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Post by Alan on Apr 8, 2024 15:25:31 GMT
Saturday was ABBA’s 50th Eurovision anniversary, and I marked it (by complete coincidence) by taking delivery of this little beauty. The holy grail of ABBA collecting for me - more coveted than the original Epic Ring Ring single from 1973, which I still don’t have - was the Dutch pressing of I Have A Dream. A friend got it years ago and had never otherwise seen it for sale. A couple of weeks ago one finally turned up on the ‘Bay. Not taking any chances, I put a bid in that was nearly £100 more than I actually paid for it, though I still paid a lot! Thankfully I won it against two other bidders. This version of the Epic label, pressed in the Netherlands, is common for Super Trouper and Head Over Heels, and there’s also a (different) album version of it. For some reason, the I Have A Dream one is extremely rare.   |
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Post by Alan on Apr 7, 2024 22:07:34 GMT
I really enjoyed Eurovision 1974 on BBC Four tonight. I wasn’t expecting to. What struck me was how far ahead ABBA were in terms of looks and sound. There was nothing else like them. And I know the scoring system used that year had seemed odd - ABBA could have won a maximum of 170 points and only got 24 - but they still finished a clear six points ahead of the runner-up and no other country was ever ahead of them.
Apparently the British commentary for the scoring was lost, so we got the Dutch commentary instead. I remember David Vine primarily for snooker and skiing presentation so it still seems a little odd hearing him commentate for Eurovision in the pre-Terry Wogan days.
Poor Olivia. She was given a terrible song. She all but said so herself, preferring a song called Angel Eyes of the eight she performed for the UK’s Song For Europe. And that dress was questionable. David Vine said she sold the song well. I’d agree, but it was wasted on it. Long Live Love has largely been written out of her recording history - its accompanying album is better remembered for I Honestly Love You.
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Post by Alan on Apr 7, 2024 19:00:54 GMT
Not seen great reports on social media about the SVT gala.
Have to say though that without much support (if any) from ABBA, it’s extremely difficult for any of these celebrations to generate much interest.
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Post by Alan on Apr 7, 2024 15:14:40 GMT
ABBA in Switzerland looked like it has been restored - everything looked so crisp and vibrant. Is that since the last time it was on? Wasn’t all that long ago, I recorded it that time (think it was 2021). It’s struck me more on recent viewings that ABBA In Switzerland was belated promotion for The Album as much as the forthcoming Voulez-Vous. I think only one song - Mamma Mia - dates from before The Album. It makes sense though. Similar with Greatest Hits Vol 2 and the 1979/80 tour both heavily mining The Album (five tracks in each). |
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Post by Alan on Apr 7, 2024 8:44:52 GMT
Excellent, baab, you’re such a regular as a guest that it’s great to see you’ve registered! |
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Post by Alan on Apr 6, 2024 11:00:52 GMT
Posts relating to The Day Before You Came (which appeared to have been based on misunderstandings and a desire to cause trouble by some parties, and those with an apparent agenda) have been moved to an old topic for that song: abbachat.com/thread/1052/day-before-came |
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Post by Alan on Apr 6, 2024 10:17:17 GMT
You’ve missed the point entirely, Tiger76. No one was slamming The Day Before You Came. The point that was being made that it’s supposed to be the nation’s favourite ABBA song, not fans giving five votes to one song (though that is allowed). And there was no hostile reaction to janabbafan’s post, but again they were missing the point, and expressed what I considered to be anti-UK sentiment when it was uncalled for, and therefore I defended the forum. Worse, they thought they were agreeing with Hometime, when he made no such comments, he was merely stating a fact. If you don’t post much on here and then come on with an attitude, expect to be responded to in the same manner. In any case, I do like Two For The Price of One (and The Day Before You Came for that matter) so if your comment was aimed at me, it misfired. Also, the forum is actually Australian and the admin is from that part of the world. OK, still Anglosphere or whatever you’d want to call it, but, hey, it’s an English-language forum! |
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 20:43:11 GMT
Dutch Top 40 chart Head Over Heels #4 TDBYC #3 UA #5 Dutch Top 100 chart HOH #1 TDBYC #3 UA #7 I know you’re right on this, johnny, as I’ve read it before but for those of us that don’t understand the logic, why are the chart positions different? And which is “official”? I’m assuming the one that has Head Over Heels at number one, being as it’s the one Wikipedia uses. Is it like the UK “network” chart (as it was once known - no idea what it’s called now, or even if it still exists) compared with the official chart? |
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 20:37:34 GMT
It wasn't an ABBA announcement. It was a person from BBC Radio 2 annoucement. BTW: "The day before you came" peaked at 3 in Holland. And "Under attack"at 5. It was claimed to be an “ABBA announcement” beforehand, so that’s what we thought it would be. It was indeed a Radio 2 announcement. Yep, I stand corrected on The Day Before You Came, it was number 3. The number 5 was West Germany. But STILL a decline compared to what went before. This forum is no more UK-centric than you are anti-UK. I would not consider a number 32 placing a “flop” in any case. Not great for ABBA but the decline had been slowed. It was Head Over Heels that marked the drop. A genuine “flop” is a single that doesn’t make the top 75 or whatever, though it’s acceptable to use the term for a single that doesn’t make the top 40. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 19:47:35 GMT
This forum is actually too much an English forum. For UK people. It took me some time to discover this. There was the discussion about "The day before you came" and "Under attack" being flops in the UK. They were not in Holland. They were in the top 5. So: I realise that when I read this forum, I must be aware that it is (only) how the Britts are looking to ABBA. A huge fanbase though. But not representing the complete fanbase. So, that was all I wanted to say. Also a bit referring to that BBC radio 2 annoucement about huge ABBA news. That’s a bit unfair? Belgium and the Netherlands were the most loyal of ABBA markets and you pretty much made anything number one. Even Head Over Heels, one of only two countries to even make it top 10 within the ones covered by the Wikipedia ABBA discography. So, compared to Head Over Heels at number one (second single from The Visitors, after the album release), a number 5 [edit - later correction: number 3] placing for The Day Before You Came (a brand new single) is STILL a decline. Head Over Heels was number 25 in the UK, so The Day Before You Came at 32 is relatively comparable with the Netherlands. And in the UK, Under Attack did better at number 26, whereas in the Netherlands it did worse than its predecessor, at number 7. We assumed that this ABBA announcement was something “huge” as was claimed, such as a worldwide release of unreleased track(s). The fact that we thought the BBC had the exclusive on the reveal was entirely coincidental. Nothing whatsoever with being UK-centric. We just hoped that the BBC had been chosen as the platform for a major announcement, but had it been anywhere else it would have made no difference. But, in any case, it wasn’t to be. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 19:31:42 GMT
As expected, we non-UK types can't vote. Gosh, sob, etc. Really? Is it linked to BBC iPlayer or something? My phone remembered my log-in details so I didn’t think much of it. A load of nonsense really as, even with a UK address, you can’t view content on iPlayer when you’re outside the UK. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 18:46:03 GMT
I’m not sure what makes those people "experts", but OK. That reminds me of the French and Saunders sketches where they’re doing breakfast or daytime TV and Dawn’s character is the “expert” on whatever they’re discussing that week, and subsequently talks drivel as she knows nothing about the subject. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 16:24:28 GMT
Your Ultimate ABBA Song - Full Shortlist
Andante Andante
Angeleyes
Another Town, Another Train
Chiquitita
Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)
Dancing Queen
The Day Before You Came
Does Your Mother Know
Don't Shut Me Down
Eagle
Fernando
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
Happy New Year
Hasta Mañana
Head Over Heels
Honey, Honey
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do
I Have A Dream
I Still Have Faith In You
I’ve Been Waiting For You
If It Wasn’t for The Nights
Kisses Of Fire
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Lay All Your Love On Me
Mamma Mia
Money, Money, Money
My Love, My Life
The Name Of The Game
One Of Us
Our Last Summer
Ring Ring
Rock Me
Slipping Through My Fingers
So Long
SOS
Summer Night City
Super Trouper
Take A Chance On Me
Thank You For The Music
Under Attack
The Visitors
Voulez-Vous
Waterloo
Why Did It Have To Be Me
The Winner Takes It All
Our shortlist has been chosen from ABBA’s 28 UK Top 40 hits, plus a selection of ABBA classics as chosen by our expert panel:
Lauren Brennan, Music Editor, Radio 2
Ste Softley, Head of Mostest Productions
Helen Thomas, Head of Radio 2
Sara Cox, Presenter Radio 2
Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Singer, & Presenter, Radio 2
Robert Gallacher, Commissioning Editor, BBC Pop
Fiona Day, Editor, BBC Audio
Catherine Johnson, writer Mamma Mia book
Carl Magnus Palm, ABBA Historian
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 16:20:25 GMT
For the record, my votes in the HUGE story went to Dancing Queen Knowing Me Knowing You Lay All Your Love On Me SOS Summer Night City Yes, I heard something this afternoon that you can only vote five times. How do they police that? Many people have more than one email address. And people can vote for, say, The Day Before You Came five times. It’s not over yet. I’m still clinging to the fact that the 1994 boxed set wasn’t released until the end of October and Live at Wembley in 2014 not until late September. I’m not sure when either of those were announced though. If there is an announcement of something interesting, hopefully it will be completely out of the blue and not built-up like this non-event was. I’m thinking nothing is going to happen though. The Waterloo releases, the documentary and the BBC stuff tomorrow might well be as good as it gets… |
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 11:17:49 GMT
Nicked off PopJustice:
The new Dolby Atmos version of Waterloo sounds absolutely horrendous. The alternative language versions new to streaming sound like they’ve been remastered.
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 10:32:08 GMT
So what was the big reveal then? Owt or nowt? Radio 2 listeners get to vote for their favourite ever ABBA track or something, like it’s never been done before and can’t be rigged by people voting multiple times for The Day Before You Came (as has happened before). As soon as the Mamma Mia! party lot came on (and stayed far too long), my heart sank but this was far worse than I could ever have imagined. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 10:28:40 GMT
It’s starting to seem like this is going to be the worst ever major Waterloo big anniversary year unless they pull something out of the bag.
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 10:24:16 GMT
A second ABBA Voyage venue announcement would have been better than that. How on earth can that be considered a huge ABBA announcement?!
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 9:17:26 GMT
I'm afraid my expectations are lowering as well.... I've looked all over the internet with my limited capabilities and there's nothing.. unless I've missed it.... and I can't see the BBC having sole exclusive reveal.. usually The Sun ( UK newspaper) is on the ball there..lol.... Just been mentioned reveal at 11am.. ish The Sun was no where to be seen in 2018 or 2021, the reveals came from elsewhere. OK, so PopJustice revealed the new album about two days before but I didn’t even trust that totally until we got the live stream on YouTube and heard it from Björn and Benny. It’s for the BBC to reveal it if that’s what Björn and Benny/ ABBA’s people (Görel etc) have decided. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 5, 2024 8:42:40 GMT
Gary just mentioned the “huge announcement” again and put quite a lot of emphasis on the word “huge”. Gary, we had an announcement of two new songs six years ago, then one for a full album and the Voyage show three years ago, so this one had better be “huge” enough!
He’s confirmed it’s So Long he’s playing. Boring!
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2024 19:58:18 GMT
I think it's about Voyage the show going to Las Vegas or someplace else. Radio 2 is primarily aimed at a UK audience, so another venue anywhere in the world would not be “huge” when we have one in London. It’s possible it’s that though. I just wish they hadn’t used that word. In comparison to a new album/Voyage show reveal (or even just two songs as per the 2018 announcement), anything would pale into insignificance. The term “huge announcement” should only have come into play if it genuinely is. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2024 19:16:19 GMT
Great that the Dolby Atmos version is being released, but please please please don't let this be the vaunted "big news." I'm too old to cry in public. EDIT: I've decided to hang on for dear life to the phrase "long lost" - which could not be applied to Waterloo, Dolby Atmos or otherwise. No sobbing for now. The “long-lost” bit applies to So Long. The “huge ABBA announcement” is something else. If it’s this Dolby Atmos version then it’s far from huge. I won’t be tuning in as I’m out, but Gary Davies, you’re great, but please don’t do this to us! |
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2024 18:31:42 GMT
Thanks ttbboo66 for filling in the blanks. That’s interesting. However, if you don’t like negativity then this forum might not be for you? Sorry, but I will defend anyone’s right to call out something that isn’t what it’s being hyped-up to be. Whatever they’ve done to it, a “recorded-as-live” TV performance that’s been available to listen to for 11 years is NOT a “long-lost ABBA track”. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2024 18:09:40 GMT
As it only exists as a ropey home video, I’d hope the audio has been cleaned up a bit for radio broadcast. It’s also a special occasion as it’s the first time this performance has been seen/heard on the BBC since 1974. What’s with the negativity? The story behind this is that, up until about 11 years ago, this performance was indeed lost. It then transpired that someone had got it (the “ropey home video” might actually be accurate). The BBC had long since wiped the tapes (as was the norm for that period - no where to store the tapes and a belief there was no future use for it). The ABBA4Ever forum that some of us were on then were in touch with the person who had the tape, but they wanted money for it. There was then what we’d now call “crowd-funding” to buy it from them. Forum members were asked to contribute and some did. The money was raised and the video then got posted on YouTube for all to see. It’s possible it has been cleaned up a little but ultimately it will be what’s on YouTube as that was the only source available. |
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2024 17:49:59 GMT
If this really is it then I despair with old-style media. They obviously want us to think YouTube and the Web doesn’t exist, or that the public is too stupid to use it.
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2024 17:25:52 GMT
There were posts in three different threads about this, so I’ve moved them all to this one.
Gary Davies (sitting in for Vernon Kay) said “Tomorrow - huge ABBA announcement on this show plus a long-lost ABBA track”.
As there was a new album less than three years ago, to use the word “huge” is setting this up for disappointment if it doesn’t deliver.
The “long-lost ABBA track” is apparently So Long from Top of the Pops. As it’s been on YouTube for at least ten years, it’s hardly lost. Plus, how can you play a video on the radio? Did they perform it live on the show? Even if they did, it’s not a long-lost track, merely a less familiar performance.
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2024 11:01:35 GMT
“Huge ABBA news - long lost ABBA track” - Gary just said that.
We’ll all be listening tomorrow!
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2024 9:39:36 GMT
The only news I would consider “big” is unreleased songs being released. Much lesser news would be a partial Voyage setlist change. Anything else would either not be “big” news or would not be news at all.
I’m not getting excited.
I’ve kept an eye on PopJustice but nothing on there. The ABBA thread on there has become very dull and boring, usually just people going to see the show.
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Post by Alan on Apr 4, 2024 9:10:40 GMT
Gary Davies has just mentioned again that they have some big ABBA news tomorrow. No “might” this time.
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Post by Alan on Apr 1, 2024 16:21:37 GMT
I am one of the Superfans interviewed on When ABBA Came to Britain. I am presented as a "critical fan" in the same way as many people have "critical friends". Basically I argue for every classic like Dancing Queen or SOS, there's cringe like Dum Dum Diddle or He is Your Brother. Brilliant! For a second I thought you were serious, and then I realised it was 1 April and you posted it before midday! |
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