International Abba Magazine #24

The 24th (and last !) issue of the International Abba Magazine was published in November 1983 and to commemorate the end of the magazine a mini re-print of the very first Abba Magazine was included inside.

The magazine started with news of the "Abbacadabra" musical confirming that it would be staged at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith London and that Benny had written a new track called "The Beast".

The next section included reviews of Agnetha's album "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" from the magazine's readers which covered a range of opinions from replacing "The Heat Is On" with "I'm Still Alive" to another reviewer saying their favourite was "Stand By My Side".

There was also a copy of a telex from Marie Ledin from the Polar Office dated September 1983 which confirmed the chart positions of the singles "The Heat Is On" and "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" and the album itself.

The last article provided an update on the "Chess" musical ; Bjorn, Benny and Tim Rice were looking for performers for the album which would be recorded mostly in Sweden other than the orchestra which would be recorded in London.

I remember picking up this issue (which I had to order from a local newsagent) and being sad that this was the last issue although not surprised as at that point Abba had become "uncool" in the UK as you could tell from the chart positions of the last few Abba / Frida / Agnetha singles.

Although of course for those of us who kept the faith during the quiet years Abba (and recently Agnetha) would be back bigger and more popular than ever...

 

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