Mikory's ABBA-blog

ABBA didn't have to face a Waterloo

A friend of mine, Michael Reh who is a great photographer from Berlin, has sent me some great German ABBA-articles. Thank you so much, Michael. Here is the first one, from 1974. Thanks to Dirk for the translation, my German skills unfortunately leave a lot to be desired. Interesting read, it wasn't all that successfull, but the reviewer saw the potential at least...

ABBA didn't have to face a Waterloo
The first Big Europe tour had a lot of difficulties. Not all halls where sold out and in Zurich they had to cancel a gig because of lack of people showing up. And in the group they had some difficulties: The singer Frida had a real bad cold and every day they were afraid that they had to cancel a show.  But ABBA did it: People yelled for "Waterloo", even before the show started.  But the people who where yelling were standing everywhere in the hall, between empty chairs.  In any city the tour organizers couldn't call a show "sold out'.  There where more then 1.000-1.500 people in a hall which could have taken in twice as big an audience.  In Bremen there where even less... Two hits don't make a sold out venue.  But the people who showed up where always just enough... Thank God that they never had to cancel the tour, like Alvin Stardust had to do.  Their Waterloo never took place!
     It was the most mixed audience of the year.  From a 9-year old girl until a couple of "standard" 30 year old concert goers who just took the chance to get a night out. And they got what they came for: A complete SHOW.
     Glittering and singing ABBA whirled around the stage and presented their rock schlager in a very visually way.  Both girls were wearing capes.  Agnetha in a white tight fitting piece, Frida in a very short dress showing a lot of leg.  Björn always smiling and strumming his guitars in a very posh, low cut pant suit and platform boots higher than Dave Hill's and Gary Glitter's put together. And Benny in an "ocelot-jacket"  with red trouses at the piano.  It all looked a bit like a circus.
     The girls danced like gogo girls showing off their beautiful bodies and sung in perfect harmony.  Björn and Benny where singing like two male elks from the north and more importantly: it was loud, but it wasn't pleasant! That said,  ABBA has so many more possibilites vocally, many more than other groups. But only the girls showed class.
     The background musicians were classy aswell.  They gave a rocking sound and the trumpets where as perfect, almost like "mini- Chicago". This is all thanks to Benny who has studied music and wrote all the arrangemenst. His possibiltites are shown when he was playing an instrumatal song [Intermezzo #1].  It was exceptional.
     Most of the times it was just bubblegum music although sometimes musically it was really special.  The audience just sat there and did nothing.  Singing and clapping along died out quickly. The only reason the audience wanted an encore was that they where waiting for the band to play "Waterloo" and that got them all going. Sad, really. At the Eurovision Song Contest ABBA really made a difference, the song was something else and so progressive.  But ABBA only so far has copied that but if they really wanted they could do it better. But maybe one day they will!

A funny thing I just noticed the other day was that the same picture from this article was used as a single cover in Thailand!

A trip to Eleuthera with Frida

In 1981 Frida went to Eleuthera/Bahamas for a holiday and a fashion shoot for the new Swedish magazine Clic. Here is her report. Thanks to Greg who provided me with this article.

"With children and friends I left Sweden on a cool spring day for a trip to a paradise island in the Atlantic Ocean. The island has the name Eleuthera - pronounced Elootra - and is one of the many Bahamas islands. The trip starts from Stockholm via London, Bermudas and Nassau where we spend the night. The following day we fly in a helicopter the last stretch to the airport Rock Sound in Eleuthera.
     At three o'clock in the afternoon we land. We step out in the wonderful warm air and walk through a modest air terminal and collect our luggage. There he is. It's King Bee. A negro, almost two metres tall, dressed in a bright green, fluorescent suit with a tie in the same material that reaches almost all the way down to his knees. He immediately takes charge over us and our bags and takes us to his big Cadillac, which has seen better days. The front of the car is decorated with colourfull pennants. On the front doors he has painted his own name "King Bee" in gracefull letters and the picture of a bee to make it complete.
     King Bee was going to give us many fun moments during our stay in Eleuthera. With his positive view on life and his big, infectious laugh he gave us the best welcome we could have wished for.
     The road to Cape Eleuthera Resort, where we will be staying, is full of potholes, which King Bee does all he can to avoid. They are the result of all the heavy winter rains and floodings. The Queen's Highway is the only asphalted road on the island and it goes from the north to the south all across the island. We drive through small villages with pastel coloured houses, in which large families are living. Outside of every house clothes are hanging to dry and chickens and goats are walking around the gardens. On every roof is a huge TV-antenna and outside the houses big American cars are parked. Next to the occupied houses there are concrete foundations which are overgrown with weeds. We are informed that by building a foundation you are getting the right to a bigger property.
     Once we arrive in Powell Point and at our hotel we check in and get all the information we need and the keys to our bungalows. At this time we are all quite tired after the trip. The time difference to Sweden is six hours and our bodies haven't adjusted yet. We unpack our bags and decide to have a late lunch. Everyone is happy to finally have arrived. The children immediately run off to have the first swim in the pool. We walk through the area that have bungalows that all look the same. We continue our walk down to the marina and get to see cool motorboats equipped for deepwater fishing. We have lunch at the marina's club house. It's a beautiful lunch, fresh fish and Tropical Adventure, a dish filled with delicious fruit. We aren't up to do very much more this day so we all go to bed early.
     The following day we get up and have an early breakfast. You mustn't be in a hurry, because the staff serving us aren't. Everyone has their own pace. And it's just for us stressed Nordic people to accept it otherwise you might suffer a nervous breakdown. The initial irritation disappears as the beautiful breakfast is being served. Domestic fresh pineapples, melons, egg dishes, freshly baked bread, fruit juices, great coffee and tea.
     We enjoy changing into our bathing suits and walking down to the beach for our first swim. The sand is warm under your feet and the sea is turquoise blue with darker patches where the coral reeves are. It takes a bit of courage to get into the water which is cool, but the sense of pleasure soon arrives, and after a twenty minute swim you feel new and strong. The knowledge that we have almost fourteen days left in this beautiful environment makes us nice and happy. My passion is to go waterskiing and some of the others love to go windsurfing. Unfortunately there is no equipment to be rented on the island, which makes us a little disappointed. However there is a large golf course on the island. Most of it is located close to the water so there are many golf balls that are lost. The players don't walk on the course as we do in Sweden, instead they have a little golf cart. It's a fun little thing and it looks like the radio cars at Gröna Lund, but with a sun roof. The cart is so easy to drive, even the kids can do it without any problem. That becomes their big fun and toy during our stay.
     Warm and lazy days come and go. We are swimming, sunbathing and take long walks along the beach. We find large beautiful shells called Conch. It is used in cooking and a real delicacy.
      When the sun gets too hot we rest in the shadow of the palm trees in big, comfortable hammocks. We listen to music and read books or lose ourselves in our thoughts and look out on the endless horizon.
     One day we want to discover another beach. We decide to go to Cotton Bay, a few miles north. King Bee drives us in his car and entertains us with song and talk. He has a voice that drowns everything else and it's more rare than beautiful. He teaches us the Eleuthera song, a happy reggae tune which makes fun of most things on the island.
     Cotton Bay is a very beautiful beach. It is several kilometres long with sand that feels like velvet under your feet. Here is also a golf course located with a beautiful location and a pink hotel with a patio completely covered in hibiscus flowers in beautiful colours.
    The day has a bad ending. Love happens to step on a sea urchin and lots of its nasty spines are caught in his foot. It's impossible for us to remove them, and with the risk of an infection we have to go to the hospital in Rock Sound. It's a beautiful villa and Filipino doctor treats Love with antibiotics and a tetanus shot. The spines are impossible to remove, but they will dissolve eventually. There's a happy ending to this drama, and Love is happy now that this "death threat" is gone.
     April 16 is a very special day. It is the day when Barbro and Love are going to get engaged, and what could be more romantic than doing that on a deserted island. We rent a fishing boat with a crew and we bring picnic baskets and champagne bottles onboard. We travel for an hour to a very small island with a long sand reef, stretching out into the sea for a couple of kilometres. We leave the boat and have towade a few metres to get to land. The sky looked threatening during the boat trip and now it's like it has completely opened up and the rain is pouring down. It's a strange feeling standing there on that deserted island in the pouring rain. We try to protect ourselves with our towels, but to no avail. We are immediately soaked so we jump into the water and swim in the mild rain. That's a very sensual feeling. The weatherchanges are extremely quick and soon the sun is shining again. Lunch is served with several kinds of sandwiches, fresh fruit and champagne. But first the rings has to be exchanged! The crew looks amused as we cheer and sing for the newly engaged couple. We take out the present we have smuggled along, we bought it a couple of days earlier in Rock Sound. It's the ugliest miniature lazy chair you can imagine. It has flounces on it and a small lid on the seat and we suggest that the couple can keep their rings there. Champagne corks are popping. We toast each other and the engagment is a fact. It's a beautiful day.
     On the way back some of us try to catch a fish. The only one who has any success is Fredrik. He has to work hard to get his catch onboard. It's a fish called grouper. The tail of the fish is lacerated, we think it's some kind of a shark. It looks nasty, so we throw it back into the ocean.
     In the afternoon, the girls get together around the pool. A cool drink and some girl talk with great friends i pure bliss. The kids are having a great time. Helène has decided to lose a couple of kilos and is doing that by swimming energetically and only eating fruit and vegetables. The kids has their schoolbooks with them and a couple of hours each days are spent doing homework; math, French and English. King Bee keeps us company every now and then and is making attempts to learn Swedish. "Jag älskar dig" becomes "jaärskarii", and "har det varit nått" becomes "hare oatt nått". Everyone is having fun with his way to pronounce the words and he is having alot of fun himself. He doesn't waste any time to show off his new knowledge to his co-workers, and he is beaming with joy over knowing something they don't.
     The existence in paradise unfortunately has to come to an end. The day of the departure arrives and we enjoy one last lovely breakfast. We have had a calm and nice time together. It seems like we picked the right time, because today a heat wave has started and it's almost unbearingly hot. With the heatwave a lot of American tourists arrive and the calm is changing into alot of noise. It feels somewhat like a relief to leave Eleuthera this particular day.
     King Bee is the singsong-leader during our trip to the airport. We sing the Eleutherasong, this happy, rythmic song, over and over again and with it ringing in our ears we say goodbye to King Bee and Eleuthera."Written by Anni-Frid Lyngstad

Björn sang with his friends from Hootenanny Singers

Last week Björn visited the Västervikfestival in his hometown. There had been speculations earlier this year that the Hootenanny Singers would reunite, since this was the 40th festival. Tonight Swedish Television showed different performers at the festival. Björn was there and was interviewed. He and Hansi Schwarz, former member of Hootenanny Singers and the man behind the festival, both denied that there would be a reunion. Björn said that they would have needed at least a month of rehearsals. But in the end he came on stage and sang with his former band members and other artists like Tomas Ledin. Later Björn told Expressen:
     - It was quite a coup and I have never performed more unrehearsed as this time. It would surprise me if it even sounded acceptable. I went up on stage at 1.30am and Hansi Schwarz and Tony Roth gave me a microphone and began to sing the old hit "Marianne". What could I do? I had to sing along.
     The audience seemed to appreciate it (and it looked like Björn had a good time, he was laughing and joking about the corny lyrics) and they even made the performers sing it one more time.

ABBAinter.net has a video clip of the song.

DON'T FORGET THE PHOTOALBUMS

On the right on these pages there are different photoalbums. If you haven't already done it, I suggest you click there and get to see lots of familiar and not so familiar picutres of ABBA from early ages up until today. Enjoy! And if you have a special pic that you think should be included there and you don't have a homepage, send it to me and I would be happy to put it into one of the galleries. You can write to me at [email protected]

Here's an example of what you can find in the photo albums: Who knew these teenagers were going to become superstars back then...

Agnetha, aged 23 in 1973 "Sometimes I get scared"

"Sometimes I get scared"
It really is like fairytale. The fairy mother held her magical wand over the girl - and suddenly all the dreams came true. Six years ago I was a shy switchboard operator in the darkest of Småland. Now I am working as a singer, I am married to Björn Ulvaeus and the mother of the most lovely little girl. I have a villa, a summerhouse, car and a boat. All of it just appeared at once. That is why I sometimes stop in my step and feel petrified. It just can't go on like this. What if I'm not appreciative enough, until it's too late? I am being spoiled. You see happyness as something normal. Now, something REALLY big has to happen for you to even react and to be able to develop and change. In that area Linda has of course already changed my life. Now I am able to see a lot of the world through her eyes. Having a baby was something so fantastic. We had waited and waited for such a long time. And then suddenly, the test results were positive! All through my pregnancy I felt fine. But of course, towards the end it was a little heavy. Especially since she decided to be a couple of weeks late. But when the midwife put her on my belly - then I experienced my happiest moment in my life. Especially since I had wanted a baby girl all along and everyone else around me were rooting for a boy.
     Agnetha took a breather in between two recordingsessions. At the same time she had time to admire Linda's wobbly one-year-old walk. And she had time to tell us about her life..The Wedding to Björn Ulvaeus was as romantic as schlager lyric. But what happened then?
     - I have never had any specific ideas on how to be a mother. That's a good thing, but because of that I can never be disappointed. Our marriage is just like any other couple's. Sometimes it's up, sometimes it's down. To both live and work together has it sides. Positive things are the strength and understanding. We know each other. But that can also be the opposite. Imagine the long summer tours. You are tired and annoyed. I don't have to be very social towards Björn. With him I can be almost overnatural. At the same time we are starting to get on each other's nerves we also feel very connected. You know exactly how the other person will react. To be married to a non-artist must be very different and bring completely different problems. This business is special, even if you're not looking for the luxurious and party kind of life you get drawn into it.
     - I, myself, prefer to be at home. But don't think I'm the ideal housekeeper. Decorating and renovating gets boring very quickly. Cooking is much more fun. Right now are we eating a lot of Chinese food. But that is never as good as hommade cabbage pudding with lingonberries! Linda prefers her formula best of course. After two bottles she is asleep. Then she will sleep for 12 hours.
     - Our method for upbringing has no rules or regulations. We are only using common sense. What's important is that Linda feels secure so that we can both laugh and cry together. You can't 'act' in front of your child. If you are upset, you must be allowed to show the child that you are. Kids understand so much more than you think.
     - It's only natural to make comparisons to your own upbringing. You don't want to repeate the mistakes your own parents made with you. But I mostly have very fond memories of my childhood. And I am still very close to my parents. When something's wrong - I will call my mother. Especially when Linda was a new, tiny baby it was very comforting for me to be able to call my mother and get her advice. I was so scared back then. The first couple of days I hardly dared to touch her. She felt so small and fragile. Now I'm longing to have more children. But not too soon. I want to spend some time with each child before the next one comes along. A few years inbetween is probably good. My own little sister, Mona, is five years younger than I am. We have gotten along fine. Now this fall she has been living here helping us taking care of Linda. That has been wonderful. Because now it's time to record again. In November my new single "En Sång Om Sorg Och Glädje" will be released. That one have I even produced myself. And soon the winters second record will be released, a full album. On that one i have written the songs myself. Of course it's difficult when you have a husband who is a professional. But I never ask him for any help with that. Just the same way he never asks me to help him with his music. We need to be able to separate our work. It's important to me to be able to bring out my own material. It helps my sefesteem. When I'm around here at home it's nice to be able to sit down by the piano and find a new melody. Linda likes to help me. She seems to like music allready. But then again, she should, both of her parents being musicians.
     Agnetha is working on many levels. After Christmas it's time for the second ABBA album. Mr and Mrs Ulvaeus has reconnected with their neighbours Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson.
     - ABBA mainly came to buy an accident. That "Ring Ring" should become such a big hit was a real joy. Now it's available in both, Swedish, English, German and Spanish. The last language was like Hebrew to us. We had to sing with a phonetically written lyric. But the Spanish people seem to understand it, because the recordsales there are very good. Germany has also become a huge market. Just before Christmas we went down there and did a TV-show. Another recording is also planned. It's in the recording studio where I feel I'm the best. In front of an audience I feel inhibited.
     When mamma Agnetha has been talking a long time with me Linda pops up and joins the conversation. A few hugs later she returns back to Auntie Mona.
     - Imagine! I can't believe that this little bundle of joy is mine! Sometimes I think it's not true. Every morning when I see her I get so happy. She is growing so quickly, you can almost see her grow. I have several times tried to write songs about Linda. The results have ended up in the wastepaper bin. They have been really bad. And I find it more difficult to compose nowadays, the demand is increasing. Years back, I just wrote a song, just like that. Now I constructe them in a completely different way. I always start with the music first. Then the lyrics in English comes. That language is the easiest to work with. The trick is to get together a really good Swedish lyric. So I try and stay away from the most obvious rhymes like 'hjärta - smärta'.
     Agnetha has big plans for 1974. There are 2 LPs to hope for and for the summer it's tempting to go on a folk park tour.
     - Of course, the job means a lot. But what is most important is that Linda shall be allowed to grow up to a harmonic, playfull child. Right now she is the spitting image of her father. And she has a big voice enough for both of us. It will definitely be enough to be a telephonist - or an artist.

ARTICLE FROM HEMMETS VECKOTIDNING 1973

Now life is going almost too fast for us!

Björn, Agnetha, Anni-Frid and Björn are a success in the USA:

Now life is going almost too fast for us!
ABBA are back from the USA. Soon they will leave for East Germany. But one thing is clear, they say, next summer we will be back in the folkparks.
     ABBA being a success in the US was something noone really dared to believe. Least of all themselves... Now they definitely have taken the big step over the Atlantic for a week long trip in New York for the upcoming tour early next year. They have made TV in Philadelphia, met representatives for large American newsagents and they have been eating smörgåsbord with the Swedish general konsul Gunnar Lonaeus.
      "Waterloo" peaked at number 6 on American charts. "Honey, Honey" has started to climb upwards and is already on spot 40. There are 3.500 radiostations in the USA that play rock and entertainment music, and "Honey, Honey" is being played on a third of those. 31 local PR-managers are working full time to make sure that ABBA's name will become even "hotter" in the USA.
     - But to move to America and really settle down here is something we never could manage. That would be too much. We are happy with the Stockholm archipelago, says Benny, who, just like Frida, Björn and Agnetha, are having a busy time. The group's new album, with only their own material, has to be finished in early November for a world wide release. The LP is recorded at Glenmark family's studio in Sollentuna.
     - Noone in the USA had seen us. So when our songs started to appear on the top lists people got curious and wondered who we were. The reason for this trip was just to let them see us. It was interesting to see how they work in New York. Full speed all the time.
     - Agnetha and Björn were in New York for four days, but Frida and I stayed two days longer to be able to see a little more of the city.
    - You have been here before when you were a member of Hep Stars, haven't you?
     - Yes, but back then we stayed with relatives and didn't get to experience very much. Everythings was much more fun this time around. Even though we during our two free days didn't do very much apart from walking around and looking at everything. We did go to Broadway and saw the musical "Pippin".
     They also have busy days at home. Björn and Agnetha  has moved to a "secret" address in Lidingö and Benny and Frida are planning to move into the city of Stockholm.
     On 17 November does their new European tour start, which will go on until the 16th of January. It will be a total of 30 concerts.
     - We start in Copenhagen and then we will do eight concerts in Germany, Benny tells us. After that it's Holland and Belgium. We will then have a week off and after that we will go to England, Scotland and Ireland. After the Christmas holidays there will be a Scandinavian tour. Everything is going so fast. We like it, but sometimes we think it's a shame that everything is happening all at once. But it's very exciting to see new countries and get new impressions. The first days in November we will be in East Berlin, and we are really looking forward to that since none of us have visited an Eastern state before. No matter how things will turn out, no matter how much we will travel - one thing is sure, next summer we will tour the Swedish folkparks.

This article was published in VeckoRevyn in the fall of 1974.

The city Health Department measured ABBA's sound volume

ABBA's show at Scandinavium in Göteborg was a success. An audience of 7.000 people, mostly teenagers, cheered and screamed over what ABBA had to show. Even the city's music critics fell for them and their tempo filled, super professional stage show, which is going to be shown all around Europe.
     Many mothers had brought their girls aged 8-10 to have a closer look at ABBA. And none of them were dissappointed. Lots of striking clothes, a well rehearsed dance routine and the festiveness with soapbubbles falling over the stage was really a crowd pleaser. There were applauds, whistlings and cheers - so much that ABBA eventually could be convinced to come back in for an encore. And that was of course "Waterloo" - the Eurovision Song Contest song that laid the foundation for ABBA's success.
     A funny thing was that the Health Department of Göteborg was there with Dr. Bengt Mollsted who measured the sound volume. He measured it to be 100 dB. That should indicate that some of the people in the audience left Scandinavium with slight damage to their ears. The approved level is 80 dB.

They made half a million in two weeks!

Another typical Swedish article, focusing only on the money. Note that not a word of the show or the music is mentioned. This article comes from the magazine "Se" 1975.

Let's celebrate...

• Never before has a Swedish show created more commotion in the folkparks than ABBA (Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog.

• During their two weeks long summer tour they attracted 100.000 spectators - and raked in 685.00 kronor - according to Se's calculations.

• So Björn can afford to treat himself to a glass of champagne before every show!

ABBA are on stage in Gamleby Folkets Park. Outdoor dance floor, birches, mosquitoes, silhouettes of pinetrees in front of the summer sky that never gets completely dark. Almost 4.000 people has come and small children are watching this extraordinary, rowdy show with soap bubbles and clouds of smoke rolling off the stage with their mouths open.
     This is home ground for Björn Ulvaeus. The audience know him since he was an ordinary boy in Västervik, only 30 kilometres from here. He was the one who used to play the guitar and sing so sweet. Then he became famous, as an idol in Hotenanny Singers. Now he is an idol again. But in a different league. He has learned from the big stars. He is wearing a lamé pyjamas over his dieted body and platform shoes with four layers. He holds his hand on his hip like Mick Jagger and he is moving quite well. But sometimes he looks like he needs to go to the toilet, with his toes pointing inwards.
     - Do you know what they wrote in GT? he says to Se. They said I have the "sweetest boy butt in the pop world"! How about that?

Never before has a Swedish folkpark show attracted so much attention as ABBA. Last year, when they won the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, they didn't have time to tour. But this year they promised to come back with a two week long tour - with the highest fee ever in the history of the Swedish folkparks.
     They wanted 15.000 kronor at least. That's OK, some are asking more. But if they park's revenue would be bigger than that they wanted 60% of those revenues!
     Approximately 100.000 people have seen ABBA during these two weeks. They suggested that the parks should take 20 kronor for admission. But not all the parks has charged that much. And the people with season tickets don't have to pay extra. In some parks children under the age of 7 have been let in for free. That was written by ABBA themselves in their contract.
     The parks get to keep their 40%.
     The result after Se's calculations are: 685.000 kronor for two weeks work!
     - I don't know how you have been counting, the folkpark managers must have overestimated it! Our own calculations are half a million, says Thomas Johansson. A young man, who is known to have been a "fixer" in the pop world for years. Now he is established, as the manager of EMA Telstar who have produced ABBA's show and who are bringing the hottest acts to Sweden. Thomas is now very respected in America, England, Germany...
     - Then you have to deduct the costs, Thomas continues. We estimated it to 15.000 kronor per day. But we are up to 18.000 now, due to illness and cancelled concerts and other unexpected costs.
     - Well, are they really that high, Benny Andersson asks politely.
     - ... and we made a big loss last year in Germany, Thomas interrupts. There we had to cancel for such unusual things like snow.

Costs: payment for 20 people. Among them the old rock idol Boris Lundqvist and his band Beatmakers, who are still swinging! Another ex idol, Clabbe af Geijerstam who manages the lights. Sounds- and lights technicians from Denmark, England and Germany. Road managers. Transit buss for the band. Two cars for ABBA. A buss, 15 metres long, with, for example, 4 tons of speakers and amplifiers. Drum podiums, plexi glass podiums to dance on, fireworks etc.
     The contracts are full of "riders", special clauses that guarantees certain technical prerequisites.
     - And the demand of champagne before the show?
     - Not a demand. But a request. A tiny, tiny glass before the show makes all very happy.
     (Rolling Stones and other pop gods usually have similar requests. It's a status symbol to be able to come up with the most unusual drinks possible. Breadfruit juice with Russian brandy, for example.)
     - How much does Stikkan Anderson get from the tour?
     - Nothing. Even though he is our manager and he should get his 10%, says Benny. We actually haven't spoken about that yet. I guess we will have to get him something nice for Christmas instead... All the money goes into my and Björn's company, Harlekin. Everything goes in there. The four of us in ABBA are getting paid from there.

Björn threatened to take his life

From Expressen today, 17 July 2005.
Björn Ulvaeus, 60, received a message stating he was in for a huge tax shock. Upset and angry he said:
     - Then I might as well kill myself.
The police was called to his house, but never had to intervene.

Björn Ulvaeus was at home in the beautifully located villa in Djursholm, outside of Stockholm. He was in a telephone conference with a business acquiantce. During their conversation they discussed a business deal. But the man also told Björn that there was a risk of huge tax cost involved in this transaction. Björn had no previous knowledge of that happening. He became furious and spat out the drastic words:
      - Then I might as well kill myself.
Afterwards he hung up the phone.
      - I got angry over the information, says Björn Ulvaeus, 60.
He went out on the veranda.

TRIED TO CALL
Already out there was his wife, Lena, 55. She noticed that her husband was upset, but after a short while they laid down on the deck chairs and Björn nodded off in the summer heat.
 The man Björn had spoken to took his statement very seriously.
     - Afterwards he has told me that he tried to call me, but I was out on the veranda so I didn't hear the phone, says Lena Ulvaeus.
The acquiantce thought it was a critical situation so he called the police. He didn't realise that what he thought was a suicide threat was just an expression of anger.

WE DID GET A REPORT
The police got the alarming report at 15.52 and at 15.59 a patrol car was sent to the family's villa. At the same time the police tried to get in contact with Björn Ulvaeus' relatives.
     - It's at that time the police call me, says Lena Ulvaeus.
The police quickly inform her:
     - We have received a report that Björn is about to commit suicide.
Lena Ulvaeus was chocked, but collected herself and told them how it was:
     - No, I don't think so. He is lying here next to me on a deck chair.
After that phonecall the police called off the operation and the patrol car was recalled. The police never got close to the villa.
Björn Ulvaeus thinks that the whole incident is unpleasant. Through the misunderstanding he has been singled out as a suicial man.
      - Yes, as you can see, I couldn't be better and I have no intention of taking my own life, he says and smiles widely.
He and his wife left three days ago for the Visfestival in Västervik, something he rarely misses. The family took their boat, a 17 metre long Fairline Squadron and had Marie and Tomas Ledin with them as their guests.
Dressed in shorts and sandals, Björn Ulvaeus has spent the last couple of days meeting up with family, friends and enjoyed the music festival.
     - We have had a great time, says Lena Ulvaeus.

NO TAX SHOCK
The closest to the family knows that the police were involved. But the relatives also know the background, that it was an acquiantce who misinpreted Björn Ulvaeus.
     - He is very remoresefull today, says Lena Ulvaeus.
Now, a week after the incident, there's only one thing that worry them, that the police intervention will be perceived as something serious by those who really didn't know what happened.

THE POLICE HAS WRITTEN OFF THE CASE
And the reason Björn got so angry and uttered those drastical words has also been resolved.
     - It turned out that there is no risk for a tax shock, says Lena Ulvaues.

Glad to hear it wasn't serious, does anyone know if Björn will be onstage with the Hootenanny Singers as was previously announced? [Mikael's remark]

Come on, Frida – you are the best!

A very nice article about Frida by Olle Berggren in Göteborgstidningen/iDAG from  20 July 1992 when she had just appeared on the Artister för Miljö single.

Frida is still the best singer
In the middle of the ABBA-revival Frida pops up again. She does it on a single with Artister För Miljö. Here she once again proves her class. “The best Swedish singer” according to iDAG’s Olle Berggren.

Come on, Frida – you are the best!
It’s now close to ten years since Frida started the recording of her last (?) solo album, “Shine”, with producer Steve Lillywhite in Paris.
     But no singer worthy of taking over the legacy after Frida has emerged on the female pop scene.
     I’m brutally reminded of this when a single from Artister För Miljö comes in the mail.
     By pure incident I let the CD continue to play so the B-side comes through the speakers.
     Frida does Julian Lennon’s “environmental-political” contribution “Saltwater”.
     Oh my God! Where have you been all these years, Anni-Frid!?

SUDDENLY MOST OF the internationally commercial Swedish girl pop pales in comparison. One single artist, who is also part of this environmental project, is Marie Fredriksson. But only in the context of Roxette.
      If Frida hadn’t been “generous” enough to lend her voice to this songs, I would have kept on believing that the most interesting voices were the the ones topping the charts now.
     Eva Dahlgren and Lisa Nilsson.
     Great vocalists in Swedish. But in English? Dahlgren lost all her character on the English language album she recently released. Then there is Louise Hoffsten. But she is more of a R&B singer. Not a pop singer ready for an international career. And of course we have Carola. She has the voice, but has difficulties finding her musical identity. What about Agnetha Fältskog? Yes, but after the international flop with her Peter Cetera-produced album, it now seems she, like Frida, has put her pop career on the shelf.

BUT THEN, THERE she is back again enchanting the listener. Frida, the best voice in Swedish pop history. Not that “Saltwater”, in any way, is powerfull enough to restart Frida’s career. Neither is it intended to do so. But the songs shows what she has to give. On the polarized pop scene with rap and and dance on one side, well produced pop music on the other there is room for a 46 year old vocalist. The timing is also a lot better than it was when Frida started her (international) solo career with Phil Collins in the producer chair. Back then ABBA was a sort of embarrassing reminder of the 70s which wasn’t taken seriously by the more refined pop circle. The group’s status has grown enormously during later years to reach its peak during the summer of 1992. Right now ABBA are celebrated all over the world and has reached the same position in pop history as the Beatles and the Beach Boys. Erasure has released an EP with ABBA-covers and U2 nowadays has “Dancing Queen” on their songlist when they are touring. A collection of songs, maybe a CD-box, is planned for release this fall and in August ABBA’s old classic “Dancing Queen” will be re-released as a single all over Europe. A tribute album is being recorded right now here in Sweden with 12 artists and groups, among them Army Of Lovers with their version of “Hasta Mañana”.

SO, BJÖRN AND BENNY, now that you have finished writing songs for Josefin “Ainbusk” Nilsson’s solo album, please have a look through your drafts and unreleased songs. Maybe there is something that would be suitable for Frida. Yes, and even Per Gessle, who always have been “over writing” songs might have some left over in his drawers at Torsgatan in Halmstad. Then all you have to do is find the right producer and some more song writers. Minor obstacles on the way to a come back. The big problem is of course to convince the artist herself. She has said that she might be willing to go back into the recording studio, if it would help people to become aware of the environmental issues.
“Saltwater” is a part of that plan. The next could be a whole album. Why not call Richard Dashut, the man behind Fleetwood Mac and Lindsey Buckingham’s solo album “Out Of The Cradle”. I asked Buckingham the other night if he is available. “Yes, he is , unless he is going to manage the sound during my tour” said Buckingham.
     Why wait?