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Post by gary on Apr 23, 2024 7:59:01 GMT
I also watched The Missing 40 Years last night. I don’t think I learned much but it was fairly entertaining, seemed accurate to me, and was a decent attempt at saying something new to non-super-fans. 😉
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Post by gary on Apr 12, 2024 21:49:46 GMT
That’s quite an unusual selection of songs.
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Post by gary on Apr 11, 2024 17:21:54 GMT
Thanks for the information, Colin.
I know my opinion is irrelevant, but those enhanced sales for the Queen album really aren’t legitimate, are they? So ABBA are only 274,000 behind Queen. Presumably it is just about possible that they could catch up by that measure.
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Post by gary on Apr 11, 2024 7:16:41 GMT
Yes, the best ABBA programme I’ve seen in a long time. It’s nothing amazing but at least it didn’t feel like a rehash.
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Post by gary on Apr 5, 2024 17:23:23 GMT
So Rock Me is more worthy than When All Is Said And Done? 🙄
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Post by gary on Mar 12, 2024 20:47:42 GMT
Me too.
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Post by gary on Mar 10, 2024 17:58:46 GMT
I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I can’t hear the similarity between As Good As New and If It Wasn’t For The Nights.
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Post by gary on Mar 10, 2024 17:56:35 GMT
Very interested information, although I’m not sure how 853k is more than 874k!
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Post by gary on Feb 3, 2024 20:16:42 GMT
Thanks Colin. Any updates on the total sales of ABBA Gold and Queen’s Greatest Hits? Gold has outsold the Queen album for many months (years?) now, so it must be catching up. (This is particularly true if one considers the true sales of the Queen album instead of the inflated figures used by the chart company.)
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Post by gary on Jan 30, 2024 8:50:37 GMT
Thank you too, because I hadn’t looked at that for years, and I am now playing it again. It’s very entertaining and informative, and the guy clearly knows his stuff.
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Post by gary on Jan 30, 2024 8:48:28 GMT
Just my opinion, but I think it’s more likely it was dropped because it’s inferior to any song on Arrival. That said, it’s not bad. They were at their peak around this time.
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Post by gary on Jan 29, 2024 22:00:52 GMT
Go on to YouTube and search for andersson ulvaeus chronology. There are several parts (at least nine). It’s fantastic and I think it might be what you want.
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Post by gary on Jan 25, 2024 9:52:11 GMT
I hate to go for the obvious choice, but it has to be Gimme Gimme Gimme. Its intro may be the best thing they ever did. I’m less fond of the rest of the song.
As for other great intros, there are so many. One Of Us, SOS, Money Money Money, Super Trouper, If It Wasn’t For The Nights, Knowing Me Knowing You, As Good As New, Fernando, Dancing Queen… the list goes on. They sure knew how to grab you!
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Post by gary on Jan 25, 2024 9:45:51 GMT
I always liked King Kong Song. I remember on the old forum it was very much frowned upon, but it’s fun and quite tuneful. There’s plenty worse on the first three albums!
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Post by gary on Jan 17, 2024 20:08:06 GMT
Amazing how opinions differ! Like you, I’m not a big fan of Under Attack, and I always thought it was a weak single and swansong. But I think the chorus is excellent, and very catchy. The verses I find flat, monotonous and just plain dull.
Tiger and Kisses of Fire, on the other hand, are top-notch, and both worthy of being singles. I can’t fault them, except KoF’s intro is a bit too quiet!
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Post by gary on Jan 14, 2024 11:12:33 GMT
Wow! I paid for that book nearly four years ago! But I am sure it will be worth the wait.
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Post by gary on Jan 12, 2024 12:03:39 GMT
I bow to no-one in my dislike of Little Things, which rivals I Am Just A Girl for the worst thing in the ABBA catalogue, but a while back someone on here posted a nice gentle piano-only (?) version and it really was quite nice. So I guess it could be improved.
I’ve compiled my own Greatest Hits 3 before now, with exactly the songs that Alan mentions. There are easily enough genuine hits.
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Post by gary on Jan 5, 2024 22:30:23 GMT
I’m not surprised that One Of Us sold half a million. It spent three weeks at number three over the Christmas period. But there again it’s a big favourite of mine. ;-)
How accurate are the figures though? Would a number 25 hit (not at Christmas) really have sold 132k?
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Post by gary on Jan 4, 2024 10:55:50 GMT
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Post by gary on Jan 3, 2024 15:03:42 GMT
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Post by gary on Nov 19, 2023 20:11:00 GMT
Confession time (1): I like I Just Called To Say I Love You.
Confession time (2): I like The Chosen Few by The Dooleys.
But this is my favourite Stevie Wonder song:
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Post by gary on Nov 15, 2023 19:13:57 GMT
^
That might have been my suggestion. I think that works too.
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Post by gary on Nov 15, 2023 12:40:34 GMT
On The Album, I always thought that Thank You For The Music sounded like an album closer. I swapped I’m A Marionette and Thank You For The Music, and that seemed to work well. (I am aware that it isn’t right for the chronology of The Girl With The Golden Hair.)
On Voulez-Vous, I remember someone on this site suggesting swapping I Have A Dream and Kisses Of Fire. It works!
I think The Album and The Visitors, though both great, have slightly too many slow songs. Arrival and Voulez-Vous may have the opposite ‘problem’ (though they too are great). Voyage is unsalvagable.
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Post by gary on Nov 15, 2023 9:20:49 GMT
Thanks for that, Colin.
With The Beatles getting an 18th number one single, that brings them level with Elvis Presley if you ignore those three number ones he had with rereleases in the 2000s. But I am aware that those three are counted as new number ones, so Presley is considered to have 21 number ones.
My question is: why are those three considered to be new number ones? All three were number ones before. I’ve never understood this, but I guess there must be some logic.
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Post by gary on Nov 13, 2023 23:52:28 GMT
^
Both albums at number one?
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Post by gary on Nov 12, 2023 19:57:26 GMT
I seem to recall the intro of Me and I being used for opening titles music of BBC golf coverage in the 1980s. Anyone else remember that? I remember that too. The Wikipedia entry mentions it was used for bowls. It sounded just right. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_and_IYes, an underrated track. When the album first came out, it was one of my favourites and I thought it would be a single.
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The Album
Nov 12, 2023 8:19:08 GMT
via mobile
Post by gary on Nov 12, 2023 8:19:08 GMT
Absolutely agree with Hometime’s first paragraph.
Arrival is my favourite ABBA album but really The Album is every bit its equal. They could do no wrong in this period, both with singles and albums, and they never topped it. Both albums are among my 10 best of all time.
My top 10 The Album tracks:
1 Take A Chance On Me 2 The Name Of The Game 3 Eagle 4 Move On 5 Hole In Your Soul 6 One Man, One Woman 7 I Wonder (Departure) 8 I’m A Marionette 9 Thank You For The Music
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Post by gary on Nov 8, 2023 20:18:10 GMT
^ Oh yes, she is undoubtedly one of the best songwriters ever (not just ‘female’). I prefer the folky stuff to the jazzy stuff.
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Post by gary on Nov 8, 2023 17:21:34 GMT
Joni Mitchell is the greatest female songwriter of all time, and one of the best singers. Her first eight albums are all excellent, and the three-album run of Blue, For The Roses and Court and Spark is perfect.
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Post by gary on Nov 3, 2023 22:57:31 GMT
Despite my comparing ABBA fans’ and Beatles fans’ reaction to those acts’ recent material, there really is no comparison between the material itself. Voyage is a proper album by a group whose members are all alive and all feature on it. I may think that most of Voyage is substandard by ABBA’s very high standards, but coming back after 40 years with a brand new album is quite a feat. And it does have two good songs. Now and Then, on the other hand, is one song, and a song that John Lennon and George Harrison did not think much of. Lennon’s voice sounds artificial and McCartney, once one of the great pop singers, really cannot sing any more. It’s inferior to even Free As A Bird and Real Love.
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