1988: The new Agnetha – Beautiful like Madonna

The blonde hair cut short, bare shoulders, the arms under her chin: Agnetha Fältskog is looking sexier than ever with her 37 years. “I really like the new look, although I was sceptical at first,” she says herself. With her new album, the once somewhat plain looking lead singer of the Swedish mega quartet ABBA, presents herself with a brand new look!
For that matter, behind the new Agnetha are the men that look after Madonna as well:
Alberto Tolot, Madonna’s official and personal photographer. Now he photographed Agnetha for the album cover. Beautiful and sensual.
Peter Zavic, Madonna’s make-up artist and hairdresser. He created the new look and hairdo.
Bruce Gaitsch, he wrote the hit ‘La Isla Bonita’ for Madonna. He worked for Agnetha as a co-producer, guitarist, keyboard and synthesizer player.
But the most important man behind the new album ‘I Stand Alone’ is without a doubt the former Chicago musician Peter Cetera, who enjoyed enormous successes as a solo artist recently (‘Glory Of Love’, ‘The Next Time I Fall’). Peter first met Agnetha in Stockholm two years ago, when both of them performed at a benefit concert for the Red Cross. They got along with each other instantly.
Peter Cetera at the time: “I’ve always wanted to produce a record with you!” Up till then, Agnetha had sold more than 100 million records with ABBA and her two solo albums. Agnetha Fältskog: “I don’t think highly of these long range plans and ramblings about ‘we should do something at some point’. That’s why I was really surprised when Peter called me from the USA and we kept talking about a new album on the phone over and over again.”
It took three months and hundreds of dollars spent on phone calls, before Peter came up with a couple of concrete song suggestions, that he brought to Stockholm. Subsequently, both of them went to David Foster’s studio in California, where Peter’s talent to find hits and Agnetha’s unmistakable feeling for the best songs caused for creative sparks to fly.
Agnetha: “I was finally able to bring my interest in Latin music to the table.” The songwriters – apart from Peter and Bruce Gaitsch – are all top-class: Albert Hammond, Peter Brown. For ‘I Wasn’t The One (Who Said Goodbye)’, Agnetha and Peter Cetera were both sharing the studio microphone.
Agnetha Fältskog: “Working with Peter was truly wonderful. He polished the vocals carefully, very insightful and always with incorruptible ears. It has been a big challenge for me, especially because he has always liked my music and I wanted to live up to his standards. For the future, I can only wish for more challenges like this.”

Veronica, February 1988: Agnetha Fältskog, the ice queen stands alone

After the split up of the immensely popular group ABBA, the four former members have all gone their separate ways: Björn and Benny were off to London where they – among other things – composed the music for the musical Chess, Frida worked with Phil Collins and chose to live in Majorca, but Agnetha preferred to stay in Sweden more than anything. For over twenty years, she has been a popular appearance in her home country or, as she herself puts it: “People see me as a logical part of the inventory, so that I can shop without being bothered in Stockholm.”

In reality, the ‘cool blonde of ABBA’ is a friendly, but reserved woman. She has an aura of self-confidence around her, that vanishes for a moment when she expresses that she won’t talk about a certain subject. “After all those busy years, I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to execute projects well considered. Ever since I was five years old, I’ve been busy playing piano and composing, followed by performing with a dance orchestra, a solo career and of course ABBA. The device has always been ‘selling yourself’, but that takes the backseat now. Added to that, I don’t like touring, it takes a lot of energy to be in different cities at different times. My two children were born during the ABBA period and in between proceedings I had to raise them. Now I’m able to spend all my time on them and in between I can compose and produce.”

Although she has released several albums in the past with her own Swedish compositions, on the new English-language album ‘I Stand Alone’ she went for songs written by Peter Cetera, former singer of Chicago. Agnetha met him at a special Unicef gala, an organization that she supports actively. After a couple of months of international phone calls, it was decided to record the album in Malibu, California.
“In one word, it was inspiring, if only because we were working with renowned studio musicians such as Robbie Buchanan and Paulinho da Costa. I’ve been a fan of Peter for a long time... his voice, compositions... I don’t think I would describe the lyrics on this album as melancholic, no, rather a collection of love songs with a bit of tragedy. Peter had written about thirty songs, out of which I made a selection. What appeals to me the most is the power that the songs express, the music sounds strong and danceable. The most difficult moment was when I went back home after five weeks and the demo tape was sent to me later on. I knew what to expect, but I was still tensed. I’ve listened to the album quite a lot since then and I believe that we achieved the result that we aimed for.”

It remains a question what the aimed result is. On the whole, ‘I Stand Alone’ is a solid, well produced album, tailor made for the American market. The result is an accomplished product, but here and there it lacks the sorely needed emotion. The criticism pales compared to the success: the album has been number one in Sweden for several weeks and has been received well in several countries. Just like every aspect of the presentation, a lot of attention has been paid to the accompanying videos as well. Director Marcello Anziano, responsible for a couple of colourful Peter Gabriel videos, filmed the videos for ‘The Last Time’ and ‘I Wasn’t The One (Who Said Goodbye)’. We ask Agnetha the question if it isn’t difficult to keep up visually with the youthful, good looking artists of today. “Obviously, my approach is completely different. I don’t want to look like a sixteen-year-old, but like the mature woman that I am. Indeed, I believe that it’s more difficult for an older artist to create some kind of video image. For me, the album and the video have the same quality standard.”
Her little son Christian enters the room. She looks aside for a moment. “It’s only logical for me that I’m living in Sweden, it’s my country! I feel at ease here, I enjoy the environment, I have my children around me... Okay, the climate is bad but you have to take the bitter with the sweet. I also think it has to do with some kind of balance, after having gone through different stages: solo career, ABBA, and subsequently a solo career again. Sweden determines by background, just like all those stages influence your voice and spirit. If my cool voice is a reflection of my character? Oh well, I think it has to do with experience, that you know what you can do with your voice. That doesn’t take away from the fact that I still have to work hard to keep my voice in shape.”

Hitkrant, 1988: I Stand Alone album review / I Wasn't The One (Who Said Goodbye) single review

Agnetha’s album I Stand Alone and single I Wasn’t The One (Who Said Goodbye) reviewed in Dutch magazine Hitkrant in 1988. Although none of the album’s singles reached the Dutch top 40, the album itself did reasonably well, peaking at number 22 on the album charts.
Agnetha Fältskog ‘I Stand Alone’ WEA
Agnetha Fältskog’s first two solo albums after ABBA’s split were somewhat disappointing, but with ‘I Stand Alone’ the singer lashes out forcefully. Obviously, producer Peter Cetera plays an important part in that. Together with Bruce Gaitsch (co-writer of Madonna’s ‘La Isla Bonita’), Peter has provided the album with a refreshing pop sound. The songs are sometimes swinging, sometimes wavering, but always current and fresh. Let’s hope that ‘I Wasn’t The One’ will be released as a single, after ‘The Last Time’. A slow duet with Peter and clearly the best song on the album.

Agnetha Fältskog ‘I Wasn’t The One’ WEA
The fact that ex-Chicago singer Peter Cetera was sitting in the producer’s chair during the recording sessions for the new album by ex-ABBA singer Agnetha Fältskog obviously made it inevitable that he would sit down behind the microphone as well, to record a sizzling duet with the blonde Swede (that’s nature!).
This is the result, a sad ballad, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Still, I expected more of the combination of top notch talents like this.

Agnetha did very little international promotion for the album. However, she was interviewed by Dutch interviewer Ivo Niehe for his television programme TV-show Op Reis which was broadcast in March 1988. The broadcast also included snippets from the The Last Time video. It turned out to be her last television interview before she withdrew from the music scene for many, many years to come. Here’s a transcript of the interview.

From what moment did you decide, when you were young, that you wanted to become a singer or an artist?
Agnetha: “That was very early, I must say. Because I started to write songs when I was five years old. And then I started with a dance band when I was fifteen. And I also composed a lot of songs during this time.”
Did your father influence you in any way?
Agnetha: “A little bit maybe, but he was in a... well, that was more local in Sweden. He was not very well-known, but he was still very good. So I think I had that inside me very early and I listened also to a lot of female singers like Connie Francis and Brenda Lee.”
During your ABBA period, you once said: ‘this way of living doesn’t allow me to be a good mother,’ since you were talking about your girl, you also have a son. Are you a better mother now than you were then?
Agnetha: “It’s always hard to combine. And I think I don’t get a better mother but I feel more relaxed and I like to be at home and to spend my days with my children. So that probably makes me a better, or at least a calmer mother, so to say.”
But what were the problems during your ABBA period in this respect. Can you tell us about it?
Agnetha: “Well, we were travelling so much around the world. I mean, we were everywhere, nearly. We went to Japan and Australia a couple of times and America. Everyone wanted us at the same time. So that was the problem.”
Yes, and being a good mother is more important to you than having a successful solo career?
Agnetha: “Yes, but sometimes you can’t choose. So I knew that I had to do it and I love it as well. And I think it’s also important that you can do this sort of job if you feel that is your life. Because that makes you a better mother if your are satisfied with your work as well. But I think it’s always hard to combine it. And when we had this enormous success with ABBA, I missed my children so much, because they were also so small by that time, so it was hard to explain for them. They didn’t understand why we were away so much.”
You’ve had a lot of problems with the gossip press. But you refused to accept that, because you even wrote a letter to the Dagens Nyheter, the most important newspaper in Sweden.
Agnetha: “Yes, that’s right. I’m impressed that you knew that.”
For what reason did you react like that?
Agnetha: “Well, I don’t want to... I mean, people look upon you as silly or stupid if they, I mean, week by week get wrong things from you. And I react because I get very angry. And I know a journalist, a very serious journalist, female, that worked for this paper. So she contacted me and then I already had written an open letter, so to say. So I gave it to her and she changed some bits and then they took it in this newspaper.”
And that was the start of a national discussion, let’s say, on the gossip press. Has your action been worth all the trouble? Did you have any results with your action against the gossip press?
Agnetha: “For a period, it was better. But now, when I have this record and I show myself more often in, you know, television and newspapers as well, because I want to talk about my record, it starts again.”
It starts all over again.
Agnetha: “Yeah, but I consequent... (in Swedish) I’m keeping a close watch. I react consistently to all articles that tell nonsense.”
It’s so nice that I’ll have to read the answer in the subtitles.
Agnetha: “It’s a bit like... it’s not very far from Holland.”
Yes, so you still get angry if you read wrong things about yourself? Things that are not true.
Agnetha: “Yes, of course, of course. I do.”
Looking back to the ABBA period, what did it bring to you. More positive or more negative things?
Agnetha: “Both positive and... maybe equal. I think more positive, really. I think we are all four very proud of what we have achieved. It was an enormous success all over the world.”
Yes, are you still in touch with each other, the four of you?
Agnetha: “Not very much. Two members have moved abroad. And I have contact of course with Björn because he’s the father to my two children.”
The price you’ve paid for everything you achieved. Wasn’t it after all a very high price? If you have the group, two divorces in one group is a lot, I think. Wasn’t it too high a price for everything you did?
Agnetha: “I don’t look upon it as a price, a bad price. Because I think that would have happened anyway, really. I mean the divorce.”
The success didn’t play an important part in there, because you were working twenty-four hours together?
Agnetha: “Oh yeah, but I don’t think it was depending on that only, no.”
Wasn’t it very difficult, because I saw you performing in Rotterdam then, that you made a world tour, even after all the problems you had, the four of you? Was it still possible to work so closely together?
Agnetha: “Yeah, we went on working together. And that also shows that that was not the problem. I mean, we liked to work together. It was very difficult sometimes, but we chose to go on a while even after the divorce. Because – I mean I can only talk for myself and Björn – we were very much agreed about our divorce.”
Do you consider yourself a privileged woman?
Agnetha: “I think you are. If you have experienced this sort of success, you get privileged because it’s easier. People know who you are. So it’s easier to come up with a new thing now than it is when you start. I mean, when no one knows you.”
The fact that you consider yourself privileged, does that mean at the same time that you consider yourself happy? Are you happy?
Agnetha: “Ehm, it’s very difficult. It changes from day to day. One day you feel very happy and the next day it’s awful. So I’m like anybody else. But most of the time I’m happy. And I think... I want to think positive. I don’t want any negative thoughts or looking back and regret things. I want to look into the future and look positive.”
Thank you very much. And your English was great today.
Agnetha: “Thank you, wasn’t it? Thank you.”

CD Magazine, 1988: Agnetha's recent CD 'I Stand Alone': new proof of her musicality

An article from a 1988 Dutch magazine, promoting the then fairly new CD format.
Agnetha Fältskog is fifteen years old when she performs for the first time with a band. Two years later, she records her first single: ‘I Was So Much In Love’ that immediately becomes her first top 10 hit. Due to that achievement, she becomes ‘Sweden’s big promise for the future’. Between 1968 and 1975 she holds that promise and she develops into a top vocalist with ABBA, a group that achieved worldwide fame.
No wonder, because one hundred million of the world’s pop-lovers bought ABBA’s hits, who have become pop-history for six years now.
But – to quote Wim Sonneveld – Agnetha couldn’t stop herself from singing and now she’s back with a new album ‘I Stand Alone’, for which she remarkably didn’t write any songs herself. About that, she says: “I set very high standards for the songs that I record and considering the short preparation time for this project, I chose other people’s songs instead of my own compositions that weren’t satisfactory yet. Apart from that, these songs strongly caught my imagination.”
This new album, produced in collaboration with Peter Cetera, an ABBA-fan who has always wanted to record something together with her, is characteristic for Cetera’s style and Agnetha’s own way of singing. Both styles are highly compatible and have undoubtedly led to a qualitative high levelled pop achievement by the charming blonde Agnetha, who after twenty successful years is far removed from leaving the pop stage.

Something that’s probably not widely known about Agnetha is that in the meantime she has recorded about eleven solo albums through the years. This new offering ‘I Stand Alone’ is her third solo project after ABBA disbanded. Apart from that, it’s her second project for WEA. And WEA thinks that all efforts have been made to turn it into a success; top producer Peter Cetera, ex-Chicago and in the meantime a successful solo artist; David Foster’s most convenient recording studio in Malibu, and a string of composers such as Albert Hammond, Peter Brown and the duo Cetera/Gaitsch. The first single has just been released and is called ‘The Last Time’.

ABBA’s definitive breakthrough came in 1974 with ‘Waterloo’, the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest, that started the ABBA-era for Agnetha, Frida, Björn and Benny. The subsequent string of high quality hit-singles turned the group into one of Sweden’s most successful ambassadors of pop-music. Agnetha has continued on that path, also after ABBA split up, with: in 1983 – ten years after her first solo album – ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’; in 1985 the album ‘Eyes Of A Woman’ and in 1987 a Swedish-language album with children’s songs that she recorded together with her son Christian. And now ‘I Stand Alone’, that is a proof of Agnetha’s musicality and success, as a solo artist as well.

Dagblad voor Noord-Limburg, July 1988: ABBA, one more time?

The rumour has surfaced once again: ABBA will reunite! Although it seems to be a one-off occasion, it will not dampen the joy of the still many admirers of this group.

The only downside is that we can’t obtain any official confirmation. Not at the Dutch record company. Not at the Swedish one. Not even at the studio where the recordings should take place.
The rumour is based on a remark that ex-ABBA-singer Agnetha Fältskog has made. Not too long ago, her third solo-album was released and on that occasion she stated that the four ABBA-members will get together this summer. All four of them would enter the recording studio. The end result would have to be ABBA’s definitive farewell-album.

Whether that album will see the light of day or not, in the meantime ABBA can be placed among the classic pop-groups. The album ‘Abbaphonic’ is proof of that, on which several top-hits by the foursome are performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from London. And that’s a tribute that’s not being paid to any musician representing popular music. The editors of Oor’s Pop Encyclopedia wrote: “The ‘ABBA-sound’, often praised, seldom abused, is often compared to the sound that The Beatles produced in the sixties. With ABBA, the limits of creativity are explored continuously as well. Unlike The Beatles, ABBA is in no way a subcultural phenomenon, though. But the group knows how to combine quality and commercial instinct in a mostly exquisite manner.”

For ABBA, the big success started with ‘Waterloo’, that gave them the victory in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton. The Dutch duo Mouth & MacNeal (Willem Duyn and Maggie MacNeal) finished second. Still, it wouldn’t be until 1975 that the real breakthrough in the charts was achieved. That happened with the single ‘SOS’.

After that, the hits kept on coming faster than the speed of light. Some of them as a reminder: ‘Fernando’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Money, Money, Money’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’, ‘Name Of The Game’, ‘Thank You For The Music’, ‘Chiquitita’, ‘Does Your Mother Know’, ‘The Winner Takes It All’, ‘Super Trouper’ and ‘The Day Before You Came’. Things couldn’t get any better for the Swedes, because this list is just a selection.
In a time span of two years, ABBA sold more records than any other group, excluding The Beatles. Even in the Soviet Union, all ABBA-albums were released. ABBA conquered the cinemas with the feature film ‘ABBA – The Movie’ and the group could be admired on television screens regularly. Notable was a special programme in 1979 for Unicef, to commemorate the Year of the Child.

In 1981, when ABBA had existed for ten years, the first rumours started circulating that the group would split up. The cause was the divorce of Benny Andersson and Frida Lyngstad. Those rumours became even stronger when the singer recorded her first solo-album produced by Phil Collins, shortly after that. Agnetha followed in her footsteps and chose another big name as her producer: Mike Chapman.
In late 1983, the time had come. The ABBA-empire was officially dissolved. The four ABBA-members didn’t sit still since then. Both singers have build a solo-career, the men Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson worked together with Tim Rice on the musical ‘Chess’, that produced hits for Elaine Paige (‘I Know Him So Well’) and Murray Head (‘One Night In Bangkok’).

A number of the biggest ABBA-successes is obviously included on the album ‘Abbaphonic’, that starts with a genuine overture, named ‘Abbature’. That’s how it goes with a classical work. In an overture, a taster is being given for the most important themes that will follow. The highlights, if you will, and in this case there are plenty of them. The arrangements emphasize once again how exceptionally beautiful the ABBA-melodies are. Like in ‘Does Your Mother Know’, that in this case has a running time of almost seven minutes, three minutes longer than the original version. ‘Money, Money, Money’ lasts much longer as well, but with ‘Chiquitita’ it’s the other way around. It now has a running time of less than three minutes, and that’s more than two minutes shorter than the original, where the piano is being used as a solo-instrument.

The album closes with a finale, just like the overture a specially composed ‘medley’ in which snippets of ABBA-hits are used that are otherwise not a part of ‘Abbaphonic’.

Hitkrant, February 1988: For my 15-year-old daughter, I have to compete with Madonna

Dutch magazine Hitkrant published this article in 1988, following the release of Agnetha's album I Stand Alone and single The Last Time.
Note the interesting spelling of Frida's name in this article: Anafried.They were called the new Beatles, and that was hardly exaggerated. Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anafried, in short ABBA, made a convincing musical mark on the seventies, as John, Paul, George and Ringo did on the sixties. Six years ago, ABBA came to an end, but Agnetha Fältskog did not let that get her down. In the meantime, she is up to her third and clearly best solo-album ‘I Stand Alone’. Reason enough for your favourite magazine to go to Stockholm for a nice conversation with a sympathetic and beautiful Swede.

We meet Agnetha in a suite on the eighth floor of the Strand Hotel in the Swedish capital. In her leather pants and trendy sweater, you would think she’s 25 years old. But Agnetha is 38 years old and her first hit in Sweden dates back to 1968, exactly 20 years ago. Does she still remember it?
“Of course,” according to Agnetha, “I was 18 years old and proud as I could be because I had written the song myself and I never could have guessed it would enter the charts. It was fantastic, because making it big in show-business was my biggest dream. I even gave up school for that. Beforehand, I didn’t know that ABBA would become as successful as it did. Anyway, I had a lot of experience already when I met up with Björn, Benny and Anafried.”
ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with ‘Waterloo’ and from then on it was clear sailing. One hit followed the other and they were famous all over the world. For Agnetha, ABBA was more than just a job. In 1971, just before the big success started, she got married to her colleague Björn. One year after that, daughter Linda was born and in 1977, son Christian was born.
“Not a very ordinary situation, of course,” Agnetha reminisces. “Björn and I were together almost day and night. On top of that, it wasn’t easy to combine ABBA with having two children. But I definitely wanted to have children. They meant and mean more to me than the success or the fame. I made sure that ABBA wouldn’t be away from home for more than a few weeks. I wanted to be a real mother.”

1982 was an important year. Not only ABBA came to an end, Agnetha and Björn’s marriage ended as well. From then on, Agnetha had to make it alone.
“Both the end of ABBA as well as my divorce were things that had to happen,” Agnetha says. “ABBA had given all they had to give and we didn’t have anything to say to each other anymore. Furthermore, we had had so much success, that we got tired of it all. We needed peace and quiet. Apparently, my marriage was tied to ABBA as well, so that had to end too. I toughened up, took care of the children and slowly I built a solo-career. The title of my album says that I survived it all. ‘I Stand Alone’ and I feel strong.”
Agnetha’s album has seen the light of day with the help of a few big names. Producers are Peter Cetera, known of Chicago and his solo-hit ‘Glory Of Love’, and Bruce Gaitsch, co-writer of Madonna’s ‘La Isla Bonita’. Another link to Madonna are the promotional pictures. They were taken by Italian Tolot, a man that has photographed Madonna a couple of times as well.
“I don’t want to be compared to Madonna at all,” according to Agnetha, “I’m much older and totally different. The fact that some of those ‘Madonna-people’ worked on my record, is pure coincidence. However, there is another connection which is much more fun. My daughter Linda is now 15 years old and crazy about Madonna. For her, I have to compete with Madonna. But I’m in luck, Linda thinks my new album isn’t half bad.” (she smiles).

TOP-10, 1988: Agnetha told me her deepest secrets

An article from Dutch magazine TOP-10 that gets some of the facts mixed up, like Björn's former group and the order of the divorces...

History tells us that American and English pop-groups stand a far better chance of making it big internationally, than Swedish. There’s only one exception: ABBA. You can hardly imagine how popular this group was 10 years ago. Agnetha was part of ABBA. TOP-10 reveals her success-story. It all begins in 1968...

Back in time. In a stuffy clubhouse in Stockholm thirteen finalists of a talent-contest are biting their nails. Agnetha Fältskog is one of them. She knows she has a good chance, because the audience’s response after her performance was deafening. But, you never know.
“I remember that day very well,” she says. “I had never been so nervous in my life. When the prize-ceremony started, I couldn’t contain myself any longer. Until the numbers three and two had been announced. Then I knew I had won, and I was so relieved.”
Her victory in that talent-contest is the start of a glorious career for Swedish Agnetha. She gets a record-deal and her first single is an immediate hit, and many others would follow even before her ABBA-time. “Actually I was very popular in Sweden,” she says, “but it got harder and harder to combine the singing with my study at drama-school.” That study came to an end permanently in 1970. “In those days I met Björn Ulvaeus and it was love at first sight,” she smiles. “On July the seventh 1971 we got married, in a small town named Verum. It was all very romantic. The media were all over us, because we were both rather well-known in Sweden. Björn had been a member of the Hep Stars, and they received eight golden records, I believe. Well, and I wasn’t exactly unknown myself...”

In the meantime ABBA had begun to take shape. A friend of Björn, Benny Andersson, and his girlfriend Annifrid formed Festfolk Quartet together with Björn and Agnetha, but their name was rapidly changed into Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida. “Rather complicated, especially for non-Swedes,” Agnetha admits. “But surprisingly our first record under that name didn’t become a hit in Sweden, but it did abroad. It was called 'She’s My Kind Of Girl' and was very popular in Japan. And I thought they had never heard of us over there...”

In 1973 the foursome enter the pre-selections for the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. “And that was it,” says Agnetha, “we were eliminated immediately.” Still the record became a substantial hit. In Holland it peaked at number five. The song was called 'Ring Ring' and had been written by Neil Sedaka. All of that is now fifteen years ago.
In 1974 Björn, Benny, Agnetha & Frida gave it another shot. “We had a song that we thought could do well, only the title was a problem. That’s why we changed 'Honey Pie' to 'Waterloo' and yes: we won. After that it all exploded. 'SOS' became a worldwide hit, and we changed our name yet again, this time to ABBA, and the life of superstardom started. In a time-span of two and a half years we sold nearly as many records as the Beatles, and that’s saying something...” Agnetha is silent for a while when she thinks about that golden era. There seemed to be no limits to ABBA’s success. “We travelled the whole world to do concerts,” Agnetha says, “and actually that was the least attractive part for me. I didn’t like performing. I preferred making promotional films and recording. The business-side was handled by our manager, Stig Anderson, who was called the fifth ABBA-member. We ended up having a record-company with its own recording studio, and even department stores.”

In 1981 rumours start circulating that ABBA might come to an end. Frida and Benny get divorced around that time and Frida records a solo-album with Phil Collins, while Agnetha follows her example. “There was a world-famous producer, Mike Chapman, who had been very successful producing other artists, and I wanted to work with him as well. Not because of the fame, because I already had that, but I wanted to see what I could do on my own. 'Wrap Your Arms Around Me' became a substantial success, and that’s when I realized there would be life after ABBA for me.” When shortly after that also Agnetha and Björn’s marriage comes to an end, the split seems inevitable. “We simply couldn’t face being a married couple in a group any longer,” says Agnetha, “and suddenly it was all over.”
In 1983, Frida sells her ABBA-shares and moves to London. The business disbanded, but the group still goes on. It turns out to be the last activity and with the appropriate 'Thank You For The Music' ABBA says goodbye.

It’s the start of a new era for Agnetha. She records the album 'Eyes Of A Woman'. “That was the last the audience got to hear from the ‘old’ Agnetha,” she says confidently. “After that I changed a lot. Not only in my looks, but also in the choice of my music. I’m much more independent now. I don’t let everybody rule my life...” The result of that change: the album 'I Stand Alone' and that’s a small masterpiece. “I’m very happy with it myself,” she says, “and I don’t think 'The Last Time' will remain the only hit from that album.”
'The Last Time' is Agnetha’s twenty-ninth hit. And you can be assured, that the thirtieth is just around the corner.

In this article, a reporter of the magazine (who is in the picture with Agnetha holding a photograph) shares his personal recollections about his meetings with Agnetha.

Michael remembers it as if it was yesterday. How she smiled, and how down-to-earth she was. He was there when Agnetha was enjoying herself in the snow. And he was in Sweden, to talk to ABBA for hours. “I don’t know if Agnetha was really attracted to me,” says Michael. “In all honesty, that’s what I hoped for. But I never dared to ask her. She did look me up every time and I had warm feelings for her. I also called her a few times. But after that it all faded. This was at the time when she and Björn had difficulties. Later on they divorced. What struck me most, was her openness. She told me things, very intimate, that I never expected she would dare to tell. After all, we don’t know each other that well. She asked me for advice and we talked for hours. I will never betray that trust. There are things I will never tell, to anyone..."