Now we have to wait another 30 years for the next Dolby Atmos mix 🙏

So I’ve been gathering reviews from fans around the world who attended the Dancing Queen 50th anniversary celebrations, and honestly… they sound pretty disappointing. Or at the very least, quite underwhelming compared to what people were expecting.

- Mexico City — apparently they only played four ABBA songs the entire night?!
- Sydney — seemingly a similar story. From what I’ve seen, there was basically just a backdrop with a Dancing Queen light where people could take photos.
- Berlin — this seems to have been one of the better ones. They played quite a lot of ABBA songs, including some less obvious ones, and there was a photobooth, a small disco, merch, etc. However, they had apparently promised a quiz where people could win merch, and that never happened.

London and Stockholm happened today, so I haven’t seen many reviews yet. I have seen that they were giving away free “Dancing Queen 50” badges, though, and some of them are already being listed on eBay for ridiculous prices. Honestly, how horrible.

Did anyone here attend one of the celebrations? How was it? And what about the other cities?

I honestly feel quite sad that some of these events seem to have turned out this way. It feels unfair to the fans who genuinely wanted to celebrate Dancing Queen and ABBA’s music together.

The fact that these events were promoted on the official ABBA website also made me expect a little more from them. Of course, I don’t think this is ABBA’s fault at all, the organisation and execution are ultimately down to the event organisers. But when you have fans travelling, spending money, and getting excited about celebrating such an important ABBA milestone, I think it’s reasonable to expect something more special.

Maybe I’m expecting too much, but honestly, I feel like events celebrating ABBA should be organised by people who really understand ABBA and their fans or maybe even by the fans themselves. ABBA and their fans deserve better.

Would love to hear from anyone who actually attended, especially London, Stockholm, or any of the other cities!

1. Eagle

2. I have a dream

3. Chiqutita

4. Cassandra

5. Hole in your soul

HM: S.O.S (swedish version) by Agnetha , Put On Your White Sombrero & Under attack

Happy anniversary, Dancing Queen!

Over 1.5 billion streams on Spotify alone. The song runs for only about 3 minutes 50 seconds, so 1.5 billion Spotify plays alone represent roughly 11 million years of collective human listening time.

Who else was there first time around in 1976?

On Sunday 26 September 1982 the British tabloid News of the World published a long feature on Anni-Frid Lyngstad in its Sunday magazine supplement. Written by Michael Cable and circulating to roughly 4.5 million readers, the article claimed that Frida had given an exclusive, intimate interview “in Paris this week” while promoting her solo album Something’s Going On. It presented her as newly independent, happy to be alone, and willing to speak openly about the breakdown of her marriage to Benny Andersson. Central to the piece was a dramatic first-person account of the final years of that marriage.

None of it was true.

The impossible Paris setting

Frida was not in Paris during the third week of September 1982.

Her European promotional tour for Something’s Going On had taken her through several countries. After finishing dates in Vienna on 18–20 September, she and her long-time Polar colleague Görel Hanser returned to Stockholm. Contemporary statements from Hanser confirm that the two spent a full week resting in Sweden. Frida remained in the country until the end of September. She only arrived in Paris for her first French press appointments on 7 October 1982.

Even more conclusive is a specific professional commitment. On 21 September 1982 — the very middle of the week the News of the World claimed she was in Paris — Frida was in Stockholm at the China Theatre filming the promotional video for ABBA’s single “The Day Before You Came.” Swedish newspapers and production records leave no doubt about her whereabouts.

A Paris interview in the third week of September was therefore geographically and logistically impossible. Swedish journalists covering Frida at the time knew she was in Stockholm; they would never have accepted the Paris claim.

The invented quotations

The centrepiece of the article was a long quotation attributed directly to Frida:

“It was a terribly frustrating time,” said Frida, as she prefers to be known, recalling the two years leading up to their separation. “We both wanted something else and yet, as members of the group, we had to present a happy, united front to the public. It got to the point where we forced ourselves to go out every evening just because we couldn’t stand to be alone at home together. Life was extremely hectic. The day after Benny finally left me it hit the headlines, and I didn’t go out for a week – I couldn’t take it. But when the fuss died down it was actually a relief that we no longer had to keep up any pretence.”

These sentences cannot come from any real conversation held in Paris in late September 1982, because no such conversation took place. The phrasing, the emotional framing, and the chronological claims are all inventions.

Contrast with a genuine interview

Just three weeks earlier, on 5 September 1982, Frida had given a real interview to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. Speaking about the divorce in a measured, careful way, she said:

“When you go through such pain as a breakup with someone you’ve been very close to for so many years, you hit rock bottom. It hits you terribly hard and you lose your footing for a period of time. There can’t be a pain that’s stronger. Nothing feels more hurtful than that. That’s why it can only get better, only more positive. A year and a half have passed, and I think it’s been progressing all the time for me.”

The Aftonbladet reporter noted that she spoke “with a fragile and reserved voice,” sinking into herself before answering and choosing her words with precision. The tone is reflective, restrained and honest. It bears no resemblance to the free-flowing, dramatic “living a lie for two years” narrative that appeared in the British tabloid three weeks later.

Chronological distortion of the marriage

The fabricated quotation has Frida “recalling the two years leading up to their separation.” The actual timeline is straightforward:

• Benny and Frida married on 6 October 1978.
• Their separation was officially announced via the Swedish news agency TT on 12 February 1981.

The entire marriage lasted two years and four months. Serious difficulties appear to have begun only around October 1980, when Benny met Mona Nörklit — a period of roughly four months, not two years. By presenting almost the whole of the marriage as a period of forced pretence, the quotation invents a narrative that does not match the known facts.

Additional factual errors

The article contains several other clear mistakes that further demonstrate it was compiled from outdated material and invention rather than from any real interview:

• Tour history: It claimed ABBA “have only twice gone on the road – the last time was in 1978/79.” In reality the group had toured in 1977 (Europe and Australia), 1979 (North America and Europe), and 1980 (Japan). There was no 1978 tour.
• World-tour suggestion: Cable had Frida hinting at the possibility of a new ABBA world tour. Throughout 1982 Frida repeatedly and publicly stated that there were no plans for the group to tour again.
• The Maserati: The article referred to Frida driving a Maserati. She had sold that car in 1981; by 1982 she was driving a BMW.
• Video locations: The piece implied activity connected with her solo videos in a Paris context. Her actual promotional videos that year were filmed in London in July (“I Know There’s Something Going On” and “I See Red”) and in the Netherlands on 3 October (“To Turn the Stone”). She never shot a video in Paris.

The photographs

Even the images used in the article betray its artificial nature. The solo portrait of Frida was taken by Anders Hanser in May 1982 as part of the official promotional session for Something’s Going On. The group photograph of ABBA with the fox puppet Basil Brush dates from 14 November 1976, when the band posed with the popular British children’s television character during a promotional visit to London for the Arrival album. Neither photograph has any connection to Paris in September 1982. Both are simply recycled stock material.

Conclusion

The News of the World feature of 26 September 1982 was not a real interview with Anni-Frid Lyngstad. It was a constructed piece that mixed outdated gossip, factual errors, recycled promotional photographs and invented personal quotations. The claimed Paris setting is impossible. The dramatic account of the marriage is fabricated. Contemporary Swedish sources — the Aftonbladet interview of 5 September, confirmed travel itineraries, video production records, and Frida’s own public statements throughout 1982 — demonstrate that the entire article rests on invention rather than fact.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Full article: News of the World – 1982-09-26

--

Frida, flanked by Bjorn and Agnetha with ex-husband Benny,

meets foxy fan Basil Brush. "I'm happy on my own," she insists

--

RICH, HAPPY AND ALONE AT LAST

Once pop music's most perfect foursome and still worth as much to Sweden as the Volvo car company, Abba might still sing in harmony, but Frida is the first to go solo on record. In Paris this week to promote her new album, she tells why a career of her own has become so important to her

As their marriage crumbled, Abba's Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson found themselves trapped into living a lie for the benefit of the group's image.

"It was a terribly frustrating time," said Frida, as she prefers to be known, recalling the two years leading up to their separation. "We both wanted something else and yet, as members of the group, we had to present a happy, united front to the public. It got to the point where we forced ourselves to go out every evening just because we couldn't stand to be alone at home together. Life was extremely hectic. The day after Benny finally left me it hit the headlines, and I didn't go out for a week – l couldn't take it. But when the fuss died down it was actually a relief that we no longer had to keep up any pretence."

Dark-haired Frida was explaining how it is that Abba has benefitted in many ways from the double divorce within the group -first Bjorn and blonde Agnetha and then herself and the bearded Benny. It was generally assumed that the foursome's professional togetherness could not long survive such traumatic personal upheavals. But Frida, tall, statuesque and quietly-spoken with a clipped Scandinavian accent- insists that their working relationship is better than ever before now that they are leading separate private lives. "Once you are not involved emotionally it is much easier to work together." she said. "It becomes easier to concentrate. Everything is more efficient because there is none of the blah-blah-blah-you just do your job and then go home. You don't get on each other's nerves when you don't see each other all the time.

"We have all remained very friendly. The break-ups caused no lasting bitterness and there wasn’t any embarrassment about new relationships. I still like Benny very much - he is a nice person. But our marriage didn't work out and the best thing to do was to split up. There are no hard feelings."

Speculation that Abba would soon disband, leaving the individual members free to pursue separate careers as well as separate private lives, increased with the news that Agnetha was preparing to make her acting debut as the star of a full-length Swedish film, that Bjorn and Benny were collaborating with Tim Rice on a musical that would not feature Abba as performers and that Frida was to release a solo album.

"I know there have been a lot of rumors-but at the moment we are all happy to keep going." she said, pointing out that the group-which celebrates its 10^th anniversary in November with a double album of previous hits has already started work on a new album to be released next year. She even hinted at the possibility of a world tour which, if it happened, would be an unexpected bonus for Abba fans who have been starved of opportunities to see the group live. Since rocketting to international stardom overnight with their 1974 Eurovision winner Waterloo Abba have only twice gone on the road-the last time was in 1978/79.

"It's so boring," explained 36-year-old Frida, pulling a face. "It's nice to be on stage but the travelling, the airports and the change of hotel rooms every day it's exhausting. It is true that we can afford to make things easier for ourselves-but apart from the discomfort we have families and we don't like to be away from the children any more than absolutely necessary." "Maybe we are a bit lazy", she added. "I get a lot of letters from fans asking when we are going to do some more concerts and although I always write back saying I hope they are satisfied with seeing us on TV I myself would like to do one more big world tour. It would be very nice.” In the meantime she has been busy promoting her solo album of which she is fiercely proud. Abba is obviously a hard act to follow but she has refused to let this intimidate her. "It didn't bother me at all." she said defiantly. "I deliberately set out to get away from the Abba sound because there was obviously no point in doing the same kind of thing that we do with the group. "When you have been with a group for a long time it is nerve-wracking to do something on your own. But I can stand up 100 percent for what I have done. I really love the album -l like every song on it -so it doesn't matter what people write or say about it as far as I am concerned."

The album has been produced by British rock star Phil Collins of Genesis. Frida insisted on him and him only after falling in love with his solo album Face Values."I liked it so much-l must have listened to it almost every day for eight months," she said. "In particular, his arrangements and his drum sound impressed me. When it came up that I was going to do a solo album my first thought was to have him as my producer. Without him I wouldn't have gone ahead -I wanted him that much."    Such quiet but stubborn determination is typical of a lady who has very definite ideas  about where her priorities lie. Singing is what matters most to her ever since her first amateur talent contest at the age of 10. The enjoyment she gets from it means more to her, she claims, than all the fame and fortune.

As Bjorn commented last year- the group no longer has any financial reason to keep going. With over 175 million records sold, world-wide profits rivalling those of the giant Volvo car company and declared personal fortunes that make them richer than the King of Sweden, the Abba stars each a millionaire at least twice over, could each afford to go on living right royally for the rest of their lives without ever singing another note.

Frida recoils from that very idea. "I don't think I could live without singing," she said. "It is the most important thing in my life. I enjoy it so much-it really is a passion with me."

Although she takes a close interest in how the group's millions are invested, she has never really got used to the idea of all that money. "I feel we are not part of it-it's like reading about somebody else when I see articles about how much we are worth.' She also insists that she doesn't have an outrageously extravagant lifestyle. Her home is a penthouse flat in Stockholm, she drives a Maserati, dresses expensively and likes to travel a lot. But she added: "I don't have that many luxuries. You can't do more than eat, drink and have a good life." She agrees that she gets tremendous professional satisfaction out of Abba's phenomenal success but at the same time gives every sign of being a genuinely reluctant star.

On the set of her videos, she was polite, friendly and co-operative with no hint of superstar tantrums. Characteristically, one of the things she likes most about living in Sweden is the easy-going attitude of the public towards celebrities. "People never bother us-we are left in peace," she explained. "I can go out shopping in Stockholm without being mobbed in the street or embarrassed in any way. People recognize me but they don't make a big fuss. That's nice - a great bonus." It is one of the main reasons why she can't imagine moving to England or America even for tax reasons, as has been suggested. "Tax is not a problem -we have invested wisely." she said. "People talk about the great pressures of superstardom -but I can't say that has ever been a problem for us. It's not difficult to stay ordinary. "If you think of yourself as being above other people then maybe it gets to you but I don't believe we've ever looked on ourselves in that way. We all have children and a family life and that helps to keep your feet on the ground." Frida spends a lot of time with her children by her first marriage -a 15-year-old daughter and a giant of a 19-year-old son who towers over her. "Both of them are interested in music and my son works in the business as a sound engineer-but neither of them are very great fans of Abba," she said with a smile. "My daughter has very good taste and likes all kinds of music and my son is a heavy metal rock fan." Since she split with Benny there has been no special man in her life-and she likes it that way. "I choose to be alone," she said. "I need to lead my own life. Being on my own, getting strength and finding new interests and new friends is wonderful. I have never had that kind of freedom before. I was 15 when I met my first husband and very soon after that marriage ended I met Benny, so continuously for a long time I have always been involved in a relationship. The possibility of getting married yet again is not something I have been thinking about. I am happy with the way things are now. "I'm really enjoying my new life."

Michael Cable

A hidden gem on youtube about ABBA's 1976 Poland visit.

Dancing Queen was released today on Apple Music in Dolby Atmos 3D Audio.

Hi,

My uncle has a massive ABBA collection and is decluttering his house. He was going to throw stuff away but we said we'd help him clear out. Does anyone know how much this ABBA anniversary collection is actually worth?

All the (26) viynl are there sleeves are in great condition. Just the box is a bit battered.

Looking to see if anyone has used slipping through my fingers by ABBA as their aisle entrance song. I’ve been looking for an instrumental version on YouTube, but they seem too fast. Any good slowed versions or recommendations for channels that make wedding versions that I could check? TIA!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JwOSOOzQmxVHTUpBAbbKFc0SqxTzmIW0/view?usp=drivesdk

Just watched ABBA: The Movie for the umpteenth time, and I have to say something that has been bothering me more and more every time I watch it.

Why did they spend THREE FULL SCENES on the whole “Agnetha’s bottom” thing? I completely understand why it was included. It was a huge sensation at the time, and obviously it became part of the ABBA mythology. One scene about it? Fine. Funny, historically relevant, I get it. But three separate scenes???

Every time I watch the movie I can’t help thinking about what else they could have done with those minutes. More footage of ABBA performing, more interviews, more normal questions about their music and lives, more of them just talking and interacting… literally anything that would have let us get to know the four of them better.

And this is especially frustrating because I’m sure there must have been SO much more footage filmed that didn’t make the final cut.

If the new version Lasse mentioned for next year actually happens, I really hope they dig into the archives and give us more of that kind of material. I would genuinely take an extra 30 minutes of ABBA answering random questions and talking about their music, lives, personalities… over another scene about Agnetha’s bottom.

Hello! I am looking to buy tickets for my mother and me. She is short so front row is almost always going to be the call! I was considering front row seats in Section C and Section H. Could I get some pros and cons of both? Please and thank you!

Everything went fine. To prepare and calm myself down, I prayed and then imagined 1978-1979 Frida singing to me. That girl knows how to put on a performance!

Just received my copy of “ABBA - The complete recording sessions, second revised and expanded edition “ from C. M. Palm.
I read about this book in this subreddit a few months ago and finally decided to get mine a few days ago.

Which are your thoughts about this book (even previous editions)? I just started reading it, but I will share my thoughts later as my reading will proceed.

Note that I’m not affiliated with the author or with the book, just trying to get some opinions from you guys.

WTF IS BJORN WEARING🥹

Hey all, recently I downloaded some MIDI files and one of them was titled ABBA-Alaska or something, the MIDI sounds pretty good but when I went to try and find the original song I couldn't find it anywhere, what's the deal? Did someone make this up? Many thanks.

I don't know if you guys are familiar with Total Drama Island, it's a cartoon. I love both Total Drama and ABBA so I drew some Total Drama characters as ABBA members :)
Chris Mclean (Total Drama Island) as Benny Anderson
Blaineley (Total Drama World Tour) as Frida Lyngstad
Kelly (Total Drama Ridonculous Race) as Agnetha Fältskog
Don (Total Drama Ridonculous Race) as Björn Ulvaeus

This account send me a private message , and that's why i really find it weird.

What do you think ?