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Post by maxisaxi on Oct 17, 2014 19:50:56 GMT
Many other groups during the same time as Abba and after usually released Complete Live Albums soon after major Tours.
As we all know Abba said and were a Studio Group, but the as we know did tour.
1974/1975 Scandinavia
1977 Australia/Europe
1979 North America/Europe
1980 Japan
I have always thought after each of these tours especially the earlier ones there Company should have released a live Album complete concert.
Abba at there peak the sales would have been amazing and the success of Abbamaina in Australia at the time I could imagine fans wanting this. I have ways felt this was a missed oppertunity. I know at the time Polar where thinking of releasing a Double Album in '77 with a live selection from Australia and a studio Album.
Interested to know your thoughts.
Or can you think of any other missed oppertunities during the Abba years.
Maxisaxi
New Zealand
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Post by dizzymoe33 on Oct 17, 2014 20:10:42 GMT
It is well known here in the US that ABBA were totally mis-marketed even including the Olivia Special, UNICEF special, ABBA month, etc....
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Post by shoshin on Oct 17, 2014 20:54:15 GMT
I have always thought after each of these tours...their Company should have released a live Album complete concert In the following interview clip, which took place on the morning of the 10 November 1979 concert, Benny says that they are planning a live album and will progress the project 'next week'. Well, it took them a bit longer than that! It's interesting that Frida and Agnetha were unexpectedly absent because they were too tired, and at the start of the interview B&B said that they felt the same (and looked it too). Yet that same night they delivered the energetic performance that we are now witnessing on CD and vinyl 35 years later. |
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Post by Roxanne on Oct 17, 2014 23:27:06 GMT
I can think of one glaringly obvious mistake / missed opportunity.
When ABBA The Movie was released on VHS in 1982, it was not sold in Australia or New Zealand - even says on the back cover 'Not For Sale In Australia or New Zealand'.
Try to explain that one !
I had to wait until the internet age to buy a copy from the UK (for me this was around 2001) - I had not seen this movie since seeing it at a cinema in 1978 and had no idea there was a video of it all those years.
I never did, never will, understand the thinking behind that one.
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Post by dizzymoe33 on Oct 18, 2014 17:33:11 GMT
Well Martin that is just a sign of true professionalism in my opinion! They always tried to give their 100% night after night.  |
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Post by maxisaxi on Oct 18, 2014 22:19:22 GMT
Totally forgot about Abba The Movie in Australia/NZ maybe some one else sand find an answer for that. Maxisaxi New Zealand  |
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Post by Zeebee on Dec 18, 2014 21:41:51 GMT
I don't even recall ever hearing of ABBA The Movie until I bought the book ABBA Gold-The Complete Story, around 1995. And they missed another opportunity after the success of Mama Mia by not releasing Slipping Through My Fingers and Our Last Summer as singles.
Mike
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Post by Roxanne on Jan 23, 2015 1:07:33 GMT
This is the cover for the 1987 release of ABBA The Movie - this one states Not For Sale or Rent in South Africa or Australia:  |
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Post by 15/11/79 on Jan 23, 2015 12:46:50 GMT
Yeah, that was the cover of the VHS tape here in Ireland and the UK. Hated the way they used a 1979 photo on the cover - very poor design.
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Post by Ausfan on Jan 25, 2015 20:29:18 GMT
Yeah, that was the cover of the VHS tape here in Ireland and the UK. Hated the way they used a 1979 photo on the cover - very poor design. It's quite shocking really I think, to use a 79 image on the cover of the 1977 tour movie. Quite misleading actually. And they did it more than once ! This cover is the first release of the video in the UK in 1982, with the pink one above being the second release:  And let's not forget the laserdisc which was released in 1983:  At least they remedied this for the 3rd and final video release in 1989:  Although even by 1989, it was still not available to Australia. I really need someone to explain that one day. A movie about ABBA's Tour of Australia - never to be sold or rented in Australia  ? As for the 79 pic being used on the covers, apart from being so totally inappropriate, I feel it kind of adds insult to injury. Our tour, our concerts, our movie - never available to us - branded with an image from a World Tour that Australia was left out of. Hmmm ..... food for thought. |
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Post by 15/11/79 on Jan 25, 2015 22:26:52 GMT
They should have carried out proper research, consulted real fans or experts before finalising the artwork. It is very frustrating when material is treated in this fashion and nobody is held accountable. Wasn't 'When All Is Said and Done' incorrectly labelled 'When All Is Said Is Done' by RCA in Australia? And whilst we're on the subject of marketing 'mistakes', I couldn't believe the UK and Ireland didn't get a first picture sleeve single until the summer of 1979 with Voulez-Vous/Angeleyes. Australia and practically every country in continental Europe had those fantastic picture sleeves for all new releases, careless and shoddy marketing by Epic Records.
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Post by Ausfan on Jan 26, 2015 0:01:18 GMT
They should have carried out proper research, consulted real fans or experts before finalising the artwork. It is very frustrating when material is treated in this fashion and nobody is held accountable. Wasn't 'When All Is Said and Done' incorrectly labelled 'When All Is Said Is Done' by RCA in Australia? And whilst we're on the subject of marketing 'mistakes', I couldn't believe the UK and Ireland didn't get a first picture sleeve single until the summer of 1979 with Voulez-Vous/Angeleyes. Australia and practically every country in continental Europe had those fantastic picture sleeves for all new releases, careless and shoddy marketing by Epic Records. Actually Martin, I kind of have a feeling the cover design was deliberate. The 79 tour was the bigger of the 2 in the UK (although 77 could have been so much bigger than it was) and it was the only tour for the US. And of course, it was the most recent tour before ABBA The Movie was released. Maybe they thought they needed to use an image that the audience could better relate to, connect with, at the time. Pretty darn stupid as far as I'm concerned - but record companies etc, aren't always known for being so bright about these things. If they had been releasing it in Australia, that cover wouldn't have worked here, that's for sure. I really believe it was a deliberate maketing strategy based on the target audience. They just never truly understand their target audience ...... Yes, When All Is Said And Done was released with a typo at first - withdrawn very quickly - barely any copies of that one in circulation. But any collectors who now have it are very pleased they made a typo I am stunned that some countries didn't get picture covers until 1979. I am also disappointed that Australia didn't get them until Dancing Queen - love the earlier ones from European countries - such great images. ABBA received such wonderful promotion here in Australia from RCA and other sources - not sure why they didn't do picture covers sooner. Of course, when I received the Dancing Queen single in 1976, it was under special circumstances - and with it being the first picture cover single in Australia, it made the whole event extra special and memorable for me. A wonderful memory So I forgive for them not doing the covers before that   |
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Post by 15/11/79 on Jan 26, 2015 11:06:28 GMT
Thanks for the feedback, Roxy. I wonder if you managed to get your hands on one of those hastily-withdrawn WAISAD singles? I managed to collect most of the Aussie singles over the years, and the quality of the sleeves was easily the best of any country, good quality board. RCA did change the format later on to the plastic sleeve with double-sided picture insert. My all-time favourite picture sleeve is RCA Knowing Me, Knowing You - classy. The Japanese singles have nice pictures, but a single insert in a plastic sleeve looks like a cheap option from Discomate. The European sleeves, especially the Dutch, were quite nice, too.
Regarding your theory on the Movie, I think you hit the nail on the head - most UK fans would instantly recognise the Wembley photo (which was everywhere in Dec '79, on the cover of the No.2 hit single, I Have A Dream). Still doesn't work for me, though!
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Post by wrongnoterod on Mar 4, 2015 21:29:35 GMT
Rock bands in the 70s did not release a live album after every tour. Some bands like the Rolling Stones, have multiple live albums, but most only have one.
Maybe Abba decided the concert footage from The Movie was more than enough of a live album.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 14:49:33 GMT
It is well known here in the US that ABBA were totally mis-marketed even including the Olivia Special, UNICEF special, ABBA month, etc.... Exactly. They had this ABBA month in May 1978 - and that was it. Eagle wasn't released. Nor Summer Night City. The UNICEF Concert in January 1979 in which they performed Chiquitita could have been used to promote that song - but no, they didn't release it for almost a year! |
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Post by WATERLOO on Sept 10, 2016 21:11:01 GMT
That was mostly due to Atlantic being a shoddy record.company in that respect. ABBA/POlar wanted Summer Night City to be released in the U.S. but Atlantic denied them such a release as ABBA could not promise to have a full album ready to follow the single release (and we all know they had no album ready in late 1978). That's why Atlantic refused to release SNC. I also remember reading the reason why Chiquita was released so late but I forgot about that.
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Post by wombat on Sept 12, 2016 18:37:25 GMT
They may well have been mis-or-under marketed here in the USA, but, one had to wonder if they were overly concerned. I dont know what the status of their contract/distribution agreement with Atlantic was. A band of their sales level might have gone off to another distributor if they had the leverage, and felt it was a better move for them.
One of them, Benny or Bjorn, has been quoted that Abba would have had to spend a LOT more time in the USA to make it bigger than they did. Perhaps it wasnt just management or marketing. They also didnt want to put the time in away from home.
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Post by hejiranyc on Oct 1, 2016 20:06:18 GMT
Rock bands in the 70s did not release a live album after every tour. Some bands like the Rolling Stones, have multiple live albums, but most only have one. Maybe Abba decided the concert footage from The Movie was more than enough of a live album. Maybe they didn't release one after EVERY tour, but live albums back in the 70s were definitely more important to an artist's career than they are today. In the case of Peter Frampton and Cheap Trick, their live albums propelled them from relative obscurity to superstardom. However, in the case of ABBA, I'm not sure if a live album would have really helped them in the States. I know I am in the extreme minority on this, but I think it all boils down to quality, and I just don't enjoy live ABBA recordings like I enjoy their studio albums. As a (mostly) studio band, the breadth of their sonic landscape was unmitigated by the limitations of the live sound or the use of many musicians to achieve the perfect sound. Unfortunately, those elaborate arrangements and vocal parts didn't translate to the stage very well. The beauty of the ABBA studio recordings was the ability to hear each vocal and instrumental part distinctly and to appreciate the intricate studio craft. It wasn't meant to be played in cavernous hockey arenas with all of the sound coalescing into a big pile of mush. They certainly tried hard to recreate the large sound field of the recordings, but it just ended up sounding flat and sloppy to my ears. Another thing to keep in mind is that live albums are mostly about capturing the spontaneity of live performances, so it really benefits bands who improvise or do extended free-form jams. By contrast, ABBA kept to a very tight script and, with the exception of Benny, none of them were exactly virtuoso instrumentalists. |
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Post by shoshin on Oct 2, 2016 1:32:39 GMT
...Maybe Abba decided the concert footage from The Movie was more than enough of a live album. ...[ABBA] certainly tried hard to recreate the large sound field of the recordings, but it just ended up sounding flat and sloppy to my ears. Another thing to keep in mind is that live albums are mostly about capturing the spontaneity of live performances, so it really benefits bands who improvise or do extended free-form jams. By contrast, ABBA kept to a very tight script and, with the exception of Benny, none of them were exactly virtuoso instrumentalists. Here's a flat and sloppy Hole In Your Soul live And here's ABBA's band showing their lack of virtuosity by sticking to a very tightly scripted Eagle |
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Post by WATERLOO on Oct 3, 2016 10:44:39 GMT
That's supposed to be ironic, right?
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Post by Zeebee on Oct 3, 2016 20:47:30 GMT
It wasn't meant to be played in cavernous hockey arenas with all of the sound coalescing into a big pile of mush. ABBA's live performances weren't all in large arenas or stadiums. In fact, they did their Chicago concert in a theater. I wish I could say I was there. |
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