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Post by Alan on Jul 6, 2022 21:47:15 GMT
Slight correction to your last paragraph there, but PolyGram bought Polar Music International AB (and therefore the worldwide rights to ABBA’s catalogue) from Stig Anderson in 1989. However, Polar had already signed three-year licensing agreements with record companies around the world (including CBS in the UK who were still merrily sub-licensing ABBA’s work to the likes of Telstar and Pickwick for cheap compilations).
The last of the licenses didn’t expire until 1992, so it’s likely that PolyGram had been preparing Gold for three years. It’s often said that LAYLOM is on Gold because of the Erasure EP but it’s more likely the tracklisting was decided before then and that perhaps Erasure were “helped” to pick their four tracks, so that the likes of LAYLOM became more well-known than they had been prior. It was the PolyGram label Polydor in the UK that devised it though, so almost certainly it was deliberately UK-centric. PolyGram merged with MCA in 1999 to form Universal after both had been purchased by the same company.
I personally don’t believe that the Erasure EP and Gold were coincidences. With ABBA being a dead group for ten years, what better than to have a current act cover some of their songs? And especially Erasure as they had form on this (Gimme Gimme Gimme being part of their live set for years). Almost certainly deals were done behind closed doors.
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Post by Alan on Jul 3, 2022 19:16:16 GMT
Is this a sticky topic because the admin are telling us in an indirect way that there will be a follow up?! The admin is very rarely on here and hasn’t posted for years (but thankfully I can contact her if necessary and she responds very quickly). I’m the moderator but have no insider info whatsoever, I’m afraid. As HOMETIME says, we got a few things from the PopJustice forum as there are definitely some on there that work in the music industry. For instance, someone there knew there was an album of 10 tracks about two days before the official announcement on 2 September. The same source also knew about Just A Notion being a single before it was confirmed. Not sure how this topic got to be a sticky! I’ve removed it. Oh - I’ve got to ask this. Your username, Gillian. Too much to hope for that you might be THE Gillian Taylforth, ie. the iconic Kathy Beale in EastEnders. Are you a fan of hers?
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Post by Alan on Jul 1, 2022 22:16:05 GMT
It's a first-name thing rather than about being known by one name. TBH, it doesn't bother me massively but I really don't like Adkins one little bit, so that's who she is to me. I'm sure she'll cope! You remind me of the Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse “Self-Righteous Brothers” characters where they always refer to well-known people by their surnames. Though in their case they only took a dislike to them after coming up with a highly unlikely hypothetical situation. “I’d say, oi, Adkins, no!!”
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Post by Alan on Jul 1, 2022 20:28:43 GMT
Kylie’s official solo artist name is still Kylie Minogue. At least, the official charts website lists her as that.
Sade is an odd one, as it’s the name of both the singer and the band. Sade is the lead singer of the band. Sade the band has four current members and two former members. They aren’t session musicians but full band members. The confusion lies in the fact that their singer Sade Adu is usually just known as Sade.
Blondie is another one. Debbie/Deborah Harry always has that peroxide blond hair so the band name is almost synonymous with her. Whilst most people know it’s a band, the image most have is Debbie Harry and a load of blokes few can remember the names of or what they look like.
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Post by Alan on Jun 30, 2022 19:40:07 GMT
Interesting to see that Adkins' album has tumbled out of the top 70 completely, yet Sheeran's remains in the top 10. Curious: why do you refer to her as “Adkins” when she’s known as Adele? She’s never professionally called herself Adele Adkins and most people would only know of her as Adele. It’s not even like you’re shortening her name as Adkins has more characters than Adele! I think Adele’s peak has quietly passed, similar to Sam Smith’s did. They still have major hit albums on release but not the staying power. Her next album (probably called “35”) will be number one and sell well, but will likely spend even less time in the top 70. Ed Sheeran hasn’t reached that point yet, but I’m sure will do in time.
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Post by Alan on Jun 26, 2022 19:59:59 GMT
Let’s not forget that they did perform The Way Old Friends Do live a few years ago (I say “few” - was it 2016?). And they didn’t sound good. Even with Voyage, although it’s clear they can still sing, Agnetha’s voice has weakened more than Frida’s, allowing Frida to dominate and almost bury Agnetha in any vocals they sing together (the chorus of I Still Have Faith In You is the exception). The ABBA sound is still there, but only just.
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Post by Alan on Jun 26, 2022 19:38:35 GMT
McCartney's not bad if a little croaky. Abba sounded great on the album but, yeah, if they would sound ropey live, best not to do it but it's not a given thing. I think you’re being kind. McCartney sounded no better than Diana Ross. Both are almost beyond criticism now (“they’re in their 70s/80s so that makes it OK”). After witnessing Paul McCartney murdering classics such as Let ‘Em In and Maybe I’m Amazed, I had to turn off. Opinions will, of course, depend on the amount of alcohol consumed at the time. After witnessing these two, I have to fully commend and admire ABBA’s decision to use original recordings. They didn’t tour that much anyway, and live recordings were not a patch on the studio renditions, so let’s not pretend it would be a good idea for the real ABBA to play live. It seriously wouldn’t.
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Post by Alan on Jun 26, 2022 15:57:29 GMT
Another little discovery about the Show edition vinyl if anyone’s interested. It has a glossier sleeve than the others, and looks really good.
(I was in two minds about removing the cellophane, but I’m glad I did. I’ve kept the cellophane intact anyway).
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Post by Alan on Jun 25, 2022 21:11:44 GMT
Yes Sales are very low, but Voyage' with 33 continuous wks in the chart is a good result. Just to avoid any confusion, you’re referring to the sales chart aren’t you? It’s only 19 weeks in the actual UK albums chart (which is still good).
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Post by Alan on Jun 25, 2022 20:27:26 GMT
Two more photos. The backlit show edition showing the marbled effect, plus the full (non-Australian) family of non-black Voyage vinyls. If they suddenly issued eight versions of any, or all, of the eight historical albums I wouldn’t be interested (I’ve even resisted the latest picture disc album issues so far and partially regret buying the 2020 coloured vinyl box). Voyage was a one-off event.
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Post by Alan on Jun 24, 2022 23:21:46 GMT
You're reading too much into it. It isn't about Jimmy Saville. Calm down... No I’m not, and that’s quite a patronising response if you don’t mind me saying so. Pop music has a way of getting stuff past the radar purely because it’s usually dressed up to not sound that serious. If people actually did read lyrics, there is a lot that can be gleaned from them. And as it’s art, it is up to the listener to interpret. It’s from the same album as Does Your Mother Know, for goodness sake! I do find it interesting that many people don’t bother to actually take in any hidden (or not so hidden) meanings in lyrics. I suppose there is a language barrier for many people. It just fascinates me that you term it as “throwaway” when it really isn’t. And I love it that ABBA weren’t afraid to tackle difficult subjects. They could dress it up as pop and it goes way over the heads of the majority. The cover version I mentioned of Angeleyes (can’t remember who it was by, but it was a male singer) changed the gender from girl to boy, and a friend that heard it (having not heard ABBA’s version) asked me what I thought of the song. I had no idea what they were talking about until they explained it (and I heard said cover version for myself) but I realised that it was always there. “Young boy” definitely makes it sound more sinister (“young girl” can still mean adult, whereas “young boy” definitely doesn’t) but should a gender change make it that much different? I’m not sure it does.
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Post by Alan on Jun 24, 2022 21:11:06 GMT
AngelEyes is one of those perfect ABBA songs for me: a throwaway love story Er… have you actually read the lyrics? This is anything but “throwaway”. It’s about a young person that’s been taken advantage of by an older person, and they’re now looking on in horror as he does it to someone else, and a “young girl” at that. There was a cover version of this once that changed it to “young boy” which made it sound even more sinister (not that the original isn’t bad enough).
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Post by Alan on Jun 24, 2022 20:00:08 GMT
I seriously hope they won't release more, or the only way to resist will be to sell everything I've already purchased I’m definitely resisting the Australian green/gold edition as there are no sensible prices for that. I notice the show edition is now going on eBay as a buy-it-now for slightly less than I paid. I’ve also heard that it was briefly on sale at the venue but fairly quickly sold out. The online store has added more merchandise but not the vinyl. I kind of feel a bit sorry for the official stores. The flippers are always going to out-manoeuvre them and they have no way of controlling who they’re selling to. It’s like Record Store Day… nice idea on paper but in reality it’s all about get-rich-quick for the professional flippers.
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Post by Alan on Jun 24, 2022 17:49:18 GMT
My friend in Germany messaged me to say two radio stations there have said "keep an eye on Dan" will be the next single, accompanied by a video. I cannot find any information to verify this. Even if there is any truth in this, it will only be a release to radio, like No Doubt About It, and look what happened (or didn’t happen) there. And a video would almost certainly feature neither the real ABBA nor the ABBATars. I really hope these radio stations are completely wrong. The Voyage album is a dead horse now. It did extremely well but its time has passed in terms of chart action.
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Post by Alan on Jun 24, 2022 17:12:51 GMT
My orange show edition vinyl has arrived. The photo makes it look more red but it’s solid orange. There is a very slight marble-like effect that can’t be seen in the photo. Not sure if it’s intentional or a production fault!
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Kate Bush
Jun 22, 2022 9:31:32 GMT
via mobile
Post by Alan on Jun 22, 2022 9:31:32 GMT
Kate Bush new interview on radio Wednesday 22June on BBC Woman’s Hour at 10am As I expected, no revelations. Gave very little away and at times, some short answers. Presumably she’d already briefed them not to ask about new music.
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Post by Alan on Jun 18, 2022 17:57:51 GMT
Not for me either, I could never rank songs. Perhaps I Still Have Faith In You and Don’t Shut Me Down might make a top 40 if I was to do one, but the other tracks are very unlikely to make the list. Even there there’s some bias though. Songs I first heard between 40 and 45 years ago are always going to win against ones I’ve only heard in the last 10 months!
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Post by Alan on Jun 18, 2022 17:45:38 GMT
Someone on twitter has posted that "Since stranger thing was released last month, Kate Bush has earned over $1,000,000 from streams of Running Up the Hill." Goes to show the power of placing just the right song in the right setting. Those are phenomenal streaming numbers! Yes, the BBC News reported this yesterday. I didn’t realise that streaming could earn that much. Yes, the figures are phenomenal but even so, it surprises me. I don’t begrudge her a penny of it. Had my own Running Up That Hill day today. Listened to all six official versions and dug out my four singles (7”, 12”, 2012 remix promo CD and 2013 10” picture disc). For a song that’s been in my DNA (to use an awful saying) for 37 years, it’s been a bit of a rediscovery.
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Post by Alan on Jun 17, 2022 22:12:43 GMT
I’d still say that the decision to release Angeleyes as the primary A-side was a stroke of genius. Let’s not forget that Angeleyes/Voulez-Vous did better in the UK and US than Voulez-Vous did alone in other parts of the world.
ABBA had the mighty CBS (now Sony) to advise on this. The music industry in the UK was clearly nonplussed with Voulez-Vous so CBS went with Angeleyes in spite of the fact that ABBA didn’t support it with a video or even a TV performance. They were rewarded with a top 3 hit at a time when ABBA weren’t at their height (and there were those vile rumours that suggested Angeleyes’ success was the result of chart-rigging, in an attempt to further undermine it).
Nope, Voulez-Vous just wasn’t as popular as ABBA Gold would now have us believe. Still, I suppose it’s win-some, lose-some. Lay All Your Love On Me is now accepted as an ABBA classic even though it’s only really because of its UK success and the subsequent Erasure cover. I’d take that over Angeleyes, but there’s still some history re-writing that’s prevailed for 30 years. At least it’s on More Gold, I suppose.
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Post by Alan on Jun 17, 2022 21:33:48 GMT
50 last year.
I joined the British ABBA fan club in 1979 along with my brother. I think I’ve still got the folder somewhere but like most fan clubs, it left a fair bit to be desired. I can’t remember but perhaps we never renewed it.
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Post by Alan on Jun 17, 2022 16:43:13 GMT
Well, no surprise, but she’s number one.
Longest gap between number one hits Longest time to get to number one (37 years) Oldest female artist (63) to reach number one (though she was only 27 when the song was originally released).
The passive ageism of the media is no surprise… photos being used to support news stories about this range from well before 1985. The BBC is even using a 1978 Top of the Pops still in their article on it going to number one, and have used other photos from that period. I don’t mind 1985 photos being used as that’s when the song dates from, but anything before that isn’t really acceptable.
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Kate Bush
Jun 16, 2022 7:41:28 GMT
via mobile
Post by Alan on Jun 16, 2022 7:41:28 GMT
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Post by Alan on Jun 15, 2022 16:16:39 GMT
Thank you for your responses on the chart records. Kate Bush looks like she will be number 1 in the singles chart this week. Can't be impossible for ABBA to get there one day surely in some way or another!!? would be great to get that 10th no.1 ! Can’t rule anything out after this but I think it would be much harder for ABBA because of Gold. That album, and the songs on it, are so well known by everyone that I think it would be hard for any of them to be a big hit single again. Kate Bush has had a greatest hits with Running Up That Hill on but it’s had no where near the success of Gold, and Kate has had a much lower profile (no jukebox musical there, thankfully). RUTH has always been considered a classic but it’s not had anything like the exposure that the ABBA Gold songs have had. However, I’d still say that ABBA have trumped Kate, in that they had a top 10 hit with a new song. What’s happening with RUTH is phenomenal but it’s still a 37-year-old song. ABBA having a new top 10 hit in this day and age is equivalent to a number one in their heyday (to me anyway).
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Post by Alan on Jun 15, 2022 15:56:15 GMT
I remember reading Kate doesn’t like Greatest Hits albums, had to have arm twisted to release The Whole Story. I can’t see another compilation being issued, think she saw Before The Dawn live LP as a greatest hits. Yes, that’s correct. Interviews at the time of the release of The Whole Story made it clear it wasn’t her idea and that she thought it was a bad one. It was only when EMI assured her there would be a market for it and that care would be taken with it (she was concerned it would be a “cheapo combo”) did she relent. That was in the days when they had more control over her. The current set-up with Parlophone/Warners is really just her using their services (presumably mutually beneficial) as they aren’t her actual record company as such.
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Post by Alan on Jun 14, 2022 16:02:19 GMT
Does anyone know how many albums ABBA would need in this weeks official Top 100 chart results to be a record? Even maybe 3 or 4 would do it??! If you mean the UK chart then no. Kate Bush had 11 albums in the chart in 2014 at the time of her Before The Dawn shows. In one week, all 11 were placed between numbers 6 and 49. I think David Bowie has done similar, certainly after his death but also at other points in his career. ABBA won’t be breaking any records.
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Post by Alan on Jun 13, 2022 17:48:14 GMT
This is highlighted this week in the Singles chart where Kate Bush is No 2 with "Running Up That Hill" yet she is No 1 in the Downloads chart and No 1 in the Streaming chart. Apparently, the reason is that they halve her number of streams for the main chart because her song is more than 3 years old. No longer the case apparently. The record company (presumably the mighty Warner Music, owner of Parlophone) complained and so the rule has been abolished for Kate at least. Running Up That Hill will no longer have its streaming figures halved.
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Kate Bush
Jun 13, 2022 17:43:50 GMT
via mobile
Post by Alan on Jun 13, 2022 17:43:50 GMT
Apparently the song is no longer on ACR, after the record company complained. Her streams are therefore no longer halved. Not sure if this a rule change covering any old song or just for this one.
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Post by Alan on Jun 12, 2022 19:39:35 GMT
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Post by Alan on Jun 12, 2022 16:32:51 GMT
This is interesting. At first glance I wondered if it was a reversed photo but Benny’s parting and the purple stripe on one of the costumes rules that out.
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Post by Alan on Jun 12, 2022 8:42:46 GMT
'Hit by a train'? There's no way that could seriously be the title of an unreleased song. Could it?! It's just so , I don't know...insensitive? It’s probably not its exact title but I think that was the one quoted. It’s about love hitting someone like a train. The quoted title makes it sound more literal than metaphorical.
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