Mikory's ABBA-blog

1978 Exclusive interview: Frida, my childhood playmate

This article was published in Swedish Television's weekly magazine Röster i Radio/TV, issue 46, 1978.

I knew I wanted to be a singer allready when I was seven years old.

Torshälla in the beginning of the 50's was still an idyllic place. The old houses leaned on each other and was every architect's dream to do something with. The town gossip had the proportions of a small town. You knew people, by age and careers.
     In this little town with the 5.000 people living there Anni-Frid and I grew up.
     We never went to the same school and we weren't best friends - but we both belonged to an organisationn URK - Ungdomens Röda Kors [The Red Cross Youth Division] - and we played together sometimes. In the basement of one of the official buildings in the town we wove baskets and made armslings (mitellas). Anni-Frid didn't do much of the woveing, instead she sang a lot: "Que sera, sera, det sker vad än ska ske, din framtid kan ingen se, que sera, sera..."
     She was fantastically beautiful and her voice was clear as crystal. She sang all the time. We admired her. She got to be Barnens Dags Prinsessa and ride in the parade through the town with a crown on her head:      
      –  I remember that day very vividly, says Anni-Frid. I felt so bad I thought I couldn't do it.

Her debut as a singer happened at a Röda Kors soaré. On the Folkets Hus stage. Dressed in a folklore costume including a bonnet, 11 years old she sang: "Fjorton år tror jag visst att jag var" [I believe I was 14 years old]...
     We wanted it to work out well for her, because we know that she was living with her grandmother and didn't have a father or a mother. It was almost something romantic about her, almost like in the books we read. And she had the cutest smile, she wrinkled her nose when she smiled.
     The everything went so quickly. We outgrew URK and each other. We only said a quick hello when we just made it on the 7.30 bus on the way to Eskilstuna where Anni-Frid attended realskolan and I went to the girl's school.
     –  I never had any other plans. As a 7 year old I knew that it was a singer I was going to be, Anni-Frid says smiling, before I get the chance to ask her the next question. Well, I guess we all had understood that. At the tender age of 13 she went touring with orchestras "just because it was such a lot of fun just to sing". I didn't have any time for boys at that time.
     At the schooldances she performed Glenn Miller songs while the rest of us danced in the dimly lit gymnasium.

SANG AND SANG
She sang and sang and sang. She won a talent competition and started taking singing lessons from the famous operasinger Folke Andersson. During my first time as a reporter in Eskilstuna at the magazine "Folket" I wrote some articles about her every now and then. It's 15 years ago...
     In ABBA's bastion at Baldersgatan 1 in Stockholm, in a room where the successes of ABBA's literally are plastered on the walls in the shape of gold records from all around the world, I get to meet Anni-Frid again. She is coming straight from her singing lesson, in "civilian clothes", beige pants, blue sweater and beige boots with high heels and she has the red hair in a braid on her back. She is beautiful, friendly, a little hesitant. I don't blame her. Your childhood is something to be careful with.
     We talk about ABBA, about right now and of the future. And only a little bit of our common ground, the same town we grew up in. The reason for this interview is that the American TV-show with Olivia John which ABBA participated in as guest performers now will be shown on Swedish TV. On the show ABBA will perform "Money, Money, Money" and "Fernando". Why did these songs get chosen for this show?
     – Simply because they are songs that have appeared on the US charts and they are known to the American public, the songs they know us from, says Anni-Frid.
     – To be on a show like this is amazing, a lot of fun. Everyone knows exactly what to do and when to do it, no waiting at all, everything just flows in a very professional way.
     – And Olivia was a very nice girl. No manners at all.
     On the show Anni-Frid sings a few operatic notes. And today she just came back from her singing lesson.
     – I don't want to stand still. One has to look beyond ABBA. One day ABBA will end, whenever that happens, I don't know, and you have to prepare for that. If you want to stay in this business you have to work for it. You can't just sit on your behind and think that everything is allright.
     – So opera is the next thing for you?
     – It's possible. I think it's a lot of fun to work on. It's the thing that I love to sing and I love to do the odd things now and then. I would like to do it more, but I realise that when we are travelling there's no possibility to do it. If I was to start howling in my hotel room I think I would be a nuisance.   That is why Frida takes private operatic lessions as often as she can. She has a daily  appointment which she is making the most of.

     – I could rehearse in the privacy of my home, but it doens't work out the way I want it to do. It doesn't give me the peace and quiet that I long for, since children and their friends keep comping home at all hours. So in that case it's better for me to go away and see my song coach.

     How is ABBA evolving.

    – Naturally, it's an undergoing development in what way is hard for me to say. One thjng os for sure though, - it becomes more and more difficult, it takes longer time to finish a complete album. We are becoming more and more critical. It really takes blood, sweat and tears when the boys (Björn and Benny) are writing new material. It's is very important that they are left alone with the creative process. And in the meantime Anni-Frid deals with other aspects, i e interviews and stage outfits.

    – It's just they way it has developed. I throughly enjoy the clothes aspect. Not long ago I went to Milan and bought some new outfits. Everyone thinks that our clothes are such a well thought out aspect, butit only came to look like that because we love clothes so much. And I think it should be glitter and glamour on the stage. It has become synonymous with us.

     The world star from Thermaniesgatan i Eskilstuna is on her way together with the rest of the ABBA-members to conquer one of the biggest markets there is; Japan. It was the world's biggest kick when ABBA conqured Brighton in Enland in 1974. Back then everything  was new, and exciting. Back then everything was "new", "exciting" and thrilling".

     The excitement may be not be as prevalent anymore. The thing with fame and fortune is that the longer you have experienced it, your need for it has been met. It's not as important as it was before you had it. Instead its channeled to an inner satisfaction to be able to work with what you really love. And it if that works out tremendously then it becamos the best thing you have ever done. Still, to this day when we enter the charts with our songs it means as much as it did the first time. Anni-Frid glances at her watch, it's late afternoon and at home in the Lidingö Villa her youngest daughter, Lise-.Lotte have arrived home from school. – I try to be there when then they get home, but I miss out everyone now and then.

     So we end the inteveriw by talking abou the ABBA fans - are they children?

     – No, ¬don't think so Anni-Frid repies. Abroad our audiences are very mixed from the ages 4 to 80, but at home here in Swedeen it seems like it's not quite OK to like ABBA. People don't dare tell each other that they like ABBA.
But there are some brave adults who dare to stand up and say that they like us. One woman who would have loved ABBA is my grandmother.

     She really supported my singing once she realized that I was dead set serious about doing this.

Who knows, in 15 years time I'll might be doing a inteveriw with Anni-Frid Lyngstad, the opera singer...

Frida in New York

Frida visited the cast of "Mamma Mia!" in

New York on 24 April 2008.

The Frida interview translated.

The very nice man who wrote down the English translation of the Frida-interview has let me publish i. It reads as follows:

Frida Interview  »Vivement Dimanche«   French TV March 24, 2008

25 years after ABBA stopped the songs are more popular than ever. What is in your opinion the reason for this?
     – The fact that the success has continued is of course incredible and fantastic. First of all I think it is because of the music. I have understood throughout the years that our music is very efficient music. Second I think it is also because of a lot of great artists who have performed our songs after us they have brought our songs back to the charts after many years. And of course the »Mamma Mia!« musical.
Talking about »Mamma Mia!«, what do you think about this musical that had had tremendous success for about 10 years now all over the world?
     – You know I am not personally involved in the creative process as far as »Mamma Mia!« is concerned; I have merely invested in it.
But what did you think the first time you saw it?
     – I was completely blown away, I was a bit anxious though at first because I didn't know what to expect. To hear our songs in such a different setting. But I needn't have worried, it was so well done.
A couple of years ago you were in London with Björn and Benny. It seems to have been a very moving event?
     – Yes, it was. It was a big shame that Agnetha was not able to attend. She still is very afraid of flying, so she chose not to attend. But it was a very wonderful evening nevertheless. We could really feel how much our music is still appreciated. The atmosphere was incredible. And we were presented with a lot of gold discs. All three of us were very proud and very happy.

When ABBA was formed, I heard that Björn & Benny were both already a part of a famous group in Sweden?
    – Yes we met on the road. All four of us were popular artists in Sweden. I remember meeting Benny &Björn in Malmö. I think Björn and Agnetha met around the same time. They both participated in the same television show. A show about old folklore music. They became a couple. the same thing happened to Benny and me. And because Benny and Björn were friends, we all began to work together. That's how it all started.

Alain Boublil, you were the distributor for ABBA in France, and even before they became stars. How did you become connected?
     – It was around 1973. I was very close to their manager Stig Anderson. One day he happened to like a few of my songs and he asked me if he could write Swedish lyrics and release them in Sweden. I agreed and those songs, as I remember, became popular in Sweden. One day he told me about this group he was working with and who were recording songs in English. their first song would be called »Ring Ring«. This song was presented in a festival in Sweden, but was not chosen for the Eurovision Song Contest. Stig made me listen to that song in Paris and asked me what I thought of it. I said I liked it very much. I released the song in France on the VOGUE label. The song became a small success in France, even a bit more successful than we had anticipated. So when they released »Waterloo« and were selected to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, I was the first person Stig called. It was a friendly deal. there was only a handshake, not even a contract. It was normal that I would represent them for this second song too.
Is it true that you listened to ABBA's songs over the telephone?
     – We became friends very quickly. Not just with Stig, but also with Björn & Benn, and with Frida too, of course. So it happened for instance that Stig would call me, play me »Money, Money, Money« and asked me "do you think this would be a good choice for the next single?".

Frida, when I hear what Alain has to say, it appears that France was an important country in the start of ABBA's career?
     – Absolutely. It is really wonderful that this friendship with Alain happened. And now, even if we have not had so much contact as back then, it is wonderful that this friendship is still so intact.
The whole of Europe got to know ABBA through the Eurovision SongContest and »Waterloo«. What memories do you have of the weeks preceding this big event? What happened afterwards backstage?
    – It was of course totally exciting. We arrived there, four people from Sweden, and we had no idea what was gonna happen. I also remember that particular year being one with a very strong field of contestants. The competition was of course very hard. I remember us really giving everything we had in us. And of course we had very extravagant stage-outfits. In only a few hours our lives had completely changed. After that the future was wide open. I think one could easily say that »Waterloo« had conquered the whole world.
One of the biggest hits was »Fernando«. I have read somewhere that you said from the first moment you heard it, you fell in love with it? And you recorded the song in Swedish first?
     – Björn & Benny had written this song for my Swedish solo album, that was a big success in Sweden and elsewhere. At the same time we were also busy preparing a new album for ABBA. We simply decided to translate the song into English and record it with ABBA.
Is »Fernando« one of your favourites?
    – Yes, among my favourites. We have recorded so many beautiful songs. But it's true that »Fernando« is of course a special song for me
Agnetha has very often stated that she loved the studio work, that she almost preferred it to the live performances. Is it the same for you?
     – No, I love both. The creative process in the studio was fantastic. We would sometimes spend hours in the studio creating something. We spent much time on the harmonies, the backing vocals, and so on. Almost everything was born in the studio. We were very productive in the studio. But I also loved being on stage, the contact with the audience. I have really really loved that.
Can you tell me how it was back then on the island where each couple had a house and where the first ABBA-hits were created?
     – Well, you know outside of Stockholm there is this fantastic archipelago with many islands. Stig Anderson had bought a small cottage for his family on one of those islands. Björn, Agnetha, Benny and I we did the same, and bought small summer houses. It is a very common thing to do in Sweden, to buy a little house and spend the summer over there. Benny and Björn spent a lot of time there writing the songs for our albums. Björn had this small chalet where there was nothing but a piano, and Benny and him would be sitting there for hours playing the guitar and the piano and coming up with new songs.
Is there a song that was a clear hit single to you from the beginning? Maybe »Dancing Queen«?
     – The first time I heard it, when Benny brought the demo home, I started to cry because it was so gorgeous. I knew it would become a very big hit single.
The success came very fast. You had hit singles all over the globe. And then there was this first big live tour. You played among otber places in Australia. That is a very special memory, isn't it?
    – Yes, and even to this day, I still don't know how we got so massive in Australia. It was pure hysteria. before that tour we had done some promo and some TV shows over there. Before we went on tour, we had decided together with Lasse Hallström that maybe it would be a good idea to do a documentary. And gradually we decided to turn it into a full feature film. Australia is a fond memory for many many reasons. It was very hard for us, because we had really become massive superstars there and we were not able to walk on the streets. So we had to move around with cars all the time. Only once were we able to escape for a little while and we went to some park. And we also went on a little cruise. But it was all amazing and those are wonderful memories. I remember that prior to our concert it had rained for weeks and that when we came on stage and everyone in the audience had umbrellas. During our concert the rain stopped as by miracle. But the stage had become very slippery and at one point I even fell. Those are really memories that I will never forget, because it was all just unique.
Let's talk about the outfits, the very eccentric outfits. Who had the idea for those?
     – Many people were busy with the outfits. But I must say that the outfits were an integral part of our success in the beginning. It all started when we participated with »Ring Ring« in the preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973. Agnetha was highly pregnant, and I was very good at making clothes. We decided that I would do the clothes and I designed the outfits for Agnetha and me. Not the ones for Björn & Benny. They had their own designer. I was very fond of creating costumes. I had some extravagant ideas about how we needed to dress. In the end we found a designer who created our clothes, but I kept very much a part of the creative process.
What happened to all those outfits? I have heard that maybe there will be an ABBA museum in Stockholm
     – Yes, we kept all the outfits. They are now going to be exposed in a big ABBA Museum in Stockholm, which will open in June 2009. But it's not just the outfits, it will also be a lot of memorabilia and I think it will be very interesting for the people, for the fans...
Frida, tell me about the personalities, the temperaments of Björn & Benny!
    – They will kill me (Frida laughs).
You probably know more about Benny because you were married to him?
     – I don't know, because I have known Björn for a very long time too. Especially after ABBA split, I have had more contact with Björn than with the other two. They are both very kind people, I can't say anything else about them really. They are both creators, but in a different way. Björn started to write the lyrics for the ABBA songs of course, but he has developed this talent and has become a wonderful lyricist, also for the musicals. He is a very intelligent person. And I must say that I admire Benny a great deal too. He really is a genius. The way he composes is amazing. I have lost contact with him after our separation, because I left Sweden. We only meet very rarely nowadays. It's the same thing with Agnetha, I don't meet her very often. So it really is Björn that I know best.
You were two married couples, living and working together. Was there never any stress because of that?
     – No, not really. Of course we would have differences of opinion like any other couples, but most of the time we all got along really well.
Did you sometimes have moments of tension with Agnetha?
     – That probably happened. There was a sort of competition between us. We were both women and we both wanted to present ourselves the best way possible. But there was always diplomacy and respect between us and we got along well. Also because we all always wanted the best for the group. So, we all found a way to work together well. I think that most of the time we really liked each other. Many times it was written that we hated each other. That was absolutely not true. We may not have had so much contact outside of ABBA, even when we were on the island, but the collaboration between us has always been very much in harmony.
At a certain point, when the group was splitting up, Agnetha said that she did not want to tour anymore, that she wanted to be with her children. How did all that happen? Was it a sudden decision or was it all carefully considered?
     – No, there was a very long period of reflection. Benny and Björn had probably given all they had as far as ABBA was concerned. They had not as much energy to give to ABBA anymore. And then so many things had changed for us privately, Björn and Agnetha had separated. Benny and I, after 13 years we got married and only 3 years later we divorced, because Benny had met another woman. Of course all that had had a tremendous effect on us and at a certain point we noticed it was time to move on, to make a change, to find new directions in our lives. Benny and Björn had already been very keen with the idea of writing a musical. It was a natural thing to do at that point to put an end to ABBA.
Was it not painful for you to leave the scene, to leave all that success behind? Also considering ABBA did not have such a long career, merely 10 years.
     – Yes, Michel, it was a very hard time. I can not speak for the other three, only for myself. I had started out in the music business when I was 13 and I had given a lot to reach that amount of success. And then, all of a sudden, everything stopped. It was hard. because we had worked so hard, tours, recording, living the life of a star, a celebrity... and then suddenly complete silence. I am not saying that I was depressed, but it took me 3 to 4 years to give my life a positive direction again, to create my world without ABBA in it. So yes, it was all ready hard.

Alain Boublil, you have been tremendously successful with »LES MISERABLES«,  »MISS SAIGON«.... Tell me about the musical »ABBACADABRA«.
     – I just heard the word ABBA in my head and I suddenly heard the word »ABBACADABRA«, and I could not believe that I hadn't come up with this earlier. So I decided to attempt and write a fairytale about a princess who was asleep in a castle. Of course the beautiful princes could only be one person, Frida. (Frida laughs) Frida accepted, in fact Stig and ABBA allowed me to rewrite the lyrics for some ABBA songs, so that they would tell a story for children.

Frida, so you played »La belle« (the beautiful one) and sang a duet with Daniel Balavoine. How do you remember him?
     – I remember it very well because it was such a different and funny thing; I was dressed up as a princess, a sleeping beauty. Daniel was dressed as a prince. But what I remember most about Daniel was that he was such an adorable and lovely person. We had a lot of fun together doing this project.
When you had separated, Benny and Björn, and also Agnetha and you, you all did your own projects. You made solo albums?
     – Yes, I did a couple of solo albums. For the first one I had Phil Collins as a producer. And then I did another one with Steve Lillywhite. I even recorded that album in Paris. I don't remember the name of the studio. The wonderful Daniel Balavoine had written a song for it too, that was then translated into English. I listened to that song again yesterday. On the first album there was a big hit single called »I Know There's Something Going On«. I remember that it also became a big success in France. And then eventually I gave up my career.
Tell me, what happened in the following years?
     – I can not really talk about that period in a very happy way. I lost my daughter in an accident, and then I also lost my husband and it all took a very long time to find a new direction. Earlier we talked about my life after the split of ABBA, and here once again I had to start from scratch after the death of two people I had loved so much. I remained very quiet for a while, apart from the celebration of 30 years of ABBA, and the 5 year MAMMA MIA! celebrations in London maybe. But apart from that I have lived a very, very quiet life, trying to find a good way of living again. And that takes time. It has to take time actually, because it is not easy finding a way out.
You have a grandson?
    – Yes and I am very happy and proud about that. In fact my first grandchild is now 19 years old, he is the son of my daughter. And then I have little Elsa, who is the daughter of my son. And she is only 16 months old.
When we look back on your life it seems you have not only known happiness. You have found your father again when you were 30. There was a reunion under the weirdest of circumstances?
     – Yes, when you have lived your entire life believing that you had no father and that there were secrets that your family just did not talk about. I had only known that he had been a German soldier and that he had met my mother during the war in Narvik. And that he had returned to Germany and had died during the trip back to Germany. And then suddenly we got a phone call from someone who said that he knew my father. And then a meeting was arranged in Stockholm. I met him together with Benny and the children. It was very difficult, because he only spoke German and we needed translators. It was very strange to suddenly meet a father.

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Just to let you all know and to give a big THANK YOU to Philippe I'd like to inform you all that PhD has published the new French interview on  his great site:

     http://www.abbainter.net/ Goto Television today and then
     Click on the Interview pic of Frida - and there it is the almost hour long interview with her from last Sunday.
    Amazing!

New Frida interview! Now on YouTube

Thanks to Nina, you can have a look on YouTube! Click here! But I must say that this can't be the whole interview, can it? She only answers one question... Well, I guess we will find out.

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A very nice person sent the following article from the French newspaper Le Parisien. My French is very limited, but from what I can understand a TV-show about ABBA will air on French TV this Sunday, 23 March 2008. The producer also was lucky enough to meet with Frida in Zermatt for a long interview. If any of the French speaking readers of this blog could help me translating the following to English, I'd be very grateful.

Thanks to Kate we know have a translation of the text below. This sounds really interesting, I wonder what she will reveal. Perhaps an album produced by Jon Lord? Who knows. I hope the interview will be available from some helpful fans and maybe even on YouTube. Thanks again, Kate!

Unfortunately I don't have much time to actually translate the article (I'll do it a bit later if you want) but I understand that the information is hot so here it is summarized:

First of all, they remind us some well known facts about ABBA such as when they started/finished, when Frida and Benny got married/divorced, how many disks they have sold, where Frida lives etc.

But the essential is that this Sunday (March 23) Michel Drucker, famous French TV personality, is presenting his 'Vivement Dimanche' dedicated completely to ABBA. It is going to be aired in the afternoon on Canal 2. While preparing the show he went to le Valais and - with a little help from Alain Boubil - managed to get an interview with our beloved Frida. The interview is huge - 45 minutes - and they promise us a lot of confessions.

Wow and wow and wow! I only hope this gem will find its way to YouTube...

Love,
Kate a.k.a. olblackcat

 

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ZERMATT (SUISSE), LE 10 MARS. C'est un très joli coup que vient de réussir Michel Drucker. Pour les besoins de son « Vivement dimanche » consacré au groupe Abba, qui sera diffusé dimanche 23 mars après-midi sur France 2, l'animateur s'est rendu dans le Valais, en Suisse, où il a décroché une longue interview de Frida, l'une des deux chanteuses du célèbre groupe suédois qui a vendu 370 millions de disques. Ses membres se sont séparés en 1982, après avoir accumulé les tubes pendant neuf ans.
      De son vrai nom Anni-Frid Lyndgstad, Frida, qui fut l'épouse de Benny Andersson (l'un des deux garçons d'Abba) de 1978 à 1981, a choisi de vivre depuis longtemps et dans la plus grande discrétion à Zermatt, une station des Alpes suisses. Michel Drucker a pu la rencontrer grâce à l'un de ses amis, le producteur Alain Boubil, qui fut le premier à s'intéresser au groupe Abba au milieu des années 1970 et devint leur éditeur. L'animateur a pu interviewer Frida pendant quarante-cinq minutes - beaucoup de confidences à découvrir dimanche - pour ce grand hommage au célèbre groupe suédois qui continue à vendre quelque 2 millions d'albums par an.
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Expressen's review of "Shine"

Expressen's music critic Måns Ivarsson wrote this review of Frida's solo album "Shine" 1984.

You are a coward, Frida!
Ooops - the best songs on Frida's second "international" soloalbum is written by Swedes. By Björn and Benny. And by Frida herself.
     It's not exactly the result you expect when Frida went into a studio in Paris together with the producer Steve Lillywhite, the best rock producer at the moment. The musicians are all well renowned Americans and Brits. But I still think that the best songs are written by Frida and Björn and Benny.
     With one exception though, the absolute best track of the album is the title track "Shine", which you probably have heard already since it was released as a single. On this track the fabulous sound builder Lillywhite gets to play around a melody and a refrain that suits his talent. Apart from that track most of the album doesn't.
     The songs are simply not good enough and I can't help wondering what the schlagerexpert Stikkan Anderson really thought about all these songs without good refrains and hooks.
     Frida has big ambitions and she wants to be a tough "rock chick". It's possible this album will grow on me if I listen to it another 30 times or so, but right now it feels like Frida has made it very hard for herself.
     However, it's an experience to listen to Lilleywhites production. He makes Frida sound like she's singing on a stormy pier or a Scottish moor. The music is full of cool sounds - gunshots, bagpipes - you name it.
     Lillywhite has worked with giants like U2, Big Country and Peter Gabriel. Big Country's Stuart Adamson has contributed with a song which probably would have sounded exactly the same if his group had recorded it. "Twist In The Dark" reminds you a lot of Peter Gabriel's music. But both Big Country and Peter Gabriel would only have used this track as a B-side on a single.

     "One Little Lie" is a fairly fast pop song while "The Face" and "Come To Me (I Am Woman)" reminds you of simple pop schlagers.

More own songs

It's when you hear pointless tracks like "Comfort Me" that ends the album you start to wonder why Frida didn't dare to write more songs herself. Her own "Don't Do It" is a beautiful and romantic song and something Linda Ronstadt could have recorded. Straight, honest and memorable.

     Björn and Benny's "Slowly" carries the signs of ABBA. A majestic thing which reminds me of their song "Andante, Andante".

     "Shine" has a fantastic, dazzling surface, but in the long run it can't hide the flaws of this album: there aren't enough good songs. That's just how it is.

Former ABBA stars reach settlement over script of "Kristina från Duvemåla"

     — Former ABBA stars Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson said Monday they have reached a settlement with a Swedish playwright in a copyright dispute over one of their musicals.
     In a joint statement, the two musicians and Carl-Johan Seth said they had requested the case be recalled from an appeals court that was supposed to hear it this week.

Both sides had been feuding over who wrote the script for the musical "Kristina from Duvemåla", which has been seen by more than one million people in Sweden.

Seth appealed a lower court ruling last year in favour of Andersson and Ulvaeus, who rejected Seth's claims that he was the main writer of the script.

However, both sides agreed to drop the case after reaching a settlement that made it possible to "move on as friends," Monday's statement said. It did not give other details.

Seth's lawyer, Staffan Michelson, said his client's reputation as a playwright has been "completely restored" and that the scheduled court hearing this Wednesday had been cancelled.

The musical is based on novels by Swedish writer Wilhelm Moberg, which depict the journey by Swedish emigrants to the U.S. in 1850.

ABBA, which also included singers Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, gained worldwide fame in the 1970s and early 1980s.

A different picture of the girls in ABBA

This is the gray everyday life for the two girls of ABBA, Agnetha Fältskog, 26, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, 30:

• Dance rehearsals
• Domestic chores such as doing dishes, washing clothes, cooking and looking after the children
• Depressive thoughts about not being able to full fill people's expectations
• Insomnia

That's far from the glitter and the glamour on the big stages around the world and the tours around the world.
     - If you think about it we really are as every other women. The only difference is that we have an unusual kind of job. During an interview like this one they sit very relaxed with  a cup of coffee each , noone is smoking. They don't look for help from each other for, but still manage to reply very self assured They know each other as well as a couple of sisters.They have nothing to say, that the other member doesn't already knows about.
     - Yes, that's very much how we feel, like a sisters.

One thing has taken it's toll during the ABBA years; both Agnetha and Anni-Frid are tortured by insomnia. 

     - It's horrible Agnetha says. You lie there awake and brude over problems and the longer you stay awake the more desperatee one becomes. - I have to get up early for Linda's sake, I know that I can't stay in bed until 12.00am Linda is Agnetha's and Bjorn's three year old daughter.

     - I have nightmares says Anni-Frid. Both girls believes the problems stems from the pressure on them. The expectations on them and on ABBA, to always be better than you were on the previous album etc. And the stress of touring, the boring plane trips. Despite all of this ABBA is their lives. How long will the group last? - Forever says Frida very quickly. - As long as Björn and Benny wants to write songs. - But who knows, maybe there comes a time when we are utterly fed up with ABBA, and then we will try to find somethings else to do. They hardly have any time for anything else apart from ABBA and mainting their homes. Dancing is a hobby, but it is of course also a part of the job. Anni-Frid would love to have time to study languages. Agnetha wish she could have more time for exercis, like swimming. But there just isn't enough time. If ABBA never had existed what would the two girls have done instead today?     - I woked in an office before I started singing, says Agnetha. But I don't think I would have continued doing that. Perhaps I would have worked with children or studied to become a dental nurse. But I'm quite sure that I would have been composing music on the side.

     - I can't think of anything else to do than what I am doing, says Anni-Frid.

SIMILAR LIFESTYLES
The roles at home are quite similar for the two ABBA-girls. Agnetha and Björn live in a house on Lidingö and they have a daughter, Linda who demands their attention all the time. When ABBA are out working around the world Linda has a live in nanny.
     - Being with Linda is the best way to relax for me, says Agnetha. A typical ordinary day begins around 6.00 or 7.00 in the morning, just like it does in most families with small children.
     For Benny and Anni-Frid who live in Gamla Stan slightly different but still very similar. Anni-Frid has two children, Liselotte 9, and Hans, 13. They live in Eskilstuna. But they come to Stockholm on every weekend and school break and during the summers.
     - That, to me is the biggest happiness, to have my children close to me.
     - Sure, ABBA is important, but it can't be compared to being with your own children.

SPLIT THE CHORES
In both families most of the chores are split fifty/fifty.
     - Benny has so much to do, so perhaps I'm doing a little bit more of the domestic chores than he does.  But then again, he is an excellent cook and he likes doing that.
     - So is Björn, Agnetha says. More than me. So it's almost him fixing dinner every day.
So who does the dishes afterwards?
     Agnetha smiles:
     - Noone, we both have dish washers. But of course some one has to manage them as well...

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2008

Dear readers,
Thank you for all your mails, criticism, cheers friendship I have received this year. I'm proud to tell you that this blog now has reached 300.000 hits since the start in 2005. We certainly aren't a very little group of ABBA fans. The interest is higher than ever before. I'm sure Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Frida are all really proud that people still care so much for their music.
     To get you into the Christmas mood here are four songs from Agnetha and Frida that have connections to the holiday.    

     Thank you for this year and let's all hope for an even better 2008!Love, Mikael
     SONG 1 SONG 2 SONG 3 SONG 4

Frida subject of British gossip

British tabloids have published a gossip story about the UK's Security Minister Alan West having an secret love affair. Now they have pointed out Frida as the woman involved. Naturally Frida was very upset as the reporters came to her in Switzerland for a comment. You can read what she said below....

The anti-terror chief, the girl from ABBA, and his secret love affair By GLEN OWEN published in The Mail on Sunday Fresh indignity was heaped on Gordon Brown last night after one of the female singers from ABBA was bizarrely dragged into a Government sex scandal.     In the latest blow to the Prime Minister's authority, senior sources told The Mail on Sunday that Admiral Sir Alan West, the Security Minister appointed personally by Mr Brown to lead the War on Terror, had admitted to an extramarital affair.      The confirmation came after intense speculation about Sir Alan's private life had been sweeping Westminster. Insiders indicated that there was a crisis in his 34-year marriage to Rosie, an artist with whom he has three children.      Speculation was fuelled by the fact that the 59-year-old former First Sea Lord had formed an implausible but genuine friendship with Anni-Frid Lyngstad, 62, the dark-haired singer from the Seventies Swedish supergroup.      And yesterday, with the rumour mill in full flow, high-level sources were forced into action to clarify the situation.        The Mail on Sunday was told that Sir Alan had indeed been having an affair - but emphatically not with the ABBA star.      The admiral disclosed his infidelity "some years ago" during a routine security vetting procedure.      The sources refused to give further details of the affair, including whether it was still ongoing.      The episode was immediately characterised by political observers as a "Whitehall farce", adding to the series of embarrassments engulfing the Government.      It appeared yesterday that Sir Alan's confession to infidelity had become fused in the minds of Westminster insiders with their astonishment at his friendship with ABBA's Frida, as she is known to millions of fans.      He is believed to have met her at a charity function in London in the spring of 2006.      Yesterday, in answer to questions about their friendship, the admiral said: "All I'm going to say is I'm not having an affair with her, you know.      "I know her, and I've known her for a couple of years. So I'm sorry, but I'm not going to go there at all."      Asked how they met, he added: "Sorry, but I'm not going to go there. I'm not trying to be difficult but I just don't like talking about my private life.      "I have a job to do which I'm trying to do very hard for the Government, and that seems to me to be the right focus."      He refused to make any further comment. A Home Office spokesman also refused to comment.      Frida told The Mail on Sunday: "I feel awfully sorry about Rosie and the family. It is very sad. I feel totally sorry. There is no relationship, absolutely not.      "I am innocent. Alan is innocent. We are friends. There is no relationship."      It is the latest in a series of setbacks for Mr Brown's embattled Government and is bound to draw comparisons with the decline of John Major's scandal-hit administration in the Nineties.      Initially, Major did well after succeeding Margaret Thatcher, but he lost by a landslide to Tony Blair in 1997 after the economy hit trouble, he was pilloried for his weakness and a number of Ministers were embroiled in sexual and financial scandals.      In similar fashion, after succeeding Tony Blair in June, Mr Brown soared ahead of the Conservatives in the opinion polls. But since then, his ratings have been on the slide.      In the space of just weeks, he has been criticised for his handling of the collapse of the Northern Rock bank and the loss of child-benefit records, and has become entangled in the "Donorgate" affair which erupted when The Mail on Sunday revealed secret donations to Labour of more than £600,000 by wealthy businessman David Abrahams.      Sir Alan was appointed by Mr Brown in June as part of the Prime Minister's personal plan to assemble a "Government of all the talents", known as "Goats" for short.      Mr Brown announced that he was creating a life peerage for Sir Alan and appointing him as a Home Office Minister with responsibility for advising him on the terror threat to the UK.      But the Goats have been hit by a series of controversies: Sir Digby Jones, the former director of the Confederation of British Industry, became a Trade Minister, then immediately embarrassed Mr Brown by failing to pledge his wholehearted support for Labour.      Then 54-year-old former diplomat Lord Malloch-Brown, appointed a Foreign Office Minister, attracted adverse publicity by demanding a grace-and-favour flat in Admiralty Arch and infuriating his 42-yearold boss, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, by describing himself as "the older figure, the wise eminence behind the young Foreign Secretary".      And last month Sir Alan himself embarrassed the Prime Minister by questioning in a radio interview Mr Brown's desire to hold terrorist subjects for longer than 28 days.      One hour later, after a visit to Downing Street, he changed his stance, saying he was convinced by the PM's argument.      He tried to explain away the fudge by describing himself as just "a simple sailor".      Although there is no suggestion of impropriety over his relationship with Ms Lyngstad, eyebrows were raised last night over the wisdom of the Government's terror chief conducting a friendship with the thrice-married pop star, who is a tax exile in Switzerland.      Sir Alan, who declared during an interview in the summer that he "admired" ABBA, is believed to have first met the singer at a royal gala for the anti-drug abuse charity Mentor, held at the Natural History Museum in London in May 2006. He had retired as head of the Navy three months earlier.      It was one of a number of parties he attended that year, apparently demob-happy.      Some of them were not particularly high-minded: in March he was pictured at the Oldie of the Year Awards, a famously raffish affair, with his arms round Carol Thatcher and Sandra Howard, and sporting a comedy naval eyepatch.      And in April he was snapped, eyepatch again in place, with his arms around author Kathy Lette at the launch of her book How To Kill Your Husband.      Appropriately, Lette had placed a dagger in the top of her stockings.      In contrast, Sir Alan's naval career was marked by heroism and rapid promotion.      In 1982, aged just 34, he was the commanding officer of the frigate HMS Ardent when it was sunk by Argentinian forces during the Falklands War.      His bravery in being the last to leave the sinking ship earned him the Distinguished Service Cross.      A blip on his seemingly relentless ascent of the career ladder came in 1986 when he dropped classified documents about naval cutbacks while out walking his dog - the contents of which were then revealed in The Mail on Sunday.      But by 1997 he had risen to become Chief of Defence Intelligence, and by 2002 he was First Sea Lord and Aide-De-Camp to the Queen.       His friend Frida amassed a multimillion-pound fortune during her ten-year career singing with Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog.      But the members of the Eurovision-winning band had tortured romances: Frida left her first husband, Ragnar Fredriksson, with whom she had two children, to marry Benny in 1978 - the same year that Bjorn and Agnetha divorced.       Benny and Frida were then themselves divorced in 1981.      A year later, the group went their separate ways. Six years ago they turned down an offer of $1billion to reform for a world tour.      Since 1992, Frida has been officially known as Her Serene Highness after marrying a German count, Prince Ruzzo Reuss von Plauen. He died of cancer in 1999 and she has not remarried.      Apart from a couple of moderately successful solo singing projects, Frida, the product of a wartime liaison between her Norwegian mother and a married German soldier, has kept a low profile since the group's demise, devoting herself to work with drug and environment charities.      She now lives in an apartment in the Swiss mountain resort of Zermatt, where she has a small but close circle of friends. Locals say she likes the tranquillity of her life there.      Yesterday The Mail on Sunday spoke to her outside her apartment, which enjoys spectacular views of the Matterhorn and the Vispa Valley.      Dressed casually in a white jacket, snow boots, jeans and a large pair of sunglasses - and sporting a dyed blonde bob in place of her trademark brunette tresses - she walked briskly down the road.      When asked about her relationship with Sir Alan, Frida said: "It is nothing to do with you. It is my private life. I feel awfully sorry about Rosie and the family.      "It is very sad. I feel totally sorry. There is no relationship, absolutely not. I am innocent. Alan is innocent. We are friends. There is no relationship."      When asked to expand on why she felt sorry about Rosie, she shook her hands and replied: "Go away. I will not answer anything else. Do not ask me any more questions. I am innocent."      Frida, who is Norwegian rather than Swedish like the three other members of ABBA, moved to Switzerland in 1986.      A spokeswoman for the Official International ABBA Fan Club, which is based in the Netherlands, said: "Since her marriage to her third husband, who was a prince, Anni-Frid has moved in royal circles.      "He has died but she still moves in these circles and she comes into contact with lots of people who move in high society."

Glad Lucia!

The day of Saint Lucia in Scandinavia is an essential part of Christmas in Scandinavia.

Each year on December 13, Saint Lucia is celebrated widely with candlelight and traditional candle-lit processions. Lucia herself was Christian and died for her faith. The December 13 holiday honors her. The eldest girl in the family portrays St Lucia, puts on a white robe in the morning and is allowed to wear a crown full of candles. She serves her parents Lucia buns and coffee or mulled wine.

In church, women sing the traditional Saint Lucia song which describes how Saint Lucia overcame the darkness and found light. Each of the Scandinavian countries has similar lyrics, in their native tongues.

In Scandinavian history, the night of Saint Lucia was known to be the longest night of the year (winter solstice) which was changed when the Gregorian calendar was reformed.

During a dark winter in Scandinavia, the idea of light overcoming darkness, and the promise of returning sunlight has been welcomed by the locals for hundreds of years. The celebrations and processions on Saint Lucia Day are illuminated by thousands of candles.

In 1979 Benny and Frida visited the Swedish radio the day before Christmas Eve and they performed their own version of "Stilla Natt" (Silent Night). Click HERE  to listen to it.

I like to wish all of you a Glad Lucia!