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Post by gamleman on Sept 5, 2021 20:01:14 GMT
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Post by bennybjorn on Sept 5, 2021 20:33:22 GMT
Bennybjorn -- I am aware that not all Artists can have 'New' Christmas Hits, in this 'Day and Age'. however, I'm thinking of Leona Lewis and her 'One More Sleep', Song. It is a Phil Spector type sound. It went to No.3, (UK), in December 2013. At first, its Annual Re-Entries in the UK Charts, were not big - 2014 - No.80. 2015 - No.83. 2016 - No.70. But, then it began to be added, to more and more Christmas Playlists. It then had stronger UK Annual Re-entries. 2017 - No.19. 2018 - No.8. 2019 - No.15. 2020 - No.18. It will join ABBA, in the 2021 UK Christmas Chart. It's been a Top 100 UK Hit, for 29 Weeks, and Top 75 for 25 Weeks. So, her 2013 Christmas Single, is now an Annual UK Christmas Hit. The Coldplay Christmas Single - 'Christmas Lights' - was not a small success. It got to No.13, in 2010. It has Re-charted for 9 Christmas's, since then. ABBA can come up with a stronger Christmas Song, than the Coldplay one. I'm sure that 'Little Things' will be regarded as an instant 'Christmas Classic'. I see no reason, why it won't be a big Hit. I've seen the Lead Singer - Chris Martin - saying that he envies ABBA, as their Pop Songs were seen as 'Timeless', and Coldplay could not get to that level. Yes, I think pretty much every respected singer/songwriter on the planet thinks Abba are great including the bloke from Coldplay. That doesn't mean the new album will be full of amazing songs, although the signs from the first two singles are good. The album will inevitably sell well in the first few weeks - the big unknown is what will happen after then and, crucially, whether radio stations play the further singles down the line (like they would have done in the old days). Radio 2 has got behind the new songs massively, which is great, but they alone cannot guarantee sustained sales beyond the first month. Has anyone heard the songs much on commercial or local radio e.g. Magic FM yet? Radio 2 has got behind other 70s/80s acts loads in fairly recent times e.g. ELO and to a lesser extent Blondie, which gives exposure to the first single and huge album sales initially but, to enjoy long-term success, other stations need to play the singles, particularly subsequent ones. Anyway, it's great news that they've written a Christmas song - I just hope Bjorn is smart enough to have avoided too many festive clichés, and they haven't covered it in schmaltz. Time will tell! |
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Post by tagaytay on Sept 5, 2021 21:32:21 GMT
The Voyage shop is not the easiest to work with. I tried buying music. Put things in the basket, went to check out, was redirected to log in/create account. Followed instructions but told my basket was empty. Went back to add the products again but it wouldn't work. Some products flagged as "not available in your country" (l'il ol' Ireland in the EU) while other similar products can be ordered no problem. I managed to complete the purchase of the box set thingy but nothing more. Ended up buying the singles I wanted from the Museum shop. I'll buy the standard LP from my local record shop on release day. I have seen lots of people struggling with the ticket purchases. I just don't think I'd have the patience. Given that I'd have to arrange flights, hotel, time off school for my son and ensure it all tied up with available dates, I'm happy to wait for a show later in the summer. I can read all your reviews, sit out any gremlins and not sweat so profusely over the ticket-buying process. We foreigners have little choice, really! I'm under no illusion that I'd get within shouting distance of any ABBA member on opening night. and I thought that I was the only one having problems with ordering from the voyage website and ticketmaster since I'm from so far away in Asia so I thought my country was being flagged. now i know its happening everywhere, I guess they didnt anticipate the demand or maybe their server just isnt very good. |
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Post by richard on Sept 5, 2021 21:33:19 GMT
The Official Charts Company has just added this Feature, to their On-Line Site, regarding ABBA's 2 Top 10 Singles achievement. Link To The ABBA Feature -- Below
linkThe feature says this about the new album: "The two new singles are taken from Voyage, ABBA’s first new studio album in 39 years since 1981’s The Visitors, to be released on November 5. The 10-track album featured eight new songs and two reworkings - Just a Notion and Bumblebee – that were previously only released as demo versions on the rare ‘ABBA Undeleted’ medley." So obviously there really will be a new version of Free As A Bumblebee. Oh my God. If they wanted to resurrect old stuff, there would surely be hotter candidates - Rubber Ball Man / Under My Sun for example. And Just Like That obviously. But I suppose we'll never hear that one officially, they're too stubborn to relent, when they said thousand times they'll never release it... well... on the other hand, they claimed at least million times that there would never be a reunion too...  As a few of us have said on this forum - and probably more than once - the chorus of Just Like That is so good that it has always seemed an achingly poignant 'what might have been'. Maybe one possibility would be to give the song a completely different title, and go from there, reworking it. But would the chorus retain the sparkle and dynamism in a lower key freshly recorded by Agnetha and Frida? I'd love them to give it a final try. |
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Post by Alan on Sept 5, 2021 21:38:11 GMT
Michal - Jack White, (who wrote the Article), has no idea, as to whether 'Bumblebee' is a finished 'Free As A Bumblebee'. The UK Charts Company know very little about ABBA. Jack is one of my 4 'Contacts' there. Rob Copsey is another one. Both of them do a lot of The OCC's On-Line Articles. It was I who told Jack, (and the other 3), about 'Just A Notion' being from 1978. I also told them that 'Bumblebee' could be a Re-recording of the 1978 Demo, 'Free As A Bumblebee'. I never said that I was certain of that. I just said that it might be. Jack has obviously taken it as fact. I'll Email him - tomorrow - to say that it is far from certain that 'Bumblebee' is a Re-recording of the 1978 Demo. That it may be. Then again, it may be an entirely New Benny & Bjorn Song. The Wikipedia article for ABBA Voyage also states that Bumblebee is the same song, seemingly without any doubt: “Its track listing contains 10 songs, two of which, "Just a Notion" and "Bumblebee", were previously included as part of the demo medley "ABBA Undeleted" from the Thank You for the Music box set released in 1994.” I know absolutely anyone can edit Wikipedia at any time, but I’d like to think that whoever did it has some inside information as otherwise, they would surely have said “possibly”? There were some doubters over the EPK info mentioned in PopJustice and it proved to be correct. (I know it’s not in much doubt, but Just A Notion is definitely the same song, as the artwork for the deluxe CD box shows the booklet open on the page with the Just A Notion lyrics - someone pointed that out earlier in the topic). Anyone wanting to re-acquaint themselves with the two songs in ABBA Undeleted (without having to sit through the rest of it) - Just A Notion starts at 4:55 and Free As A Bumblebee at 14:42. |
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Post by madonnabba on Sept 5, 2021 22:42:48 GMT
I listened to Abba undelete and noticed little things appears in the lyrics to Hamlett 111. It does have a Christmas feel...could that have been reworked with some new lyrics? Also Keep your eye on Dan would fit in with the tune Rubber ball man. Although with Benny composing all the time I am surprised that they have revisited songs that were not reworked for Voulez Vous or the following two studio albums. Love the two new songs .
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Post by foreverfan on Sept 6, 2021 7:04:04 GMT
Just for fun..
Apart from the two tracks released , that we now know about which of the others is the most intriguing?
What do we think are uptempo , slow etc...
I only ask as “”we” were pretty good at speculating before the release, on what we wanted, for instance I personally wanted a Christmas track , and we have one, it’s like they listened to me..lol
So the track that’s intriguing me the most so far is..” When You Danced With Me” I just have a feeling it’s going to be a classic Love song, huge climax...
As an aside... Abba have never inflicted me with an “ear worm “ ( the constant can’t get it out of my head) , especially at night when your trying to sleep...until now !! DSMD, has been going around in my head for literally hours, thankfully in a nice way, but I need to sleep ..lol.
I really hope this week is there’s and reflects in the UK charts, it would be a huge achievement, perhaps a number one is asking a lot, ( if it had been just one release, we may have had another story). Today is another indication of what will happen as they release the mid week’s...
Im not bothered about Just A Notion and as I always quite liked the demo, also not worried about Bumblebee, as I hope it will have very little resemblance to the demo track, a complete rework...
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Post by richard on Sept 6, 2021 8:52:28 GMT
I'm hoping that the songs on the Voyage album will be quite varied in terms of tempos and styles, within the broader spectrum of popular music (as opposed to staying more strictly within the 'pop' realm), One kind of song, which they didn't get round to in their heyday, is Agnetha and Frida singing counter-melodies against each other: one of them sustaining a note in their melody while the other sings more actively their melody, exchanging roles, weaving in and out, vocally. I can't give an illustrative example, offhand, but I'm sure you get the picture. I bet it would sound great! By the way, surely the Voyage album will get a thread to itself (in the Music section) when it comes out November 5th ? This thread is getting cumbersome! EDIT
Here's an example of what I mean which you can find on YouTube, if interested. The song is called 'Who Knows'. I tried including the Share option but it's not working
It features Mary Hopkin and the late Peter Skellern in a group called Oasis that preceded the more well-known group of the same name
Regard it as only a rough guide, because my imagined song from ABBA's Voyage album would be livelier. But hopefully it serves as a helpful demonstration of a counter-melody song, even if this particular example doesn't' appeal.to you. (But then, again, it might if you like stage shows and musicals.)
What I'm referring to occurs from halfway through the song. My hoped-for ABBA song would deploy Agnetha and Frida throughout.
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Post by agan on Sept 6, 2021 8:59:45 GMT
Hej, Hej, Here is an article from The Official Charts reporting 40 000 UK pre-orders for the New album. I'm not a specialist, is it good ? Link to the Official Charts article
Have a nice day AKMKY |
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Post by foreverfan on Sept 6, 2021 9:08:30 GMT
There are more authoritative figures than me ! Colin...
However in the UK, album sales are very low compared to ABBAs hay days ( mind you this is another hay day ).
The best selling album of the year so far by Olvia Rodrigo, Sour, number 1 for 5 weeks has sold around 300,000.
Those figures used to be for advance orders !! not year to date....
So Voyage is doing extremely well for today's figures... and could end up being in the top 5 for the end of the year....
Ed Sheeran and Adele will fight it out for first and second place... but never right Abba Off......
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Post by onlyabba4meagain on Sept 6, 2021 10:39:32 GMT
Graham - The Official Charts Company's 40,000 Advance Orders, (for 'Voyage'), was only until
Noon on Friday. By Saturday they were 50,000, and they will be a lot more than that now.
Album Sales are now so low, that you can reach the No.10 Position, with only about 4,000
Sales. (Last Week's No.10 Album sold 4,048 copies, to be there).
Adele's last Album sold over 800,000 UK copies, in Week 1. However, that was in 2015, and
some UK Chart Fans speculate, that she may struggle, to sell 300,000 in Week 1, with her
2021 Album. We will see. Ed Sheeran's 2019 Album 'only' sold just over 160,000, in Week 1,
whilst his 2017 Album sold over 670,000 in Week 1. So, ABBA are certainly capable of having
their 10th UK No.1 Album, with 'Voyage' - in November. It just depends how far Ed Sheeran,
and Adele, have declined in 1st Week Sales, by this Year.
Remember -- It does not matter if 'Voyage' is not No.1 in November. It can still get there
in December or January. It is not a: 'One chance at No.1' Release. The Promotion for it, will
go on for Months. 'Voyage' may be a No.2 or No.3 Album, in November. We will see. Even if it
is not a November No.1, in the UK, it does not mean that it won't be No.1, in other Countries,
at that time.
Over the previous UK 'ABBA Years', (1974 to 1982), I collected their UK Albums 'Advance Orders',
from the UK Music Press. Here they are. (How many 'Voyage' will have, I don't know).
NOTE -- Any Advance Orders for 'ABBA Gold', (1992), were never revealed.
A).. 'Greatest Hits' -- (1976) -- 150,000
B).. 'Arrival' -- (1976) -- 300,000
C).. 'The Album' -- (1978) -- 500,000
D).. 'Voulez-Vous' -- (1979) -- 400,000
E).. 'Greatest Hits Vol. 2' -- (1979) -- 600,000
F).. 'Super Trouper' -- (1980) -- 1,000,000
G).. 'The Visitors' -- (1981) -- 700,000
H).. 'The Singles - The First Ten Years' -- (1982) -- 250,000
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2021 13:05:00 GMT
New Songs.
There's somethings ABBA can't control eg charts dominated by streaming.
But there are things they can.
1. The release date for songs and album clashing with big artists new releases.Yes, I take the point it won't be all over in November and there will be Christmas and next Spring with the launch of the Abbatars tour
2. Lack of info about the Single CD/Vinyl releases. Amazon never have any in. All Out of Stock. Physical copies have been sols but issues with supply and publicity. Couldn't supermarkets sell them as a one off?
I didn't like ABBA's last two singles The Day Before You Came and Under Attack. The two new songs are much better.
The Visitors had some great songs but overall a bit depressing! My hunch is that Voyage will be more varied
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Post by foreverfan on Sept 6, 2021 15:02:04 GMT
It just been announced by Universal that pre orders for the first 3 days now top 80,000 a record for Universal...In the UK , At this rate it will be well over 100,000 by November... a number 1 ? cant count our chickens but looking promising....
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2021 15:13:11 GMT
OnlyAbba4Me - Adele's huge 800k opening week was probably a reflection on her previous album, 21 which had some great tunes.
I don't think 25,was up to that standard and would be very surprised if she got anywhere near 800k this time. Plus as you say a long time ago.
Ed Sheeran's last studio album was in 2017. The one a year or two ago was a collaboration. His single is on 600k sales. Hard to tell what album will be.
I expect these artists will have a drop in sales at some point. Remember Coldplay and Robbie Williams their albums were 2.5m for the first few.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2021 15:17:24 GMT
UK singles chart 'first look' :- 'Faith' is at number 6 'Shut' is at number 7 Very good. However I'm a bit afraid that physical sales were highest in the first days and they may not do so well during the rest of the week. On the other hand, ISHFIY is No.1 in Musical trends on YouTube with 11mil+ views and DSMD is No.2 with 5mil+ views - not bad, I think. Amazon are only selling them now. They were out of stock. Youtube figures are global. That said, ISHFIY and DSMD are #1 in 2 in UK trending for youtube. Both songs doing well in sales charts and youtube streams but audio streams are where it is at. |
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Post by foreverfan on Sept 6, 2021 16:23:56 GMT
Gold rises 6 place to number 6 on todays UK mid week charts.. could be top 10 at the end of the week.... amazing....
Potentially its highest position since 6th August 2018.....higher than 6 , we have to go back to 2008 !!!!
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Post by richard on Sept 6, 2021 16:45:11 GMT
Wonderful news about 'Gold'. So the two new songs have had favourable impact on their old hits for those who haven't taken much interest in the Mamma Mia! films, I imagine. Nice bonus!
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Post by foreverfan on Sept 6, 2021 16:48:11 GMT
UK Mid weeks ..
Faith at 6 and DSMD at 8....not sure if that includes physical singles yet.....
Dancing Queen at 76 !!!
Loads of other albums in the mid weeks as well..... unlikely to be there by Friday ,
Gold Anniversary at 41
Voulez Vous..43
Arrival 66
Super Trouper 83
but who knows these days...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2021 17:25:46 GMT
Good to see those studio albums back in the chart. Who'd have thought Voulez Vous would be the highest?
I guess with Arrival if you exclude the 2 most popular, DQ and KNKY you aren't left with too many popular songs.
The ISHFIY + DSMD probably do contain some physical singles. But Amazon, where most are sold were out of stock until today.
I note slippage for DSMD. Hope both hold on to Top 10 on Friday.
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Post by gamleman on Sept 6, 2021 17:54:20 GMT
This is a nice video review of the two new songs by a vocal coach - worth watching...
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Post by foreverfan on Sept 6, 2021 18:54:48 GMT
Can someone clarify if possible....
How long is the Show actually on for in London ? I’ve heard conflicting stories that the show is only here until September , which is how far we can book up to, however I’ve also heard that’s it’s for 4 years.
The stage I believe, is created to be dismantled and moved to other cities, I’ve heard Berlin, Las Vegas.. so what is true.. ?
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Post by abbafanie on Sept 6, 2021 20:09:53 GMT
Can someone clarify if possible.... How long is the Show actually on for in London ? I’ve heard conflicting stories that the show is only here until September , which is how far we can book up to, however I’ve also heard that’s it’s for 4 years. The stage I believe, is created to be dismantled and moved to other cities, I’ve heard Berlin, Las Vegas.. so what is true.. ? What I believe is known thus far: 1. The show currently has dates announced up to September. The ABBA Voyage Twitter account tweeted that these are just the initial dates, and further shows and tickets will be made available in time. I would think that they are hoping to sell each "block" of tickets as they are released. I would think that the next block of dates could come as soon as tomorrow/this week, depending on the demand and uptake in the general sale from tomorrow. 2. While only certain dates have been announced, the venue/Aniara Ltd. (Ludvig's company handling the show) have received planning permission to run the show in the "temporary structure" (ABBA Arena) for 5 years. This was granted early last year, so the show could hypothetically run until late 2024/early 2025. 3. The planning permission also details that the structure is demountable and movable. While no other plans were announced, The Sun (who were accurate with most rumours) have mooted Stockholm and Las Vegas as potential venues when the London run finishes. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 6, 2021 20:21:05 GMT
Those two cities certainly make sense. Stockholm allows for the double whammy experience of the show and the Museum. If that particular relocation comes to pass, I can imagine that a Complete ABBA Experience Package tying the events together under a slightly discounted ticket price. I wonder how far we are from some London ticket package that ties up the new show with Mamma Mia and the restaurant doohickey? Las Vegas seems like a good place for the show to take up a semi-eternal position after the dust settles everywhere else. I hope it lasts long enough in the UK and/or Sweden to see it. Hopefully the demand from European fans will keep it in the neighbourhood for a while yet.
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Post by foreverfan on Sept 6, 2021 20:28:14 GMT
^^^Many thanks...
So potential to go again..lol
Mind prices are astronomical at the moment.. £400 plus for some shows, so glad I got in early.....
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Post by abbafanie on Sept 6, 2021 20:35:24 GMT
^^^Many thanks... So potential to go again..lol Mind prices are astronomical at the moment.. £400 plus for some shows, so glad I got in early..... I think those tickets costing 200, 300, etc. are tickets with hotel packages - at least on Ticketmaster anyway. I believe that the most expensive ticket without a hotel is around £120 - still quite expensive but then they know people will buy them! It's definitely something to experience anyway. |
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Post by madonnabba on Sept 6, 2021 21:57:17 GMT
Abba are just in a league of their own. I am now embracing streaming as the way forward in listening to music thanks to them. Have listened to the new songs countless times. Just like I did so many years ago when they brought out new releases. Will still want a physical copy though only of only Abba as I free myself from all those cds from over the years. I feel reloaded and will be listening to them as I exercise at the gym. The songs are so uplifting. Just what we all needed.
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Post by onlyabba4meagain on Sept 7, 2021 9:00:53 GMT
Here are some New ABBA articles, from Today's, (Tuesday 7th), UK Press. There is also a small Piece in Today's 'the Sun', about the backing 'Live Band', that will play at The ABBAtars Shows. But, I can't find it on their On-Line Site. The 'Daily Mirror' Article is spread over 2 Colour Pages, in the Print Edition, on Pages 14 and 15. From the 'Daily Mirror' -- Link Below
link From the 'Daily Mail' -- Links Below
link
link |
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Post by Alan on Sept 7, 2021 11:06:58 GMT
Front:  Back:  Singles have arrived! I’m wondering if these won’t be available in shops as the ABBA logo and titles are on the back, not the front. I wonder if the hand belongs to any of the ABBAs? The barcodes are stickers on the cellophane. For some reason the ISHFIY CD doesn’t have a sticker. On Amazon, the CDs are illustrated as having the usual plastic single cases. I’m not sure if that means there are different versions of them or if Amazon are just using an inaccurate photo. Are they even available in shops (HMV or equivalent around the world)? Would seem odd not to indicate on the front who they’re by. If there were stickers, I’d expect to see them on the ones sent to me (which were from the official store). Amazon currently list the CDs at £9.99 each, compared to £3.99 on the official store. If they were released on Friday, that means they’ve taken three postal days to arrive. Doesn’t bode well for the album delivery… |
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Post by gamleman on Sept 7, 2021 11:21:23 GMT
I ordered the singles on Thursday evening (after a great struggle with the ABBA Voyage Store website). They were shipped yesterday but haven't arrived today (Tuesday), so I'm hoping for tomorrow.
It occurred to me on Thursday when I ordered the vinyl bundle from the ABBA Voyage Store (which I did while B&B were still talking and everything went very smoothly) that I perhaps couldn't rely on them to get the album to me on its release date. So, I ordered the CD box-set from Amazon with premium postage, thinking they are the most likely to get the album to me for the release date. Failing that, I suppose Amazon will make a download available to me on the day, although I prefer to hear the album first time from a physical copy.
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Post by HOMETIME on Sept 7, 2021 11:28:18 GMT
I asked for them in a record shop on Saturday. They had nothing on their release schedule apart from the album on CD and limited vinyl (presume they mean coloured vinyl - making the standard vinyl a limited release would be daft).
I presume the orders shipped from HQ to British addresses will count for the chart, even if they have yet to arrive...? I'll bet Colin can confirm.
The design and the inconsistent approach to barcodes makes me think that these particular releases are fan-oriented. They may be missing a trick: I think there are plenty of casual/not-hardcore fans who'd shell out for a piece of vinyl for nostalgic reasons. I wonder if there'll be a double-A picture disc or 12" or 10" or shaped picture disc released in coming weeks to revive/boost the singles' chart presence?
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