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I can’t see that happening… in terms of audio there’s not much they can add to the 2005 release other than the single edit of the title track. In terms of a DVD, people expect more than they did even in 2015 thanks to television screens getting so much bigger. They’d want the content upscaling to HD or even 4K. For ABBA solo work, I can’t see there being enough interest to justify it. Add to that the lack of interest in the CD format by record companies and any hopes for future releases are killed stone dead.

It was posted on the official ABBA social and one non-native English speaker asked “Surely it’s ‘One of us sits only waiting for a call’ not ‘One of us is only waiting for a call’ “. I wouldn’t normally respond to such things but on this occasion I pointed out to them that it wouldn’t be correct English and that it’s definitely “is”. I then got a response to say that English wasn’t Björn’s first language and as they got “since many years” wrong in Fernando, that it somehow justified their suggestion!

Really odd! A reminder why I rarely comment on ABBA posts on Facebook.

We’re coming up to two anniversaries. The 40th anniversary of Wrap Your Arms Around Me (31 May) and the 10th of “A” (10 May).

Wrap Your… was her first English language solo album. As it was released so long ago and I’ve known it for most of my life, I still have some affection for it. At the time I don’t think I was aware that Agnetha had been a songwriter in her earlier solo career, so the fact she only wrote one song on this album wasn’t too much of a disappointment. Like Frida’s album, it wasn’t ABBA, but they were the next best things for me at the time.

“A” was an exciting release at the time. Only a mere nine years on from her previous album but these were all new songs. I liked it a lot that year but it quickly faded, to the point where I haven’t listened to it for years. This week I’ve become re-acquainted with it and was surprised by how much I’d completely forgotten! Its main fault is the lack of sincerity on it. Agnetha sings it but these aren’t really her songs. Only the last one, I Keep Them On The Floor Beside My Bed, has Agnetha all over it. We can assume she wrote the music and had a strong idea of what she wanted to say in the lyrics (even if she may not have written the latter).

Both albums were more exciting in terms of the promotion Agnetha did for them. 1983 was the first time we’d seen Agnetha alone, the attention was all on her and she couldn’t let the others talk more in English interviews. A particular favourite is the Breakfast Time interview (Friday 13 May 1983) that’s on YouTube. I remember this well, my mum kindly recording it for us (after I’d gone to school and my brother to work) on my brother’s new Video2000 he’d bought a couple of months before.

It was a relaxed interview, she seemed quite comfortable. Memorable for Nick Ross getting a bit over-excited and Mike Smith joking that they’d sent Nick off for a cold shower! Also Russell Grant doing her stars and stating the obvious. And later in the year, the memorable Late Late Breakfast Show appearance where she fell three feet backstage (off screen) and cut her elbow. Again, she seemed very relaxed here, even after that accident (probably helped that she clearly fancied Noel Edmonds and he her).

The “A” promotion was very unexpected. At one point you could barely turn on the TV without an interview with her being on. The same questions and the same answers, but she was everywhere (which is why her promotion for Voyage - just one Swedish radio interview - was quite disappointing).

It seems unlikely that Agnetha will ever release another solo album. Five Swedish albums, five English ones and two novelty ones with each of her children is quite an impressive run though, even though it’s overshadowed by her work with ABBA.

There’s nothing on either Discogs or 45cat for that, gazman so it’s difficult to say.

Thank You For The Music / Our Last Summer
A 3894, 4 November 1983

This is the only 7” single in the blue-era not to get either a Dutch pressing or an injection-moulded, and the only one to have just one commercial variant on standard black vinyl available in Britain. Perhaps because CBS didn’t expect it to do that well? However, they went to town on the special issues, with the widely available poster sleeve and the novelty shaped picture disc.

The Day Before You Came / Cassandra
EPC A 2847, 8 October 1982

As with most of the promo issues, the promo for this is the same label as the UK commercial pressing but with the big “A” added.

One of Us / Should I Laugh Or Cry
EPC A 1740, 4 December 1981

Only 7” singles included in the photos, so no Lay All Your Love On Me. The promo no longer shows the release date. Instead, it says “Promotion Copy Not For Sale”.

The Winner Takes It All / Elaine
S EPC 8835, 25 July 1980

The blue of the standard paper labels can vary. Bottom left is quite dull, top right is better but the promo is the brightest.

Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) / The King Has Lost His Crown
S EPC 7914, 12 October 1979

Two photos for the six variants, still no push-out.

Does Your Mother / Kisses of Fire
S EPC 7316, 27 April 1979

After a few singles with no push-outs, this title gets two.

Summer Night City / Medley: Pick A Bale of Cotton, On Top of Old Smokey, Midnight Special
S EPC 6595, 8 September 1978

Second of two singles (after Money Money Money) to get two promos. The reason for this is the expletive that is just on the fade. Publicity surrounding that caused the company to get cold feet and issue a second promo (bottom left) with a 3:10 edit. The main one is 3:34. Once again, no push-out.

The Name of The Game / I Wonder (Departure) [Live version]
S EPC 5750, 14 October 1977

The French pressing is their only known paper label issue for a UK ABBA single. It’s also the only orange label with black surround text instead of the usual white. USA pressing is one of two, the other being the follow-up, Take A Chance On Me. Unusually, there is no push-out variant, something else it has in common with Take A Chance on Me.

Steve Wright used to play Move On a fair bit. I heard that more than once on his show and I only listened to it on short car journeys. That’s the only example I can think of though.

I really can’t stand the fact that radio - even the BBC nationals - have a fairly restrictive playlist. You’ll hear the same old records over and over again, and then they’ll change them. Fix You by Coldplay seems to be on a lot at the moment, and not just Radio 2 but also heard it on Virgin Radio. Presumably the same old records are “serviced” to all radio stations at intervals and then changed.

Dancing Queen / That’s Me
S EPC 4499, 6 August 1976

Unlike Waterloo and Fernando, Dancing Queen kept its catalogue number throughout its various incarnations. As the changeover to orange happened during the chart run of this single, there is a push-out version in both colours.