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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2019 17:14:44 GMT
Does anyone else own a copy of Gemini's version of " Just Like That ". I bought a copy of the song on vinyl format ( the old '45 single ). At the time I really liked it. However, when I heard ABBA's version, it has completely changed my opinion. I think that Gemini's performance consists of two songs and it has fallen out of favour with me. Since then, I have sold the single as I prefer ABBA's interpretation. I am happy with viewing the song on You Tube but would like to own a copy of the track ( bootleg or not ).However, I understand Benny and Bjorn's reasons for not releasing it.
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 25, 2019 19:18:34 GMT
I saw Gemini perform Just Like That on BBC's Wogan show. Benny was playing keyboards behind them. The single wasn't that easy to find, but a penfriend ABBA fan gave me the album in return for some posters and an Agnetha pic disc, I think. Those were the days!
Things I don't like about the Gemini version:
- it's too slow and the production is a bit leaden;
- Karin has a terrific range and is technically a great singer, but she oversang the song;
- the additional lines in the chorus interrupt the flow of the song (in a way/I was the one to deceive/always accepting the fact/he would leave). I think the structure of the original chorus was spot on. These additional lines should have been kept for a middle eight.
Things I don't like about the ABBA versions:
- that sax! So, so irritating and repetitive. That meandering improvisation before each verse sounds like it's being improvised;
- the na-na-na riff sounds off to me;
- the verse lyrics seem a bit clunky;
- the not-entirely-smooth transition to the chorus.
- speeding up the track (and CMP confirms that they did) makes the girls sound a bit chipmunky in the chorus.
Things I like about the ABBA version:
- the tempo is right;
- the glorious "Andrews Sisters" 1940s-style harmonies are sublime!
- the bright little bursts of acoustic guitar in the chorus;
- the structure of the chorus.
Things I like about the Gemini version
- the verse melody and the way it links more naturally to the chorus
- the lyrics
I think the Gemini verses with the ABBA chorus - and that middle eight I mentioned - performed by ABBA at the original tempo would make for the perfect single.
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Post by Michal on Sept 26, 2019 11:00:26 GMT
I have their version on CD and I liked it in the beginning, though I've always preferred ABBA's version. Today I hardly ever listen to it. Karin's vocal is a bit histrionic and I don't like the new verse much. I've never quite understood what Björn and Benny mean when they say the original verses don't fit with the chorus. What irritates me about the ABBA version is the sax overdub.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2019 17:22:31 GMT
Hometime and Michal, I agree with you about the sax overdub it sort of takes over and is too prominent. When I have listened to ABBA's version as much as I like it, something doesn't connect with me over the production as if there is something missing but can't put my finger on what. As I previously said I don't like Gemini's version anymore.
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Post by richard on Sept 26, 2019 18:33:37 GMT
Not for nothing does Just Like That keep receiving attention from some ABBA fans. I'm sure it's because of that compelling ABBA chorus. It's a seam of gold, in my opinion, that should be 'mined' even this late in the day. I'm sure composers have sometimes gone back to old, neglected, material because they know it has potential, still.
However, it seems Benny and Bjorn don't feel this way about Just Like That.
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 26, 2019 18:36:59 GMT
It would be great to think they'd revisit it, Richard. But I think the fact that it has been officially released means that the song's fate is sealed.  |
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Post by Zeebee on Sept 30, 2019 20:58:26 GMT
Hometime and Michal, I agree with you about the sax overdub it sort of takes over and is too prominent. I agree. I also don't like that mix of Ring Ring that has a sax between certain lines in the chorus. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2019 17:38:42 GMT
I agree. I heard the remix of RR on the radio years ago and didn't like it then. The original version of RR is miles better.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2019 22:58:00 GMT
I found Benny & Bjorn's 2 gemini Albums to be far less interesting than ABBA.
The instrumentation was rather one dimensional, compared to the complex arrangements on many ABBA Tracks.
The singing sounded rather emotionless to me. Cold, expressionless, and flat. Not even effective enough for
one Benny & Bjorn Song, let alone 2 Albums of them.
I find it astonishing that Benny & Bjorn thought that Gemini were worth working with, when they were clearly
never going to be more than a 3rd Rate ABBA.
Gemini's 'Just Like That' is like a popped Balloon. The ABBA original is a big, attractive, shiny Balloon.
The Gemini Cover pops the Balloon and goes no-where. It is a frigid, deflated, plastic Zero...
When Benny & Bjorn made 2 Albums with such mediocrities, you could see then that they were not as clever or
discerning, as they thought they were. The fact that both Gemini Albums failed to sell, was to be expected...
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Post by foreverfan on Oct 2, 2019 9:30:30 GMT
I guess we go a little of topic, but hey. Conversation is good..
We must remember Gemini was a different generation and wasn’t ABBA, that said and what surprises me is that Gemini have dated badly where as ABBA in the vast majority of cases hasn’t.. and it’s the same writing team and virtually no time between both acts. The same can be said about Shapes, Josefin Nilsson , personally I thought it a fairly good album, but somehow it is now dated...
If ABBA had recorded all these tracks.. would we consider them dated... I doubt it...So it’s the artist, not necessarily the song.
Just Like That..nice track, classic ..no, only mythical status has done that.. should ABBA have recorded it... yes..
The fact that it was considered for MM the stage is interesting in that it was never fully dismissed.. perhaps it is now... we can all change our minds...
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Post by josef on Oct 2, 2019 18:37:15 GMT
I've heard it, played it on YouTube once or twice but I was distinctly underwhelmed. Never thought once of buying it or listening to the whole album. Same with Josefin Nilsson. Both good voices. I think I liked Mio Min Mio. It's possible BennyBjörn thought fans would jump onto their latest work and not Agnetha and Frida's but at that time I was more interested in what 'the girls' would come up with. I wasn't even too fussed about 'Chess' (although I did like IKHSW and One Night in Bangkok). Now I feel differently and check it out more, especially Chess and Josefin's work. It's tragic what happened to her.
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Post by gamleman on Jun 3, 2020 13:32:42 GMT
I'm ashamed to say that Gemini's version of "Just Like That" passed me by when it was released as a single - I obviously missed the performance on the Terry Wogan Show, otherwise I would have owned that single from the start. In the end, I managed to buy the single about a decade later, after I had heard ABBA's version. I'm also lucky enough to now have Frida's own copy of the "Gemini" album (as well as "The Day Before You Came"), which I got at her charity fund-raising event in Switzerland nearly twenty years ago. I think the Gemini version of JLT has a certain beauty but it now doesn't surprise me that it wasn't a big hit. Apart from Gemini being an unknown name, I find their version rather slow and plodding compared with ABBA's, and perhaps the verse and chorus are even a little disjointed. The ABBA version has a more appropriate speed for the chorus and the whole song has a more natural feel.
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Post by gazman on Jun 3, 2020 15:33:04 GMT
I quite liked Gemini's 'Just Like That' when I heard/saw it on 'Wogan' and I bought the 7-inch single. The following year, I found a 2nd-hand Swedish Polar copy of the 'Gemini' album in a charity store, which was a most odd find, but I quite liked some tracks, such as 'Slow Emotion' and 'Have Mercy'.
I bought a CD of the 2nd album ('Geminism?') a couple of years later. I didn't really like it at all.
The 3 tracks I have mentioned are the only ones I have enjoyed, really.
I love the ABBA chorus on 'JLT' from the 4cd box-set, but I have not heard the rest of the song in good quality.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2020 17:09:53 GMT
I also, bought Gemini's version of " Just Like That " in 1986 and I liked their version at the time. Unfortunately, it doesn't match ABBA's version and I must have sold the single in a car boot sale years ago.
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