PLUS NEW PIC OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER

Björn back on stage!

 

Hootenanny Singers featuring Björn Ulvaeus and Tony Roth was a surprise in the programme for Visfestivalen-Saturday 13/7

via: google news

Deluxe Edition Of The Ring Ring Album Released In October!

The next release in the ABBA Deluxe Edition series revisits ABBA’s début album, Ring Ring, originally issued in 1973. Featuring the very first ABBA recording, ‘People Need Love’, along with well-known tracks such as ‘He Is Your Brother’ and the groundbreaking title track, the original album has been expanded with no less than 13 bonus tracks, 4 of which are new to CD, plus a DVD of rare television material. Ring Ring Deluxe Edition will be released October 14, 2013.

The first disc in the 2-disc package is a CD, which features the original album plus 13 bonus tracks. The bonus selections seek to expand the view of the album by including not only various non-album single sides, but also the rare original versions of the album tracks ‘I Saw It In The Mirror’ and ‘I Am Just A Girl’, both of which were Björn and Benny productions for other artists.

The scope of ABBA’s early years is further expanded by bonus tracks such as the rare 1970 recording ‘There’s A Little Man’, featuring Agnetha on backing vocals, her first contribution to a recording written and produced by Björn and Benny; ‘Man vill ju leva lite dessemellan’, a 1972 hit single for Frida featuring backing vocals by her fellow ABBA members; ‘En hälsning till våra parkarrangörer’, an ultra-rare spoken-word promotion single from 1972 on which the four ABBA members talk up their 1973 tour of Sweden; ‘Hej gamle man!’, the 1970 hit recording that was the first to feature all four ABBA members; and the 1971 single ‘Välkommen till världen’ by Lill-Babs, written and produced by Benny and enhanced by prominent backing vocals by the four future ABBA members.

The DVD features rare television performances of ‘People Need Love’ and ‘Ring Ring’ from Swedish and Austrian TV, respectively, plus a 2012 report from Swedish television wherein Benny tells the story of the writing and recording of ‘Ring Ring’, the first song to feature the famous multi-layered ABBA sound. In the report, Benny goes in-depth on the group’s creative process, isolating the different tracks on the original multi-track tape.

The package also includes a 20-page illustrated booklet featuring an extensive essay on the making of the album.

Don’t miss out on this Deluxe Edition of Ring Ring – featuring Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida’s first steps towards international stardom!

RING RING – DELUXE EDITION

 DISC 01: CD:

1.  Ring Ring

2.  Another Town, Another Train

3.  Disillusion

4.  People Need Love

5.  I Saw It In The Mirror

6.  Nina, Pretty Ballerina

7.  Love Isn’t Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)

8.  Me And Bobby And Bobby’s Brother

9.  He Is Your Brother

10.  She’s My Kind Of Girl

11.  I Am Just A Girl

12.  Rock’n Roll Band

Bonus tracks:

13.  Ring ring (bara du slog en signal) (Swedish Version)

14.  Merry-Go-Round

15.  Santa Rosa

16.  Ring Ring (Spanish Version)

17.  Wer im Wartesaal der Liebe Steht (German Version of Another Town, Another Train)

18.  Ring Ring (German Version)

19.  En hälsning till våra parkarrangörer

Extra bonus tracks – Early versions:

20.  Hej gamle man! / Björn & Benny

21.  There’s A Little Man / Billy G-son

22.  I Saw It In The Mirror / Billy G-son

23.  Jag är blott en man / Jarl Kulle

24.  Man vill ju leva lite dessemellan / Anni-Frid Lyngstad

25.  Välkommen till världen / Lill-Babs

DISC 02: DVD:

1.  People Need Love (Vi i femman, SVT)

2.  Ring Ring (Spotlight, ORF)

3.  Ring Ring revealed (Låtarna som förändrade musiken, UR)

4.  International Sleeve Gallery

abbasite.com

STORMBY’S SCANDIPOP PRIDE MIX 2013

LISTEN NOW!

1. ALIDA – FEATHERS
2. AGNES – GOT ME GOOD (BASSFLOW REMAKE)
3. AGNETHA FALTSKOG – WHEN YOU REALLY LOVE SOMEONE (ALIAS MIX)
4. CAMILLA BRINCK – BREAKING
5. DARIN – PLAYING WITH FIRE
6. KAT STEPHIE – UFORBEDERLIG
7. KLEERUP FEAT LOREEN – REQUIEM SOLUTION (STORMBY MIX)
8. KATO FEAT. SHONTELLE – I”M IN LOVE (MICHAEL ZILK MIX)
9. THERESE NEAIME – SOLD TO PERFECTION
10. ALI – COCOON
11. BOSSON – EVERY SINGLE TIME
12. GETTY DOMEIN – DANCE WITH THE DEVIL
13. PL4YBACK & SUPERMARTXE FEAT. MIKAELA COCO – 911
14. JANET LEON – HEARTSTRINGS
15. ARON SCOTT FEAT GLORIOUS INC – CUT THE CORD
16. PAULINA STARBORN – CAN YOU FEEL MY HEARTBEAT
17. LUCAS NORD FEAT. TOVE LO – RUN ON LOVE (CALLAWAY & ROSTA MIX)
18. JOHN DE SOHN FEAT. KRISTIN AMPARO – DANCE OUR TEARS AWAY
19. SMITH & THELL – SUPER DJ
20. DASH 4 – TURN UP THE LOVE (STORMBY MIX)
21. EMMELIE DE FOREST – ONLY TEARDROPS (STORMBY MIX)
22. SISSE MARIE FEAT. YES-R – TILL THE SUN COMES UP
23. EDDIE RAZAZ – ALIBI (STORMBY MIX)
24. JANET LEON – NEW COLOURS (PRIDE THEME)
25. ROBIN STJERNBERG – YOU (STORMBY MIX)
26. LOREEN – WE GOT THE POWER

 

 

ABBA-necklace re-issued

 

We are happy to announce that the classic silver ABBA-necklace has been re-manufactured. You find it here at www.abbasite.com/store.

The necklace is in sterling silver(925) (The chain measures 42+3cm).

ABBA 2014 CALENDAR

“A” back in the UK Top 10 Album Chart

Free download of Agnetha interview with Steve Wright.

click on the picture above to go to the BBC to download the interview for free! (available for the next 6 days only!)

Agnetha, Abba & After. BBC1 Tuesday 10:35pm

Thank you for the museum

By Felicity Glover.

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!: The famous foursome in the bench scene.

It is 1976 and a cool, cloudy day in Sydney. My friends and I have been practising all day for an impromptu neighbourhood performance of Dancing Queen, the signature song of Swedish pop group Abba that found its second and third winds thanks to Muriel’s Wedding, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Mamma Mia! (the movie).

We knew the words by heart and had the dance routine down pat. But we couldn’t decide on our roles. With two blondes and one brunette in our schoolgirl trio, it was inevitable that an argument would break out.

Sure, our brunette friend was a no-brainer: she would be Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad. But who would be Agnetha Faltskog, or Anna as the Western press dubbed her because they couldn’t pronounce her name properly? I was standing my ground. No way was I going to be Benny Andersson. Or Bjorn Ulvaeus, for that matter (no offence, guys). I was always Agnetha, as was our other blonde friend.

In the end, we settled for two Agnethas and one Frida. Ten-year-old logic at its best. Our performance, of course, was atrocious and nobody turned up to watch us strut our stuff in the front yard, unless you count a few sniggering boys from down the street.

Our concert was a far cry from the glamour of the real Abba, who had performed Dancing Queen in front of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and his fiancee, Silvia Sommerlath, on the eve of their wedding just a few months earlier, on June 18, 1976.

Still, it was a thrill to pretend that we were our favourite pop stars. And it was a scenario that was being played out by tens of thousands of other kids across the suburbs of Australia. A band of children and teenagers I call “Generation Abba” – the ones not quite old enough to have been influenced by the likes of  the Rolling Stones. Or perhaps couldn’t quite remember the day that Elvis’ heart finally gave out after a life of excess and too many fried peanut butter sandwiches.

Photos and recording gear. Photo: AFP

Fast-forward 30-plus years and I am in Stockholm, the home of Abba and one of the most beautiful, historically rich cities in the world. I might be a long way from home – more than 15,000 kilometres – but I have been transported back to when Abba ruled my world. To a time when I fought with my siblings over whose turn it was to get that week’s coveted Abba iron-on transfer from one of the Sunday papers. A time when I became a proud, card-carrying member of the Official Abba Fan Club, knew the lyrics to all of their hits and was devastated when my parents decided I wasn’t old enough to go to their concert at the Sydney Showground on March 3, 1977 – torrential rain and all.

But that is all in the past as I walk across town from the upmarket Ostermalm district to the island of Djurgarden, home to such venues as Skansen, the world’s oldest outdoor museum; Tivoli Grona Lund, a charming amusement park built in 1883; and Nordiska museet, a museum devoted to the country’s cultural history.

For once, I’m not here for the usual, ancient culture and history that Stockholm is renowned for. This time, I am heading to Abba: The Museum, the newest kid on the tree-lined Djurgardsvagen block that opened on May 7, to relive my childhood.

A modern building next to Grona Lund, the museum is the first permanent exhibition for all things Abba, including paraphernalia such as concert guides and tickets, fan letters and de rigueur merchandise of the day.

There’s a room devoted to every album they released, as well as their gold records, flamboyant costumes, musical instruments and the helicopter used on the cover of Arrival.

Their recording studio at Polar Music has been re-created, while the office of the late Stig Anderson, their manager and co-writer of many of the band’s lyrics, is tucked away in a corner. There’s the famous park bench where Benny and Frida were photographed kissing as Agnetha looks ahead and Bjorn reads a brochure about, wait for it, antibiotics! (look closely for this one).

Ingmarie Halling, the museum’s curator and Abba’s former hair and make-up artist, says it was an easy exhibition to put together, not only because she knows the members of the group but also because she had kept so many items from their touring days, including their trip to Australia in 1977.

“I, for one, had quite many items as I used to work with them on tour doing their costumes, hair and make-up,” she says.

“Since I know these people very well, I don’t have to do so much research. It has not been difficult collecting the items for the museum. Frida donated her gold records, Benny the accordion, Bjorn a guitar. Everyone has contributed. And they were all very helpful when I was calling them.” But it is the interaction opportunities that are the star attraction of the show, such as allowing diehard fans to become the fifth member of Abba, a feature after my own (10-year-old) heart.

With the help of holographic images, you can perform “live on stage” with the supergroup and download your effort on your way out. Then there are the karaoke suites, where you can lay down your favourite Abba track, or even see what you would look like dressed as your favourite band member.

There’s a piano connected to Benny’s studio. When it starts to play, you know that Benny is at work, real time. Then there’s the Ring Ring phone. Only four people in the world have the number. If it rings when you are standing by it, make sure you answer – it could be Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny or Anni-Frid on the other end.

“All people are interested in most things with Abba as they have seen them in photo shoots and in films,” Halling says.

“As a visitor, you walk through their career from the beginning in 1966.

“By doing this, I think we help people to understand more about the group. The aim was to understand these people; they had a 10-year career [as Abba] and [have] sold 379 million records [so far]. You want to be true to the story.”

And true it is. From when they first met, when Benny and Frida fell in love, then Agnetha and Bjorn, to winning the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo in 1974 and tracking their journey as they took the world by storm with such hits as Fernando, S.O.S, Honey, Honey, Rock Me, Ring Ring and Mamma Mia, not to mention everybody’s favourite, Dancing Queen.

“As naturally as we came together, we came to the end,” Agnetha once said.

And while we thank them for the music and memories, Abba, at least for the fans, will always live on through this museum.

Five more Abba must-sees in Stockholm

1. The park bench where Benny and Frida are kissing while Agnetha stares ahead and Bjorn reads a brochure on antibiotics, apparently because that was all there was to read when the photo was being taken. Where: Rosendalsvagen (about 50 metres from the Ulla Winbladh restaurant at Rosendalsvagen 8 and within walking distance of Abba: The Museum).

2. Sheraton Hotel. Some fans might be surprised to learn that the hotel room featured in Abba: The Movie wasn’t actually in Perth, Australia, as claimed. Rather, it was filmed at the Sheraton in Stockholm because Agnetha was pregnant and she wanted to hide her stomach. Where: Sheraton Hotel, 6 Tegelbacken — the heart of Stockholm’s business district.

3. Frida and Benny’s apartment. According to The Abba Guide to Stockholm, Frida and Benny moved in to this apartment in Gamla Stan, or the Old Town, in 1974. Here the couple was filmed for a Japanese commercial in which Benny is vacuuming and Frida is taking it easy, reversing the traditional male/female role and causing a sensation in Sweden, despite its progressive policies towards women. Where: 21 Baggensgatan, Gamla Stan.

4. Kungliga Operan (Royal Opera). On the eve of the wedding of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden to his fiancee Silvia Sommerlath on June 18, 1976, Abba performed at a gala for the couple at Kungliga Operan, which was built in 1898. Who knows what the future queen of Sweden thought of the lyrics, in particular: “You’re a teaser and you turn them on.” However, she appears delighted at the end of the performance, which can be seen on YouTube. Where: Gustav Adolf torg.

5. China Teatern (China Theatre). The premiere of Abba: The Movie took place here, with all band members attending. Just three weeks before the launch, Agnetha had given birth to her son, Christian. She was pregnant with him during the making of the movie. Where: Berzelii Park, a small park in central Stockholm.

Source: The Abba Guide to Stockholm; 40 kronor ($6.30) from the Arlanda Airport Visitor Centre.

Abba: The Museum

Address 68 Djurgardsvagen, Stockholm.

Telephone +46 8 12 13 28 66.

Email info@abbathemuseum.com.

Adults 195 kronor ($30.50).

Children (up to 15 years) 145 kronor.

Children (accompanied by adult) 50 kronor.

Opening hours 10am-8pm.

Website abbathemuseum.com/en.

Abba city walk

When Saturdays at 2pm in English

Meet City Hall Courtyard, 1 Hantverkargatan.

Tickets From Stockholm City Museum or through Ticnet (ticnet.se).

Staying there

The Hotel Rival, owned by Benny Andersson, is a must-stay for fans of Abba. The hotel hosted the premiere of Mamma Mia! in 2008 and it is the only time all four members of Abba have been pictured together since they split in late 1982. Prices start from 2395 kronor ($375) a night for a standard room in June.

More information

3 Mariatorget, 11891 Stockholm, Sweden.

+46 8545 78900, www.rival.se.