For as long as I can remember, I have been a die-hard ABBA fan since they broke into the music scene after winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with their rendition of WATERLOO that was heavily influenced by the glam rock scene in London. Here's some background information from Wikipedia AT THIS LINK:
ABBA was a Swedish pop music group formed in Stockholm in 1972, consisting of Anni-Frid "Frida" Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog. They became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1972 to 1983.
ABBA sold over 375 million records worldwide, making them the fourth best-selling popular music artists in the history of recorded music. They still sell two to three million records a year. ABBA was the first pop group from a non-English-speaking country to enjoy consistent success in the charts of English-speaking countries, including the UK, the US, Canada, Republic of Ireland|Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. As well as reaching the top of the charts in different countries like Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru among others, the band also released a compilation of their hit songs translated into Spanish.
During the band's existence, Fältskog and Ulvaeus were a married couple, as were Lyngstad and Andersson - although both couples later divorced. At the height of their popularity, both relationships began suffering strain that led ultimately to the collapse of first the Ulvaeus-Fältskog marriage (in 1979) and then of the Andersson-Lyngstad marriage in 1981. In the late 1970s and early 1980s these relationship changes began manifesting in the group's music, as they produced more introspective lyrics with different compositions.
After ABBA split, Andersson and Ulvaeus achieved success writing music for the stage while Lyngstad and Fältskog pursued individual solo careers with varying success. ABBA's music remained steadily popular until several films, notably Muriel's Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, revived interest in the group, spawning several tribute bands. In 1999, ABBA's music was adapted into the successful musical Mamma Mia! that toured worldwide and had a movie version released in 2008, becoming the highest grossing film in the UK at the time. The group was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 15 March 2010.
George Starostin has classified ABBA's music as Dance Pop, Pop Rock and Lush Pop. According to his site HERE:
Lush pop is "Where pop music does not "rock", i. e. is not guitar based, it usually relies on keyboards and strings, rendering it more classical-like in form and aspiring to Higher Art in substance. This is, of course, the original form of pop, performed by Bing Crosby and the rest long before "pop rock" came into existence. "Pop rock" itself began to occasionally merge with keyboard- and strings-based pop sometime in the mid-60s, starting with the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Zombies, etc., and arguably reached its apex in the late Sixties/early Seventies. Ever since prog rock replaced it with something bigger and more bloated, and then punk and New Wave washed away both, Lush Pop has been in decline, though. Lush Pop is sometimes very hard to tell from simpler forms of art rock."
Many may not realise that ABBA had phenomenal international success in the mid- and late-seventies because of the American patriotic feelings during that period. Their music, costumes and acts appealed to many across the board and till today ABBA are still highly revered. This can be seen in how ABBA's Gold Greatest Hits compilation achieved unexpected success.
Apart from that, I believe ABBA is popular because of their musical genius and creativity in packaging themselves and their music. In terms of musicianship, obviously the guys in ABBA were brilliant composers with a magical combination of various musical genre of rock, pop, jazz, and classical influences. Having said that, their music is so engaging and resonates in my brain with their beautiful melody lines, unusual chord progressions and vocal harmonies that few of their contemporaries possess.
Now if you have watched their music videos, you can see that their performances are indeed passionate, stylish and most expressive. There is something naive, almost innocent and engaging aura about ABBA that one cannot but fall in love with their music!
Let's face it. ABBA sang about almost every facet of human relationships including:
Mother- child relationship e.g. in Does your mother know?
Broken relationship/losers in relationships e.g. in The Winner Takes It All, The Name of the Game and When All is Said and Done which was written just after Benny and Annifrid were divorced. If you listen to the lyrics carefully, you can see that the song portrays Annifrid's sadness in the post-divorce period of her life. Then there is Mama Mia
Risks in Relationships as in Take A Chance on Me and S.O.S.
Romantic and haunting melodies such as Chiquitita, Fernando and Hasta Manana
Songs of hope such as in I have a Dream
Songs on materialism such as Money Money Money!
Upbeat dance tunes such as the innocuous Dancing Queen (My favorite!!!) Ring Ring and Waterloo
And yes, I listened to ALL THOSE LINKS I listed above and sang my lungs out as I wrote this post.
I cannot imagine how colorless my teenage years would have been if not for ABBA.
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC, ABBA!!!
Indeed, I am ABBATIZED today! Hope you have been touched by their music as well. Have a nice day!
Anonymous The two gals were the most friendly, sexy, beautiful, and talented gals in the entertainment industry I've ever seen or known, and it is INSANE that the blokes divorced them.