Mikory's ABBA-blog

Björn and Lena's new dream house

This article was published in Expressen 29 november 2005.
This is Björn Ulvaeus' new paradise. On the island Viggsö in the Stockholm archipelago he has just bought a house for 6,7 million kronor.
     - It's a nice summerhouse, but not a luxurious one, says Björn's wife Lena Ulvaues.
West of Grinda, a 20 minute boat ride from Vaxholm, Viggsö is located. Here Björn already owns a house he bought in the 70's. Now his paradise has become bigger. Recently he and his wife, Lena, 55, bought the house next door from Stikkan Anderson's son Lasse Anderson for 6,7 million kronor. That included 5.900 square metres of land to add to the 8.460 they already own on the island.

ONLY A FEW METRES FROM THE SEA
The house built in the 1930's is located just a few metres from the sea and has a large landing stage, boat house and a shed. The house has three bedrooms, one study and a large kitchen. Björn and Lena will be able to enjoy the summer sun from two balconies and a big terrass overlooking Grindafjärden.
     - It used to be a fishermans house which now has been rebuilt. It's a nice summerhouse, but not a luxurious one, says Lena Ulvaeus to Expressen.
The couple has bought the house to be able to spend time there with their family; the children Emma, 23, Anna, 19, Linda, 32, Christian, 28 and their granddaughter Tilda, 4, who is Linda's daughter.

"THE SILENCE IS VERY PEACEFULL"
     - We like spending time in the archipelago. The silence is very peacefull. And it's nice now when we are getting older to sit there and read and do crosswords, says Lena Ulvaeus.
     - Yes, Viggsö is very important to Björn. It was there he and Benny wrote alot of ABBA's early hits in a small guest house, Lena tells us.

JAKOB LARSSON, EXPRESSEN

Finally - the content of the Frida DVD

Today the official ABBA-site finally released the content of the DVD that is released in a few days (2 December in Holland, 7 December here in Sweden). So here it is:

THE DVD
The exclusive interview in this DVD was shot in the summer of 2005, with the glorious Matterhorn mountain top in the background. Frida reminisces about her entire career, her private life, her audience, her friends and about the person she is today. Her memories take us to places and people in her life, she shows us clips from Swedish TV and all the videos from her career, she talks about her encounter and collaboration with Phil Collins and much more.

FRIDA BEFORE ABBA
Frida about the 60’s
From “Ikväll”, 1967
En ledig dag
From ”Malmö Stand By 70”, 1970
My Man
Just One Of Those Things
Mad About The Boy
From “När stenkakan slog”, 1970
Kalle på spången
I min blommiga blå krinolin
Att älska i vårens tid
Min soldat
Söderhavets sång
From ”Charlie Norman Show”, 1970
Baby Love
From “Den stora utflykten”, 1971
Gitarzan - with Lars Berghagen, Finn Albert and Svenne Hedlund

DURING ABBA
Frida about the 70’s
From ”ABBA The Movie”, 1977
Why Did It Have To Be Me
From “Rapport”, 1974
Interview with Frida and Stig “Stikkan” Anderson after the Eurovision song contest
From “ABBA The Movie”, 1977
Fernando
From “Barnjournalen”, 1978
Interview with Frida

AFTER ABBA, THE 80’s
Frida about the 80’s part 1
From Frida “Solo”, 1983
Documentary about the recording of the album “Something’s Going On”
Frida about the 80’s part 2
From “Måndagsbörsen”, 1984
Interview
From “Lite grand I örat”, 1981
Medley with various artists

VIDEOS
Here We’ll Stay
I See Red
I Know There’s Something Going On
Shine
To Turn The Stone
Så länge vi har varann – with Ratata

From “Razzel”, 1984
Twist In The Dark
Come To Me (I Am Woman)
Heart Of The Country
From “Glädjehuset”, 1984
One Little Lie

AFTER ABBA, THE 90’s
Frida about the 90’s
From “Frida mitt I livet”, 1996
Recording of ”Djupa andetag”
Photo session of ”Djupa andetag”
Video recording of ”Även en blomma”

VIDEOS
Även en blomma
Ögonen
From ”Frida mitt i livet”, 1996
Älska mig alltid
From ”Sverige-Sovjet”, 1996
Ögonen
From ”Sunday Night Classics”, 2004
The Sun Will Shine Again – with Jon Lord
From “Ja, må hon leva”, 1993
Dancing Queen – with The Real Group

TODAY 2005
Interview from Zermatt, 2005

I think this will be fantastic. I'm curious about why the official video for "Twist In The Dark" was left out. Well, only a few days to go now...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FRIDA!

Today is Frida's 60th birthday. I hope she's having a great day, somewhere nice with her loved ones.
This little princess has come a long way...
Grattis, Frida!

"I kissed Agnetha for more than 3 minutes!"

Here is the actor Magnus Krepper. He has done something very few even will get close to do - kissing Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA-Agnetha. And on film even, with his mouth open for more than 3 minutes.
     - We kissed for 3 minutes and 27 seconds to be exact, Magnus says. Magnus Krepper, 38, who now is appearing in Swedish Television's latest drama series "God morgon alla barn".
     But back to the record kiss. Because it is a record.
     - Agnetha and I have the record for the longest kiss in a film, 3.27 as I said.
     - It was a really hot kiss and I remember it like it was yesterday. The mood was very nice. The kiss took place during the making of the documentary "Agnetha". It was then 17 years since she last opened her mouth - to the sound of "What Now My Love" from her latest album.

Are you still in contact with Agnetha?
     - No, no not at all. It was only a movie kiss, but of course it was special. Because I have always liked ABBA and their music, says Magnus who is married to Sanna Krepper, 33, who is an actress working at Stockholms Stadsteater.
     - We met at the theatre school in the late 90's and we have two small children now.
     - If my wife got jealous? No, she is not that type of woman. This was just a job I did, even though it was a bit unusual and pretty pleasant, Magnus says and laughs again.
The film kiss will also be released on video.
     - Nowadays I'm working with completely different things, I'm in the middle of making the sequel to "Tusenbröder" for Swedish Television. And right now you can see me in "God morgon alla barn" where I play the passionate pizza baker Einar.

BY TOMAS LARSON, HÄNT EXTRA 8 NOVEMBER 2005

"My fight for for the environment comes from the heart"

ARRIVING AT OVESHOLMS castle about 10 kilometres from Kristianstad is like going back in time. The beech wood stands thick around the main building. The water lillies are floating peacefully on the surface of a small lake. If a couple of ladies dressed in crinolines with white umbrellas would appear it wouldn't surprise you.
     But this is definitely not the 1600's. A gigantic stage is being built on a meadow close by. There will be a rock concert here this evening. And Orup will sing about "Stockholm has become cold". And Jonas Gardell will tell all about himself in his stand-up routine. And Richard Wolf will sing melancholy songs about complicated love. And Christer
Sandelin...? Yes, I guess it will be something about love from him aswell.
     But why have all these Stockholmers ended up here out in the countryside?
It's because of Frida. Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Once a member of ABBA, now, since two years, the chairwoman of "Artister För Miljö". And as the chairwoman of this organisation she has succeeded in bringing all these city folks out to the countryside for a very good cause.
     The rock concert is also a gala for the environment. All the artists perform for free and for ideological reasons.  And even if Richard Wolf looks a little lost in the royal park with his pale skin and black clothes, he and the other performers have a heart that is beating for the green values.
     The surplus of the takings will go to the organisation "Det Naturliga Steget", an organisation that works for a better environment which started in 1989. Frida is also a member of the board in that organisation.

FRIDA ALMOST LOOKS too good when I meet her outside of the castle. You can't talk about growing old with style. She looks just as fantastic as she did during the ABBA years.
     She tells me that she has been a vegetarian for 15 years now. And as an addictive hamburger eater myself it gives me something to think about. A varied diet is a good incentive for eternal youth.
     It has been very quiet about Frida lately, after ABBA's split up in the beginning of the 80's. Just a little
article here and there about her peacefull life in Switzerland with princes and princesses, but nothing more than that. The last time we heard from her musically was when she did the duet with Ratata in 1987.
    And now, all of a sudden, she is here again, on stage. Even if here at Rosenholm it's only to introduce Orup, she will sing on stage at the Stockholm Castle at another music gala. That one is also for the benefit of the environment and with the king of Sweden's approval. When this article is out she will have already performed Julian Lennon's song "Saltwater" at that music gala. A song that is also the B-side of a new single. The A-side contains of Frida together with with Marie Fredriksson and Tomas Ledin, to name a few, singing "Änglamark".
      So I guess it's not totally unreasonable to ask her wether she is contemplating a musical comeback.
      - No, no, absolutely not, Frida laughs. The single was just a bit of fun to promote the concert at the castle.

BUT AS WE start to talk about her involvement in environmental issues she becomes very serious. It's a difficult time we are living in. With "radioactive" elks in woods where the tops of many pine trees are dying because of the acid rain. Not to mention the picking of flowers in the meadows during midsummer. Lucky is the one who is able to find seven different species during the later years. And all over us the sun is shining through a thinner layer of ozone which threatens us all with malignant melanoma.
      - I read an article about the acidification of the forests, Frida says. That really got me going. I had one of those "aha-moments". I felt I had to do something. And stop being apathetic about everything that is going on around me.  The fact of having all the facts in front of you and still don't do anything about it.
      - Then I guess it was a matter of good timing. I had retired from my singing for a couple of years and done other things that I was interested in. I guess you could say that I was maturing as a human being. And after reading that article, my conscience told me it was time that I did something about it.
      She contacted the writers of the article, Bo Thunberg who then was the information manager of
Naturskyddsföreningen, and professor Lennart Skotte at Lantbruksakademien.
      - We met and I suggested a TV-series that would mix entertainment with environmental issues. They thought it was a great idea, but unfortunately it ended there.
      From there she got in contact with Karl-Henrik Robert who was the one who started Det Naturliga Steget (The Natural Step) in 1989. It was an organisation working for a better environment which wanted to build a network of people from different walks of life. The first group was "Forskare för miljö" (Scientists for the environment).
      - He asked me if I wanted to start a group with performers. And from that Artister För Miljö (Artists for the environment) came about. And I'm the chairwoman of that organisation now.
      Other members of the board are Malin Berghagen (Lill-Babs' daughter), Jan Malmsjö, Anders Linder, Bibi Andersson and Monica and Carl-Axel Domninique.
      - Nowadays we also have doctors, teachers and engieneers for the environment, so we are constantly growing.

HER INTEREST IN the nature started when she was a child. I mean it's not all that selfevident to imagine Frida in the woods with her rubber boots on walking around in the woods. Especially not since you have seen her in skintight pants and very high platform shoes singing about "Waterloo".
      - There were a couple of very strange years in my life when I lived with ABBA and all the big things surrounding it. But in a way the the way comes the full circle. I was very interested in nature when I was a child. I spent a lot of time out in the woods, by myself, and I enjoyed it.
     She is not very familiar with the Swedish mountains, but there are plenty of mountains in Switzerland as well.
     - I hike a lot in the Swiss alps. And I ski alot. Over all I enjoy living close to nature.
     - I have a dream to travel with one of those mobile homes in to the Swedish mountains up north, and go fishing in those small lakes there.
     The main purpose of the Naturliga Steget is to give information about environmental issues, and from a special point.
     - This thing about the principal of the circle of life. The fact that you start with the living cell and uses it as your philosophy.

RECYCLING, IN OTHER words. Both when it comes to technological methods in the industry and a private lifestyle.
     - It's about making people aware through knowledge. We try to do that through seminars for the different groups. We have already have had more than a 100 artists who has held speeches and lectures.
     - And the artists are a very important part, because we can be a link between the sometimes incomprehensible academic world and "ordinary people". And we talk a language most people understand.
     But that doesn't mean that the artists have to sing songs about nature and environment and chemical waste.
     - What's important to us is working for the knowledge being there. Then it's up to everyone to spread their message the best way they can. The only thing that matters is that you show that you are behind this important message.

WHAT ABOUT FRIDA then, privately? Does she makes sure she buys "dolphin free" tuna fish at the grocery shop?
     - I don't eat fish. I only eat vegetables since the last 15 years. That's my expression of my awareness and the fact that I'm looking out for my health aswell.
     - I'm not a fanatic. I just think it suits me. I also have a very normal relationship to other people as well. I don't see myself as "special" just because I've been part of something like ABBA once upon a time. The only good thing about that is that I can use that fact in this kind of work.
     - I feel a strong love for nature and for people. Everytning is connected. It all goes together. I'm also a strong believer. That also contributes to the work I'm doing for the environment.
     - It's not like I go to a church. I just believe in God, that's all. You don't have to be a part of a church to do that. I believe in the energy of nature.
     - All this togheter gives you an inner harmony, which makes you feel ready to give everything for a worthy cause. That's how it has worked out for me anyway. And I would like to develop it as much as I can, and get as many people as possible involved in it. But it's nothing I'm trying to force on to other people. It has to come from a free choice.

SO HOW IS it at home? Separate garbage bags?
     - Oh, yes. If you mean that I sort my garbage you are completely right. In Switzerland there are different collection stations everywhere. For platstic, aluminum and metal. They have come much further when it comes to sorting your garbage. But when it comes to environmental goods in the stores I think Sweden is better.
     But what about those scary worms? Frida scared the sh*t out of Stina Dabrowski on a Swedish TV-show about six months ago. She presented Stina with a box of worms which she claimed could make the household garbage into soil.
     - No, that was more a fun thing, she laughs. I don't have any worms. But I do have a compost.
And naturally she has full control over her make-up as well.
     - I don't use make-up that has been tested on animals. And about other cosmetic products, schampoo etc there's a series where you bring your bottle back to the store and get it refilled.

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR living as you preach must then be fulfilled.
     - But I don't see myself as some sort of world conscience, not at all. I'm only trying to do whatever little I can. And this is the way I do it.
     - A lot of people don't think that these small things matter. It's that kind of attitude "that I'm so small" so it doesn't matter what I do.
     - But that is wrong. If every individual tries to do something in their own household to improve the environment, it will mean a lot.
     - It has a lot to do with changes in attitudes and changes in routines. People think it's very hard to change their routines, but it really isn't that hard. It's just a matter of making a decision. To decide that you want to do it. That is probably the hardest part, to decide.
She is not the "tree-hugger" type either.
     - No, I prefer to work in a less visual way, more behind the scenes.
So there's no longing to come back to the musical limelight again?
     - No, I definitely have no desire for a second musical career. I have been in this industry ever since I was a child. And I have gotten the best out of it. I love music and I love to sing. But there are also so many other things in life that are equally important.

BUT WHAT IF ABBA should get together for just one time and do a concert for Det Naturliga Steget? Imagine the headlines, all over the world.
Frida actually looks pentive for a while. And for a second I think I might have planted the seed for a new chapter in the history of pop music. But then she shakes her head.
     - ABBA is not interested in doing that. We are all busy with our own things. We have developed in different directions these years that we have been apart.

The time for our interview is running out. The beech leaves are moving from the sound waves from Orup's music as he is rehearsing on stage. Above us two helicopters are flying from the close by military unit. The good Count Raoul Hamilton, a friend of Frida's for many years, is about to do a sky jump. But maybe that's a "natural step" if you're a count and your last name is Hamilton.

ALL IN ALL this concert is for the good for everyone. And with 6.000 tickets sold the future look bright for Artister För Miljö.
     And, as Frida says, you can't be pessimistic even though the world might look pretty gloomy right now.
     - I want the coming generations to be able to live in a beautifull, full and clean world. That is something you have to be hopefull about. Otherwise what's the point, give up?
     That is something she is not doing. She is taking the microphone in her hand and walks on stage.

BY KENNETH GYSING, TIDNINGEN MED MERA 1992

Frida has broken free (1981)

Here you will get to meet Frida in a new way. Honestly and openly she answers all our questions. It is the real picture of Frida emerging. A struggling girl who hates intolerance and gives her all for her friends and her work.

Frida is sitting by one of the tables at Grand's Stora Vinterträdgård. For the first time in her life she is the host of a TV-show. And that in front of five TV-cameras and an audience of 5.000.000 viewers.
     But Frida has proven herself to be a natural TV-host. She is very sure of her self on stage. She acts, sings and cracks jokes. And no matter how much her co-host Clabbe af Geijerstam tries to put her on the spot she always manages to give a great comeback to his questions.
     All of the time Frida is hugging people and is showing her affection and warmth. She is by no way making out that she is any more special than the others on stage. Quite the opposite, she lets the others shine. She is constantly following her script and knows exactly what is going to happen and when.
     I walk up to her and ask her if it's OK that I ask her some questions. To my big suprise she says that it's fine with her.
I have heard here that a lot of people are so surprised that you are such a surprisingly good TV-host?
Frida looks surprised and says:
     - It's only because they have only seen me with ABBA before.   
Have you done anything like this before?
     - Oh no, not in front of an audience.
What about parties, have you been the one making speeches etc?
     - Oh, no, yuk, I've never liked that kind of thing.
Then why did you agree to host this series of TV-shows?
     - It was Claes (Clabbe af Geijerstam) who contacted me just after Christmas and asked if I would consider it. And to be honest, it took a couple of months of persuasion. At first I was a little scared. But I do trust Claes a lot so finally I thought, why not, and I said yes. Now I think it's the greatest thing I've ever done. I have been involved from the beginning and has been given a chance to give my input on how the show should turn out. I've been able to coordinate a lot of things and even choose some of the songs. Yes, I've been a part of everything that has lead to this show. I find it especially stimulating that the show isn't only based on solo performances, but instead all the guests are involved in almost every number.
     Claes comes in and asks Frida to join him. The taping is about to begin. I ask Frida if we can continue this interview a little later.
     - Do you have many questions, she asks.
And I foolishly say "no" not to scare her off.
     - Then it's OK, just call me when the rehearsals are over, says Frida.
When you think about Frida's background and her development you can't help to get impressed. Today she is 36 years old and she is still developing herself. Not just as a TV-show host. Soon she is going to America and maybe record a solo album over there. And she is hoping that Björn and Benny soon will get their musical together. She has been training dancing and singing for something like this for years. Through the years she has developed into a free Woman who can stand on her own. It has been a long road. A real Cinderella story, would be perfect to export to movie studios of Hollywood.
     With a father, a German soldier, who disppeared from her life before she was even born. And a mother who died when Frida was only two years old. The escape to Sweden. The poor years when her grandmother supported them both by cleaning and sewing. The first marriage and the life as a housewife with two kids.
     1967 is the first time you could read about Frida in the papers. During the years there has been a lot more headlines and stories.

When Frida comes back after the rehearsals, we sit down at a table as far away from the stage as possible. Frida is, as always, beautifully dressed. And it strikes me how beautiful she is in real life. Whether she is on stage or is sitting like this right in front of you. She is like the comic magazine's number one beauty, Modesty Blaise. Tall, slender, professional with a natural distance to the world around her with a pair of green eyes that makes you curious about her.
     As I start to ask the first question the orchestra starts playing, very loudly.
What is the most fun, I scream, to be a TV-host or singing with ABBA?
     - Both are fun, but you can't compare them. They are so completely different, Frida shouts back.
Have you prepared yourself for this job?
     - How do you mean, prepared?
Well, standing in front of the mirror, working with your voice and stuff like that? Frida laughs.
     - No, I certainly haven't done that. All we say and do are more or less improvised. I only do what I feel works the best.
Do you have a role model on TV, someone you think is good?
     - Not really, I mean I don't want to be imitating anyone. I thought Dick Cavett was good when he interviewed us. This is what I think Frida says, the orchestra is SO loud.
     - Don't worry, Frida shouts, this is the last song. But the orchestra plays on and Frida seems to give up.
     - We can't do this right now. Let's see if we can find some other place to sit down where we can hear what we are saying. Frida finds a calm and quiet room above the the stage. Frida is wearing a pair of tinted glasses, but I can see that she looks me straight in the eye during the whole interview, in a sort of a probing way.
Are you nervous when you have to talk in to the camera and to the audience?
     - Not really, no. Claes is a great support, so I feel safe.
In the show you are making some really sharp remarks about the tabloid press. What stories have irritated you the most?
     - There are so many. First of all there is way to much writing going on about us. And our private lives are exposed without any respect. I think we have been treated very badly by the tabloid press. They use faked interviews and now, the latest story was that Benny left me because I spend 10.000 kronor on clothes every month. What do they know about that? And where do they get it from?
Are there any more lies like that has agitated you?
     - Yes, there is. But I don't want to talk about them. I really don't know why I am sitting here talking you about it. I thought we were going to talk about the TV-show? Frida says and gives me a stern look.
Well, but it's mostly about the show, I try to defend myself.
     - Well, mumbles Frida. But she doesn't look angry at all anymore.
Do you have any plans for more tours with ABBA at the moment?
     - No, no plans of that whatsoever.
Is being a superstar something that makes you happy? Frida ponders the question:
     - I guess you are happy in the way that you have achieved what you set out to do. That you have become successfull in your line of work. But apart from that I don't think you are happier than anyone else.
But you are a symbol of happiness for many people. You are beuatiful, you're one of the singers in one of the world's biggest groups, you are rich and you are a self-made-woman.
     Frida looks surprised and smiles. It really seems that it surprises her that some people see her that way.
     - What people forget is all the hard work behind the success. It is actually very hard work both to tour and record albums.
Do you have a favourite group or a favourite song?
     - Wow, there are so many good ones to choose from. I guess it depends on what kind of mood you are in. I like all kind of music. I don't have any special favourite artist or group. In this show there is some really good music that I personally like a lot. This show is aimed at our own age group, which is quite unusual nowadays. I really hope people our age will watch this show. And people of all ages as well of course.
But when you were younger and sang jazz, didn't you have any idols back then?
     - Yes, Anita O'day and Ella Fitzgerald were singers I really admired. But I never really sang jazz. I don't know where that "fact" has come from. I sang evergreens but never jazz. "My Funny Valentine", which I sang, is not jazz. At Fasching (a jazz club in Stockholm) that's where they play what I call real jazz.
It's sort of a "difficult" genre, I guess it's something you have had to be "brought up on" from when you were a child?
     - Yes, I believe that is true. It's a quite complicated form of music with it's different sounds and variations. A bit like classical music. Which is something I often listen to at home.
What are you favourites?
     - Vivaldi and Mozart.
The phone rings, Frida excuses herself and walks off to take the call. The she runs out to find one of the girls on the staff who the call was for. She is certainly no diva. Frida comes back and apologizes for the interruption. She sits down and says:
     - I can't believe what I'm doing here. I hate these kinds of interviews. But she says it without any irritation. I think there are two personalities disagreeing within her all the time. One wants to be accomodating and nice and answer the questions she is being asked. But on the other hand there's someone in her who doesn't want to do these kind of interviews ever, or at least very rarely. I get the feeling she is continuing this interview just to be nice to me, since she promised.
What is the worst thing in a person you dislike the most?
     - I hate it when people are intolerant. People with prejudice. Who make up their minds before they have really tried to understand the situation.
Is it difficult to be as famous as you are?
     - Not so much here in Sweden. I really don't think much about the fact that I'm a celebrity. I can go out shopping, go to restaurants and move around like everybody else. But it can be difficult, especially on our tours abroad, when people know that we are coming. Then there are crowds with kids everywhere. At the airport, at the hotel and everywhere we go. But that's only when we are touring. Otherwise I don't see it as a very big problem.

FROM VECKO-REVYN 16 SEPTEMBER 1981