09 November 2009
07 November 2009
Agnetha, age 5: "I'm going to be world famous"
From Allers Magazine 1983
Agnetha Fältskog's life is like a
fairytale. In this article she tells Allers' reporter how it all began and how
things turned out, in a personal way. A gentle, sensitive and humble person's
story about her way to worldwide fame.
On a spring day in 1955 in Jönköping, a cute little blonde girl, dressed in a
light blue dress, toddled up the stairs in an apartment building on
Tegelbruksgatan 8 A and knocked on the door at the Andersson family.
That's where Enid and Sigvard Andersson lived. He was a music teacher, nowadays
a regional musician. They had just bought a piano. It was placed in the drawing
room of course and Sigvard was sitting there playing on it.
Since the house wasn't soundproof, every single tone could be heard in the
apartment below, where Birgit and Ingvar Fältskog lived with their daughter
Agnetha.
It was the piano tones that had captured the interest of Agnetha. It sounded
beautiful and exciting. Something had happened upstairs. Since Agnetha was a
curious child, she toddled up the stairs to take a look.
The Anderssons and Fältskogs had spent time together for many years, both in
the city and in the country. Enid and Sigvard knew Agnetha ever since she was
born on an April day in 1950. She became a child in the Andersson home as well
and she came and went as she pleased.
Agnetha was standing completely still in the doorway of the drawing room. It
was as if the whole room exploded with tones when Sigvard laughed and played.
He lifted up the girl and put her on the piano chair.
Cautiously, fumbling a bit, Agnetha raised her right index finger and pushed
down a piano key: Pling!
Her face lit up with a happy smile and she pushed it down with her finger one
more time. Pling!
Her eyes sparkled. She liked that sound: Pling!
Without realizing it, she had suddenly received joy in her hands: Music.
When she woke up the next morning, she was very eager to go to the Anderssons
and play the piano. She went. Got up on the piano chair. Got comfortable and
began imitating uncle Sigge, which is what she called him. Bong! With
all her might, she pushed down the piano keys. Using all fingers, or rather
both hands.
She came back the next day and the next and next after that. The Andersson
family had suddenly become very important in her young life. There was the
piano. Hardly a day passed by without Agnetha sitting by the Andersson's piano.
In broad outline, this is the background to Agnetha Fältskog, six weeks later,
as a fairly self-assured and confident piano playing 5 year old, making the
following two important and vital decisions: 1 To become a singer. 2. To become
world famous.
I'm not going to go as far as saying that it was Enid and Sigvard Andersson who
discovered this world famous star, but they were at least the first ones who
got to hear Agnetha playing the piano. In a way the Anderssons became some sort
of a starting engine for Agnetha's musical career.
- She was a clever child, says Sigvard alias “Sigge”
to Allers today. It wasn't very difficult to see that she was a girl with
talent, he adds.
What was she like as a child? Was she unruly, kind, was she up to mischief, do
you remember some funny episode with her?
- Agnetha was just like any other child. She was so
kind and sweet and able, very, very ambitious, says Enid.
- Last fall I met her in the elevator and we gave each
other a hug, says Sigge. And I want to say, that Agnetha is still the same nice
person today as she was when she first left Jönköping. The success hasn't
changed her. She doesn't have an attitude, she's not a diva. To put it simply,
she is Agnetha.
- When that tinkling on the piano began, I soon
realized that the music was in her blood, says Sigge. But I can't remember if
she sang while she was sitting there tinkling on the piano like children
usually do. Let me ask Enid. Did she sing?
- Oh yes, she sang, Enid says. She sang loudly and
thought it was so much fun. What a child! She was so cute.
Sigvard Andersson made arrangements so that Agnetha could begin studying at
musical school at the age of 7 and her first musical teacher was Miss Frick.
Her career was about to begin. It turned out that it was very easy for her. The
7 year old was full of music, which manifested in several own compositions.
- I still have some of them today, says Agnetha.
About ten years ago I met her after a solo performance at Malmö Folkets
Park. I was there with Expressen's reporter Inger-Marie Opperud, whose
assignment was to write about her performance. Afterwards we went to the Savoy
bar. Agnetha kept talking about music, how difficult it is and how important it
is. I remember that she had a warm and friendly charm. You spontaneously liked
her. When she was talking, she always said something. There was no empty talk.
The next day in Expressen, she received good reviews for her performance. An
artist making headway. Now, more than ten years later, a beautiful early summer
day, the photographer Alice Stridh and I sit at Hamngatan 11 in Stockholm - at
the top in Benny's and Björn's music room, where a lot of beautiful music has
been created - waiting for her. She arrives 14 minutes late.
The first you notice is her rhythmic, flowing walk - almost oriental. The
second that she is shy, completely natural. The third that the charmI remember
from Savoy is exactly the same. She sits down on the couch.
- Is there anything that hasn't been written
about you yet, I ask.
- Yes, my real private life...
Her reply comes as soft and quick as her genuine, infectious smile. She is
wearing tight pirate like pants, light green with small black dots. A purple
jumper, lightly pink colored glasses, and nougat colored suede pumps. In short,
it's a beautiful woman sitting there on the sofa. Sometimes she blushes
lightly. Her eyes are blue green and very friendly. She's barely wearing any
make up.
- My first memories of my childhood are from around
the age of five, she says. That's when I decided to become a singer, a world
famous one. The Anderssons' piano excited me and my will and determination just
grew.
- I also remember how I by myself tried to play tones
and learn notes. It was incredibly exciting. Then I got a baby sister as well,
Mona. It was a very eventful year, my fifth.
- Two years later something incredible happens. I get
my own piano. My mom and dad had bought one.
To end all speculations that she was a child prodigy, I do a routine check with
uncle Sigge. He says:
- A child prodigy, no, she wasn't one. But there was
lots of talent and music in her.
Agnetha really didn't have to beg to get her own piano. It was enough that she
daily went upstairs to the Anderssons.
- I was so happy when we had bought our own piano,
says Agnetha. I was glued to it all day long. I'll never forget that.
During this interview the phone rings and Agnetha gets the news that her new LP
(“Wrap Your Arms Around Me”) which had been available in stores for 48 hours
had sold 100.000 copies - that means it's a diamond album.
- Wow, she says, not bad!
Next day in an article in Expressen the headline says "Diamond-Agnetha".
The reviews of the new LP have been fantastic. She's praised as a great singer,
an emotional person with an impressingly wide range. So you could say
that ABBA works as separate, independent elements.
Tegelbruksgatan where it all began. Shortly after Agnetha, 5 years old,
had decided to become a singer and world famous, she made her debut as a
composer and lyric writer. The piece was called "Två små troll"
("Two little trolls"). The melody was similar to "Blinka lilla
stjärna". Agnetha laughs.
- I still think I have it, she says.
Her father Ingvar meant a lot to Agnetha as a source of inspiration. He
was an amateur actor, the variety show king of the area. He sang and played and
this had of course an influence on his daughter. Agnetha kept growing and
developed and she became better in the subject of music. When she was 13 years
old, her last piano teacher said:
- Well, Agnetha, I'm afraid I don't have anything else
left to teach you.
- That made me very proud, says Agnetha.
Just like other amateurs, Agnetha Fältskog also sent cassettes of her and her
friends' repertoire to Sveriges Radio and music publishers to get discovered,
but no one was interested.
- When I was 13 years old I played complicated
Bach-fugues in Kristina kyrka in Jönköping, she says. They weren't exactly easy
pieces. The level of ambition was high. At the same time I was a member of the
church choir and we sang together often and willingly. A good choir. She also
sang together with two other girls who just like Agnetha were dreaming of fame
and success.
Agnetha was now a teenager. Her voice had matured. Her talent was
beginning to blossom. During the day she worked as a switchboard operator at
Atteviks bilfirma. In her spare time she sang with Bernt Enghardt's orchestra
from Husqvarna - a popular dance band.
- We performed every Wednesday, Friday,
Saturday and Sunday eve. It was tough. Often we came home late at night
(or early in the morning). After just a few hours of rest I had to get up to go
to work. One day I couldn't take it any longer. I collapsed due to
exhaustion. Then I decided that I would quit my job as a switchboard operator
and completely devote myself to a career in music and singing. Agnetha was now
16 years old and a local celebrity in many parts of Småland. Everybody liked
her voice. She was cute and she attracted an audience. And she continued to
write her own songs. One cassette was sent to the record company Cupol in
Stockholm, wheree “Little Gerhard” (Karl-Gerhard Lundkvist) was a production
director) He listened and said:
- She has talent, we want her!
Little Gerhard became Agnetha's actual discoverer. What Sveriges Radio
and other music publishers had missed, Little Gerhard noticed. In November 1967
short press items and articles appeared about a seventeen year old from
Jönköping whose name was Agnetha Fältskog, who had made her debut with her
own single which was called “Jag var så kär” (“I Was So In Love”). On the
record label it said: Lyrics and music: Agnetha Fältskog.
- It has been a long time
since we've had such a promising debutante, the management of Cupol said. We're
going to try to market her in West Germany. The ice had been broken. Agnetha
was starting to become big in little Sweden. But there was still a long way to
the stars.
When she was 18 years old she moved to Stockholm, still with the
ambition to become world famous. She lived under quite modest circumstances and
she rented a room from a family in Danderyd for two years.
- Actually, it's because of
my secure childhood that I have a lot to be grateful for, says Agnetha. This
secure upbringing has made me strong as an adult.
- The security consisted of for
example that my mom was always at home and we had routines and schedules that
we followed. When I came home from school my mom was there and ten minutes past
five every day, my dad came home from work. And then I went to bed at a certain
time and got up at a certain time.
- My parents have been and are
wonderful people. Things like that are important when you have your own
children.
Between 1968 and 1971 Agnetha Fältskog regularly worked in West Germany, mainly
Berlin. It was a rewarding period.
- But the competition was tough. I
did pretty well even though there was no big breakthrough.
- I think I recorded six singles in
Berlin. A big market that many have tried to succeed in, but few have managed
to. Those jobs in Germany of course meant a lot for my future development as an
artist, says Agnetha.
Now - 13 years later - she is one of the superstars in Europe, beloved and
praised also in the West Germany, where her new LP has received a jubilant
reception.
Then along came ABBA and Stikkan Anderson. The definitive international
breakthrough. A giant Swedish wave washed across the cosmopolitan pop world -
east or west made no difference. ABBA tore down all walls. ABBA's records ended
up at the end of the world, in Pockra in Nepal at the foot of the Himalayas. An
end station for mountain climbers, on the border of Tibet. If the people who
live there find out that you're Swedish when you get there, they'll take out an
ABBA record and play Waterloo for you.
In less than 10 years that followed the breakthrough with Waterloo in the
Eurovision Song Contest, Agnetha Fältskog managed to:
become world famous
become an worldfamous artist
get married
give birth to two children, Linda
and Christian, today 10 and 5 years old.
get divorced
Now she's sitting here in the music room at Hamngatan 11 and thinking of her
new career - the movie. The debut happens in “Raskenstam”. Of course it's “the
same Agnetha” as uncle “Sigge” says, but it's also an Agnetha Fältskog who has
developed a lot as a person and as an artist and who wants to continue to do
so. It's also typical for her not to look back on things, instead look ahead.
- I would go crazy if I looked back
all the time, she says. You can't do that. Your own development is very
important and it's ahead of you.
How did the filming go?
- I've seen the movie and I
think I'm pretty good, but I don't think I'm able to make a fair judgment about
that. It's difficult for me to say.
Agnetha Fältskog was very nervous when they shot her first scenes. Halvar
Björk, who has one of the leading roles, says:
- That girl has talent.
Agnetha:
- The most difficult thing
was when a scene was to be shot, to get into another person's life for a few
minutes and try to act it out. I'm interested in filming now and there are a
few new projects that are being discussed, but I can't talk about them. The
director Gunnar Hellström (one of the directors of the popular TV-series
Dallas) has a few suggestions. So from now on Agnetha Fältskog will partly work
with ABBA, partly as a solo artist, partly as an actress - three big areas that
demand time and energy. How will that work?
-I think that it should work
fine and I think that one thing might be positive for the other, she says. Then
it'll be fun and when it's fun, it doesn't feel as tough.
We walk down to Berzelii Park. A few people approach us and ask for her
autograph. Agnetha is kind and obliges. Do you believe in God, I ask her. The
question surprises her, but she doesn't show it. She replies:
- Yes.... Let me think about
it.
- Either you believe in God
or you don't, I say.
- I believe in God, she says.
- Do you believe in an
afterlife, I ask.
-No, she says firmly. That is
what's so unfair, that we only have one life, she adds after a short pause.
Agnetha Fältskog is a very soft and sensitive person. Sometimes this
sensitivity vibrates through the air. It's as if she's feeling her way, like
using feelers after she's been asked a question, then reasonably and
intellectually processing it before she answers. Just like the king of Sweden she
carefully avoids political questions, where she personally or ABBA may be made
use of for various purposes. She is always prepared. She has to be. Still she
has endured many punches in the media. Her private life has been turned inside
out, made into something that's unrecognizable to herself and her nearest
friends and family. Her patience has to be enormous. She smiles. For the time
being she enjoys cooking Japanese food. She is very interested in and good at
cooking food. She doesn't eat any sausage food, but likes salads and vegetarian
foods even though she's not a vegetarian.
- My children are like any
other children, they like spaghetti with meat sauce the best.
- Will you leave Sweden as
Anni-Frid Lyngstad did?
- I really love living in
Sweden, says Agnetha. I haven't even thought of if I should emigrate or not. I
admit that I'm not that fond of our climate during the winter and fall. I
prefer warm weather, she says. We'll see what may happen in the future.
After we've said goodbye, she takes the elevator to the sixth floor and I
wonder if it's a future movie star going up. Maybe we'll get a hint about this
on August 19 “when Raskenstam” opens in Stockholm.
04 November 2009
ABBA Pic of the Day
03 November 2009
30 October 2009
29 October 2009
27 October 2009
1971 Björn and Agnetha "We will have one child of our own - the rest we will adopt!"
From Året Runt 1971
July's wedding couple Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus say:
"We will have one child of our own - the rest we will adopt!
This year Svensktoppen-couple is Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus. She is 21 and he is 26. They are going to have an oldfashioned wedding in Verum Church i northern Skåne on July the 6th. And have a big party afterwards in Vittsjö.
Then they will split up in August. That thing about splitting up is not as serious as it sounds. This young and well singing couple will only split up artistically. Apart from that they really live up to the Svensktoppen ideal; kind, sweet, blonde and Swedish. And also very aware of what is going on in the world. Like all modern young people.
Björn Ulvaeus began his career in Hootenanny Singers with Västervik as their base. Many years has passed since then. Back then he wanted to write music and create something new, something better than that year's best - The Kingston Trio.
Then he met a guy called Benny Andersson, who was an exmember of Hep Stars, piano player and songwriter. The two started working together and quickly made it with songs on Svensktoppen.
At the same time Agnetha Fältskog was sitting at home and listened to Björn, to Hootenanny Singers and to the team Andersson/Ulvaeus' melodies. And slowly started writing songs herself. Then she came, saw and conquered! She met Björn and two hearts started to beat as one.
Soon Agnetha and Björn started to work together and the duo became a quartet when Benny Andersson brought his fiancée Anni-Frid Lyngstad to the mix.
But now, a year later, Benny and Anni-Frid has split up artistically and the same thing will happen to Björn and Agnetha this autumn.
- We're afraid to end up in the same situation as Svenne and Lotta who can't work separately anymore. Svenne Hedlund and his Lotta has, as everyone knows, has established themselves as a couple on aswell as off stage.
Björn and Agnetha's church wedding plans almost fell apart. When they called the assistant vicar Uno Wardener, who will marry them, he asked them about their professions.
- We are artists, said Björn.
- If you are atheists Verum Church is not the right place for you to get married, said the assistant vicar who misheard what Björn said. The misunderstanding was soon cleared up though.
Agnetha Fältskog:
- We will have one child of our own - then we will adopt the rest.
Björn Ulvaeus:
- Naturally we want a child of our own if we can have one. But the world around us is filled with poverty and need, and it's just natural that we should do what we can to help. Unfortunately adoptions take a very long time. But we have planned to travel to Peru or some other country in Southamerica to see if that would speed up things.. With thousands of starving children all over the world we have to take a responsibility, make a difference. And also we love children - no matter where they are from.
