ABBA Magazine #17

Issue 17 of the ABBA magazine starts with news of the groups 1979 tour which had just commenced in North America and includes two major articles the first a continuation of the groups story in cartoon format (focusing on Benny) and the second being a profile of Stig Anderson.
Fan reviews of "Voulez-Vous" and a section covering Frida's horoscope as well as the normal mixture of puzzles, letters, special offers and pictures of the group make up the rest of this issue.

ABBA Date - 28th February 1976

On the 28th February 1976 ABBA were in a shoot with German photographer Bubbi Heilemann during which the group were pictured with the letters of their name - Benny turned his "B" around and a logo was born....

 

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ABBA Intermezzo No. 72

Just received the latest publication of ABBA Intermezzo - another great edition from Regina and her team...

 

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ABBA Date - 27th February 1977

On the 27th February 1977 ABBA arrived in Sydney to kick off their tour of Australia - the arrival was of course filmed and included in "ABBA The Movie".

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Collection Update - ABBA Box Set

The latest item I have added to my collection is the box set version of "ABBA The Singles - The First Ten Years". Included within the box are picture disc versions of the albums, a replica tickets to the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, a booklet providing a year by year history of the group and a large poster.

 

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ABBA Magazine #16

This issue of the ABBA Magazine starts with news of ABBA's latest single in the UK (the double A side "Voulez-Vouz" / "Angel Eyes") as well as a rather strange update on the City Orient Rowing Club which was sponsored by ABBA.

The first major article contains various updates from around the world including the success of "Chiquitita" in Australia delaying the relate of the group's next single "Does Your Mother Know" and updates on the groups 1979 tour including the North American leg.

The magazine then includes part one of "ABBA The Story" in a comic book style focusing on Frida's early days before she joined the group. The magazine then has a two page focus on Rutger Gunnarsson who was one of ABBA's backing musicians who performed on a number of the albums and was also present during the 1979 tour.

The remainder of the magazine includes the regular content of crosswords, word seach, special offers ("ABBA Annual 1980" for £1.75), letters, ABBA Grub ("Vanilla Ice Cream") and pen pals.

ABBA Date - 21st February 1974

On the 21st February 1974 Frida started to record her album "Frida Ensam" which was produced by Benny. The album was not completed until October 1975 due to the promotion work ABBA undertook following their success with "Waterloo" in Brighton.

 

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Collection Update - Tomas Ledin Album

The latest vinyl I have added to my collection is Tomas Ledin's 1982 album "Human Touch" which includes the single with Agnetha "Never Again". As you can see from the pictures below the front cover included a sticker mentioning the single with Agnetha.

 

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ABBA Date - 18th February 1978

On the 18th February 1978 ABBA's latest single in the UK "Take A Chance On Me" hit the number one spot in the singles chart replacing "Figaro" by the Brotherhood Of Man. The single stayed at the top of the chart until 11th March when it was replaced by Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights".

The single also went to number one in Austria, Ireland and Mexico - in the UK the single was the 9th biggest selling of 1978 and also gave ABBA the most number 1s of any other artist in the UK during the 70s.

 

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Mail On Sunday Article

To accompany the Mail In Sunday "Event" magazine yesterday the newspaper also included a one page summary article.

 

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Mail On Sunday "Event" Magazine

Today's Mail On Sunday "Event" magazine is billed as their ABBA anniversary issue and contains eight pages of rare photographs telling the story of the group from pre-ABBA up until a recent meeting of Bjorn, Benny and Frida.

 

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ABBA Date - 16th February 1978

On the 16th February 1978 ABBA were in London attending the British premier of "ABBA The Movie" in Leicester Square. After the screening the group attended a reception at the Cafe Royal in Regent Street.

 

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ABBA Magazine #14

As it's the weekend it's time to look back at another issue of the ABBA Magazine. Issue number 14 starts with the news that in the UK ABBA's latest album "Voulez-Vous" went straight to number 1 in the album chart. The editorial also includes all of the dates for ABBA's planned UK concerts later in 1979.

The main body of the magazine contains the final section of the interviews around the "ABBA In Switzerland" TV special. The segment focused on an interview with Agnetha who talks about her own song writing and the plans for CBS in Sweden to release a collection of her solo tracks from the last ten years.

The "Voulez-Vous" album is then reviewed track by track and the editor chooses "If It Wasn't For The Nights" as his favourite - which I have to agree with - I always thought this would have made a great single in the UK.

The last major article is with Ola Brunkert ABBA's drummer who had recently appeared with the group on "Top Of The Pops" in the UK performing "Does Your Mother Know".

Rolling Stone Article

Rolling Stone Magazine's website has an article called "Making Sweet Music : 15 Groups With Famous Relationships" - at number 8 in the list is ABBA - see the image below. Other groups mentioned include Fleetwood Mac, No Doubt, Talking Heads and Blondie.

 

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ABBA Bright Lights Dark Shadows

Yesterday I received my signed copy of Carl Magnus Palm's updated book ; I loved the original version and I am looking forward to reading the new version.

 

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Collection Update - "Ring Ring" Sheet Music

The latest sheet music I have added to my collection is for ABBA's single "Ring Ring". This particular copy is from Australia where the single was released on RCA records.

 

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ABBA Date - 10th February 1979

On the 10th February 1979 ABBA's latest single in the UK "Chiquitita" hit the number 2 spot on the official singles chart. The top 5 selling singles in the UK that week were;

1. Blondie "Heart Of Glass"
2. ABBA "Chiquitita"
3. Three Degrees "Woman In Love"
4. Ian And The Blockheads "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick"
5. Shadows "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"

 

The single did hit the number 1 spot in a number of countries including Costa Rica, Ireland, Finland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Spain.

 

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