De Telegraaf, September 1982: ABBA’s Frida in our country today – “I’m enjoying my new life”

An article that was published in Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf on the eve of Frida’s arrival in Holland to promote her album Something’s Going On.

When the marriage between ABBA’s Frida Lyngstad and Benny Andersson was strained and had actually ended already, they had to keep this a secret for the sake of the group’s image.

“It was a very difficult and frustrating time,” Frida says when she talks about the two years before the divorce became final. “Both of us wanted a different life, but as members of the group we had to keep on presenting ourselves to the audience as a happy couple. It even came to the point where we forced ourselves to go out in the evening, because we couldn’t bear to be in each other’s company at home any longer. Life had become too strained.”

“The day after Benny had left me, it was all over the front pages of the Swedish newspapers. I didn’t leave my house for a whole week. I just couldn’t stand it. But when all the fuss had died down, it was actually a relief that we didn’t have to wear a mask any longer and put on a charade.”
The dark-haired Frida explains why the two divorces in the group – first Björn and Agnetha and now she and Benny – were actually beneficiary to ABBA. It was assumed that the private problems could very well mean the end of the group. But Frida says that their professional relationship is now better than ever, exactly because they are now living separate private lives.
“When you don’t have any emotional ties any longer, it’s much more comfortable to work with each other and easier as well. You are able to concentrate more on your job and nothing else. Everything is much more efficient now. Especially because there’s no small talk anymore. You do your job and go home. And you don’t get on each other’s nerves. You don’t see each other all the time. We’ve always remained very friendly to each other. The divorces didn’t cause any bitterness and the new relationships weren’t as embarrassing anymore. I still think that Benny is a nice guy. He has a friendly personality. But our marriage didn’t work and the best thing for the two of us was to get divorced. But we don’t have any hateful feelings towards each other.”
Obviously, there are speculations circulating that ABBA will fall apart in the near future. Frida has recorded a solo album, Agnetha has played her first film part and Björn and Benny are working on a musical together with Tim Rice.

“I know that there are a lot of rumours, but at the moment we are working together very pleasantly,” Frida says while remarking that the group has now existed for ten years. On that occasion, a special album will be released in November, after which they will start working on a new album again.
“We all know that we can’t last forever, but we want to continue as long as we can. As long as we are working together and we are successful, I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t last for another ten years.”
Frida doesn’t even rule out the possibility that ABBA will go on another world tour and this news will definitely delight the ABBA-fans, who haven’t been able to see their favourite group in concert for a long time. Since they started in 1975 with the Eurovision song ‘Waterloo’, ABBA have only toured twice. “It is tiresome as well,” 36-year-old Frida explains while pulling a glum face. “It’s wonderful to be on stage, but the travelling, the airports and changing hotel rooms all the time is very exhausting.”

At the moment, she’s very busy promoting her solo album. This Friday, she will be in our country for that. And on Saturday night, she will appear on the television show MIES. Probably she won’t be able to equal ABBA’s success with her solo album. “But I don’t care about that,” she says, “I wanted to sing a different kind of music for a change. And of course I couldn’t do the same thing as I’m doing with the group. When you’ve worked with a group for such a long time, it’s nerve-racking to work on your own all of a sudden. But I’m one hundred percent behind what I’m doing now. I love the album, I love every song on it and I don’t care what people say or write about it.”
The album is produced by Genesis’ Phil Collins. Frida took this initiative after she had listened to his album ‘Face Value’. “I thought that album was amazing! I must have listened to it almost every day for eight months,” she says, “especially his arrangements and his drum sound impressed me a great deal. When the plan emerged to record a solo album, I immediately thought about him as my producer. Without him, I wouldn’t even have started this project, I wanted him that much.”

She’s very determined in her opinions. She knows exactly what her priorities are in life. Singing is the most important thing for her and it’s always been like that ever since she entered a talent competition at the age of ten. She says the joy of singing means more to her than the fame and fortune that she has acquired. Like Björn said last year, the group doesn’t have any financial reason to keep working together. With a worldwide income, including numerous shares in huge enterprises like the Volvo automobile factories, the ABBA-stars could easily rest on their laurels for the rest of their lives. They are wealthier than the king of Sweden.
This attitude doesn’t appeal to Frida: “I don’t think that I could live without singing,” she says. “It’s the most important thing in my life. It gives me so much joy. It’s really my passion.”
Although she does keep an eye on how the group’s millions are being invested, she never had a true notion about the magnitude of all that money. “I have a feeling as if we’re not part of it. It’s like I’m reading about someone else when I see a story about how big our fortune is.”
She also says that she doesn’t lead an extravagant life. She lives in a penthouse in Stockholm, she drives a Maserati, she dresses very well and she loves to travel.
“But,” she adds, “I don’t need more luxury than that. You can’t do much else than eat, drink and have a good life.”
She admits that she gets a lot of satisfaction from her job, but at the same time she leads a rather secluded, quiet private life. She thinks it’s pleasant that the people don’t really bother her in Sweden. “They leave us alone. I can easily go shopping in Stockholm.”

Frida spends a lot of time with her children from her first marriage, a fifteen-year-old daughter and a nineteen-year-old son. A giant of a guy who is taller than she is. “They are both interested in music and my son also works in this business as a sound engineer, but neither of them is interested in ABBA,” she says with a smile.
“My daughter has great taste and loves all kinds of music and my son is a fan of rock music.”
Since she divorced Benny, no special man is playing a part in her life. And she thinks that’s fine.
“It was my choice to be alone,” she says. “I feel the need to live my own life. Being on my own gives me strength, I discover new interests and new friends. That’s wonderful. Now I’m able to travel a lot as well. That’s a freedom that I’ve never had. I was fifteen years old when I met my first husband and shortly after this marriage I met Benny. So I’ve been involved with someone for a very long time. I haven’t thought about the possibility of another marriage yet. I’m happy with my life as it is. I’m really enjoying my new life,” according to the ABBA-star who will arrive in our country tomorrow.

Hitkrant, March 1981: Björn and Benny: ABBA’s B-side – Benny and Björn sacrifice themselves

There’s a vacuum cleaner that’s being made in Sweden. According to the Norseman that shoves the device in the face of a startled housewife in a commercial, its motor can’t be broken. Another export article from the same country takes it one step further. ABBA is being actuated by Björn and Benny and these pacemakers come with an eternal guarantee. Because although something gets broken, like a marriage, the hits keep on coming.

Seldom has there been a group that knows how to separate professional and private matters as well as ABBA. Rumour has it that even manager Stig Anderson has been unaware of the happy occasion of the marriage between Björn Ulvaeus and Lena Källersjö, a dead ringer of sorts for Björn’s ex Agnetha, until the wedding date itself. Now that Benny, after the divorce between him and Frida, is having a girlfriend as well, a tasty desert in the shape of television presenter Mona Nörklit, the speculations are all over the place: allegedly, ABBA would only exist due to their success. There wouldn’t be any mutual contact any longer.
However, as long as the motor keeps running, it’s all serene. Benny and Björn keep on writing the songs and producing the records. While Agnetha and Frida are the group’s eye-catchers on stage and get all the acclaim, the gentlemen of ABBA sacrifice themselves.
Because, when the moment comes that performances or television shows have to be done, like later on, at the group’s tenth anniversary, all eyes are set on the ladies; Benny and Björn consciously take the backseat. Obviously, things have changed. A change that already set in when Björn and Agnetha decided to separate in 1979: there isn’t much small talk after a performance any longer. After the job is done, they go their separate ways.
It’s striking that on a personal level Benny and Björn are more in the limelight than Agnetha and Frida. Björn immediately hooked a new girlfriend after he divorced Agnetha, a matter that was extensively discussed in the newspapers. Meanwhile, Agnetha ignored the gossip pages. The same went for Benny. Rumour has it that he met his Waterloo in Stockholm when he met the attractive presenter Mona. The couple fell so deeply in love with each other that Frida was put on a side track. This happened in a totally different way than Benny and Frida had predicted a couple of years ago. Then they contemplated a divorce on tax-related grounds. The ‘happiest couple in show business’ would stay together as a divorced couple. Apparently, Benny’s love for Mona has been a spoil-sport. Once again, the mind has had to surrender to love. All in all, it’s a ‘Scenes From A Marriage’ of sorts. An excellent subject for a tear-jerking television series, because really: ‘Peyton Place’ pales into insignificance. The fans should actually be raving mad about rumours like this, if it wasn’t for the fact that the group keeps on releasing such beautiful hits. But once again it shows that it’s lonely at the top, although Agnetha sang in ‘The Winner Takes It All’: ‘Though it’s hurting me, now it’s history’.

Pop Foto, July 1977: ABBA’s most beautiful

An ABBA-special that was included in Dutch pop magazine Pop Foto in 1977.
There you go! For you: a fantastic ABBA-special. Full of spectacular photographs of the number one pop group. A gift from Pop Foto. Because there’s a reason for the fact that Pop Foto is the biggest pop magazine in the Benelux.

Feasting with ABBA

Yes, it had been a long time coming. A delicious collection of the most beautiful, most honest and most exclusive ABBA photographs, that Pop Foto has put together, especially for this occasion, in an ABBA photo book. And a photo present like this obviously calls for a festive chat with the superstars who are the subject of all this. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, how about a little diner with ABBA?

During this diner, Benny, Björn, Anni-Frid and Agnetha told ‘Peupfeuteu’, like your favourite magazine is persistently called by the four Swedes, a little bit more about their life in the music business that’s getting busier every day.
“Unhappy? Stressed?” Benny reacts a little surprised, when we inquire about the health of the band members, who have just completed a huge and very exhausting European and Australian tour. “Us? Man, we are still over the moon. And who wouldn’t be when you suddenly become world famous after winning the Eurovision Song Contest (already 3 years ago).”
“But that’s not the most important thing,” Björn objects, while quickly swallowing a delicacy. “The most important thing is that the audience likes the same songs as we do. Actually we are only writing to please ourselves, and what we come up with turns out to be successful as well. Apart from that, Benny and I have no limitations when we are composing, because the girls can sing anything. High, low, in between, you name it; with Agnetha and Anni-Frid, it always comes out crystal clear!”
“Except when I have a cold,” his blonde wife smiles. Anni-Frid chuckles. “Yes, then the tears come out of your nose!”
“No, let’s be serious,” Björn continues, while his delicious meal is getting cold. “There’s a big difference in composing when you have to take into account the taste of the audience, the possibilities of the singers, and so on, or when everything flows naturally.” Finally, Björn starts eating again, but after only a few bites, the conversation turns to Stig Anderson, ABBA’s manager and lyric writer. “Stig is wonderful,” Benny says, “and we were very fortunate yet again. For starters, Stig writes very good lyrics. It’s rather difficult to explain, but he knows exactly how to keep up with the ‘tone colour’ of the music. Take ‘Dancing Queen’, for example, doesn’t that sound way better than ‘Dancing Girl’ or something like that? Apart from that, Stig is the ideal manager. He has a great sense of what is going to be a hit and that’s exactly what you need when you want to stay on top.”

Every year, ABBA withdraws for a couple of months on one of the countless islands on the coast of Stockholm. “We have a little studio over there, where we can work on our music without being interrupted. You can only get there by boat, so we are completely shut off from the rest of the world. This way, we kill two birds with one stone. We are having a holiday and we are composing,” Björn explains. That island is also the scene of the most important part of ABBA’s private life; a private life that the members don’t want to talk about and we can understand that. “At least, you guys from Peupfeuteu don’t keep nagging about that,” Agnetha says seriously. “But it seems that everyone always wants to know exactly what we are doing in our spare time. I think that’s ridiculous. As a pop star, you are already the property of the audience for the most part of the year, and that obviously comes with the territory. But it’s impossible to endure when you literally aren’t allowed to keep anything to yourself.”
She sticks her turned-up nose up in the air and then declares: “All four of us know that we are taking a chance by not telling anything, because very often reporters start to make things up. To my own astonishment, I read in an English magazine that Björn and I have six children...” We all burst into laughter when we look at the face that Agnetha pulls, while she continues: “I will make one exception and tell you something about our private life. Björn and I do not have six children!”
“We are now almost literally a world group,” Anni-Frid muses while having desert. “We only haven’t had a breakthrough in Japan. But in America, everything is going really well: ‘Dancing Queen’ has been in the top twenty over there for ages!”
“Yes,” Benny continues, “but we are still not in the charts in Greenland either, but I’m not losing any sleep over that. It would be wonderful if it would happen for us in Japan and Greenland as well, but if it doesn’t, it’s okay with me too. We have already achieved much more than we ever dared to dream about and I’m as happy as a child about that.”
“Certainly, you don’t mean one of our six children, now do you?” Björn asks semi-offended.
“Peupfeuteu,” Benny says, “just ignore that silly man and finish your drink. Then we can have another one of those delicious Dutch beers!”

Right page, from top to bottom:
ABBA’s live show is an event. Nothing is left to chance. Just take a look at the costumes, for instance: at the start of the show, the girls enter the stage in wonderful shiny capes...

...but they keep on changing into different outfits. This is a scene from the ‘musical’ that the two singers perform during the show. Together, they are playing the part of the girl with the golden hair who desperately wants to become a star...

Benny and Björn are a little less prominent during a performance. They restrict themselves to the musical part, and they do it perfectly! Here, Benny demonstrates that he can play the accordion as well.

Björn in action. Björn’s voice is better than Benny’s. That’s why he is responsible for most of the solo parts.

Left page, from top to bottom:
Cheers! ABBA toasts to the success of ‘Dancing Queen’, their biggest hit so far. And if it’s up to the four of them, they are going to have a lot more of these champagne parties in the future.

A walk in the park on a Sunday afternoon? Forget about it. In their early days, the girls had to seek out clothes for photo sessions in all hastiness. Watch the hair...

Eye-catcher Agnetha!

This picture was taken last winter, when the group was preparing themselves in all peace and quiet for their monster tour of Europe and Australia.

Left page, from top to bottom:
They have been in all the big cities in the world: Paris, London, New York, you name it. “Still, Stockholm remains the cosiest city of them all. But perhaps we would have said the same thing about Amsterdam, had we been Dutch...”

Björn’s personal hobby: filming. At the Ulvaeus household, the closets are bulging out with filmed material. And obviously, in most of these films, little Linda is the centre of attention.

“There are often little spats,” Björn and Agnetha admit. “It is caused by all the tensions during tours. But we just couldn’t live without each other.”

Benny couldn’t do without his Anni-Frid either. Even though he runs into thousands of beautiful women all over the world.

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Cycling used to be one of ABBA’s favourite hobbies. But as much as they would love to, they just don’t have the time for that any longer. “And apart from that,” according to Benny, “we wouldn’t be able to move an inch without being bothered.”

Agnetha and Björn very rarely let themselves be photographed in private. “Being pop stars, we are already public property for the most part. Aren’t we allowed to have just a little privacy?” is what they are saying.

“All this travelling is extremely boring and tiresome,” Benny and Anni-Frid sigh. “But the fact that we are received by friendly people with a big bunch of flowers everywhere makes up for it all.”

The house in which Björn, Agnetha and their little daughter Linda have lived for a long time.
It was a haven of peace and quiet in their hectic life.

Left page, from top to bottom:
And this is ABBA history! Agnetha and Björn’s wedding day, taking place in 1971 in Malmö. Agnetha, who was already a well-known singer in Sweden by then, and her brand-new husband were already overwhelmed by photographers.

The happy family. Agnetha, Björn and Linda would love to be together all the time. But it just isn’t possible. Who do you think Linda resembles the most? At least she has her father’s nose!

As proud as Lucifer, Agnetha and Björn are posing with their newly born little daughter Linda. As you can see, Agnetha is still a little confused by all the fuss surrounding her. And Björn just keeps bragging to his friends!

The proud father two years later. Especially for Linda, he bought himself a film camera in ABBA’s early days, and that was a huge expense. This way, Linda gets used to a life in front of the cameras at an early age...

Right page, from top to bottom:
Benny and Anni-Frid are getting engaged! When it’s up to the two love birds, this doesn’t have to be followed by a marriage. They are perfectly happy with how things are.

Fritz, Anni-Frid’s little, shaggy Schnautzer, misses his boss so bad that he often refuses to eat when Anni-Frid and Benny are on tour. But when she’s at home, he doesn’t leave her side for one second.

1970. This picture was taken on a legendary evening. On this evening, at this table, Anni-Frid and Benny fell so deeply in love with each other that they decided to start a relationship together. In the background Lars Berghagen, a Swedish singer.

Left page, from left to right:

Most of ABBA’s clothes are exlusively designed for the group. It does cost a fair amount of money, but the four Swedes are willing to spend it. “After all, you are an artist, or you are not,” is what Anni-Frid says.

This is how ABBA was dressed during their live performance on Dutch television, and this is how the entire country has been able to admire them.

But this is ABBA as well. Cool and, like the English people say, ‘sophisticated’. When ABBA started their victorious tour of England like this, the Brits surrendered to the Swedish hit assault at one blow.

Right page, from top to bottom:

Another different side of ABBA. With all those various costumes that the group is having at the moment, they could easily organise an hours-long fashion show!

But they won’t do this ever again. Right after the Eurovision Song Contest, when their big success was yet to come, the ABBAs were enticed to let themselves be photographed like this. But that’s over and done with.Agnetha
Agnetha Fältskog (Ulvaeus), the typical ‘Swedish beauty’ of ABBA, was practically born to become an artist, because her cradle was standing in the house of a well-known Swedish theatre manager and dance instructor in Jönköping. Daddy Fältskog could hardly wait until his, on 5 April 1950 born, little daughter was old enough to learn how to play music. Agnetha was already sitting at the piano at a very young age. Agnetha was barely eight years old when she started composing children’s songs about trolls and other Scandinavian fairy-tale figures.
Regularly, she came along with her dad to the television studios in Stockholm and it was only a matter of time until Agnetha was discovered. Agnetha’s first hit ‘Jag Var Så Kär’ came about very quickly. And ever since that time, Agnetha was very popular in her home country. Even today, she still releases solo albums in Sweden with self-written songs, that can be found in the album top ten for weeks. The rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar came to Sweden in 1971 and who was better suited for the part of Maria Magdalene than Agnetha? At the same time, the Swedish Hootenanny Singers, in which group a certain Björn Ulvaeus was heavily trying his best, came to the attention. A huge Swedish television show was being organised in which both Agnetha and Björn (who had briefly met each other already back in 1969) were performing. At one blow, Agnetha forgot all about her German boyfriend in Berlin and had her mind completely set on that one guy from the Hootenanny Singers. Agnetha and Björn got married that same year. And in 1973, Linda was born.

Björn
To Björn, Agnetha was the woman of his dreams. Before he met her, he was, according to manager Stig Anderson, who had known Björn for years already, a “shy, quiet but very patient guy with only one passion: music!”
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus was born on 25 April 1945 in a tiny town on the Baltic coast and he already started a band when he was still in school, where he was discovered by Stig, who subsequently brought him to Stockholm. That was the foundation of the Hootenanny Singers.
Since both Benny and Björn performed regularly in their own country, they already knew each other more or less from their meetings in television and recording studios. But they only started making music together when Björn was thinking about leaving the Hootenanny Singers and Benny had already left the Hep Stars.
They performed a lot together in bars. That’s where the idea took shape to start their own group, together with two singers. Björn already knew his Agnetha, and Benny immediately thought about his Frida... That’s how ABBA came to be. And ‘thinker’ Björn, together with Stig, was able to give all his attention to his third (let’s not overlook his family) big love: ABBA!

Anni-Frid
Anni-Frid Lyngstad was born on 15 November 1945 in the Norwegian town Narvik. When Frida was only two years old, the Lyngstad family moved to Eskilstuna, a town in the southwest of the Swedish capital Stockholm. She was ten years old when she learned how to play the guitar. Little Anni-Frid sang and danced at numerous talent competitions. At the age of fourteen, she started her own group. After she had left school, she already made a good living with that sing and dance company. Anni-Frid was only sixteen years old when she got married. A year later, her son Hans was born, and one year after that her little daughter Liselotte. But the marriage didn’t last and Anni-Frid was a divorced woman at the age of twenty. Frida didn’t sit down in despair. She moved to Stockholm to establish a career as a singer and dancer. She made her first record together with the Swedish singer Lars Berghagen. Thanks to a television performance, Anni-Frid finally had her breakthrough in 1970. All of sudden, she was extremely popular in Sweden and could regularly be seen on television as a singer, dancer and presenter.
Then she met Benny, who was still a member of the famous Hep Stars at the time. At one night, they went out to have a drink together and the sparks really started flying: Benny and Anni-Frid found themselves deeply in love. In the beginning, they saw very little of each other because Benny was always on tour. Luckily, ABBA changed all that.

Benny
Göran Bror Benny Andersson, born on 16 December 1946, comes from a very musical family as well. His father and grandfather were very well-known accordionists. When he was only six years old, Benny’s little fingers were already sliding across the keyboard of his first accordion. And the little lad was barely seven years old when his dad and granddad already dragged him along on their countless tours through Sweden.
In those days, Benny Andersson was a big promise for the future of Sweden’s folk music, until he listened to the Beatles and he changed to, what was then called, beat music. The results were overwhelming... for Sweden and for Benny. At the end of the sixties, his group Hep Stars scored one hit after the other. Especially ‘Sunny Girl’ was an enormous hit in Holland and other European countries.
The song was written by Benny. But he never tried his hands on lyric writing ever since. He’d rather leave that to Björn and Stig. After a failed marriage, the break up of the Hep Stars and the clearance of an enormous tax debt, he decided to start something new, together with his friend Björn. With the well-known result: ABBA.
“ABBA is the result of a huge amount of joint effort,” Benny says when he’s asked about his part in the success of ABBA. “And of course we owe a lot to our fans. Without them, we would have been long gone.”

Hitkrant, December 1977: Hooray, it’s a boy! - ‘ABBA The Album’ is on its way

Announcement of the birth of Björn and Agnetha’s son from Dutch magazine Hitkrant.
There was quite a consternation when we suddenly heard that Agnetha and Björn Ulvaeus were enchanted with the birth of a healthy son! Phone calls and telex messages were going back and forth between Stockholm and Amsterdam and we have taken the liberty of congratulating both ABBA-members (and Anni-Frid and Benny too, of course!) on behalf of all of you.

As you can read in the accompanying printed telex message, the name of Agnetha and Björn’s son is still unknown. At the time of writing (Monday morning) we still don’t know.
But what we do know is that the proud parents couldn’t be happier with their new son. Now Linda has a little brother and everyone in the Ulvaeus household had been hoping for that.

You can also see that the birth weight of the young Ulvaeus is known: not 3780 gram, like it had been reported earlier, but 3750 gram. Out of the contestants that took part in the Hitkrant ABBA competition, we have already found someone who guessed the right birth weight and he will get an amazing prize during the Hitkrant world premiere of the ABBA-movie.

Even more good news: the new ABBA-album is on its way! It will be available in the shops in the beginning of January. Its title will be ‘ABBA The Album’.
On the A-side of the album are the songs ‘Eagle’, ‘Take A Chance On Me’, ‘One Man, One Woman’ and ‘The Name Of The Game’. The B-side contains ‘Move On’, ‘Hole In Your Soul’ and three scenes from the mini-musical ‘The Girl With The Golden Hair’: ‘Thank You For The Music’, ‘I Wonder’ and ‘I’m A Marionette’.
All tracks have been written by Benny and Björn themselves and the album sleeve looks terrific (the photograph included in this article is from the inner sleeve).
So there’s reason enough to be happy. Because a new member has been added to the ABBA-family and because it won’t be long before we can enjoy the new album of a group that may well be the most popular pop group in the world at the moment!

Joepie, December 1977: Barely two weeks after the birth of Anna’s baby... ABBA back on the job!

The life of a pop star has its advantages. Fame, popularity, money, how many young people aren’t dreaming about that? How many artists wouldn’t sell their souls for that? But still there are a couple of less attractive aspects of show business. ABBA’s blonde Anna has experienced this only recently. Barely two weeks after the birth of her son she had to get back to her job. There was no such thing as maternity leave.
“Yes, two weeks before the baby was born, I wasn’t allowed to do anything on doctor’s orders,” blonde Anna explains in between two recording sessions. “However, the problem was that I still had to do a couple of things for the new album, and I wasn’t even allowed to do that. That’s actually the reason why the album wasn’t available in the shops before the holidays. We were forced to postpone the release of the album...”
Our photographer returned with the accompanying pictures from Sweden, where he witnessed a couple of hours of recording sessions. Brand-new mama Anna looked radiant.
“I only have to get rid of that belly,” she said. “I’m doing special turn exercises for that. I can’t afford to have a belly. How the baby is doing? Excellent! It’s a very well-behaved child: sleeping, eating and sleeping again. Obviously, Linda is up in the clouds as well. Very often, she takes a chair and sits next to the cradle. For hours, she just sits there and stares at her little brother...”
Anna was always very attached to her little daughter and thought it was awful that she had to leave home so often. How will this work out with two kids, we asked her.
“I do not want to go through the hectic period that we’ve been experiencing the past two years again,” she says resolutely. “But leaving ABBA is out of the question! Because I realise that this would mean the end of the group immediately. Not that I think that highly of myself, but if I would quit, then Björn would leave the group as well. Probably, Benny and Frida wouldn’t be as successful as a duo. Neither would Björn and I, if we would continue as a duo. ABBA has very much the image of two couples. Replacing someone – like this happens with other groups regularly – is out of the question with us...”

Popshop, 1977: ABBA-scandal on its way?

In ABBA’s heyday, some editors were clearly desperate to have any article about ABBA in their magazine. In 1977, Belgian magazine Joepie suggested that ‘Dancing Queen’ was plagiarism.
ABBA remains the centre of attention. Especially their private life is the subject of daily conversation; and of the written word. Except for the quarrels among the four of them, there’s very little startling news to report. But the rumour that’s been circulating since recently is exceptionally shocking. If it’s true, of course, because up till now it’s just been a rumour. ‘Dancing Queen’, ABBA’s biggest hit up till now was allegedly not written by Björn and Benny...

Most of the time, it’s difficult to verify where a rumour – sometimes the beginning of a scandal – has started circulating. Mostly in pubs or venues where people from the pop world can be found. Sometimes, someone lets something slip out, albeit while enjoying a good glass of beer. Many rumours don’t live very long, due to a lack of interest.
But when a group like ABBA is concerned, everyone pricks up their ears. Because ABBA is always news. These days, no one bats an eye anymore when it becomes known that there have been spats again among the members. Even when Anni-Frid pours out a glass of Campari over Benny’s successful head in public, photographers aren’t grasping for their cameras anymore. The ‘free marriage’ of the couple has been long accepted as well.

But from Germany, through different channels, a rumour started to seep through, that we wanted to know more about. Allegedly, ‘Dancing Queen’ hasn’t been written at all by the famous composing duo Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, but by Drafi Deutscher, a former idol in Germany.
Drafi Deutscher is not completely unknown in our own country either. His ‘Marmer, Stein Und Eisen’ was a top ten hit over here several years ago. In Germany, it is said that it’s not completely out of the question that Drafi – when his career started to go downhill – started to peddle with his own compositions and found a response at the ABBA-concern.
But once again, this is just a rumour that our editorial staff intercepted. We haven’t been able yet to check whether this rumour can be proven. But you know what they are saying: where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And this isn’t a new phenomenon either. It has happened before that a composer sold his work and agreed that his name would not be mentioned.

Pop Foto, November 1979: ABBA is tired of all the gossip!

ABBA’s ambitious world tour has just kicked off with a dazzling concert in Vancouver, Canada. However, before the group packed their suitcases, Pop Foto paid a quick visit to the extensive rehearsals that preceded the trip. Enticed by ominous rumours...

Still, there are these vicious rumours about the impending end of ABBA. Despite strong denials by ABBA’s manager Stig Anderson, the rumours are still going round that this tour will be the last one and that the quartet will go their separate ways after that.
And since Benny, Björn, Agnetha and Anni-Frid were working so intensely and very hard during the rehearsals, that there was barely any time for a chat (just for the accompanying pictures), Stig Anderson took us to his office at the ABBA headquarter under the cloak of: “I’m getting so tired of all this nonsense. I think I’m going to put an end to all these delusions once and for all, by telling more about ABBA’s future plans than I’d actually like to. Then you’ll be able to hear for yourselves that ABBA is not over with at all!”

And that’s why we all sat down and listened to what he had to say. “First, shall I tell you about my big dream?” Stig mumbled. He leaned over and slowly said: “ABBA on the Red Square in Moscow.” He plumped down in his chair and cheered: “Well, wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Stikkan smiled contentedly, he already saw it happening before his eyes. “I think the Red Square has room for at least one million people. Splendid, and that concert could be broadcast on television all over the world directly via satellite.” All of this should take place during the Olympic Games next year. “They would love to see us in Russia. We’ve already had several offers from that country. And apart from that, an American television company has announced that they would be willing to take care of the broadcast and pay for the costs. So the plan isn’t as crazy as it sounds!”
But there are even more plans bubbling in Stig’s mind. Like a tour through South America. “‘Chiquitita’ was recorded in Spanish. The result: the number one spot in the charts in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico and Venezuela. It would be a good idea to perform in these countries. Even today,” Stig says carelessly, “I got a question from Montevideo to let ABBA perform there in a huge stadium.” Talk about football stadiums. Stig Anderson is playing with the idea to do a summer tour in Europe and perform at the biggest stadiums: Wembley in London, the Olympic Stadium in Munich and, who knows, maybe even the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam.
“In short, we have more than enough plans,” according to Stig. “Really, as long as we are still having fun, we will continue!”
Before leaving Stockholm, we quickly took a peak at the rehearsals, where Björn and Benny were fine-tuning some arrangements together with the band leader, where Agnetha, sweaty and exhausted, was sitting in a corner and where Anni-Frid was going through her dance routine for the umpteenth time. Oh well, ABBA doesn’t now when to stop.