Story, October 1978: ABBA: “Isn’t it wonderful to have more than enough money?”

Dutch gossip magazine Story informing us that ABBA thinks it’s just wonderful to have a lot of money. Well, what else is new...
While other Swedish millionaires are leaving their country to escape from the high taxes in their home country, ABBA isn’t even considering to go and live abroad. “We don’t have to keep all this money to ourselves, do we?”

“We have everything we could wish for; beautiful houses, our own island, an exquisite yacht and more than enough money to buy anything we want. What else could we possibly wish for? We are completely satisfied,” is what the four ABBA-members are saying.
Movie director Ingmar Bergman moved to America a couple of years ago. The young Swedish tennis champion Björn Borg and the racing driver Ronnie Peterson both settled in the same apartment building in Monaco.
“It would be crazy if we had stayed in Sweden,” all three of them give as a reason for their departure. “Eighty-five percent of everything that you make goes to taxes over there. That’s ridiculous, isn’t it!”
“We are always saying: anyone who has to pay a lot of taxes has made even more money!” ABBA’s Agnetha, Frida, Benny and Björn give as a counter-argument. Because, contrary to many other Swedish millionaires, they aren’t even considering to leave their home country because of its taxes. Meanwhile, they are making even a whole lot more money than Ingmar Bergman, Björn Borg and Ronnie Peterson.
“Why would we want to leave this country?” is what they are saying and they agree wholeheartedly. “We are fine with how things are. Sweden is a wonderful country. With people that are down to earth. Of course, we could drive around in a Rolls Royce, but people would probably start throwing rotten tomatoes at us. ‘Just act normal, that’s strange enough’ is what people are saying here. Isn’t that the right state of mind? We can simply be ourselves in Sweden and that’s exactly what we need. We can walk the streets quietly without being bothered by fans. Because the people are so down to earth here. No, we wouldn’t want to live in any other country. And we don’t mind that we have to pay taxes. That’s money well spent.”
Their manager Stig Anderson is just as outspoken about ABBA’s earnings as the ABBA-members themselves. “Everyone is allowed to know how much we are making,” he says. “That’s no secret.”

Then, full of pride, he tells Story that around 53 million ABBA-records have been sold in the past five years. In Australia, even one in every four households bought one of their records. About seven hundred million Dutch guilders came in on royalties. Add to that the earnings on concerts and television performances. In London alone, tickets were sold, amounting to a sum of seven million Dutch guilders. And, except for America, ABBA is on top in virtually every country.
Stig Anderson: “Even behind the Iron Curtain, our hit ‘Money, Money, Money’ made the top ten. But in Russia, you don’t get paid in cash. We had to make different arrangements for this country: instead of money, they sent us food and shares in oil.”
Stig Anderson explains how everything is arranged financially. Actually, everything is split into five shares: for the four ABBA-members and for Stig himself. Each one of them gets some kind of allowance (150.000 Dutch guilders each year, which is only a small part of the income) and the rest is being invested in the company, called AB, that has been founded specifically for that purpose. This company invests in buildings and department stores, finances major projects and donates large sums of money to charity, such as Amnesty International.

Since he is the only ABBA-member who speaks English fluently, Björn acts as a spokesperson for the quartet. He says: “Indeed, we do give a lot of money away. People appreciate us for doing that, but we think it’s actually our duty. Indeed, we make a lot more money than we actually need. As long as we can buy everything we like, we are satisfied. But after that, there’s more than enough left, even when the taxes have been paid. Why wouldn’t we help other people with all this money? We don’t have to keep everything to ourselves, do we? Because, like we said, we can’t drive around in a Rolls Royce here anyway. We are living comfortably, there's always something tucked away for a rainy day and our children’s future is secure. What else could we want?
People tend to say that money doesn’t buy you happiness. Well, it certainly did make us happy. Isn’t it wonderful to have more than enough money? We own everything that we didn’t even dare to dream of in former days and on top of that, we are making other people happy with our money as well!”

Das Freizeit-Magazin, November 1978: ABBA never on tour again

In 1978, rumours were circulating that ABBA would never tour again.
ABBA Live – that’s over with. The reason: Björn and Agnetha want to have more time off to spend with their son Christian. “Therefore, we can’t afford all this travelling around any longer.”

Wasn’t that a big shock for the fans, when ABBA announced: “We will not go on tour again, instead we will focus exclusively on our work in the recording studio.”
The most popular and successful pop group in the world since the Beatles – the quartet from Stockholm now wants to follow the same path as their famous predecessors did years ago.
A Swedish tidbit that was hard to stomach. We wanted to know the exact facts and gave ABBA a call at their home. Björn was on the phone.
Are you really serious about this?
In show business, as we were told, something is actually never really final. But at least it’s true, according to Björn, that they are very serious about it at the moment. Because: “We’ve neglected our children long enough”.
For Anni-Frid and Benny, the aspect of the children probably wasn’t that crucial. They both have a daughter and a son from previous relationships. Those four children are eleven to fifteen years old. At these ages, they are becoming self-dependent and intelligible. But for Björn and Agnetha, it’s a completely different matter.
Besides the care for their five-year-old daughter Linda, the couple now has to care for their son Christian as well, who is just eleven months old.
“It would be irresponsible,” says Björn, “to leave the boy alone so much. But no worries: we will continue recording music.”
So there definitely won’t be any tours anymore?
Björn still doesn’t want to confirm it: “Children do get older. Then we will see what happens...”

Bravo, December 1976: Anni-Frid breaks her silence

In 1976, German magazine Bravo started a series that focused on each member separately. This is part one: Frida. Too bad the writer of this article didn’t get his facts straight. According to this article, Benny and Frida had two children, Frida had hosted the TV-show Hylands Hörna and ABBA already had ten number one hits by 1976...
In six weeks time, ABBA will come on tour in Germany. Bravo singled out the four Swedes for a cross-examination for a collectible portrait-series. Really surprising, the things that Anni-Frid revealed...

Bravo: Anni-Frid, you are 31 years old and the most ‘secretive’ ABBA-member. Your first marriage, your four children, your career before ABBA, not much is known about all these things...
Anni-Frid: “Firstly, I must admit that, according to my passport, my name is Fredriksson and not Lyngstad, my maiden name. Fredriksson is the name of my ex-husband. We got divorced more than seven years ago. After the divorce, I didn’t get to changing all the paperwork. In the meantime, I’ve come to terms with this ‘wrong’ name.”
Bravo: Why did you get married at the age of 16?
Anni-Frid: “It’s not that extraordinary in my country. He was my ‘first man’ and we were both deeply in love, therefore we wanted to get married. Our parents didn’t oppose to that either. When I was only 17, I got my first son Hans and two years later, my daughter Liselotte.”
Bravo: Why did your marriage end?
Anni-Frid: “Because we were both too young when we got married. After our second child, I suddenly got a wake-up call. I thought to myself, ‘now you are twenty years old and already a mother of two’. My husband was very occupied with his job, while I was chained to the housekeeping. Therefore, we involuntarily started to grow apart. I had imagined a marriage to be more romantic. When our marital crisis got even worse, we decided, after long conversations, to get a divorce. That was the best solution for the both of us. Nowadays, my husband, who has remarried, and I have a very amicable and open relationship. Hans and Liselotte are also living with him. I visit them once a month.”
Bravo: And after the divorce, your career started?
Anni-Frid: “I was forced to do something. That’s where my dance training came in handy, something that I’d been doing since I was six years old and that I continued to do after the two childbirths to keep in shape. I got a job as a chorus girl with the Swedish television ballet; and that’s how I was discovered. Some time after that, I got the opportunity to host the popular TV-show Hylands Hörna and that’s how I became known in the entire country.”
Bravo: How did singing get into your life?
Anni-Frid: “Privately, I have played some guitar and sung folksongs my entire life. But it wasn’t until my TV-show that I sang in front of a big audience. My first song was a Christmas song. That’s how the record producers started to take notice of me. Some time after that, I recorded a duet with the Swedish singer Lars Berghagen. However, the single didn’t become a big success, but I had laid the foundation.”
Bravo: How did you meet Benny?
Anni-Frid: “In the recording studio. At the time, Benny was already a big star with his band Hep Stars, that was Sweden’s most popular group. In front of a broken coffee machine, we got into a conversation and made an appointment for our first date. At the time, we both could not have imagined that we would end up singing in the same group...”
Bravo: What aspect of Benny did you like most?
Anni-Frid: “His boyish charm and his dry sense of humour, those were the first things that I noticed. Later on, I found out that Benny can be very serious and sensitive as well. And this combination was exactly what I’d been looking for. We really are an ideal couple.”
Bravo: Nowadays, you and Benny have two children, but you never got married. Why is that?
Anni-Frid: “Because those are two different things, that’s what I’ve learned from my first marriage. Even Helen (8) and Peter (7) know by now that their parents are not married and they think it’s quite common. Compared with other families, I believe that things are far more relaxed in our household. Of course, our profession plays an important part as well, this irregular life. But also the fact that Benny and I are together because we want to and not because we have to, due to a marriage certificate.”
Bravo: You are right in the middle of the seven year itch – are there disagreements as well?
Anni-Frid: “Regularly even, and that’s always shortly before the recording of a new ABBA-single. After a string of ten consecutive number one hits, Benny and Björn are under an enormous pressure to succeed. Then it happens once in a while that things get to a boiling-point in both families. At these times, the fact that I smoke too much or that I’ve forgotten to take out the trash, can be enough to ignite Benny’s anger. But as soon as the record is in its cover, the touchy tiger turns into a tame cat again...”
Bravo: How do you and Benny get along with Anna and Björn?
Anni-Frid: “Long before ABBA, we already worked together as a family company. Therefore, we know each other inside out. We have a sort of brother-sister relationship. To avoid frictions, we lead our private lives separately as much as we can. We only spend our sailing holiday, once every summer, together with Anna and Björn.”
Bravo: Is there something that you’re afraid of?
Anni-Frid: “To be honest, I’m afraid of our world tour in the spring, which will take us to Germany as well. I’m quivering at the thought whether we will be able to fulfil the high expectations of our fans. Even when we have been rehearsing our show almost every day since November. But when you’ve had as much hits as we have had, there will always be plenty of people who are just waiting to see you fall flat.”

Joepie, 1978: ABBA is finally ready for a holiday!

A Belgian article, revealing ABBA's plans for the year 1978.
The entire ABBA-family has packed their bags and left for their private island for a while, with a bunch of fresh ideas. Now that it has become certain that they won’t do any tours or performances this year, they immediately decided to take some time off. For the first time since they won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, they are hoping to be able to take a real holiday as well. Benny and Frida have decided to go to Spain, while Björn and Agnetha will probably prefer a quiet stay on their island with their children.
Obviously, the business machine around ABBA remains on stream in the meantime. Stig Anderson and Björn and Benny have decided not to go on tour this year because they primarily want to focus on the American and Japanese recording industry.
“Up till now, there haven’t been any real American or Japanese plans, because we were concentrating too much on our success in the rest of the world,” is what Björn told us on the phone recently. “However, our recent singles have all made the top 30 and our latest album has been received quite well. So it’s high time for us to start paying more attention to these huge markets in show business.”
Although Björn and Benny were planning to spend some time daydreaming during their stay on the island, they can’t stay away from music. They’re already very busy working on a new album, that will be released even this year.
“Our fans have a right to this album, since we won’t be performing this year,” according to an ever-optimistic Björn.
And while we are giving our best regards to the entire family, he asks us if we already knew that ABBA is getting extremely popular in Russia.
“On the black market, an ABBA-album is already worth 150 American dollars,” he smiles contentedly.

Hitkrant, December 1977: ABBA – The Album album review

ABBA - The Album reviewed in Dutch magazine Hitkrant in December 1977.

ABBA ‘ABBA, The Album’ Polar/Polydor

ABBA: the album review! If there is one record that thousands of people are looking forward to with anticipation, then it will undoubtedly be the new ABBA-album. Although the album has not been officially released here yet, we managed to get hold of a few copies.
Well, brace yourselves, because it’s a gem of a record. Every single song is of an enormous class, which once again underlines the versatility of the four ABBAs. Actually, there is not a single weak moment, or it would have to be the somewhat nervous ‘Hole In Your Soul’.
‘Eagle’, ‘Take A Chance On Me’ (the new single), ‘One Man, One Woman’, ‘Move On’ and the mini-musical ‘The Girl With The Golden Hair’, consisting of three parts, all made a big impression on me immediately.
Both productionwise, vocally as well as instrumentally, splendid work has been done, that all ABBA-fans will definitely know how to appreciate. With this album, ABBA have earned themselves a place among the biggest names in the international music scene. At the beginning of next year, it will be available in all the shops.

Studio, December 1976: ABBA

A report from Dutch TV-guide Studio about ABBA’s brief promotional visit to Holland, taking place on November 19, 1976. At a press conference, ABBA were presented with numerous awards for their record sales in Holland. They also appeared on the highly rated TV-show Eén Van De Acht, hosted by Mies Bouwman, where they performed three songs from their newly released album Arrival.
You may think what you like about ABBA’s music, but on November 19 it became clear that it had been many years ago since a pop group could gather so many people together for a press conference, a pop group that is realising its song ‘Money, Money, Money’ literally at the top of the charts at the moment. Nathalie Kester was present at this press conference for Studio. On February 4, ABBA will give a one-off concert in Holland.

It’s half past five and the temperature in the Bel Air Hotel in The Hague is reaching boiling point. The commotion in the fully packed room concerns a group of four people who turn everything they lend their voices to into gold, under the name ABBA. With a beaming smile, they enter the room, get up on the small stage and keep on smiling during the speeches that are fired at them in disastrous English. They accept a load of gold and platinum records, while the smile on their faces doesn’t fade away at any moment. Someone shouts through a megaphone that the reporters in the room can now ask their questions. All hell breaks loose. The assembled reporters and photographers are throwing themselves at the small stage that threatens to collapse under this assault. Blonde Anna almost faints in the stampede and is being guided to a chair in the corner of the room by her husband Björn. Two reporters from women’s magazines throw themselves at Björn and I’m joining in the fight for Anna. At the same time, she desperately tries to sign the records that are shoved in her face, answer numerous questions and on top of that say ‘Happy New Year from ABBA’ in a microphone for someone from a hospital broadcasting.
When I ask Anna, in between the most outrageous and shameless questions (“Do you and your husband fight a lot?” – “Will your daughter be a singer as well?” (Anna’s daughter is three and a half years old) – “Is there a lot of animosity between the couples in the group?”) how they are planning to live up to their ABBA-sound live on stage, when the group goes on tour later on, she looks at me gratefully. Finally someone who asks about their music. “We will start our tour in Oslo on January 25. To reproduce the sound of our records as close as possible, we will take along a thirty-piece orchestra from Sweden. In every country, we will hire a couple of extra violin players.”
Have you been on tour before? “To be honest, we’ve only done a small tour in Scandinavia once. Now we will travel through, among other countries, Scandinavia, Holland and England to America and finish in Australia. We’re preparing ourselves as good as possible. That’s why Frida and I are now taking ballet lessons as well.”
I’m interrupted rudely by people who ask about ABBA’s tax problems and who entice Anna to make the statement that she’s very happy about the new, more right-wing government, because before that, at least 85 percent of ABBA’s income went to the country’s tax authority. For that matter, it remains to be seen whether that will change now.
Desperately trying to get back to the music, I ask Anna whether she plays an instrument herself. “I play the piano. Not that well, but it’s nice that I can read music.” On the other side, Frida is complaining that her make-up is starting to fade. But the girls keep on smiling. And then, after only half an hour, ABBA’s manager appears to remind the group forcefully, that it’s high time for television recordings. Well-behaved, they go along. After all, it’s all about ‘Money, Money, Money’.

Joepie, 1978: Frida and Anna in revolt… “Sometimes, our men demand too much of us”

A Belgian article from 1978 about the ladies’ discontent with Björn and Benny’s demands.
It happens very often that a work meeting turns into a huge discussion with Anna. Most of the time, Anna and Frida pull together at these times, and try to resist the sometimes dictatorial decisions of their own spouses with might and main!

“You have no idea how tough Björn and Benny can get towards us where ABBA is concerned,” Anna whispered in our ear not too long ago. “At these moments, they completely forget that they are married to us and treat us like an artist that’s just starting out. For instance, in the studio things can get pretty heated. Sometimes we have to record our vocals for a particular song ten times before they are satisfied! That doesn’t even really bother Frida and me, because we know that Björn and Benny are mostly right. But we do get rebellious when they start to demand too much of us. Like recently: we had a week of holiday ahead of us, Frida and I were really over the moon about that. We would withdraw on our island to catch our breath, together with the children. But one day before our departure, our two gentlemen walked into the room, with the announcement that our holiday had been shortened with three days. The two of them had been watching footage of some kind of performance, and they had reached the conclusion that our performance – Frida’s and mine – was not completely perfect yet. That’s why they had hastily made an appointment with our dance instructor, without even consulting us. That was the last straw! Frida and I refused decisively and we called this man ourselves to postpone our appointment. I mean: sure, there are still a lot of things to improve upon. But all in due time! Just like everybody else, we need some time to get some rest and enjoy ourselves with our children. Our husbands are so committed to their job that it’s starting to turn into an obsession. Frida and I have decided to give them a wake-up call every now and then...”