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Post by Alan on Jan 6, 2024 22:42:18 GMT
ianunderattack, you don’t think Two For The Price Of One is bleak? I’d say that, other than the title track, it’s the darkest song on there! The character is painted as having a dull job and a dull life. The way that the punchline is delivered suggests he wasn’t keen on taking up the offer and walked away. There’s a demo version of the track where the word “knife” is used instead of “wife”, suggesting he comes close to wanting to end his life. Björn presumably decided that, even for The Visitors, that was going a bit too far and changed it. I would have suggested that I Let The Music Speak isn’t particularly dark but having reminded myself by reading the lyrics, it’s clear that it too is rather bleak. No, Head Over Heels stands alone on the album as having a lighter subject matter.
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Post by Alan on Jan 6, 2024 1:10:20 GMT
It blows my mind that in the year 2024 ABBA Gold can still reach the top 5 and not even coinciding with the date of the 50th anniversary of their Eurovision victory. You'd have thought by now anyone that would want to buy the album has it three times over already! Which is the reason that a new compilation really should be unthinkable. No record company (and certainly not Universal, the biggest of all) should even contemplate trying to unleash a new ABBA greatest hits on us. It’s not going to work and would just embarrass every party involved. As with Queen’s first Greatest Hits*, there should be no attempt at trying to better it, even if there are previously unreleased tracks (or the main two singles from Voyage) to add. *There was a new compilation covering Queen’s entire career in 2010 called Absolute Greatest. It was quickly forgotten, partly because it came towards the end of the group’s contract with EMI, before they took their entire catalogue to Universal the following year. As with ABBA Gold, it’s the first Queen Greatest Hits from 1981 that continues to reign supreme. |
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Post by Alan on Jan 5, 2024 11:22:29 GMT
The more I think about it, the more a venue in Australia for this seems logical. The other side of the world from London, they wouldn’t be competing with each other and would attract people from all over their respective hemispheres/regions.
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Post by Alan on Jan 4, 2024 20:43:01 GMT
I have a real problem with Me and Bobby and Bobby’s Brother.
It should be Bobby, His Brother and I.
[Or …and Me. The jury is out on which is actually correct. And Bobby is a he, as the lyrics do confirm that].
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Post by Alan on Jan 4, 2024 17:31:49 GMT
Referring to the previous poll, I do love the idea of an anthology. This, in my mind, would not feature any widely available track. It wouldn’t need to. Instead, the two Voyage outtakes along with other early versions or demos of old tracks (so, yes, Just Like That and full versions of what’s in ABBA Undeleted etc).
If we’re not going to get a new album, then an anthology would be the next best thing. As I say, nothing previously released should be on it unless it was quite rare (such as the alternative mix of Andante Andante that turned up ten years ago, but only in a vinyl single boxed set and download code).
We’ve become conditioned to expect little, hence those saying a new compilation of old tracks with new ones added. Even a deluxe of Voyage fits in with this as it’s asking people to buy an album again just for a few new tracks added to it. The music industry has been selling us what we already own for years (and continue to do so) but I would hope that for this anniversary, and because it follows up a new album just three years ago, that we might get something a bit special and not more of the (very boring) same.
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Post by Alan on Jan 4, 2024 17:18:34 GMT
I did love this song when the album came out. In fact, I remember thinking that this had to be the next single (which indeed it was, but I discovered later via letters in the ABBA Magazine that readers appeared to favour When All Is Said And Done).
Nowadays it’s probably my least favourite song on The Visitors, but that certainly doesn’t mean I dislike it. It’s trying to be light but is a bit cold-sounding. I don’t think the reason it wasn’t a big hit is because of the song though. ABBA-fatigue had set in and I think anything released at this time (including When All Is Said and Done) would have suffered the same fate.
Full marks to CBS-Epic for giving the UK a brighter sleeve design. The international one has them looking quite miserable and, as it was 1981, they look their worst. The second single in a row where the sleeve was changed, and both refuse to acknowledge Frida’s new hairstyle!
One thing - we tend to use that term “head over heels” to mean “head over heels in love”. Tears For Fears used that meaning in their (different) song with the same title. ABBA use another meaning - to go head first into something without thinking? I’m not sure if that was ever the phrase’s meaning or if Björn got it lost in translation. Language changes over time so if it ever was used for that, it isn’t now.
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Post by Alan on Jan 4, 2024 17:05:34 GMT
Just in case anyone caught sight of the spam posts today. I’ve only just checked the forum for the first time today so hadn’t seen them until now, but could see they’d been there for five hours.
As usual, I’ve banned IP addresses used by guest users posting spam and deleted their posts. Any spammers actually registering (as one did today) I ban both user and IP address and then delete their posts. It’s an ongoing battle though - there are always going to be more spammers!!
I also periodically delete any members that have made no posts. As anyone can see posts on the forum, whether registered or not, there’s no obvious advantage in registering (though I think non-members can’t view members’ profiles - I therefore delete members with no posts for security reasons). To me, the only reason to register is if you want to post something (and as you can still post as a guest user, even this isn’t a requirement). Also, some just register and don’t log in again, which I don’t understand. Why go to that trouble? I don’t ban IP addresses so any such user I delete can re-register. Generally it’s only spammers I ban.
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Post by Alan on Jan 1, 2024 12:04:19 GMT
Yes, I voted for the Eurovision option as I think it’s inevitable. I don’t expect any of ABBA to necessarily be there though (well, Björn might be the safest bet as he doesn’t seem to miss anything).
I wouldn’t expect ABBA to appear at the Arena either. Someone else said that it might not even be directly Voyage-related and I would agree with that. I’m not sure a setlist change is as likely as some think. If they’re getting bums on seats easily after more than 18 months (nearly two years by April) there isn’t any pressure on them to change it. We’ll see though.
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Post by Alan on Dec 30, 2023 23:05:36 GMT
Merged topics as the article that ed refers to has already been linked in this existing thread. I think the title of the article is meant in fun. No one hates ABBA do they? Anyone can say they “love ABBA” and mean nothing more than that they own or stream Gold. It’s actually quite a good article. It mentions “message board discussions” which makes me wonder if topics from this forum have been used in its research. We tend to think we’re this tiny little group having discussions amongst ourselves, but it is a public forum that can be viewed by anyone, and can easily come up in a Google search. Quote: “Online message boards (certainly the ones I hang around) are abuzz with possibilities for Abba’s big anniversary year – many of them plain wishful thinking, but some alive with possibility.” |
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Post by Alan on Dec 30, 2023 10:33:56 GMT
One thing that I’ve often wondered about this track… internationally, it was used as the b-side to Mamma Mia. The UK (and possibly a few other countries, I’m not sure) went with Tropical Loveland. I’ve always surmised that the UK licensee was nervous of an instrumental b-side, in case it put off potential album buyers who might have assumed there could be more instrumentals on than just this one.
The track was also used as the introduction to the first two VHS compilations of ABBA videos, Music Show 1 and Music Show 2, though with the latter, it was shared with the intro of If It Wasn’t For The Nights.
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Post by Alan on Dec 29, 2023 15:36:52 GMT
With Kate Bush, @thisboycries, I was going on a comeback after a less successful album (The Dreaming) and two 1982 flop singles (alongside critical derision). That she came back from that was a real achievement. Prior to that I saw her as a late 1970s act.
King of the Mountain was a comeback of sorts but as she hadn’t released a single in 11 years (and an album in 12), there was no failure in between to come back from. Her 2005 releases were eagerly awaited. A top 10 hit after 20 years might have been unexpected but anything lower than no. 12 would have been seen as a failure.
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Post by Alan on Dec 29, 2023 15:25:42 GMT
Pet hate of mine - the triumph of the word 'alternate' over 'alternative'. I’m with you there. Though I wouldn’t know where to stop on these things. “Changing up” - no, just “change”. “Swapping out” - no, just “swapping”. And as for that horrible Americanism, “gotten”! And special mention to “Reaching out to” - no, it’s “making contact with” or even just “contacting”. “Reaching out to” gives me an image of Mr Tickle and his very long arms. |
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Post by Alan on Dec 29, 2023 15:09:42 GMT
I don’t see 7) happening. Gold has got that market sewn-up forever and streaming has reduced the need for compilations. Definitive/Essential and Number Ones were all quickly shown the door by Gold.
2) I wouldn’t want to see. Fine if there are existing alternative versions recorded at the time, but I don’t want to see any modern remixes.
3) Possible, but would probably be the usual celebrity talking heads. No thanks.
4) and 5) possible, but not necessarily with all of ABBA there, so a no from me.
1) Yes, yes, yes! Or at least the two previously incomplete tracks finished and released in some form.
Edit: That Independent article appears to confirm the TV documentary.
I like the title, “My Story Ends With You”. Fitting for a final ABBA song.
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Post by Alan on Dec 28, 2023 22:21:58 GMT
It’s a pity it’s not commercially available, it looks quite an attractive item. Photos from the listing in order to preserve (as will eventually disappear from eBay).    |
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Post by Alan on Dec 28, 2023 20:39:25 GMT
It might be a forgotten fact now, but Running Up That Hill was a big comeback for Kate Bush. She hadn’t had a top 10 hit single in five years, or even been in the top 40 in four, and various rumours circulated about her. EMI apparently sat her down and were quite unkind to her, telling her she couldn’t produce herself. Kate effectively said, “f**k you!”, built her own recording studio (to remove reliance on the company paying commercial studio bills) and recorded Hounds of Love. A compromise of sorts, the first side had all the commercial hits while the second side was much more the real Kate.
This mimed performance from Wogan was on the day the single was released, 5 August 1985:
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Post by Alan on Dec 27, 2023 13:40:19 GMT
Apologies, agness, I accidentally deleted one of your posts yesterday. Think you posted a pic from Björn’s and Agnetha’s wedding? There was nothing wrong with the post, so was entirely my error. Please feel free to re-post it. |
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Post by Alan on Dec 24, 2023 14:46:52 GMT
On the subject of “Amoureuse”, Olivia Newton-John covered the song on her third album, “Music Makes My Day” in 1973. This is the version I’m most familiar with, though I did check out Kiki Dee’s version in the late 1980s just for comparison. Olivia performed the track live on TV a couple of times, including this performance:
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Post by Alan on Dec 23, 2023 10:14:27 GMT
Wham’s single was actually released physically this year, both in CD and green vinyl. It was also included in a boxed set of Wham singles (again both vinyl and CD) released earlier in the year. They re-created the Epic labels of the time, which will be familiar to UK ABBA fans who go back that far. Last Christmas uses the familiar UK-pressing blue label, whereas some other singles in the box use the (also familiar) attractive Dutch-pressing label. UK singles were often released in several different label variants - even for the same title - depending on pressing plant. This is what some 1990s ABBA reissues (such as the 1999 CD singles boxed set) could have looked like had Polar sold up to CBS-Sony and not PolyGram.   |
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Post by Alan on Dec 21, 2023 21:57:16 GMT
Changing the subject slightly but…
Is it just me or did ABBA have something in common with The Good Life (classic 1970s self-sufficiency BBC sitcom)? I watched the Christmas special from 1977 earlier for the umpteenth time (it seems to be on every single year). Bear with me…
Barbara Good, played by Felicity Kendal. 28 when the show started, she was by far the youngest member of the cast. Blonde, all the men fancied her, and she was even voted as having the sexiest bottom (or something) at one point. Sound familiar?
Margo Leadbetter, played by Penelope Keith. 34 when the first series was filmed. Brunette. Older than Felicity but glamorous and attractive. Again, who does that remind us of?
Tom Good, played by Richard Briers. Both character and actor were 40 when the series started (12 years older than his wife). Er… not particularly attractive. As the genuine “star” of the show when it began, he was often the spokesperson of the cast. Hmm.
Jerry Leadbetter, played by Paul Eddington. 47 when the first series was shown. Similar to Tom, he was 13 years older than his screen wife. Again, not attractive. The looks were very much focussed on the women. That made him 19 years older than the youngest cast member, Felicity, but there was a somewhat mutual attraction between their characters.
Ages may be more extreme. Age difference in ABBA was only five years or so between oldest and youngest but - sorry - it might have seemed like there was more at times…
If I’m saying anything it’s that ABBA unknowingly fitted in with the culture of the times. Two married couples that were close to each other, attractive women but not attractive men (admittedly, this is arguable as Benny is very definitely some people’s “type”). The Good Life started in April 1975 so was hardly influenced by ABBA.
[It’s somehow OK to slag off the 1970s - hence the Larry Grayson stuff on here a while ago - but sexism/ageism (applying to women) is still rife in TV. The (thankfully departed) Philip Schofield was 19 years older than his former co-presenter Holly Willoughby. The same difference as Paul Eddington was to Felicity Kendal.]
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Post by Alan on Dec 21, 2023 16:47:18 GMT
Probably both Super Trouper and The Visitors I would say. They were both released late in the year and, to me, seem very dark. The Visitors is without doubt their darkest album but Super Trouper is very close. Voulez-Vous feels very summery in comparison (and it was released in late April, so even after 44 years it’s kept that).
The Visitors just about edges it, as it even has the lyric about a cold December and most of the songs do feel quite cold (and of course, Head Over Heels tries so hard - too hard - not to be cold and dark but ends up not far off from the other eight tracks). Also ABBA looked completely crap at the time so definitely appeared to be in the winter of their existence (which they were, but not much better to look at in late 1980 though).
December 1981 was cold, so Soldiers was correct - we had snow before New Year and even had three ducks take up temporary residence in our garden for a few days. And I think it went on into 1982.
Today is the darkest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The solstice happens at 03:28 in the early hours of tomorrow. I much prefer this day than the summer solstice as with that, the days will be getting shorter again.
The thing is, what is Christmas? I’m pretty certain it was invented by someone in the northern hemisphere in order to brighten up the darkest days of the year. It merged with/took over the pagan festival of Yule. It’s unlikely that a certain person - whether real or not (and if real then probably not who they were purported to be) - was actually born at this time of year. It’s all a load of nonsense really but the Christmas lights do break up the winter.
The southern hemisphere should really have their Christmas on 25 June - it would be no less accurate than December!
Sorry if some of my post is controversial and at odds with anyone’s beliefs…
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Post by Alan on Dec 18, 2023 14:14:05 GMT
I did see this one the other day, voyage2 |
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Post by Alan on Dec 17, 2023 20:28:20 GMT
Twist in My Sobriety - Tanita Tikaram (1988) I recall reading a post from a Spanish guy who didn't understand the lyrics after putting it through Google translate. Join the club! Indeed. I recall the French and Saunders sketch where they do a take-off of Star Test (short-lived Channel 4 show where an apparently computer-generated female voice asks real pop stars supposedly random questions). Jennifer Saunders as the voice in the punchline asks Dawn French as Tanita Tikaram: What does ‘Twist in my sobriety’ mean?” Edit: found it. |
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Post by Alan on Dec 17, 2023 20:23:27 GMT
It certainly reads that way, doesn’t it? Updating this very morning, one year later. If the story was done, he would already have all the info he needed and the book would probably be out by now… |
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Post by Alan on Dec 17, 2023 12:01:07 GMT
Are you in the UK, Lilyabba? If not then I suspect they may have been waiting for a job lot of international orders (of any item) before sending out. I’m in the UK and they arrived from the Sound of Vinyl the day after release.
A word of caution. They used a thick cardboard envelope thing for the picture discs - the type that is flat to start with but can expand to accommodate what’s put in it. Consequently this means there is no real strength to the sides. The picture disc sleeve spines have been somewhat flattened in places. It’s not really noticeable unless you look. I intend to keep the cellophane wrapping on them anyway - I merely slit very carefully at the opening so I can get the records in and out. However, one of them - Head Over Heels - does have slight ringwear and a crease in one corner. It’s not bad enough for me to send back and I can live with it, but it’s a bit disappointing. I ordered the Super Trouper and Ring Ring ones from elsewhere and they were much better packaged meaning no damage. The whole lot (box and pic discs) were then in a bubble wrap mailer bag. The box is well packaged so no risk of damage there.
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Post by Alan on Dec 16, 2023 23:49:46 GMT
I also love that there are two separate mixes, and that the alternate version uses the riff from 'Then He Kissed Me' just before the pre-chorus. What always annoyed me about the alternate mix is that it didn’t include the line “let it glow and let it be bright” which I had remembered from the original but, by the time of More Gold in 1993, I hadn’t heard for years. I thought, “why have they edited that line off?” And the 1994 4-CD set used the alternate mix as well, so it wasn’t until the 2001 remasters that I finally heard the main mix again, complete with that line. |
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Post by Alan on Dec 16, 2023 13:24:10 GMT
Ah, yes, I’ve got that track on the deluxe edition of Close, bjorenny. (Sorry, I didn’t mean to hijack this thread for Kim Wilde). |
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Post by Alan on Dec 16, 2023 12:14:28 GMT
Yes, I prefer Bucks Fizz’s version of Heart of Stone. Nothing whatsoever against Cher but I just think it works better with a group singing. I love it when they come in with “Mercy, mercy, wish your heart was a heart of stone”. It should have been a hit but Buck Fizz had been on borrowed time for years, so it was no surprise that it flopped. Nice to see the love for Kim Wilde’s Close, bjorenny and evilincarnate. After performing European Soul last weekend, she did say that they would like to do something with Close. She didn’t say what. Can’t be a deluxe edition as that was done ten years ago (I have that) but I wonder if it might be touring the whole album, or re-recording/re-imagining it? The first single from Close, Hey Mr Heartache, wasn’t a big hit in the UK, but did better elsewhere in Europe. As with the rest of the album, I love it. The fifth and final single was Love In The Natural Way, which, like the first single, failed to make the top 30. Kim’s top 10 UK hit single career was over. |
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Post by Alan on Dec 16, 2023 11:09:30 GMT
Yes, I always played B-sides as much as A-sides so were as familiar with them as the main tracks. My cousins once remarked back in the day that they never played the b-sides. I couldn’t understand that at all, you’re paying for two tracks (or more in the 12”/CD single era).
To me the b-side was a selling point. An exclusive b-side would determine whether I bought the single. Two tracks I already had wouldn’t really interest me. My brother bought the ABBA singles of course (from Summer Night City onwards). He tended to buy most of them, though not Lay All Your Love On Me or the posthumous Thank You For The Music. I wasn’t sure why he got Head Over Heels as he already had both tracks. Also Angeleyes/Voulez-Vous, but that might have been for the novelty of a picture sleeve.
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Post by Alan on Dec 15, 2023 21:08:31 GMT
Kim Wilde - It’s Here. Perhaps not her best, but after her album Close had been a big success in 1988 (with its three top 10 singles), it was hoped that It’s Here would launch a successful follow-up. It was not to be.
Close was a hard act to follow though. Its three big hits (You Came, Never Trust A Stranger and Four Letter Word) were enough but even the two smaller hits and the other album tracks were all of very high quality. I’d rank it as one of the best pop albums I’ve ever heard (though that might mostly be because of the age I was at the time - 17 - in January 1989).
To be fair, I didn’t buy the follow-up album, Love Moves, so maybe It’s Here didn’t deserve to be a hit. I just thought it would be.
I saw Kim live last weekend, an acoustic set. She did a Christmas album ten years ago, so a fair few of the songs were from that, but some of the big hits too (including what was - to me anyway - a big surprise. European Soul from Close). Was a great show, she was so warm and spoke between every song and had her brother and niece on stage with her.
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Post by Alan on Dec 15, 2023 16:59:52 GMT
Oh, johnny, I’m so sorry to hear that. Guessing that if it wasn’t expected then it wasn’t believed to be a terminal illness she had (well not the big “C” anyway?) Bereavements are so hard to deal with at any age. I lost my parents in the first half of the 1990s, four years apart from each other, and my older brother three years ago (actually I’d say it’s worse when you’re older). I had wondered if you were just taking a break from the forum. Welcome back anyway. I hope you’re OK. |
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