Hitkrant, November 1992: Björn from ABBA crushes all hope: “It’s definitely over”

Once they were the most popular group in the world and sold more records than the Beatles: 200 million copies. Their name is frequently mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records. This year, 10 years after they disbanded, they are at number one in the album charts again in many countries around the globe with their compilation album ‘ABBA Gold’. This accomplishment was the incentive for wild speculations about a possible reunion of the group. In a rare interview with former ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus we get a clear answer to that question...

Björn rubs his beard thoughtfully. We are in Stockholm at his home, where the embassy of Iceland was formerly residing.
“To get straight to the point: no, we will not get back together again. Never again. When we split up in 1981, that was definitely the end, and it will remain that way. I don’t believe in a half-baked comeback. I think it’s a little pathetic, all these old guys that go out on tour again after having been separated for years.”
But you have once said that you think it’s a shame that you’ve never been able to perform in places like Moscow or Rio de Janeiro. What if you were offered 10 million dollars right now to do a show in Moskow?
“No, the answer would still be no, I’m afraid.”
What about the rumour that you were going to release a new single around Christmas?
“That’s not true either. Pure fantasy.”
Only a couple of months after ABBA had won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with ‘Waterloo’, rumours started circulating that the two married couples weren’t getting along privately. Eventually, both Benny and Frida as well as Björn and Agnetha got divorced. Now it is rumoured that especially these personal circumstances are getting in the way of a reunion. It’s denied by Björn with emphasis. Doesn’t matter, at least this conversation is setting the record straight.
“Obviously, there have been certain disagreements between us, but after the divorces had been settled, peace and harmony returned. Now we are getting along in a civilized manner. I have two children from my marriage to Agnetha, that’s why I see her every two weeks. And although Frida is living in Zürich in Switzerland these days, every two months she comes to Stockholm and she always pops in to say hello.”
So, the divorces haven’t been the cause of ABBA breaking up?
“No, we have always said that we would quit when the fire and the energy was gone. And that was what happened. Even the thought of having to get back into the studio had become unbearable. First, we agreed that we wouldn’t see each other for some time and go our separate ways for a while, but this period became longer and longer and then it was over.”
Björn’s wife Lena, a copy writer by profession, enters the room and she puts down some snacks and drinks. She has a striking resemblance to Agnetha. I ask him how long they have been married now.
“About 10 years. When Agnetha and I split up, I was planning to paint the city red and get the most out of my life as a bachelor. Only one week later, I met Lena, fell head over heels in love with her and five months later we got married.”
How dit you meet?
“At a party at Benny’s home. I thought she was wonderful. It was love at first sight. She is beautiful and has a great sense of humour. I think I have a strong urge to settle down. Either way, I do believe that men have the tendency to fall into the arms of a new partner sooner than women after a divorce.”
Is Lena into music?
“She has good taste, definitely. But professionally, she doesn’t have anything to do with music. She is in the advertising business. She has a career of her own, but she does help me with mine. I always sing my lyrics to her, because she speaks English much better than I do and because she knows a lot about literature. She gives me excellent advice.”
You have two children from your marriage to Agnetha and two with Lena. Are they important to you?
“They are the absolute highligh of my life. The oldest is now 19, she wants to become an actress. I’m not too happy about that. I would rather see that she wouldn’t pursue that. About 60 percent of all the actors and actresses are unemployed. It’s the toughest profession in the world. I remember that we were having auditions for ‘Chess’ (a musical written by Björn and Benny). I felt so sorry for all these people. They had to be at their best, and still there’s only a tiny chance to get picked.”
‘Chess’ was the most successful project by Björn and Benny after ABBA. Frida scored a couple of hits in collaboration with Phil Collins and Agnetha could be found on the charts two or three times as well. During ‘Chess’, Björn and Lena bought a house in London, but two years ago they returned to Sweden. How did ‘Chess’ come into being?
“Benny and I had enough of performing. So we decided to sit back in our studio and do some things there, writing for others. In the first instance, that was ‘Chess’. After that we only did something together occasionally. Actually, it’s only since last year, when Lena and I moved back to Sweden, that it got a little more again. At the moment, we are working on a musical about one of the most popular Swedish books, it’s about Swedish immigrants in America around 1850. We’ve searched for a good subject for a long time. We wanted to make use of the Swedish literature, just like the French and the Brits. It’s a hell of a job. The book has 2000 pages and we have to shorten it into a three hour musical.”
ABBA always had the image of a clean and decent pop group for all ages. Fresh and cheerful. Were you like that in reality?
“Not one hundred percent, no. Look, there was no danger that we would fall for sex, drugs and other excesses. We were two married couples, no Rolling Stones or something like that. Not that there weren’t any fans that offered themselves very clearly, in a sexual way you know, but of course we didn’t react to that. But this doesn’t mean that we never got drunk or smoked a joint.”

It appears that Agnetha is living like a recluse somewhere on an island and that she doesn’t want to have anything to do with the outer world. How did that come about?
“Out of the four of us, Agnetha has always been the most sensitive one. The enormous pressure of the fame has always been the hardest on her. Apart from that, she has gone through some nasty experiences. The worst one was that our children were threatened to be kidnapped at some point. I managed to deal with that, but for Agnetha it wasn’t that simple. I think that’s why she withdrew a little from the world outside. The thing that she hated the most was flying. Many times, we had to talk her into boarding a plane. She was scared to death. It all started once when she was on a private plane that ended up in a thunderstorm. That almost went wrong.”
In conclusion, what is – according to you – ABBA’s most important contribution to the history of pop music?
“We have opened the doors for all non-American and non-British bands to still be able to achieve a breakthrough in America and England. Before ABBA, that was almost unheard-of. And just look what happened afterwards with A-ha, Roxette, Europe. Apart from that, I think that we breathed new life into the pop song in its purest form. That’s why they are still hits now. We produced some immortal melodies and I am very, very proud of that.”

Free, 1992: The phenomenon ABBA

ABBA is once again the centre of attention at the moment. And it seems that only now people realize what the group has contributed to pop music. But that’s not completely true...

U2 is doing it on stage with ‘Dancing Queen’. Erasure is having a huge hit with ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’ and the Australian band Björn Again has reverted to ABBA’s complete repertoire with great success. It might seem that the interest in ABBA is a trendy and new phenomenon.
But the sympathy and admiration from colleagues, that the Swedish group is enjoying these days, is by no means a recent thing. Years ago, Randy Newman already admitted that he was a big ABBA fan. And stars like Pete Townsend from The Who and singer/producer Nick Lowe have spoken very highly of the foursome as well. Even the former king of punk, The Sex Pistols’ Johnny Rotten, openly confessed that he owned practically every ABBA record.
In itself, that’s a remarkable thing. Because the four from ABBA started their victory tour across the world after they had won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974. And that’s exactly the event that’s usually being spoken about in a derogatory way in music circles...
For that matter, it wasn’t the first time that ABBA had made a stir in the Eurovision context. One year earlier, in 1973, the group had already tried to enter the contest as Sweden’s representative. But their ‘Ring Ring’ – in Holland a top 5 hit! – was deemed not good enough in the preselections in their home country. One year later, they definitely made it: ‘Waterloo’ left their competition far behind and ABBA managed – as one of very few Eurovision winners – to maintain their success.

Before this period, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus had all acquired a certain amount of fame on their own. When she was seventeen, Agnetha was already an idol in Sweden: in 1968 she had her first big hit with ‘Jag Var Så Kär’ and in the following years she turned into a superstar in her home country.
Anni-Frid already had a couple of successful musical projects credited to her name as well. Björn was a guitarist with the Hootenanny Singers who became extremely popular in Sweden with the album ‘Evert Taube’. Benny Andersson was a member of the Hep Stars from 1964 onwards and – until the glorious ABBA period – he was the only one who acquired some fame outside the Swedish borders. For that matter, in 1968 the Hep Stars were very successful with their singles ‘Sunny Girl’ and ‘Music Box’ in several European charts.
The collaboration between Björn and Benny starts when the two of them compose – among others – ‘Isn’t It Easy To Say’ together for Benny’s Hep Stars. And after the break-up of that group in 1969, they join forces and start working as producers. However, less than a year later it turns out that they can’t miss the limelight yet and the first version of ABBA is standing on stage under the name Festfolk Quartet. Agnetha, Anni-Frid, Björn and Benny not only complement each other on a musical level. The four are also forming other mutual relationships: Agnetha and Björn get married in 1971, while the other two are a profound love couple at that time too. At that moment, their group name is still a summary of their first names.
During the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, the world gets acquainted with the group ABBA for the first time, a name that’s much easier to pronounce than the previous Björn, Benny, Anna & Frida... One day after the contest, the entire European continent is singing or humming their joyous ‘Waterloo’, that initially was titled ‘Honey Pie’ by the way. That same year, ABBA enters the charts again: in the penultimate week of 1974 ‘Honey, Honey’ makes its appearance in the Dutch Top 40, followed by ‘I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do’ three months later. None of these singles manage – in Holland that is – to achieve the highly desirable top spot. But this state of affairs changes when ‘Fernando’ is released in 1976. It’s ABBA’s first number one hit. Seven more will follow.
From now on, Europe is at ABBA’s feet. However, America only gives in when the ninth(!) single is released by the Swedish quartet: ‘Dancing Queen’. Subsequently, the group is breaking practically all existing sales records and more than once their enormous success is even compared with the success of the Beatles in the previous decade.
Just like John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Benny and Björn turn out to make up a songwriting duo that’s much stronger together than the two of them added up. The twosome manages to provide the most beautiful melodies with sometimes daring, but always very melodic arrangements. Apart from that, the group enters a completely different territory: in 1977 ‘ABBA – The Movie’ is released in the cinemas. Although the movie attracts a fair amount of visitors, it turns out to be a one-off sidestep to the silver screen.
In 1981, rumours start circulating about problems within the group and some time after that it is announced that Benny and Anni-Frid’s marriage has ended. Despite all these difficulties, the four of them are still trying to pursue their collaboration but in 1983 the fairytale is over once and for all.
Anni-Frid even moves to London to live and work there. She manages to rope Phil Collins in to produce ‘Something’s Going On’, her first solo album. Agnetha is very successful on her own as well. Every time with a two year interval, she records three solo albums.
Björn and Benny start collaborating with the musical specialist Tim Rice: in 1984, ‘Chess’ sees the light of day. The musical produces two hit singles and manages to last for no less than four years in the West End theatres in London. All four former ABBA members have found new life partners, Björn got married to advertising lady Lena Källersjö, Benny got married to TV producer Mona Nörklit, Agnetha found the surgeon Tomas Sonnefeld and Anni-Frid found happiness again with the architect Ruzzo Reuss.

Bravo, October 1992: Björn, will you perform together once again?

An interview with Björn from German Bravo magazine published in 1992, the year that ABBA returned to the top of the charts with their best-selling compilation album ABBA Gold.
In the seventies, ABBA was the ultimate supergroup. With accessible, perfect pop songs the Swedish foursome scored one hit after another. Singer Agnetha Fältskog was married to founder and guitarist Björn Ulvaeus, singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad got married to composer and pianist Benny Andersson in October 1978. Son Peter is now starting his own band One More Time. In 1982, the band dissolved after eight extremely successful years.
Ten years later ABBA fever is in full swing. Erasure are dressing up like Agnetha and Anni-Frid, U2 played ‘Dancing Queen’ at their Stockholm concert, ABBA themselves found themselves in the charts again with their 1976 hits.
Bravo talked to ABBA-founder Björn Ulvaeus about the background of their incredible success.
Bravo: How do you explain the fact that ABBA is completely trendy again after ten years?
Björn: “I can only explain this renewed success with the possibility that people are getting tired of the fifties and the sixties. Lately, they have been milked dry to the last drop. Now it’s time for the seventies. And since we were rather authoritative during that time, it’s only natural that we’re now present again as well.”
Bravo: So what do you think about Erasure’s version and their dressing up as drag-queens?
Björn: “I don’t really look upon that as a parody of us at all. On the contrary, I’m flattered. They are paying tribute to us by doing what they do. I know that they grew up with our music, therefore it’s only natural that they want to play it as well. And I don’t mind them experimenting a little.”
Bravo: Do you miss the old times?
Björn: “No, not at all. Not one tiny bit!”
Bravo: Then there are no plans to take this opportunity and perform together again?
Björn: “I could imagine that their might be something that probably could bring us back together again, but at the moment I have no idea what that something might be. At the time, when we quit, we actually only wanted to take a break. We didn’t rule out the possibility of singing together again at some point in the future. But then the years went by, we all had our own projects, and then one day it just wasn’t to be anymore.”
Bravo: Did you fall out with each other?
Björn: “No, definitely not. We are still good friends and also see each other every now and then. Other rumours are simply not true. Although I write completely different songs today, I am still mighty proud of the things that I did in the past. But I see no reason to get back together again. Many groups have tried their hands at a comeback and mostly unsuccessful. It can even happen that the few good memories that are still left of the old times get tarnished as well. You should also be some kind of an exhibitionist, like Rod Stewart, to carry on. I’ve sufficiently paid my dues when it comes to tours and stress and everything else that comes along with the life of being a pop star.”
Bravo: You always had a clean-cut image and on top of that you got married to each other as well. That almost sounds too good to be true.
Björn: “That’s just the way we were. Things turned out as they did. First Benny met Frida and shortly after that I met Agnetha. We got along great. So it was only natural that we got married later on. Do you really think that Benny and I got it into our heads that we wanted to make music and become famous, and therefore needed two pretty singers that we would get married to. That would have been rather farfetched. And when you go on tour as two married couples, you behave in a different manner than five 18-year-old boys would do.”
Bravo: Together with Benny, you wrote the musical ‘Chess’ in 1985, that ran for years in London. Do you still make music today?
Björn: “I’m trying to get re-acquainted with pop music. At the moment, we’re writing songs for an album by Josefin Nilsson, a promising Swedish singer. And we’re also working on a new musical, that should be on stage in the autumn of 1994. It’s about Swedish emigrants in the nineteenth century and their fate while travelling to America. The book was written by the Swedish writer Vilhelm Moberg.”
Bravo: What are your fondest memories when you think about your time with ABBA?
Björn: “There are two clear things that have strongly remained in my memory. The first one is, when I sat down, thought and tried things and then hit on a good melody. Then I imagined how it would sound, went into the studio and played and played. When it was finished and I heard it through the loud-speakers and it really came out the way that I dreamed it would – that was a wonderful feeling.
The other was always at the beginning of a tour. We didn’t tour very often. During the eight years that ABBA existed, altogether we were less than nine months on the road. But always during the week of the shows, when you go on stage, say hello to the audience and notice how they react, how they go wild... those are impressions that remain.”

Hitkrant, 1992: The ABBA-story, a road of hits and divorces

A 4-page article from Dutch magazine Hitkrant, published in 1992 during the ABBA revival. The information is not quite accurate here and there. For instance, it says that Frida's father died when his ship sank and in the last pic, Benny and Björn's names are mixed up, but that wouldn't be the last time.
After 16 years, ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ is in the European charts again. Although the Swedish supergroup split up eight years ago, their musical heritage keeps on capturing everyone’s imagination. Groups like Erasure, Björn Again and The Radios are no longer hiding their admiration for the four Swedes. Time to recapture the ABBA-story in pictures.

1. Björn Ulvaeus was born on April 25th 1945 in Gothenburg. He got his first guitar when he was 12. He started out playing in a skiffle- and dixieland-group. In the early sixties, he started the folk-band Westbay Singers, with a couple of school-friends. During that time, Björn and Co. came in contact with Stig Anderson, president of Polar Records and later on ABBA’s manager. He was able to persuade the boys to change the name of their group into The Hootenanny Singers.

2. Benny Andersson was born on December 16th 1946 in Stockholm. “I’ve learned all about music from my father and grandfather, who both played the accordion,” Benny explains. “I never had any tuition in music.” At the age of six, he got his first accordion, consisting of bellows. At first, Benny was a member of the group Elverkets Spelmanslag and after that The Hep Stars, a band that achieved eight golden records and therefore was the best group in Sweden at that time.3. Frida – officially Anni-Frid – Lyngstad was born on November 15th 1945 in Björnkasen in Norway. Her mother died when Frida was eighteen months old. Her father, a German marine officer, died when his ship sank. At the age of two, Frida lived with her grandmother in Sweden. It wouldn’t take long for her to be caught by the music bug. She was eleven years old when she first performed. At the age of thirteen, she sang with a group that played Eastern music. For a while, she sang jazz as well with Bengt Sandlunds Big Band. Until she met Benny Andersson, whom she married, and got to know pop-music. She won a national talent competition with the song ‘En Ledig Dag’. After that, Frida built a solo-career with the help of Benny as her producer.

4. Agnetha Fältskog was born on April 5th 1950 in Jönköping. She was 15 years old when she started to sing with Bengt Enghardt’s orchestra in Huskvarna. Before that, she worked at a big garage as a telephonist. Soon, music was the only important thing for her as well.

5. Björn and Benny met each other in ’66, when The Hep Stars helped out The Hootenanny Singers, because some members of that last group were called to the military service and had to cancel a performance. At a party, Benny and Björn came to the conclusion they both had the same musical ideas. Together, they wrote the hit ‘Isn’t It Easy To Say’ for The Hep Stars. That song sealed the artistic union between Björn and Benny. When The Hep Stars came to an end in ’69, they both continued as producers. In ’70, Björn met Agnetha, they were married on July 7th ’71 in Verum. Shortly after that, the first joint single was released: ‘She’s My Kind Of Girl’, under the group name Agnetha Björn Benny Anni-Frid. In ’73, the third single ‘Ring Ring’ became the first international success. At the time, Agnetha was pregnant with her daughter Linda.

6. and 7. The breakthrough came one year later, in ’74. Under the name ABBA (the initials of their four names) they won the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Waterloo’. In a time span of two and a half years, the group sold more records than any other group, except The Beatles. In their home country, the band achieved sales figures of 600.000 units for each album. ‘ABBA – The Album’, released in ’77, reached platinum status in Hong Kong, gold in France and the USA, and double platinum in Canada.

8. ’77: the feature film ‘ABBA – The Movie’ had its premiere.

9. In ’78, the hits kept on coming: ‘Take A Chance On Me’, ‘Eagle’/’Thank You For The Music’ and ‘Summer Night City’.

10. ’79 was a very successful year, with one top 5 hit after the other: ‘Chiquitita’, ‘Does Your Mother Know’, ‘Voulez-Vous’, ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ and ‘I Have A Dream’. In the picture: Benny and manager Stig Anderson with an award for selling more than 500.000 copies of ‘Chiquitita’ in the UK.

11. In ’80, the highly acclaimed and mature album ‘Super Trouper’ and the hitsingle of the same name were released. Arrangements as well as lyrics became more profound.

12. Despite the fact that the album ‘The Visitors’ and the single ‘One Of Us’ did very well, in ’81 rumours about a possible split were circulating. The reports were fuelled by the divorces between Benny/Frida and Björn/Agnetha. Björn started a new relationship immediately with Lena Kallersjo. “When Agnetha and I separated, I realized I wanted to fall in love again as soon as possible. I’m not cut out to remain single,” according to Björn. Frida’s reaction to her separation from Benny was totally different: “I’m happy for the years that I’ve spent with Benny, but on the other hand the divorce is a relief. I’m able to start a whole new life. For the first time in my life I’m all by myself and I enjoy it.”

13. Still, the ABBA-story hadn’t ended yet. In ’82 the hits ‘Head Over Heels’ and ‘The Day Before You Came’ were released.
14. Frida recorded her solo-album ‘Something’s Going On’, with Phil Collins as her producer, and on drums.

15. In ’83, Agnetha made a solo sidestep as well. She worked with producer Mike Chapman (Sweet, Mud, Suzi Quatro, Smokie) on her solo-record ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’. All of this didn’t get in the way of the group’s success. ‘Under Attack’ became another top hit for ABBA.

16. ’84: the hitsingle ‘Thank You For The Music’ turned out to be the swansong of the influential and extremely popular group that ABBA eventually was. Björn and Benny were finally able to give their attention to a prestigious project outside the supergroup: together with musical-composer Tim Rice they staged the musical ‘Chess’.

17. Although the separate group members are still active in the music business every now and then (after all, it’s in their blood), none of them think it’s that necessary any longer. Frida, Agnetha, Björn and Benny have made an enormous amount of money during the years, so they are able to retire without a problem. For instance, the musical engine Benny is living quietly with his current wife Lena in the English countryside, in Oxfordshire.

Oor, August 1992: Björn Again, ABBA's second life

This is an extensive article from so-called 'serious' Dutch music magazine OOR about the 1992 ABBA-revival that was on its way at full force at the time. ABBA Gold had not been released yet. In this article there's still talk of a box-set to be released at the end of 1992, instead of the one-disc hits-compilation.
I read somewhere that the regular readers of this magazine were even upset that ABBA was on the cover of this issue, saying they felt embarrassed to be seen walking the streets, carrying a magazine with ABBA on the cover. Proof that there still was some educating to be done...


U2, Nirvana and Erasure are flirting with the indestructible catalog of the Swedish fab four. The Australian foursome Björn Again are experiencing triumphs as a fake-ABBA, while the record company is working overtime to get a four-piece ABBA-box in the shops in time.

The white suits, the platform-boots, the supermarket-version of glitter-rock, the helicopter, the song-titles such as ‘I do I do I do’, ‘Dum Dum Diddle’, ‘Ring Ring’ and those lyrics: ‘Money, money, money / Ain’t it funny / In a rich man’s world’, or: ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme a man after midnight!’. Perfect throwaway-pop. Simple, memorable and Euro-friendly tunes like ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ and ‘The Name Of The Game’. A total of eight number one-singles (in Holland), worldwide sales of two hundred million albums. A phenomenon.
Nostalgic feelings aren’t the only reason for the recent ABBA-revival. The duo Erasure released four ABBA-covers on an EP, titled ABBAesque: ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’, ‘SOS’, ‘Take A Chance On Me’ and ‘Voulez-Vous’. Even a group like U2 doesn’t feel embarrassed by their ABBA-obsession. Record company Polydor is planning their end-of-year campaign with a four-piece CD-box with the A and B-sides of the successful singles, completed with rare and/or unreleased material. What would you play at a private party: the Sex Pistols or ABBA?
“For me, the charts have lost much of their appeal after ABBA,” explains Erasure-singer Andy Bell. “I was too young for the Beach Boys, so for me ABBA was the first group that made those delicious, melodic pop-songs, with all those angelic choirs, that lifted you up. When they went disco with songs like ‘Voulez-Vous’, they seemed to fully understand that medium.”

At the office-slash-studio in Stockholm, that he shares with his partner Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus is willing to talk to us for half an hour, under the condition we won’t dwell on the past too much. That past is carefully protected by the ABBA-boys. Anyone who has the nerve to sample a part of ‘Dancing Queen’, like The KLF did, immediately has a lawsuit on his hands (The KLF had to get rid of every single record that was already pressed and even a trip to Stockholm to defend their cause couldn’t help matters).
So we cautiously start with the question if Björn has heard Erasure’s ABBA-tribute already.
“I’ve heard snippets of it, so I can’t fully judge it, but from what I’ve heard I can tell it’s done in the spirit of Erasure. They might be ABBA-songs, but you can’t compare the two groups. It’s fun that they did it. Most bands that have disbanded ten years ago are forgotten by now, so we see it as a compliment.”
What does he think about the four chosen songs?
“In their choice of songs they primarily had the danceability in mind, except for ‘SOS’. That was an important one for us, because with that song we proved we weren’t a typical Eurovision-act with only one good song. After ‘Waterloo’ (the last decent Eurovision-winner – MA) we were supposed to fade away silently, but with ‘SOS’ we broke that pattern. After that, practically every single reached number one, often in various countries at the same time. I remember we were at the Bahamas, writing ‘Voulez-Vous’. We flew to Miami and went into the studio with the Bee Gees’ session-musicians.”

When we ask what his favourite ABBA-song is, Björn reacts: “That has to be ‘Dancing Queen’, because that seems to be everybody’s favourite. It also was our only number one in the US.”
And what does he think about Björn Again, the fake-ABBA’s from Australia, carrying his first name, who are so successful?
“I’m flattered in a way, but I’m astonished that people are willing to pay money to see that group. What I like less is that they are copying us with an accent that reminds one of the Swedish cook from the Muppet Show. Now, I don’t have an accent like that, do I? Other than that I don’t object, although I only know them from television.”
We tell him that Björn Again’s live-performances are able to seduce the audience to an enthusiastic sing-along and that their choreography is spot on, complete with the outfits worn in the television-videos.
“Amazing,” he smiles. “I wouldn’t know how to explain it, other than that the original is no longer there to be seen...”
The ‘original’, or rather Björn, Benny and the ladies Frida Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog, called it a day towards the end of 1983, after having generated a turnover of around one billion Dutch guilders, more than their own King Gustaf. In that respect, ABBA is just behind the Beatles. What the fab four from Liverpool were to the sixties, ABBA was to the seventies. The remarkable, glittery costumes, the videos bordering on kitsch and the universal ‘come together’-ideal of the lyrics only partly explain the mystery of the overwhelming success. The music was rooted in decades of popular music from continental Europe.
“In Sweden we grew up with German, Italian and Swedish pop, apart from the music from England and America. The kitsch-element was of course part of the appeal.”

Philip Lodge, student at Cambridge University wrote an essay titled ‘Compositional Procedures In The Songs Of ABBA’, in which he claims that both composers (Björn and Benny) possess an ingenious talent, comparable to that of Mozart.
“The New Grove Dictionary, the authority on music-history, states that in the seventies no-one has been able to break through the Anglo-American domination of popular music. It’s inconceivable that ABBA is simply ignored, that their music is only seen as cheap, commercial rubbish. I’ve looked at Heinrich Schenker’s analysis. His definition of what makes a piece of music an artistic masterpiece, can be applied to ABBA, without a doubt. I’ve studied 42 ABBA-songs and come to the conclusion they all have an interesting structure. ‘Money, Money, Money’, for example, has a rather complicated arrangement, in which certain elements stay the same and others change constantly, rhythmically, melodically and harmonically. Also they didn’t shy away from more complex matters lyrically. That’s what made those songs so strong ad memorable. The Beatles were good at that as well, but ABBA was more constant.”
Björn is flattered with these kinds of tributes. “Benny and I have always been very critical,” he explains. “We got rid of a lot of material that others certainly would have used. We were able to be tough on ourselves. A lot of people thought we worked in a strict formula, but that’s not true at all. It was an insult to be called ‘the hit-factory’. We never recorded more than 12 or 14 songs a year. Everybody wants hits. Some people say: we could write dozens of hits like ABBA’s if we wanted to, but we are too serious for that. Nonsense, of course.”
“Another secret was the sound of the two girls’ voices, separately as well as together. Pure coincidence! There were people who said we consciously planned it this way, that we even married these girls because of the usefulness of their looks and their voices. Again: nonsense. Benny and I ran into Frida and Agnetha almost at the same time, we fell in love and got married. Coincidentally, they were both singers. We had already known each other for about two years before we started working together. We went on holidays together, we sat together, had fun and someone would grab a guitar and start singing. Then we realized how fantastic it sounded. That’s how we discovered ourselves. Subsequently we entered the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Waterloo’. From that moment on our professional collaboration started. The fact that we were both couples made no difference to us, although we were selling more records after our divorce.”

Benny/Frida and Björn/Agnetha got divorced in 1980. Their love wars were documented in detail in their song-lyrics. After all the criticism heaped upon their often as banal and trivial regarded lyrics, the album ‘Super Trouper’ (1980) reflected the desire to be taken seriously. With songs like ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ and ‘The Winner Takes It All’, it seemed as if Björn and Benny couldn’t write about anything else but their own love-quarrels.
What happened to the individual ABBA-members after the group fell apart is rather obscure. The blonde Agnetha Fältskog released three solo-albums: ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’ (produced by Mike Chapman), ‘Eyes Of A Woman’ (10CC’s Eric Stewart) and ‘I Stand Alone’ (Peter Cetera). None of these records produced any hits. She also played in a Swedish movie, but that was it. Resolutely, she has turned her back on the ABBA-camp, married the Swedish surgeon Thomas Sonnefeld and seems to consider a part in the Swedish version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Aspects Of Love’.
The brunette Lyngstad was slightly more successful with her Phil Collins-produced album ‘There’s Something Going On’, but after the Steve Lillywhite-produced ‘Shine’, she primarily spent her time on the Swedish environmental movement Der Naturaliga Steget (the natural step), of which she is leading the division Artists for the Environment, that is preparing a huge charity-concert in Stockholm at the moment. Her new life-partner is Count Ruzzo Reuss, a German architect.
Because of regularly returning threats, blackmail and extortion, the ABBA-boys lead a secluded life. Benny married TV-producer Mona Norklit and Björn remarried Lena Kallersjo, who works in the advertisement-business. The duo Andersson-Ulvaeus is still active as songwriters. Two musicals, Abacadabra (1982) and Chess (1984), the latter managed four years at London’s West End. The renowned duo also wrote the major part of the songs for two albums of brother/sister duo Gemini. Ulvaeus lived in England for a few years and did some things in the computer-business as well. Apparently, in his spare time Andersson is an avid ornithologist, he released an album on which all Scandinavian birds can be heard. The success-duo is working on an album with the 23-year old Swedish singer Josephin Nilsson.
“It’s very recognizable for us, because it’s all very poppy material,” says Björn. “We also hope to use more contemporary dance-rhythms than with ABBA.”
A new musical is on its way as well, based on The Emigrants, a series of four books by Swedish writer Wilhelm Moberg. “One of the most important literary works in the Swedish language. The very powerful story about Swedish emigrants who moved to America in the previous century.”

“The idea came during a seventies-revival in 1988 in our home-country Australia,” says John Tyrell, drummer and manager of Björn Again. “ABBA had always been one of the most popular bands in Australia, so it seemed like a good idea to do a kind of fun imitation of them. It started out as a joke, but one thing led to the other. We learned the accents better and better, and even a few words in Swedish. We are now on the road for three years, and have 700 shows behind us. It has exceeded our own expectations. The response we get is amazing. Although no-one dared to admit it at the time, everyone seems to have been an ABBA-fan secretly. Everybody sings along, and knows the songs.”
“I have seen Björn Again once,” Andy Bell confesses. “I thought the joke was running thin after a while. I would have liked it better if the two singers had been drag queens. With Erasure, we’re also paying tribute to ABBA and we’ve even tried to use the original ABBA light-show, but all the lights were rusty or broken. We used the same blue satin for our jackets.”
The criticism doesn’t bother Björn Again at all. “That Swedish accent was done deliberately, because ABBA always spoke a kind of broken English,” says Gavin (Björn). “When we performed in Sweden, they were even ‘slamdancing’. We’re not a cabaret-act, but a rock & roll-band.”
Nonetheless, Björn Again are giving interviews as if they were ABBA themselves. “We’re a sort of ‘Spinal Tap’,” says Gavin. “Platform boots give you a certain view on the world.”
“I like to chat about blue eye-shadow and glittery outfits,” says Jeanette (Agnetha). “Our favourite song? At the moment it’s ‘Chiquitita’, because it’s about friendship and everyone sings along as if the whole world is full of friends.”
Don’t they get tired of these songs by now? “You’re not the first to ask that question,” answers fake-Björn. “That’s why Benny and I are working on a musical called ‘Backgammon’, but we can’t agree on the lyrics. Benny’s lyrics are all about Frida.”
Björn Again has met musicians who have played with ABBA and they liked what they are doing. ABBA themselves haven’t reacted at all. Just before a performance for Swedish television, they received a telegram saying: anybody who looks like me, deserves success. Björn: “But the ABBA-office denies its authenticity. They probably think we’re trying to make a profit of them, but that’s not how things are. Phonogram Australia wanted to record an album with us, but we said no. We are a live-act. I think we stimulated the sales of ABBA-albums to a great extent. In Australia, more ABBA-records than ever are being played on the radio today.”

The real Björn makes clear we can ask our last question. We ask if he misses ABBA.
“When it comes to the so-called glamour: the travelling, hotels, limousines, there’s not much to be missed. The same goes for the concerts, although we rarely toured. We did two major tours, of which the first concerts were really exciting, but I wouldn’t go through it again just for that. Still, there have been wonderful moments. Writing a song that you’re satisfied about, reaching number one in the charts, hearing the sales-figures of your records... but I don’t miss that either. That’s ancient history. I was a different person then.”
“They will never be able to completely get away from it,” Andy Bell thinks. “ABBA will always come back to haunt them. They will still see pictures of themselves everywhere. Actually, it was all over for them pretty quickly. They didn’t have the time to take everything into consideration quietly. ABBA was cool, just like Debbie Harry: they weren’t trendy, they didn’t care about the clothes they were wearing. Still they had their classic look. I was in school at the time and it wasn’t trendy at all to like ABBA. Only if you were a bit ‘femme’, like me and my friend, you dared to admit it. For most others it would take ten years before they finally dared to admit the music was pretty good.”
ABBA is okay. Recently, Björn and Benny sang ‘Dancing Queen’ together with Bono at a U2-concert in Stockholm. So it’s not so bad with that haunting after all. But who knows what really goes on ‘in a rich man’s world’?