Joepie, June 1978: ABBA on the job and in their spare time – “Actually, we’re leading an ordinary life”

A 1978 article from Belgian magazine Joepie about ABBA’s preparations for the new album and their activities in their spare time. The text is almost an exact copy of the article from Dutch magazine Hitkrant, published in May 1978 (see 14 June 2009 entry).
Up till now, 1978 has been a comparatively quiet year for ABBA. Or, so it seems to the outsider, because Björn and Benny are already very busy working on the new album. “And it takes a lot more hard work than you think,” Benny says. “Since February, we’ve been busy discussing musical ideas and developing them further.”

The four members of ABBA realize very well that it’s not going to be easy to come up with yet another smash hit album. The previous two long-players, and their accompanying singles, have achieved millions of sales all around the world. Both ‘Arrival’ and ‘The Album’ were monster successes on a musical and financial level. That’s why they don’t leave anything to chance.
“We’ve taken a rather strict work schedule upon ourselves,” Benny says, “we’re even working in some sort of office hours. Every day, from ten o’clock in the morning till five o’clock in the afternoon, our whole world revolves around the piano and the guitar. Only at the weekend, we’re taking things a little easier, but from Monday till Friday we can’t be reached during these hours. Then we’re always to be found in the working space at my home. It’s easier that way, because Björn and Agnetha have to get up early anyway with their two small children at home. This way, I can sleep late, and it’s a bit quieter here as well.”
How is a new ABBA-album being born? “The first couple of weeks, nothing much happens actually,” Björn says. “Benny and I present our ideas to each other, but it doesn’t get any further than talking and a couple of musical chords. It’s always difficult to really get going again. After all, creativity can’t be ignited on command. But luckily, I can tell you that we are making progress again lately. It has eased our conscience to some extent, because we definitely have to be ready before the summer begins. Because all four of us want to spend a relaxed holiday then, on our island in the Stockholm archipelago.”
The two ABBA-couples do have other opportunities to keep themselves occupied. “Björn and Agnetha like to be at home as much as possible,” Benny says, “to occupy themselves with the children. They very rarely go to clubs or shows. Frida and I are having a much busier social life. For instance, we often go to see Björn Skiffs, the singer that represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest. He’s a good friend of ours. We also play a game of tennis regularly, since it’s a good way to keep ourselves in shape. I never used to be a very sporty kind of guy, but that has changed since I have my own boat. I’m taking two different classes to learn how to command my boat as good as possible. And Frida is not resting on her laurels either, she’s taking singing and dancing lessons with Inga Sundström and Graham Tainton, two of the best teachers you could possibly find. So both of us are keeping very busy.”
But the four ABBA-members don’t complain. Jointly, they say: “People think that we are leading an extraordinary and outrageous private life. But that’s nonsense. We’re enjoying ourselves, very well even. But that doesn’t mean that we are pursuing enormous luxury or that we are partying in an incredible way. We get our biggest satisfaction from our music, and from the response of the people who like it.”

Mikro Gids, December 1999: ABBA’s Agnetha Fältskog: “Behind the scenes, I felt like a wreck”

This article, based on quotes from Agnetha’s book As I Am, was published in a Dutch TV guide in the same week that a television special was broadcast on Dutch TV. The special celebrated 25 years of ABBA’s success in Holland and featured snippets of several rare ABBA-performances and interviews for Dutch TV. Just like in many other countries, ABBA enjoyed another full-scale revival in Holland in 1999. A compilation album, designed exclusively for Holland, reached the number one spot and was one of the best selling albums of the year.
Which CD crossed shop counters the most in the past ten years? Was it Madonna’s? Was it Oasis’? Or was it the Spice Girls’? Not exactly. With the year 2000 on the threshold, the general audience is going back to the golden days of ABBA on a massive scale. In the meantime, no less than 25 million copies of the CD ‘ABBA Gold’ have crossed shop counters. An unprecedented success, that make the pop idols of today turn pale. Agnetha Fältskog about the life after the legend.

Who doesn’t know her? Agnetha Fältskog, the pretty, blonde singer that made many boys’ heart beat faster. She is now 49 years old, still attractive but much more sophisticated. Actually, she hardly got older. Just like the legendary creation ABBA. In their heyday scoffed at by the critical press, now they’re even immortalized at the renowned Nordiska Museum in Stockholm. Twenty-five years after ‘Waterloo’, ABBA is not only widely respected for their intricate musical structures, their avant-garde contribution to the time spirit of the seventies and the eighties is being acknowledged all over the world as well. Agnetha hardly seems to realize this. The way she talks about ABBA, reveals a certain naivety.
Agnetha: “When we called it a day with ABBA in the beginning of the eighties, I thought we would be forgotten after a few years. I never realized how big the impact of our group was. But now, in the nineties, ABBA is back with a vengeance. In my life as well. Meanwhile, the revival has become so strong, that we can’t ignore it any longer. You know, when our music has lasted for such a long time, and is still appealing to so many people all over the world, then there has to be something special about us as a group?”

For years, Agnetha has wanted nothing more than to be at home and lead a private life. She has no desire for the spotlights. It is often suggested that she’s living like a recluse, shut off from society. But in reality, she’s in the centre of life. She regularly shows up at parties and premieres. But she doesn’t perform any longer.
Agnetha: “I want to show my talent, my aim is not so much to be worshipped by loads of people. After the immense success of the group, I wanted to prove I was more than ABBA’s Agnetha. That’s why I realized a lifelong dream when I got the opportunity. I accepted a part in a movie, in order to prove myself as an actress as well. After my movie, I recorded my first international solo album ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’, together with Mike Chapman. The fact that this album sold 2,5 million copies, gave me the feeling that I could be successful on my own as well. But by then, my children were my priority already. The projects that I’m really proud of are the albums that I’ve recorded together with them. These days, I’m keeping myself occupied with managing my horse-riding centre and the supervision of my capital. Who knows, I might even sing again, a movie soundtrack or something like that. Just for fun.”

Out of the four ABBA-members, it was especially Agnetha who started her solo career full of ambition. Indeed, she was already successful as a solo singer in Sweden, even before ABBA existed. With ABBA’s major breakthrough and the numerous hits that followed, Agnetha’s ambition strangely diminished. What came instead was the care for her children and uncontrollable fears. This resulted in the dramatic divorce from Björn and several conflicts in the group.
Agnetha: “I enjoyed the success, but I had the feeling that I was torn in two. On the one hand, I was a star, and on the other I was a mother. On top of that, I developed an enormous fear of flying, after a near plane crash. I was afraid that my children would be left behind without parents. I missed them when I was standing there singing my umpteenth hit, far away from home. That’s why I rather wanted to stay at home at a certain point. Björn and I had many arguments about that. He thought that I couldn’t let certain opportunities go by. But the children were my priority. I didn’t have any problems with television performances, because they were always brief. But I wasn’t up for the tours that lasted for months on end. After our divorce, I agreed to one more world tour. This tour was very difficult for me. On stage, I was radiating, but behind the scenes, I felt like a wreck.”

Still, the divorce didn’t mean the end of ABBA immediately. Many regard the records after the divorce as the group’s finest moment. The melodies are more complicated, the lyrics are less superficial and sometimes even painfully personal.
Agnetha: “At a certain moment, Björn and I just had to face the facts. Things just weren’t working out between us. When we eventually had decided to separate, an enormous pressure disappeared. We were free again, and could go out with other people again. This had a positive effect on the atmosphere in the group. It’s definitely true that our work got more profound because of it. We wrote better songs, with more real emotion and pure feelings. I still regard ‘The Winner Takes It All’, ‘One Of Us’ and ‘The Day Before You Came’ as our best songs.”

When Benny and Frida’s marriage comes to an end as well, due to Benny having an affair, ABBA is doomed. But none of the ABBA-members has the nerve to break away from the ABBA-heritage officially.
Agnetha: “That was the strange thing about the whole situation. None of us really felt like it any longer, but none of us had the nerve to say: ‘I quit’. We had achieved everything there was to achieve, we had written good songs and achieved an enormous success, and then there comes a time when you want to move ahead. At a certain point, I said during an interview that I preferred a solo career to ABBA, and that I couldn’t imagine that we’d ever be on stage together again. I gave that interview only a year after our last recordings, but during that short time I had become so far removed from ABBA, that I hardly noticed that I had put an end to an era by saying that. Since then, I’ve decided to lead my life at my own pace. This has made me much happier.”

Popfoto, January 1980: What are you dreaming about, Agnetha?

Dutch magazine Pop Foto musing about Agnetha's thoughts in this picture, taken at a press conference during the 1979 tour.

What does this far off gaze in your cool Swedish eyes mean, Agnetha? What are you desperately longing for, being someone who has everything that others can only dream about? Could it be your heart that’s bothering you?

Does ABBA’s blonde singer Agnetha Fältskog give herself away? It sure seemed like it every now and then during the recent ABBA-tour through Canada, America and Europe. Time and time again, Agnetha, with a fresh, short haircut, was spotted gazing in the distance, absorbed in thought. If you didn’t know any better, you would think that the twenty-nine-year-old blonde from Jönköping was in love. And if you didn’t read the newspapers, the tabloids and pop magazines the past year, you might even think that Agnetha was reminiscing about the happy years before the ABBA-success. About that sunny afternoon in July for instance, when she said ‘I do’ to Björn in a small Swedish church and life was still full of promises...

Of course, we all know better. Obviously, we’re all familiar with the pictures of the dramatic divorce, Björn’s new love Lena and Agnetha’s brief fling with ice-hockey player Lars-Eric Eriksson... but still. Actually, Agnetha only seemed happy when her children Linda and Christian were flown in during the aforementioned tour and, if only for a short while, she got the feeling to be reunited with her little family again in London and San Francisco...
But still... despite the fact that girlfriend Lena Källersjö was travelling along with Björn on the tour, the formerly married couple was suspiciously often spotted together, not only with their children and during rehearsals, but in their spare time as well. This was especially obvious because the love birds of yore, Frida and Benny, were just behaving less friendly towards each other the past few months. The couple that was always known for their quiet, friendly behaviour, now excelled in quarrelling on stage, at their hotel and during public appearances such as press conferences...
It was obvious that Agnetha was dreaming about love, in between the busy ABBA-schedule. And what’s also obvious to everyone, is that love hasn’t been kind to the members of Europe’s most successful group. But what it will bring in the future, that’s the secret behind that mysterious glance of Agnetha...

Pop Foto, July 1979: Is ABBA going to lose Anni-Frid?

A Dutch article from 1979 about Frida playing a part in the Swedish movie Gå På Vattnet Om Du Kan, filming for which took place in February 1979 in Spain.

Vicious rumours in Sweden are claiming that Anni-Frid has become so attached to acting after her first serious film part, that she is seriously considering to abandon ABBA for that. Is the continued existence of ABBA uncertain or is it false alarm...?

Now that the new ABBA-album ‘Voulez-Vous’ is finally available in the shops, more than a year after the previous long-player, and the rumours about the foursome’s private life seem to have been extinguished, suddenly a very shocking report turns up from out of nowhere. And this time, the thirty-four-year-old Anni-Frid, up till now the least talked about ABBA-singer, is the gossip’s victim. Recently, when Benny and Björn spent a couple of weeks on the Bahamas to gather new inspiration, Anni-Frid flew to the Spanish city Seville for a small part in the Swedish movie ‘Just Try To Walk On The Water’.
“I had the time for it and I really wanted to do it,” according to Anni-Frid. “Despite my previous experiences with the ABBA-movie, that in the meantime has been seen by more than five million people, a whole new world opened up for me during the filming of ‘Just Try...’. I’ve said that I wouldn’t mind doing some more acting.”
And because of this last statement, the rumours have started, according to Anni-Frid. “I meant to say that I look at this acting more as something for the future. I’m definitely not planning to abandon my colleagues at the moment. ABBA is doing better than ever. It may sound strange, but ever since Björn and Agnetha’s divorce, who were constantly quarrelling before that, the atmosphere in ABBA has cleared up considerably. The four of us are having fun again. It will take a whole lot for me to say goodbye to ABBA!”
That’s why it will probably take a while before Anni-Frid is able to accept a next film part. Because after the well-deserved holiday that ABBA is enjoying at the moment, the hard work starts again. The group has to rehearse extensively for the upcoming tour, that will commence at the beginning of August. The Swedish group will definitely surprise Holland with a concert as well. And apart from the tour, there are also the festivities surrounding Agnetha who’s celebrating her tenth anniversary as a singer this year. In honour of her anniversary, a solo album will be released that will be called ‘Agnetha’s Greatest Hits’ and that will also include a completely new song, written by Agnetha herself...

Privé, October 1979: The ABBA-family is taking a rest…

This article was published in Dutch gossip magazine Privé in the same week that ABBA performed in Holland on their 1979 tour. The pictures were taken in September 1979 in Los Angeles where ABBA was relaxing at the swimming pool of their hotel. Agnetha does not look too pleased in the second picture. Meanwhile, Görel Hanser is mistaken for Björn’s new love interest.
ABBA’s gigantic tour through the United States, Canada and now Europe is an enormous success. The tickets for the concerts were sold out months in advance. Indeed, the performances turned out to be something very special. This week, on the eve of their performance, ABBA-fever has started to spread in our country as well. Privé paid a visit to the Swedish group on their American series of concerts, the start of the tour. Everyone had settled at the swimming pool of the hotel where they could relax for a while before the exhausting concert started every night.
Agnetha and Björn’s children, six-year-old Linda and one-year-old son Christian, were allowed to travel along on this tour. Most of the time, they stay at home alone, but the blonde singer found it irresponsible to leave her children alone for a couple of months.
However, it was striking that Agnetha’s ex-husband Björn didn’t occupy himself too much with the children; he had his eyes on the female beauties that were present. But one of the ladies clearly had Björn’s preference. He spent the entire day at the pool, chatting away with this blonde beauty, meanwhile leaving the care for the children to his ex-wife. For that matter, for six-year-old Linda the tour is a once in a lifetime experience.Two months of tagging along with her mum and dad. Very often, she has to stay at home alone while the marriage of her mum and dad is over. For her, this is a whole new world that she visibly enjoyed. For the group, this was a moment of relaxation before their big task began.

Hitkrant, May 1978: ABBA is going to conquer America!

An article from Dutch magazine Hitkrant about ABBA’s attempt to conquer the American market in 1978. The campaign did generate some promising results and proved that ABBA would have been able to crack the US, if they had wanted to. Take A Chance On Me became a huge hit, peaking at number 3 (some even claim that it was their most successful US single, considering sales figures and popularity) and ABBA – The Album became ABBA’s highest charting original album in the US, peaking at number 14. Inexplicably, ABBA’s American record company did not build on this momentum and decided to release no new ABBA-product for a whole year.
Anyone who wants to achieve something in the long run, will have to make a planning. ABBA has made a so-called ‘Plan ‘78’, in which it is exactly described how they are planning to conquer America this year.

Manager Stig Anderson has thought out an ingenious plan in which all activities in the year 1978 are aimed at getting the United States completely won over by the Swedish foursome. For starters, at the end of April the group has left for Los Angeles to execute the whole operation from there.

The Scotti Brothers, who are taking care of the publicity and the promotion of, among others, Bellamy Brothers, John Denver and Barbra Streisand, will occupy themselves with the practical execution of Plan ’78. This means: promoting the records, setting up interviews with important people of the press, having conversations and making deals with promoters and record dealers.

In America, you have to hire professional people for things like this, otherwise you won’t stand a chance. But: it costs loads of money!
One of the ideas is that ABBA will make a television special together with Olivia Newton-John, who is a huge star in the States, if only due to the success of her hit single with John Travolta, ‘You’re The One That I Want’.

ABBA still knows Olivia from the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 in Brighton, where ‘Waterloo’ became the winning song and Olivia finished in fourth place. This way, the Australian-born singer is an important tool for ABBA on their way to the big American success. Time will tell!

Joepie, 1982: How Anna helped her desperate colleague out of trouble!

An article from Belgian magazine Joepie about the duet single that Agnetha (in this article still called Anna) recorded with Tomas Ledin in 1982. The article shows a picture of ABBA posing with Ted Gärdestad, although the writer of this piece will have you believe that it’s Tomas Ledin. The single did quite well in Belgium, reaching the top ten. In Holland, it was a moderate chart success, peaking at number 24.
With his head slightly bent in sorrow and a distant look in his eyes, Tomas Ledin walked out of the office of his manager Stig Anderson. He didn’t even notice that Anna was having a chat with the telephonist and walked straight passed her.
“I had never seen Tomas like that,” Anna explains. “For years, I had known him as a friendly, cheerful guy who was always ready for a joke. Afterwards, Stig told me what was wrong: he had just shown him the sales figures of his latest single. Tomas had expected a lot from it, but the result was not up to the mark. ‘I think that I’d better quit’, he said in an almost whispery voice and walked out.”

“I just couldn’t forget that desperate look in Tomas’ eyes when I sat at home that night,” Anna continues. “With ABBA, we had been successful from the very beginning. It never crossed my mind that there are other artists that had been less fortunate than us. Although we had an example in our own stable, because Tomas has been with Polar for years. Yes, we had posed with him before for a picture, but he didn’t get any more support from us than that. I started feeling some remorse. Why did we leave this young bloke to his fate like this? Had we really gone blind for the troubles of less fortunate colleagues? I wanted to make up for that mistake no matter what.”
“The next day, I paid him a visit at his home,” Anna continues. “The desperation could still be read in his eyes. He played a couple of self-written songs for me, that he wanted to put on a new album. ‘But I don’t know if it’s any use to release them anymore,’ he added. One of those songs, ‘Never Again’, appealed to me a great deal. At first, the thought crossed my mind to record it myself for my upcoming solo album with Mike Chapman. But then I came up with a much better idea: why not record it as a duet! With my name on that record, it would suddenly get more attention. If it would become a hit, that album of Tomas would stand a much better chance. I saw that spark in his eyes again. We talked it over with Stig. He liked the idea immediately, and within a week we were together in the recording studio.”

Obviously , that duet recording was the ideal ammunition for the Swedish gossip press. But that doesn’t bother Anna.
“After all these years, I’ve broken that habit,” she says. “After my failed love affair with Torbjörn, I’m far from being ready for a new romance. With every day, it’s getting harder for me to deal with men. They look at me too much as a star and fail to see my own personality. Tomas is definitely not my new boyfriend. We’ve known each other for years, we get along great, but that’s all. As far as I’m concerned, they can write what they like about me, but I could perfectly do without the publicity generated by the gossip press. But for Tomas, it’s obviously important that his name is seen everywhere. I wish him all the success in the world, he deserves it like no other.”
Because of this artistic marriage, Anna found herself in the charts as a solo singer sooner than was initially planned.
“My solo album with Mike Chapman will not be recorded before the autumn,” she says. “I had to postpone it for a couple of months, because there was other work to be done. The movie, that I’ve discussed earlier, and recording sessions with ABBA. Because no matter what they’re saying, ABBA will continue. Recently, an article appeared in a Swedish magazine, claiming that I was jealous of Frida, and that I hastily made this duet recording with Tomas because of that. I thought that was awful. That reporter didn’t even bother to inquire about the true story. He simply had his own view on the proceedings and put it on paper without hesitation. I’m not jealous of Frida, I grant her the success that she’s experiencing at the moment. I even think that her album is very good. Some people seem to forget that it’s beneficiary to each ABBA-member that every solo project is doing well. With or without ABBA, all five of us – including Stig – are shareholders of Polar.”