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Post by gamleman on Jul 2, 2021 13:15:21 GMT
With 2022 being the 50-year anniversary of ABBA's first official record release, People Need Love, I got wondering how they might mark this anniversary. I don't doubt that the ABBAtars shows will be launched next year and heralded as a celebration of 50 years of ABBA, but what else might we expect?
How about a 7-inch vinyl picture-disc of People Need Love/Merry-Go-Round, like they did for the 40th anniversary of Waterloo?
I'm actually wondering whether there'll be a new '50 Years' compilation. Next year will also be 40 years since the double-album The Singles: The First Ten Years. Perhaps they will release another chronological compilation that starts with People Need Love - a subset of The Definitive Collection? We have talked a lot in the big thread 'Can it be true?' about how they might release the new songs and one possibility regularly mooted is on a bonus disc to ABBA Gold. But perhaps these songs will form the second disc of a new anniversary compilation.
I've also wondered whether there'll be any public appearances by ABBA members. I dare say that least B&B will attend the ABBAtars premier. In 2014 for the 40th anniversary of Waterloo, there was a party in London for a book launch at which Bjorn and Frida appeared. Could we expect some kind of party this time?
Or do you think they will gloss over this 50-year anniversary and concentrate on the 50th anniversary of their Eurovision win in 2024?
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Post by foreverfan on Jul 2, 2021 14:07:54 GMT
I have a feeling that 2024 will be more of a celebration , as like it or not the vast majority of people think ABBA only existed from 1974 Eurovision, onward, so will have more of a meaningful celebration than anything before that date.
I also feel/hope that late 2021 /2022 will be all about the new stuff so we will need 2023 to calm down again for something of interest in 2024....
It will probably be all about albums as singles will have very little significance by then... So probably Abba Platinum as rumored !!
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Post by Alan on Jul 2, 2021 17:20:55 GMT
Yes, I agree, it will be 2024 that they mark anything. Going on the pattern of the 2006 to 2014 deluxe CD issues, 2022 might see vinyl issues (picture discs, coloured vinyl, plus half-speed album) of the ABBA album, followed by the same for Ring Ring in 2023, and ending with Waterloo in 2024. I could be wrong though.
People Need Love wasn’t an international single as such, so I’d be very surprised if they did anything for it in 2022. It will be included in the 2023 Ring Ring issues though.
Anyway, the new music will be enough! The reissues will run parallel but separate.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jul 2, 2021 17:45:14 GMT
Good point, Alan, re People Need Love... but would that stop a record company from drawing cash from collectors/fans? New music - a new album, ideally - would be a wonderful way to mark 50 years of ABBA. I reckon 2022 will be a bumper year for releases, if the ABBAtar thingy spawns recordings/reworkings/remixes.
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Post by gamleman on Jul 2, 2021 17:53:58 GMT
I think the marketing people will want to make something of the 50 years, even if ABBA are not fussed. And if the ABBAtars shows launch in Spring/Summer next year, I dare say we will see an ABBAtars album by Christmas 2022.
I agree with Alan's timings for the half-speed master vinyl releases of the remaining studio albums, unless they miss out 2022 because of other releases and do the ABBA album in 2025.
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Post by jj on Jul 3, 2021 4:06:55 GMT
My question here is only slightly related to this topic, but anyway:
What year did the members of ABBA finally decide, once and for all, to drop any and all of their side-projects and solo careers (B&B as writers and producers for other artists at Polar Music, and Frida and Agnetha their own recording careers)?
I seem to remember reading in at least three books that the project known as "ABBA" was touch and go for a long time and definitely not a sure thing, even up to a few years after "People Need Love" was released.
Was it as late as 1975 before all four people finally decided to fully devote themselves entirely to the ABBA group-project, and thought for the first time that this was indeed a viable, longer term thing?
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Post by gamleman on Jul 3, 2021 9:26:04 GMT
My question here is only slightly related to this topic, but anyway:
What year did the members of ABBA finally decide once, and for all, to drop any and all of their side-projects and solo career paths (B&B as writers and producers for other artists at Polar Music), and Frida and Agnetha their own recording careers?
I seem to remember reading in at least three books about them that the musical project known as "ABBA" was touch and go for a long time and definitely not a sure thing even up to a few years after "People Need Love" was released.
Was it as late as 1975 before all four people finally decided to fully dedicate themselves to the ABBA group-project, and thought for the first time that this was indeed a viable, longer term thing?
I can only give my impressions. From the way they talked, I think ABBA were determined to achieve international success as a group from Waterloo onwards. Agnetha and Frida recorded their last solo albums within the lifetime of the group in 1975 (if you ignore Agnetha's compilation album in 1979). By the end of 1975, I suppose the success of the group was taking over. Benny produced albums for Finn Kalvik in 1979 and 1981 with A&F on backing vocals, so I don't think they really gave up that side-line. I guess if the ABBA album and its singles had been flops, they may have gone down a different path. |
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Post by Alan on Jul 3, 2021 10:34:13 GMT
Yes, I’d say the start of 1976. Agnetha’s contract with CBS-Cupol had finally ended and she was finally signed to Polar and Stig. The 1975 solo albums were recorded over a long period of time between ABBA’s commitments. They probably still thought they could do other projects besides ABBA before they realised it wasn’t feasible.
The full-on ABBA years were 1976, 1977 and 1978, but even then Agnetha’s pregnancy slowed things down. By 1979 other projects were creeping in again and it was the slow beginning of the end of ABBA.
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Post by jj on Jul 3, 2021 10:50:05 GMT
Thank you gamleman. I'm pretty sure you're correct and this is almost certainly what I read, too. It was only after the success of the ABBA album (1975) that they decided to drop everything for ABBA and the group's progress became their only focus.
So their success in 1975 sealed their fate and gave them the confidence they needed to carry on as a group. "Arrival" was then the first album they recorded after they'd properly established themselves as a viable act (with 1975's ABBA).
With regard to writing and producing for other artists after 1975 (and A&F adding their vocals), they did very little. Finn Kalvik's projects would have taken up only a comparatively tiny amount of their time. Between 1975 and 1981, they were almost exclusively working on ABBA alone.
By the end of 1981 the members' commitment to ABBA began to weaken, with Frida's decision to make a solo album again and Bjorn and Benny meeting with Tim Rice to discuss composing music for a project that would have nothing at all to do with ABBA.
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Post by jj on Jul 3, 2021 11:01:40 GMT
I just read your post now, Alan. Yes, you seem to have pinpointed the moments of coalescence and dissolution of the ABBA project accurately, though personally I think that they were all in it, completely committed, until after the Super Trouper album was released. It seems to me two main things - the separation of Frida and Benny, and the musical theatre ambitions of B&B - were the decisive nails in the ABBA coffin.
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Post by Alan on Jul 3, 2021 14:11:20 GMT
I think there were some ripples in 1979 though…. Agnetha wrote and recorded a new song for a compilation, as well as another for a solo spot on ABBA’s tour. And as has been pointed out, Benny was working on other projects from 1979. Then in late 1980, Agnetha was doing that Christmas album with her daughter (though I think not released until the following Christmas).
If you think about it, all four members of ABBA were only fully committed to the group for the whole of 1976 and up until just after the 1977 tour. After that, Agnetha was probably more committed to her pregnancy meaning that much of 1977 and 1978 were relatively quiet. And then from 1979, marriage break-ups distracted them and solo projects reared their head again (though still firmly second-place to ABBA’s activities).
So yes, whilst I would agree that 1976 to 1981 were the true ABBA years, there was really only full commitment (with no distractions) from all four for the first 18 months of that period. That’s the way I would see it anyway.
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Post by gamleman on Jul 3, 2021 14:34:25 GMT
They were involved in Michael B. Tretow's album "Let's Boogie" which was released in 1976 but recorded in late-75/early-76. But I remember that they hinted in a BBC radio interview that they felt obliged to accept his invitation to assist him in this project.
If I remember correctly, Agnetha's "Tio År Med" compilation in 1979 was released to complete her contract with CBS-Cupol, so was perhaps another obligation.
I expect that in the 1976-79 period, they were so busy keeping up the momentum with ABBA releases and their promotion, plus they had the tours and the movie, that they didn't have time for much else.
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Post by Alan on Jul 3, 2021 15:40:46 GMT
If I remember correctly, Agnetha's "Tio År Med" compilation in 1979 was released to complete her contract with CBS-Cupol, so was perhaps another obligation. Not entirely true. Her contract with them effectively ended with the release of her 1975 album. Stig was then finally able to sign her to Polar and become her manager. Prior to that she only appeared on ABBA recordings by permission of CBS-Cupol (an arrangement that Stig probably wasn’t happy with and quickly wanted ending!) Presumably Cupol would have wanted to re-sign her but under the terms of letting her go, wanted an option of a new song to promote a future compilation. She then completed this as a Polar artist (and because Polar had no choice but to let her do it!) Although Agnetha’s time with Polar began several years after the other three, she would eventually become the last ABBA member to record for it (Eyes of A Woman in 1985). Björn and Benny didn’t release anything on the label after ABBA did they (aside from Gemini, if that counts)? |
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