ABBA

[Harry]

After a second trip to see the show MAMMA MIA! here in Philly, I've had ABBA on the brain the last few days, and a couple of questions. I was never a huge follower of the group, but one would have had to have been deaf not to have been caught up by an ABBA tune here or there on the late '70s/early '80s. I never splurged to buy an album -- I didn't need to. There were plenty of throwaway 45s at the radio station, and when I counted them yesterday, I had an incredible 19! Mostly promos, mono one side, stereo the other.

That brought up my question. These promo singles are all on Atlantic Records, light blue label on the stereo side, red and white on the mono side. I also knew that at one point in the '90s, ABBA CDs could be found with the "Manufactured and distributed by A&M Records" statement on back, with the label being PolyGram. How did the ABBA catalog get from the WEA stable to the PolyGram stable?

Looking in a store this afternoon, I found one disc with the A&M designation, while the rest were still listed as straight PolyGram, NY. None had anything to do with Atlantic. What gives?

Other than the 19 singles, I have the two-disc DEFINITIVE collection that came out in the last few years.

For those who have even the slightest appreciation for the songs of ABBA, I highly recommend getting to the MAMMA MIA! show if it hits your town. If not, head to New York or London and find it. Great fun!

Harry
NP: "The Name Of The Game" - ABBA

 

[martin]

I saw "Mamma Mia" in London a couple of years ago. It's an amazing show and the way the songs are used has inspired other musical writers. The new smash musical in London is "We will rock you", in where Queen songs are used to tell the story.
Regarding the change of label in the US from WEA to Polygram, I think I know the answer to that. Stickan Andersson, Abba's late manager did an extraordinary thing when Abba was released internationally after their victory in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974. Abba recorded for his own national label "Polar" and instead of turning to one of the major international companies for worldwide distribution, he held on to it himself, making separate deals with different national recordlabels all over the world. It must have required an enormous amount of work, but then he was in control, and could make sure that the different national companies manufacturing and distributing Abba, would be doing a good job. In the US, obviously, WEA was the licensing company.
In 1991, however, the Abba catalog was sold from swedish Polar to Polygram, who would release the enormously successful "ABBA Gold" CDs with the re-mastered versions of the Abba hits along with most of the back catalog.

- greetings from the north -
Martin

 

[Harry]

Thanks Martin, that makes sense. Even today, there's a reference to "Polar Records" on the discs in addition to PolyGram, and it's there in the fine print on the Atlantic singles. Smart man!

I'm not surprised that others are now, in effect, trying to copy the success of MAMMA MIA!, since it seems to be a worldwide phenomenon. Our first encounter with the show was in Melbourne, Australia, where we stood around on a waiting list for seats, but missed by just one couple in front of us! Apparently it sells out just about every performance every night. Disappointed, we returned home to find out that the show was booked in Philly the following March. Now it's back again and it seemed even better the second time.

Harry
...humming ABBA tunes, online...

 

[martin]

I'm not surprised that others are now, in effect, trying to copy the success of MAMMA MIA!, since it seems to be a worldwide phenomenon

That's right, but I wasn't aware that the show was touring the US, I thought it would be playing on Broadway and maybe in Theaters in some other big cities. In fact the very first leading female was played by a Norwegian girl, Lisa Stokke, on the first run of performances in London, and she is the one pictured on the official "Mamma Mia" poster, which I suppose is the same all over the world. The Abba songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjørn Ulvaeus were not this successful with their musical "Chess" from 1982. The album did OK with some great tunes on it, but on stage it didn't do very well, especially not in the US where it was taken off after just a few weeks on Broadway. However, a few years ago they made another musical with original music based on a novel about Swedish immigrants to America in the 19th centrury "Kristina från Duemala". I understand that it's a huge production, it is very long, lasting close to three hours and it has only been staged in Sweden so far. It was very successful there, but I don't know if there are any plans to have it translated to English or have it staged anywhere else.

-greetings from the north-
Martin

 

[cakeicer]

Wasn't that the most fun show you've ever been to? I've seen it twice and would go back again anytime. It was so nice to leave a theatre where everyone had a smile on their face. We had a 70s dance at our Rainbow community center last week and played all the best hits from that era, but when Abba's "Dancing Queen" came on everyone rushed for the dance floor.

 

[Harry]

The US Tour version that's now playing in Philly features Dee Hoty in the role of Donna, the mother, and Chilina Kennedy as the daughter, Sophie.

We'd seen Dee Hoty the last time around, and she was fabulous then as now. Chilina Kennedy, a Canadian, had a terrific stage presence and really brought the role of Sophie to life. The stage just lit up everytime she appeared.

Harry
...stage critic?, online...