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Post by truedogz on Jun 24, 2024 9:50:56 GMT
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Post by johnny on Jun 24, 2024 10:18:57 GMT
Thank you for the music. Now, Bjorn and Benny just shut up.
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Post by voyage2 on Jun 24, 2024 12:11:15 GMT
Is he joking???!!!! Northern Lights!?!?!!? Would have cost a fortune in lights for the 1977/79 tours!!! And miss out on the iconic reversed B!?!
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Post by dutchjp on Jun 24, 2024 13:44:56 GMT
Was Northern Lights not the name the Hootenanny Singers used when they released an album in the US in the 1960s?
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Post by Alan on Jun 24, 2024 17:57:49 GMT
Was Northern Lights not the name the Hootenanny Singers used when they released an album in the US in the 1960s? I think it was, which has made me think Björn is having a little joke, knowing that it’s only hardcore fans that will pick up on it. |
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Post by baab on Jun 24, 2024 21:50:38 GMT
I would think that maybe the Bands Name didn't help to build up credibility. In times where bands were named like "Uriah Heep", a name like a primal scream!
It is so perfectly well constructed (including the reversed B) that it works as a brand, which in a way confirms the allegations against ABBA for being commercial money grabbers in first place rather than artists.
But silly? No...
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Post by angela on Jun 25, 2024 0:18:23 GMT
ABBA is an excellent name what's he on about.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 25, 2024 6:58:33 GMT
I can't think of a single band name that isn't naff or silly at some level. We get used to them.
I'm glad that they didn't go with The ABBA - it popped up on the screen for one of their 1974 performances (I think it's on the DVD of the Waterloo deluxe edition). The "simple, four-letter word" became a sleek brand and carried no particular meaning, unless you speak Hebrew (isn't that what the vox pop guy in The Movie says?)
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Post by gary on Jun 25, 2024 9:24:28 GMT
The Beatles is a pretty naff name. Or clever, depending on how you look at it. They didn’t do too badly though.
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Post by chron on Jun 26, 2024 14:54:32 GMT
I don't find the band name especially disagreeable; it's a bit 'soft', but at the same time it's short and punchy. I've come to dislike the perpetual use of the reversed Bs logo, though. It worked brilliantly on the Arrival cover (the axeblade-thin dash separating ABBA from Arrival is very satisfying, design-wise), and to carry it over to The Album cover made sense, but for Voulez-Vous they should've minted something new. The idea of it functioning as 'a brand' I find objectionable.
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Post by baab on Jun 26, 2024 17:07:54 GMT
The idea of it functioning as 'a brand' I find objectionable. Sorry but that is exactly what the name is! The original logo had an "R" for registered tradename. And if you check the Voyage Merch or the ABBA Museum merch there are hundrets of items just with the ABBA logo. |
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Post by Alan on Jun 26, 2024 21:11:47 GMT
The original logo had an "R" for registered tradename. It still does have the circled “R”. The only time it didn’t was on Arrival (and probably the singles from it, I’m not sure) as it hadn’t been registered as a trademark yet. The logo is a classic, one of the best ever I would say. It could very easily have been designed to look great at the time but dated a few years later. The font was well-chosen. And if you happen to have a name that’s a palindrome, why not make it symmetrical? I love the facing B’s (or back-to-back, whichever way you look at it). Other acts do have logos - Carpenters and The Beatles spring to mind, but plenty of others, and I like it. I also love how you can instantly tell if something is official or officially licensed as it will have the logo. Most things that don’t carry it I tend to avoid (the Voyage shop does have items with various renditions of the ABBA name but these are usually what were used around the world at some point before the logo was introduced). I also love how the album title fonts were standardised starting with Arrival, mostly settling with title case from Voulez-Vous onwards. I hated “The Singles” for using a different font! And even this was carried through with the Voyage album, mimicking the centred style of the 2001 CD re-issues. It would have been an absolute travesty in my opinion if Voyage hadn’t used the ABBA logo or album title font. |
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Post by johnny on Jun 27, 2024 11:09:19 GMT
It's not about the name but the perceived "coolness" of ABBA. If ABBA, back in the day were critically acclaimed, Bjorn would not mention this.
Gary got this in his reference to The Beatles. Yep, silly name (and spelling) but they were highly acclaimed at the time (from chin-stroking "opinion-formers")
It is a transference issue: it is not about the name per se.
There is also the issue that Bjorn (arguably the least talented member of ABBA), likes to promote them/him.
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Post by richard on Jun 27, 2024 12:20:40 GMT
Yes, it's how well the music is regarded that gives credence to the group's name. Nevertheless, given the choice in advance, I probably would've preferred 'Northern Lights' over ABBA.
Although I haven't taken much interest in their respective music, I like the names The Velvet Underground, and The Stone Roses.
The Rolling Stones takes some beating, I think, as a name in it's own right, and apt for much of their music too. (And I don't mean any possible druggy notions - that had never occurred to me until I wrote this post.)
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