newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
Hard to believe today marks the 50th anniversary of ABBA's Eurovision win in Brighton, England, with their breakthrough single 'Waterloo'.
ABBA: 50 Years Since Waterloo
- Thread starter newvillefan
- Start date
jfiedler17
Well-Known Member
I'd never heard that alternate mix before, but that's a great listen!
It's a little surreal to think that this is now fifty years old, because it still sounds remarkably fresh. That's one of the things that blows me away the most about Abba's recordings - so many of them sound several years, if not even decades, ahead of their time. Even something like "Mamma Mia," which came relatively early in their career, sounds so much punchier than just about any mainstream pop single from the same year. Very, very little of their music sounds dated today.
It's a little surreal to think that this is now fifty years old, because it still sounds remarkably fresh. That's one of the things that blows me away the most about Abba's recordings - so many of them sound several years, if not even decades, ahead of their time. Even something like "Mamma Mia," which came relatively early in their career, sounds so much punchier than just about any mainstream pop single from the same year. Very, very little of their music sounds dated today.
I remember anxiously opening the plastic on the Waterloo album in anticipation of more songs like that one... I was disappointed in that there were too many ballads and too much cutesy stuff for my taste. I also wished for more vocals from the guys in the band. ("Does Your Mother Know" from a later album is great!) But "Waterloo" is still a killer track and I crank it every time I come upon it.
My favorite song of theirs has always been "SOS," but I like "Dancing Queen" quite a bit as well. Even after all these years I'm still not drawn to their ballads.
My favorite song of theirs has always been "SOS," but I like "Dancing Queen" quite a bit as well. Even after all these years I'm still not drawn to their ballads.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool
Well-Known Member
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
jfiedler17
Well-Known Member
I'm definitely a big fan of the group, but I'm similarly not very big on most of their ballads (though I like a bunch of the ones from the latter part of their career, like "The Winner Takes It All" or "One of Us"; their '70s ballads, on the other hand, like "Fernando" or "Chiquitita," I have a tendency to skip past). That was the one drawback for me of their reunion album Voyage - it seemed too overly ballad-heavy for my own tastes and downplayed their strengths as craftsmen of irresistible uptempo pop confections.
I similarly really enjoy the Bjorn-sung songs and wish he'd have sung lead more often than he did. He was a perfectly fine singer - and the songs he typically sang a bit more energetic and harder-rocking then the ladies' usual showcases - and the combination of him on lead with Frida and Agnetha singing backup made for no less delightful a sound than their usual formula.
If I had to pick my favorite of theirs, I'd have to go with "Waterloo" first and foremost, and I'd probably round out my Top Five with "Does Your Mother Know," "SOS," "Mamma Mia," and, on a considerably more obscure note, "Watch Out."
David A
Well-Known Member
Wow, 50 years...although I'm old enough to remember when they were popular they were not nearly as big in the USA as in pretty much everywhere else in the world. Aside from "Waterloo" "SOS" and "Dancing Queen" - all of which I liked - I knew little about them.
A consequence of this was that I actually "discovered" what ABBA really offered musically, in the early 1990's! Next thing you know I own the ABBA Gold collection as well as most of their vinyl records, and know just about every song in their catalog. I dug into their careers, learned about their personal relations (marriages, divorces, etc) - and then understood what "I know there's Something Going On" from Frida was about - bad Benny!
Both ABBA Gold CD's are in my CD case in my car.
A consequence of this was that I actually "discovered" what ABBA really offered musically, in the early 1990's! Next thing you know I own the ABBA Gold collection as well as most of their vinyl records, and know just about every song in their catalog. I dug into their careers, learned about their personal relations (marriages, divorces, etc) - and then understood what "I know there's Something Going On" from Frida was about - bad Benny!
Both ABBA Gold CD's are in my CD case in my car.
David A
Well-Known Member
Replying to myself as the edit feature has expired, heh...explaining how my 1990's "discovery" of ABBA actually occurred. I started dating a German girl who hailed from from Stuttgart, and of course she was besotted with ABBA. Had everything and knew everything about them.Wow, 50 years...although I'm old enough to remember when they were popular they were not nearly as big in the USA as in pretty much everywhere else in the world. Aside from "Waterloo" "SOS" and "Dancing Queen" - all of which I liked - I knew little about them.
A consequence of this was that I actually "discovered" what ABBA really offered musically, in the early 1990's! Next thing you know I own the ABBA Gold collection as well as most of their vinyl records, and know just about every song in their catalog. I dug into their careers, learned about their personal relations (marriages, divorces, etc) - and then understood what "I know there's Something Going On" from Frida was about - bad Benny!
My ABBA story hails from radio. I started in radio in 1974, just as the first ABBA hits were starting to chart and get played on radio. At our station, "Waterloo" and "S.O.S" were played for sure. Maybe "Honey, Honey" for a brief time. After that, I got the sense that people in control of the radio station's music didn't want a new record every few months from "those Swedes", so they relegated all of the promo singles to the throwaway pile. And I was happy to grab all those Atlantic stereo/mono 45s whenever I saw them.
After a time, I managed something like 18-20 of those 45s, and I figured I had all the ABBA I ever needed. For years, they sat in my collection, mostly unplayed and unused. When ABBA GOLD started showing up in the CD bins in the early 90s, I remember looking at the track listing and thinking, "Gee, I already own all of these on stereo 45s. I don't need to spend $20 on ABBA GOLD."
Another decade went by and the talk of the town was the show MAMMA MIA!. We got to see it when it came to Philadelphia, and hearing all that music was fresh and exciting. Naturally I dug out my 45s and found that they weren't quite as all-inclusive as I'd once thought. So I looked for a good compilation and thought I found one called THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION. It had a few more songs on it than ABBA GOLD, so I bought it. And once again I thought I had all the ABBA I needed. About this time I also decided to buy ABBA GOLD, and ABBA MORE GOLD.
On a trip to Europe to visit the Christmas markets, I wandered into a record store in Vienna and there I saw the powder blue COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS box set for ABBA. As I recall it cost €90 or so, which at the time converted to something like $107. I thought that was somewhat reasonable for all of their albums, all of the bonus tracks from singles, b-sides, rarites, and DVDs of their videos and some concert footage. So I came home now knowing, FOR SURE, that I had all of the ABBA I ever needed.
I dove deeper into their story with the book BRIGHT LIGHTS, DARK SHADOWS that told their whole history and soon after, anniversary special editions of their CDs began to be issued over a number of years. Since they all featured a DVD of appearances on TV around the world that centered around each of the album, I once again dug deep into my pockets and grabbed each one as it came out. And as I found them, I bought DVDs of ABBA GOLD, ABBA: THE MOVIE about their concert tour of Australia, and anything else I found that I didn't already have.
Surely, surely, I now have all the ABBA I need. (There was a recent box set that I DIDN'T buy, and won't be buying any more.)
After a time, I managed something like 18-20 of those 45s, and I figured I had all the ABBA I ever needed. For years, they sat in my collection, mostly unplayed and unused. When ABBA GOLD started showing up in the CD bins in the early 90s, I remember looking at the track listing and thinking, "Gee, I already own all of these on stereo 45s. I don't need to spend $20 on ABBA GOLD."
Another decade went by and the talk of the town was the show MAMMA MIA!. We got to see it when it came to Philadelphia, and hearing all that music was fresh and exciting. Naturally I dug out my 45s and found that they weren't quite as all-inclusive as I'd once thought. So I looked for a good compilation and thought I found one called THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION. It had a few more songs on it than ABBA GOLD, so I bought it. And once again I thought I had all the ABBA I needed. About this time I also decided to buy ABBA GOLD, and ABBA MORE GOLD.
On a trip to Europe to visit the Christmas markets, I wandered into a record store in Vienna and there I saw the powder blue COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS box set for ABBA. As I recall it cost €90 or so, which at the time converted to something like $107. I thought that was somewhat reasonable for all of their albums, all of the bonus tracks from singles, b-sides, rarites, and DVDs of their videos and some concert footage. So I came home now knowing, FOR SURE, that I had all of the ABBA I ever needed.
I dove deeper into their story with the book BRIGHT LIGHTS, DARK SHADOWS that told their whole history and soon after, anniversary special editions of their CDs began to be issued over a number of years. Since they all featured a DVD of appearances on TV around the world that centered around each of the album, I once again dug deep into my pockets and grabbed each one as it came out. And as I found them, I bought DVDs of ABBA GOLD, ABBA: THE MOVIE about their concert tour of Australia, and anything else I found that I didn't already have.
Surely, surely, I now have all the ABBA I need. (There was a recent box set that I DIDN'T buy, and won't be buying any more.)
Here's how old I am: I'm old enough to remember when ABBA was just that, with the two B's in the correct orientation. I remember when the more-recent backwards-first-B logo first appeared.
I always thought that, for a group of their popularity, their logo was incredibly boring. (Compared to, say, Carpenters.)
I always thought that, for a group of their popularity, their logo was incredibly boring. (Compared to, say, Carpenters.)
Bobberman
Well-Known Member
I remember the First ABBA song I ever heard was " Honey Honey" on the radio and It was an instant favorite keep in mind I was in first or second Grade when it came out I liked most of their stuff up to their last Hit " When all is said and Done" it's hard to believe 50 years have passed since they first hit the scene so to speak. I prefer their hits as that's as far as I got into them but to me they were part of my growing up years like a lot of other music I have in my collection
rockdoctor
Well-Known Member
Similar discussions
- Article
- Article
