From the Swedish magazine "Alexandra" in 1971 comes this little article about Benny:
At one time he thought he was going to be a construction engineer. He had had some workplace experience and went to school studying the subject. But then some guys, who called themselves Hep Stars, called him up. Benny left his studies. And that is something he has never regretted.
Benny Andersson, a friendly guy with a blond beard. A guy who only has one interest in life - music. And who can't imagine doing anything else for a living. But it's not likely he will be unemployed. He has established himself as both a talented performer and composer. He writes both music and lyrics.
But once upon a time he though of becoming a construction engineer. He graduated school in 1962 and joined a work experience programme for a year and a half. But then some guys, who called themselves Hep Stars, called him up. Benny left his studies. Not long after that Hep Stars became hugely successfull with songs like "Cadillac", followed by the other successes like "Farmer John" and "Sunny Girl" and "Wedding".
Benny and Svenne and Lotta left Hep Stars a couple of years ago. They had realised that their fans preferred to hear songs in Swedish. And soon they were a big hit in the Swedish Folkparks. The New Hep Stars continued with their Engish hardcore pop and aimed mainly at the foreign market.
This winter, Benny and his fiancée Anni-Frid Lyngstad - known as Frida - and another engaged couple, Agnetha Fältskog and Björn Ulvaeus did open a restaurant show. But now Frida is touring with Lasse Berghagen while Benny, Björn and Agnetha are working together. Björn and Benny has had several hits, among them "Hej Gamle Man" which stayed at Svensktoppen for a long time.
- It's about a Salvation Army soldier,just any of them. We wrote the music first and thought it sounded a little like a Salvation Army song. That is why we wrote about the soldier. We normally write the music together first. We work it out on guitar and piano. Afterwards we write the lyrics separately.
This summer the three of them will only tour during weekends. The rest of the week all of them are in Stockholm where they write new songs and record new albums. A new LP has just been released.
- You get so tired by travelling around all summer, says Benny when we meet him at his recording company Polar Music. It's much better to combine the workload like this. Then it becomes a kick to come out and play in the Folkparks when it's not too often.
Björn started playing as early as 1961. He and three of his friends in Västervik's highschool started a group they called Partners - which later was changed to Hootenanny Singers. The group still exists, but nowadays they only make records and appear on TV-shows.
Benny takes the opportunity to send a greeting to all the fans that have been writing to him. He is relly sorry, but he can't reply to all of them. It would take too much time. But he reads every single letter and he really enjoys hearing from his fans.
You can see the colour picture of Benny from the article in the Benny gallery!
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