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Post by 15/11/79 on Dec 24, 2015 21:15:20 GMT
What were they thinking at ITV? It's still being broadcast as I write. Absolutely painful viewing. Z-list celebrities murdering the ABBA classics. Not a note between them. Only positive is Bjorn looking so well and lots of interview segments. Overall, probably the worst ABBA related TV show on prime time mainstream ever. Brutal.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Dec 23, 2015 16:36:02 GMT
Bah humbug. Where will all this end? Can't look sideways these days for fear of PC correctness. That guy deserves everything that's coming to him, but I will not allow this to taint my enjoyment of a film I have seen countless times since February 1978. I watched my blu-ray copy last night with surround sound on 50" TV, Christmas tree nearby and coal fire blazing, with the Irish rain lashing the window outside. Thanks to Lasse Hallstrom and everyone involved for capturing a magical moment in time, in glorious Panavision. Merry Christmas all.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Dec 20, 2015 23:25:36 GMT
Ridiculous carry-on from Sky. All this PC nonsense. Unfortunately it could mean that the Movie will never be on terrestrial or satellite TV in the future.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Dec 20, 2015 10:41:14 GMT
Couldn't believe it this morning when it disappeared from the planner on my TV. What a joke.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Dec 20, 2015 10:39:32 GMT
Good show. Nice that they played songs like The Piper and Gonna Sing You My Lovesong between segments.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Dec 3, 2015 23:31:09 GMT
Channel 5 are milking the Wembley concert, it's been on at least 10 times. Why don't they show The Movie? Surprised it hasn't been shown on the Beeb for such a long time.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Dec 3, 2015 23:26:50 GMT
It's ITV - this is what they do. I'll be astonished if they haven't used Pete Waterman for his expert opinion.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Dec 3, 2015 23:22:01 GMT
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Post by 15/11/79 on Oct 23, 2015 21:40:10 GMT
Brilliant photo, Fafner! Thanks for posting - brings memories of '79 flooding back.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Oct 22, 2015 22:22:59 GMT
Blocked in Ireland, Roxy.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Aug 19, 2015 14:02:57 GMT
Is Agnetha saluting the audience?
Great never-seen before picture (for me, anyway), under the distinctive roof of Melbourne's Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Jul 14, 2015 18:48:44 GMT
Looking for help here: what territory released The Visitors LP in a gatefold sleeve version back in 1981? Did RCA Australia have the standard or G/F edition?
Many thanks, Martin.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Jun 23, 2015 21:58:29 GMT
Great photos, Fafner :-)
Can't believe we are still seeing so many photos for the first time, after all these years!
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Post by 15/11/79 on Jun 20, 2015 9:37:53 GMT
Looking at that last image from the 'Super Trouper' sessions, everyone looks so happy. Fast forward 12 months to 'The Visitors' sessions and nobody looks happy to be there. Could be all staged, I know, but nonetheless the difference is stark.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Jun 13, 2015 20:10:39 GMT
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 21, 2015 17:31:12 GMT
Why is Björn wearing his wife's jumper?? Why not? Why not, indeed Fafner. Good economical sense and thrifty as well. I just thought I'd seen that jumper before :-)
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 21, 2015 16:12:41 GMT
Why is Björn wearing his wife's jumper??
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 14, 2015 14:34:40 GMT
A woman at the peak of her powers, performance-wise. Looks great - I think these three photos could be the best ever of Frida live, she looks so happy, too.
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 14, 2015 14:32:00 GMT
'Last year, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ABBA’s Eurovision win, Ludvig compiled a Wembley concert DVD culled from six of ABBA’s 1979 Wembley shows' Exactly what I was thinking, Shoshin - the standard of some of today's journalism and research is shocking....
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 13, 2015 21:44:32 GMT
www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/features/life-comes-full-circle-for-abba-co-creator-benny-andresson-330191.htmlLife comes full Circle for ABBA co-creator Benny Andresson Wednesday, May 13, 2015Helen Barlow It’s 41 years since the Swedish band won Eurovision with ’Waterloo’, but, at 68, co-writer Andersson is still diversifying. The composer of musicals Chess and Mamma Mia has just produced a teen horro with his son, writes Helen Barlow BENNY Andersson is known internationally as one of the creative geniuses behind ABBA, the other being Björn Ulvaeus. But in his native Sweden, he has long been revered for a range of projects. The 68-year-old started out in The Hep Stars, a band known as the ‘Swedish Beatles’, before he achieved worldwide recognition with ABBA’s 1974 Eurovision win. Since then, he has drawn on Swedish musical traditions with his own band, Benny Andersson’s Orkester (BAO!), and has produced the theatrical musicals, Christina, Chess and Mamma Mia! In 2008, the latter, built around 24 ABBA songs, became the most successful movie musical of all time. A cinema lover, Andersson wanted a new challenge and, with his son, Ludvig, and seasoned filmmaker, Cecilia Norman Mardell, has produced a Swedish-language, high-school fantasy thriller, The Circle, starring six young Swedish actresses, three of whom had never acted before. “One of the reasons I’m sitting here is because Mamma Mia! was such a joyful experience,” Andersson says at the Berlin Film Festival. “I was involved in getting the music together and I’d written music for a couple of films — but The Circle was different. It was the first time we’d had the full responsibility. We knew we could do this, because we could pay for it. But once it came to filming, out in a forest in the middle of Sweden and building a dance floor and getting all the logistics together, we knew that was Cecilia’s job. We could never have done that. It’s nice to know your limits, I think.” Norman Mardell says she didn’t view Benny and Ludvig, who is also a musician, as father and son. “They’re so used to working together,” she says. “They have a really professional relationship at work.” As is typical in a high school coming-of-age story, the girls face their demons, here in the form of evil black smoke. Andersson was pleased the film tackled social issues. “The dysfunctional mother, eating disorders and bullying are really common problems,” he says. Was he bullied at school? “No, I wasn’t. I was a nice bloke,” he says. Andersson composed the film’s music. “I didn’t want to write the score, because it’s time-consuming, but somebody twisted my arm. So I just did how I felt it should sound like and tried to make it work. Then, Ludvig put together all the other music.” Ludvig, 33, is Andersson’s son with his second wife, Swedish television presenter, Mona Nörklit, whom he married in 1981, following his divorce from fellow ABBA member, Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Last year, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of ABBA’s Eurovision win, Ludvig compiled a Wembley concert DVD culled from six of ABBA’s 1979 Wembley shows. Andersson and Ulvaeus have also have kept the memory of Eurovision alive by composing ‘We Write the Story’, which Swedish DJ and recording artist, Avicii, adapted as the anthem for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden. Andersson says ABBA’s Eurovision win was a mixed blessing. “We thought we were good and we entered the Eurovision Song Contest because that’s the only way to get anywhere when you’re a Swedish band nobody cares about,” he says dryly. “If you win that, people might pay attention, which they did. But then they think that’s what you are. So it was really not doing us a favour, in a way.” Afterwards, the super troupers enjoyed a big international hit with the album, Waterloo. “Then, nothing happened, like often is the way with Eurovision contenders. We worked in England and they said, ‘Well, not to worry’. So from sending us big limousines in the Waterloo period, the cars got smaller and smaller and we had a Volkswagen bus by the end.” ABBA’s comeback started when Swedish director, Lasse Hallström (My Life as a Dog), pre-empted the rise of music videos and created three videos, for ‘I Do, I Do, I Do’, ‘SOS’ and ‘Mamma Mia’. Andersson says: “Lasse made them for 25,000 Swedish krona [€2,700], which is not much for three videos, and they were sent around the world, so we weren’t having to travel that much.” This was welcome, as blonde ABBA singer, Agnetha Fältskog, had a fear of flying and had young children with Ulvaeus, then her husband. The 1994 success of the Australian movies, Muriel’s Wedding and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which used ABBA’s music, cemented the comeback. As did the success of British duo, Erasure, who recorded a compilation of ABBA songs, Abba-esque, which was followed by the stage version of Mamma Mia!. “So, it’s been working all around our music,” Andersson says. “And we haven’t done anything. We just sit back and enjoy it. It’s quite fantastic, really.” ABBA ran from 1972 till 1982, and was reportedly offered $1bn to reform, but declined. Still, I ask Andersson if they will get back together. “No we’re not going to, if you ask me,” he says, mischievously.
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 10, 2015 8:09:57 GMT
Thanks to pen pals around the world, I was lucky enough to receive new ABBA 7" singles as they were released, with interesting and varied picture sleeves. It was fun and exciting to open the packages back in the late 70s to see the singles for the first time (the days before the internet!). Needless to say I had to buy several copies of each new release to send to my own pen pals, especially Australia. All my pocket money used for postage and packaging :-) Selection of collection here:
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 8, 2015 19:35:32 GMT
Sad news. That's three of ABBA's key support members now gone: Rutger, Ola Brunkert and Malano Gassama, all three can be seen onstage in The Movie. I saw Rutger play onstage with ABBA live and he was fantastic. Rest in peace and thanks for your huge contribution over the years.
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 7, 2015 20:54:07 GMT
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 5, 2015 12:16:03 GMT
What a surprise! PaulO Grady on his afternoon show played 3 songs by Frida followed by 3 from Agnetha. The second Frida song I hadn't heard before, it was sandwiched by I Know There's Something Going ON & Shine. About an hour later he played Wrap your Arms Around Me, Queen of Hearts & When You Love Someone. Never listened to the show before & only caught it because my friend had it on, guess I just got lucky! I'm not sure what Paul said about the ladies or why they were featured as it was just on in the background but I may have a listen on the iplayer or whatever the radio equivalent is called I listen every Sunday afternoon, so it was a nice surprise. He struggled to pronounce Agnetha's full name and joked about it throughout the show. Surprising choices though - Queen of Hearts, I thought something from My Colouring Book would have been more recognisable. Nice to see Frida's Come to Me (I am Woman) played, as it's a very underrated track. I think the listeners who nominate the artists for the 'Triple' every Sunday also choose the tracks. Good to hear both ladies tracks on BBC Radio 2, which is the most listened to radio station in Europe.
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 2, 2015 16:35:15 GMT
Not only one of my favourite A & A shots but of any ABBA picture. Love the energy and fun of it all. Gawd, to be there. Like two Nordic goddesses in those outfits.
Cracking photo! Thanks for sharing :-)
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Post by 15/11/79 on May 1, 2015 17:44:02 GMT
Went to see this show on three separate occasions (London/New York/Ireland), and each time I left the theatre feeling underwhelmed. Maybe it's just me, but I just think those cover versions of songs are not in the same league as the originals and the stage presence of the ABBA members just cannot be replicated in a theatrical tribute show or musical. It's done phenomenally well around the world, and more importantly introduced the music of ABBA to new generations, which can only be a good thing, I suppose.
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Post by 15/11/79 on Apr 25, 2015 21:55:03 GMT
Happy birthday to the legend!
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Post by 15/11/79 on Apr 25, 2015 16:09:05 GMT
Björn's clothes in those last photos - incredible :-)
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Post by 15/11/79 on Apr 25, 2015 1:14:44 GMT
What an amazing display of memorabilia, absolute top-drawer. The dedication and organisation - so good to see. Hard to top that anywhere in the world. Well done, Roxanne :-)
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Post by 15/11/79 on Apr 24, 2015 17:36:56 GMT
And I have always referred to the song "I'm A Marionette" as ABBA's angst song. Especially towards the media. Indeed, Monica. I remember playing The Album for the first time in Jan 1978 and couldn't believe how dark the closing track was. I wonder if B&B thought about the lyrics and how they would have been interpreted by the audience. There is an element of anger there which comes through very clearly. It took me a while to warm to this track, but now I love it. It was ahead of it's time, I think. A massive change in direction from the previous album (Arrival).
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