severe after their almost legendary Eurovision victory, Björn still regards ‘Waterloo’ as one of the most important chapters from ABBA’s collected work. Still, change forces itself upon a person, in order to keep the craft interesting.
“A dream that I’ve been cherishing for a long time, is now starting to become reality,” Björn smiles mysteriously. “Together with Benny, I’ve travelled to London a couple of times to discuss the plans for a musical with Tim Rice. We’ve wanted to do that for a long time, but it could never be done because we were too busy. Tim is the man behind huge successes like ‘Evita’ and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you more about it at this stage. The negotiations about the production and the casting are still taking place. Only when it comes to the musical part, Benny and I are having a clear vision.”

The areas in which ABBA operates are being expanded every year. Regularly, this concerned risky investments that threatened the future of the group in the past. Frida has moved to London permanently, Agnetha is going to work with Blondie-producer Mike Chapman and possibly star in a movie. It’s possible that the plans surrounding the musical are not final yet, but it’s widely known that both ABBA-singers would love to get up on stage again. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if the leading parts would be assigned to Frida and Agnetha. Despite the successful sales figures, Björn regrets the fact that he will have to miss the contact with the fans for even longer. Isn’t it high time to defrost the touring plans?
“It’s of the utmost importance that you are able to see the faces of the people that you’re ultimately doing all this for. Crying or smiling – it doesn’t matter – but you have to see them. One look at the charts leaves me contented, but artistic gratification is a different matter. I doubt that we will go on tour again before 1984, but I do want to get through to even more people. If something like a record player exists in the jungle, an ABBA-single must be put under the needle. That would be the ultimate goal. Only recently, I was watching Russian television. A programme from the barren East of the Soviet Union. On the screen, a couple of youngsters with some ragged amplifiers, but they did play one of our songs!”

Pop Foto, February 1983: Agnetha was being seduced by the producer of Dallas

An article from Dutch Pop Foto magazine about Agnetha’s activities outside the ABBA-frame: the Swedish movie Raskenstam in which she played a leading part and her soon to be released first international solo album. The ABBA-poster included here comes from the same magazine.
She’s very good at singing. There’s no doubt about that. But Agnetha wants more. Acting, for example. Therefore, she didn’t hesitate for a second when the producer of Dallas offered her a fantastic part.

There’s no harm in trying everything in life. And even though you have numerous hits credited to your name, and you are really world-famous, even then it’s never too late to try something completely different. ABBA’s Agnetha thinks exactly the same about that and accepted a part in a Swedish movie.
“In the beginning, it wasn’t particularly easy,” the blonde singer explains candidly. “To be good at acting, you have to be able to enter into your part. And coincidentally, the character that I’m playing isn’t like me at all. In the movie, I am Lisa, the sweet and innocent daughter of a poor fisherman. The story is set in the forties. In that time, a notorious womanizer was living in Sweden, named Raskenstam. This Casanova has seduced at least 120 women. Inconceivable, isn’t it?” Agnetha bursts into a laugh, before she continues. “Gunnar Hellström, a well-known Swedish director and actor, thought this story was so remarkable that he’d love to make a movie about it. Gunnar has become very famous as the producer of Dallas. He’s playing the part of Raskenstam himself and he is my co-actor. As one of the many women, I’m seduced by him as well. So there’s no lack of romantic scenes.” Agnetha winks naughtily.
“Because the entire movie is being made in the style of the forties, I’m dressed in a terribly outdated way! When I saw myself in the mirror, I couldn’t stop laughing for ten minutes. No, it doesn’t look good on me at all! But oh well, you get used to everything and in the end I didn’t even change my clothes anymore when I had to run an errand in between. It really was a magnificent experience,” she says enthusiastically. “I’m very curious whether the movie will be a success, and whether I will be a accepted as a movie star. But my fans won’t have to worry that I’ll say goodbye to music,” she continues reassuringly. “At the moment, I’m very busy with an album that will most probably be released this spring. Michael Chapman is producing the record. He is very good, because he recorded several hits with Smokie, The Sweet and Suzi Quatro. As you can see, I’m not resting on my laurels. And I’m definitely not planning to do that in the time coming. Michael sees me as a challenge. He wants to do his job equally well as Phil Collins, who produced Anni-Frid’s album so masterfully. So he won’t be lacking in dedication, and where I’m concerned, well, I’m not in the studio for the first time either. No, I am really very confident about it all. It’s going to be splendid!”

Hitkrant, 1983: Wrap Your Arms Around Me album review

Agnetha’s first English-language solo album Wrap Your Arms Around Me reviewed in Dutch magazine Hitkrant. Included here is a promotional postcard from 1983.
Agnetha Fältskog/’Wrap Your Arms Around Me’/Polydor 813 242-1
The blonde ABBA-singer really let herself go completely on her first English-language solo album: free from ABBA, musically as well, although the closing track on its B-side, “Stand By My Side”, comes close.
Furthermore, very diverse music, obviously because of all those different songwriters.
Mike Chapman produced the album very accurately, although he did use his complete studio trickery, which resulted in a perfectly produced and executed album, with “Once Burned, Twice Shy”, “Can’t Shake Loose” and “Take Good Care Of Your Children” as my favourites.

Hitkrant, November 1983: Financial miscalculation was threatening ABBA

An article from Dutch magazine Hitkrant about ABBA’s financial mishap in 1983. The article gives the impression that Stig was still very much in control of ABBA’s activities. There's even talk of a new ABBA-album to be recorded out of the leftovers from the Chess sessions. In reality, the four members were going their own way. The poster included here comes from a 1981 Hitkrant magazine.
Is ABBA broke? Have the wrong financial investments that the newspapers couldn’t stop writing about the past few weeks sealed the group’s fate? There’s someone who has the answer to these questions and recently that someone stopped over in Holland for reasons unknown: the ‘father of ABBA’, super-manager Stig Anderson. We had an exclusive interview with him, in which Stig revealed what’s going on with ABBA. Indeed, gigantic financial setbacks, but for the time being Agnetha, Frida, Björn and Benny are still making a very decent living.

Let’s take a moment to explain how the gigantic ABBA-enterprise is set up: the company that manages the finances and works with the capital by buying shares and investing money in all sorts of projects is called Polar Music Invest. That company has three subsidiaries: Badhus, that deals in real estate, Infina, that engages in the territory of stocks and bonds and Kuben, that has the manufacturing of bicycles by subsidiary Monark as its main activity. And Kuben fell flat.

The bicycles weren’t sufficient and last year Kuben started to get more and more in debt by speculating on the oil market with borrowed money. As it turned out, it has brought Kuben on the verge of bankruptcy; the trading company Aritmos is willing to cover for the loss of 40 million Dutch guilders, but then they will have to get control over the company as well.
ABBA has 53 percent of the shares and will have to sell due to this oil fiasco. “Indeed, it has cost us a lot of money,” Stig Anderson explains, “but not to the point that we would go bankrupt. However, it’s true that at a certain point we didn’t know anymore what to do with all those millions pouring in from record sales and publishing rights; just for fun we started investing in all kinds of things. Soon, Frida and Agnetha weren’t very interested in that anymore, they didn’t understand it that well either. That’s when they sold their shares, which left Benny, Björn and me with 24 percent of the Kuben shares. Well, they are now worth about half as much.”

ABBA’s capital is estimated at 200 million Dutch guilders and that gigantic amount is caught up in all kinds of businesses. “We own supermarkets, financing companies, recording studios and several music publishing companies. Polar Music Invest is now completely separated from Polar Music International and in that last company it’s all about music. If ABBA would break up today, millions would still be pouring in from the publishing rights for the next fifty years,” Stig Anderson states.
But Aritmos is now willing to make up for Kuben’s loss, but in return they want to get hold of shares in Polar Music: ABBA would have to give up 21 percent of Polar Music. And it remains to be seen if it will all work out: there are so many different interests involved that it seems like an indissoluble knot.

“But ABBA is definitely not dead,” Stig says. “We couldn’t go on for a while; last year I had to take precautions to keep the group together. Benny and Björn finally wanted to write a musical; that would take them two years and I have given them that time. Meanwhile, I’ve put Frida and Agnetha on their solo projects and as you know: with success. Agnetha is going to do a promotional tour around the world and next month Frida will get into the studio again with Phil Collins for her next solo album.”
“Benny and Björn are almost finished with the musical and there are a lot of songs left, that could be extremely well-suited for ABBA; an album will be compiled from those songs. So there’s definitely more ABBA-music to be heard! The musical will have its premiere at Broadway, but ABBA will not appear in it, because a successful musical is on stage for ten years and do you see ABBA performing on Broadway for ten years?”
So there are major financial setbacks, but still enough plans. And as long as Benny, Björn, Agnetha and Frida occupy themselves with their music, it all seems to be serene!

Hitkrant, September 1983: ABBA-separation is coming

A 1983 article from Dutch magazine Hitkrant, announcing the impending end of ABBA.
It’s getting more and more final: in a short interview that ABBA’s Agnetha gave during a performance for German television, she said that she would most definitely choose to pursue a solo career. That would mean the break-up of ABBA, but there are some matters that need to be considered: Agnetha will have to be bought out.
That will take a lot of money and since ABBA has had to cope with a considerable financial loss at the moment due to a certain investment that went wrong, it won’t be that easy to buy Agnetha out. Frida has sold her ABBA-shares, just in time before the financial disaster.
But thankfully there’s also some good news to report from the ABBA-camp: last week, Agnetha officially got engaged to police inspector Torbjörn Brander. He is forty years old and the couple was living together for a while already.
Furthermore, it seems that there will be one more ABBA-album, but after that it looks like the world’s most popular group will come to an end.
Benny and Björn’s musical is about to be released; the pair has put the finishing touch to their childhood dream in London.

Hitkrant, May 1983: ABBA only in the studio from now on

A 1983 article from Dutch magazine Hitkrant informing us that ABBA would not be seen outside of the recording studio any longer. In hindsight, they would not be seen together inside of the recording studio either.
The decision has been made. The ABBA-members Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Frida – and not forgetting the ABBA-empire headed by Stig Anderson – will not appear on stage anymore from now on. While there were still tentative plans for a tour last year, now it’s definitely out of the question, just like all other performances. ABBA will only get together in the recording studio from now on.

Frida regarding this decision: “Don’t get us wrong: all four of us think it’s just wonderful to get up on stage and get in contact with our audience through our music. But it just isn’t possible any longer. We all have our families, the boys both have young children at home and we think the long separations from them, while being on tour, are not acceptable anymore.”

But although all ABBA-members are going their own way at the moment, for the time being the group ABBA will stay together. Only: they won’t be seen together officially anymore outside of the recording studio. Also, the separate solo activities of the four ABBA-members have been the cause of the group’s decision to stop performing.
Björn: “It takes at least a year of preparation to go on tour and that means you can’t record an album during that time. Then you have to choose.”
ABBA may have decided not to appear on stage again, the rumours claiming that the group won’t last for much longer are definitely not true. ABBA goes on!

Hitkrant, January 1983: "Nuclear weapons must be fought by all means"

This article was printed in Dutch magazine Hitkrant in 1983. It's quite obvious that it was published during the time that the cold war was still in full swing.
With every hour that passes, she’s gaining a small fortune. After ten years of ABBA, she doesn’t even know how much money is in her bank account. She is worshipped by millions of fans and gets hundreds of marriage proposals on a daily basis. Every dream she had as a teenager became reality. But still Agnetha refuses to alienate from the world she’s living in. She is very well aware of the current problems and is prepared to do her bit to help matters.

“What’s the use of all that money when there won’t be a future anymore for our children,” she says. “Very often I think about the nuclear armament and the impending danger of an all-destructive war. The politicians are playing a dangerous game and I think everyone should raise their voice to that. I’m a member of several peace movements and I attend their meetings on a regular basis. Only recently, I walked along in a demonstration in Stockholm. It was very moving. All participants joined hands and formed a human chain of five kilometres between the Russian and the American embassy. I was extremely proud of this initiative. I’m convinced that it will lead to results as well. Politicians are out to get votes and that’s why they pay attention to the masses. The more we show our discontent in public, the more chances we have to succeed. After all, it’s about our life and our children’s future.”

Agnetha’s social awareness reaches even further. She’s also an active member of a couple of anti-alcohol and anti-drugs associations.
“I make television commercials for these campaigns that are broadcast by Swedish television,” according to Agnetha. “Due to the imminent conflicts in the world and the crisis, the hope of the youngsters is severely damaged and they are looking for an escape in booze and drugs. That’s what I call pure self-destruction. It’s almost as bad as the nuclear bomb! The associations that I’ve joined up with, want to educate the adolescents about the fact that drugs and alcohol will not bring a solution, on the contrary. Obviously, I make use of my popularity to support these movements. I just think it’s my duty. After all, I have all those people to thank for my wealth and my success. But that’s not all. My own life is at stake as well and I want a better world for my children. If everyone would think the same about that, the world would rapidly be a lot better and more beautiful place.”

Pop Foto, 1983: "You never create a hit on your own!"

A 1983 article from Dutch magazine Pop Foto about Agnetha's then recently released solo album Wrap Your Arms Around Me.
“I knew beforehand that my album would be compared to Frida’s successful album,” Agnetha says about her recently released solo album. She told Pop Foto why she still dared to take that gamble...

With cheeks blushing with anticipation, Agnetha listens to the first mix of ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’. Mike Chapman, the composer of this monster-hit and also the producer of her solo album with the same title, watches matters smilingly. He’s very proud of this successful album, that everybody has been waiting for eagerly. Still, this isn’t Agnetha’s first album. On the contrary! Before ABBA even existed, the – then very young – blonde singer was already very well-known in Sweden. She recorded no less than 6 (!) albums, one of them even produced by herself!
“That doesn’t take away from the fact that this album, my first album in English, was very important to me,” Agnetha says without hesitation. “Because you can bet that it’s terrifying to come up with a solo album after the success of ABBA. I also knew beforehand that people would compare my album to Frida’s. But either way, I do love a good challenge every now and then, hahaha!”
That the album eventually became such a huge success, is for the most part thanks to Mike Chapman, a man who already has an extensive string of hits credited to his name. Mike was what you could call ‘the big man’ behind the number one hits of Smokie, Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Exile, Mud, Blondie, Tony Basil, and we could continue like this for half an hour.
“I used the group Smokie as backing vocalists for Agnetha’s album. Four or five years ago, Smokie was an extremely popular band. You might remember songs like ‘Needles And Pins’, ‘Oh Carol’ or ‘Living Next Door To Alice’. Agnetha has always been one of their biggest fans, and when I told her about my plans, she immediately was very enthusiastic. Obviously, the boys of Smokie were very honoured.”
“It shows once again,” the blonde singer says softly, while looking at Mike gratefully, “you don’t create a hit on your own!”

Hitkrant, August 1983: Who wants to love Agnetha?

Several ABBA-fans have watched proceedings with concern after both divorces within the group. But it really didn’t work anymore and especially the divorce between Agnetha and Björn had been a long time coming; there wasn’t a normal married life anymore and it was inevitable that the once so happy couple would separate. But Agnetha still suffered a great deal because of it. She became very depressed and once in a while she felt terribly lonely. Of course, she met new acquaintances and there have been a few short love affairs as well, but it all remained incomplete.
“In those days, I’ve often wondered in desperation: who wants to love me,” the blonde ABBA-star says. “But I’m back on top now and I’m looking at the future with confidence. Because now I have someone who loves me!”

“I didn’t choose the title of my album out of the blue: ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’. Since shortly, I once again know how it feels when someone does that when you need it. Something like that, such a simple gesture, means a great deal to me: to hide away with someone, to feel safe. It enables you to keep on going.”
And because of Agnetha’s new love, she indeed became the old Agnetha again: cheerful, all smiles and full of energy. Her album is mirroring that in every respect and although it’s clear to see that the blonde singer isn’t in her twenties anymore, she’s looking younger than ever and she’s beaming with self-confidence: “A new life has started for me, that’s how you can put it. Somebody loves Agnetha again.”