History

Before ABBA

Benny Andersson was a member of the Swedish rock/pop group Hep Stars, who were a hit band in Sweden during the mid to late 1960s and had a huge following, especially among teenage girls. The band were modelled after various American and British groups such as Herman's Hermits, The Who, and The Rolling Stones and mostly performed covers of international hits. Benny played on keyboards and eventually started writing original compositions for Hep Stars.

Early years

The ABBA name

Around 1973 Stig, having tired of the unwieldy names, started to refer to the group privately and publicly as ABBA. This was done as a joke at first, since Abba was also the name of a well-known fish-canning company in Sweden. However, since the fish canners were more or less unknown outside Sweden, Stig came to believe the name would work in international markets and so it stuck. Later the group negotiated with the canners for the right to use the name.

Eurovision and after

Later years

By 1978, ABBA were a megagroup. They converted a disused cinema into the Polar Music Studio, a new state-of-the-art studio in Stockholm which was used by several other successful bands (among others, Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door and Genesis' Duke were recorded there).

After ABBA

In 1984, Björn and Benny released a music concept album Chess that they created together with lyricist Tim Rice. It was later turned into a musical on West End (1986), on Broadway (1988) and in Stockholm (Chess På Svenska - Chess in Swedish) (2003).

Post-ABBA solo careers

Both female members of ABBA pursued solo success on the international scene following the break-up of the band.

Legacy

ABBA's success subsequently opened the doors for many other European acts. Their lasting legacy is the legitimisation of the Swedish music industry as a mainstream player (Sweden is considered by many as the third greatest exporter of music, following the US and the UK).

Awards & Recognition

ABBA was inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002.

Fashion and videos

ABBA was widely noted for the colourful and trend-setting costumes its members wore. The videos which accompanied some of their biggest hits are often cited as being among the earliest examples of the genre. Though The Beatles and the Rolling Stones had shot the occasional video clip, making promotional videos still hadn't become the industry standard by the early-to-mid 1970s. Most of ABBA's videos (and ABBA - The Movie) were directed by Lasse Hallström who would later direct the films My Life as a Dog, The Cider House Rules and Chocolat.

Parodies

Several ABBA videos were spoofed by others: The video "Super Trouper" was satirised on the BBC comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News as "Super Dooper." It contained the memorable and amusing line "one of us is ugly, one of us is cute, one of us you'd like to see in her birthday suit", these words alluding to the attractions of the two female vocalists - though for many the 'contest' was not as clear cut as this indicates, with many preferring Frida's darkness (in voice, style and image as well as voice) to Agnetha's blonde image.

Trivia

Notes

1. ^ British Hit Singles & Albums (Edition 17), 2004, ISBN 0-85112-199-3
2. ^ ABBA: Curious Facts. Music Stars. The Biography Channel. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.

• Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of ABBA by Carl Magnus Palm (2002) ISBN 0-7119-9194-4
• From "ABBA" to "Mamma Mia!" by Carl Magnus Palm (2004) ISBN 1-85227-864-1