Marie Ledin talks about Stikkan - and fake autographs

Tonight Marie Ledin, Stikkan Anderson's daughter, appeared on Swedish television to promote her book about her father. During the interview she said that she started working at her father's office at an early age. She was doing book keeping. The host of the show asked her to tell the story about the forgery that was going on at the office. Marie said that ABBA received so many fan letters asking for signed photos that four or five people at the office - not Marie herself though - signed some of the photos.
      This has been discussed in many ABBA forums during the years and it's nice to get confirmation that this actually happened. According to Marie 95% of the signed photos that went out to fans all over the world were genuine and about 5% were forged. As many of us know most superstars have "secretaries" that sign photos for the stars, something I think is totally pointless and dishonest.

"The translation of the description of the book from onine bookstore "Ad Libris.se" reads as follows: He is wearing track suit pants where he is lying unmovable on the kitchen floor and he thinks: "Well, done, Dad. Adidas pants is in. Now you are more "hip" than you think you are!" It's Friday September 12 1997. The former school teacher, lyricist, composer, music publisher, manager and the businessman Stig "Stikkan" Anderson from Hova in Västergötland, has finally subcomed to his illness, bitterness and the alcohol. He was found by his dauthger Marie, who at first refuses to accept the fact. More than a decade she is writing her father's story. It's a rich, peculiar, muscial tale about a person who at the age of 16 years old got his first hit "Tivedshambo", but his big love was jazz music. He created the worldsuccess of ABBA with the help of two janitors and an office choir. Still when the millions started rolling in he kept dragging home baskets with LP-records every day to write Swedish lyrics in the kitchen. He founded the Polar Music Prize to bring them "korv and bröd". Even though he smoked 60 cigarettes a day and drank a bottle of Long John, he was always number one in the ski track. A man of many opposites. Marie's father. Stikkan.

Gudrun, Stikkan's wife talks about Stikkan in this posting.