ABBA Fans Blog: June 2024

Here is my interview with Joe Matera who’s new book “Louder Than Words : Beyond The Backstage Pass” includes a chapter on Abba and Joe’s work with ABBA’s guitarist Janne Schaffer.

Firstly Joe, thanks for agreeing to talk to me for my blog - can I start by asking when you were first aware of Abba ?

I first became aware of ABBA in 1975, when I was ten years old. It was through watching Countdown, a national music TV show that was hugely popular in Australia during the Seventies. Countdown was the first to play the ABBA promotional videos, and I remember watching the video to “Mamma Mia”, and I instantly fell in love with the music. I then went out and bought the ABBA album and played that album every day. It made me become a fan for life.

Can you tell me a little about your book and how long you have been working on it ?

It took me 18 months to write ‘Louder Than Words: Beyond the Backstage Pass’ and it is a follow-up to my first book, ‘Backstage Pass: The Grit and The Glamour’. The first book collected entries from my personal diaries, focusing on many backstage stories of my times meeting, interviewing and working with some of music’s greatest artists. I tried capturing what our favourite music artists are like away from the public, and showed a human side to them. They range from Queen to Metallica to Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel fame, with whom I was honoured to have played guitar for in 2012.

My new book though, takes a slightly different route, as it’s more of a personal story which I weave into the stories about the artists – like ABBA - and their music that shaped my life and my own music, and the importance of those particular artists, in popular music culture, such as Bryan Adams, Gerry Rafferty and The Beach Boys, to name but a few I write about.

How do Abba feature in the book ?

There is a whole chapter in my book that details my love for the band and my connection to the band through my working with long time ABBA guitarist Janne Schaffer, who played guitar on many of those classic ABBA hits and albums. I also tell the back story of how important Australia was to ABBA’s rise to international success, and their influence on popular culture, and my own life and music. And then I detail how Janne and I came to work together, and in the process, tell his life in music story. An interesting fact that some ABBA fans may not know is that Janne’s 1973 debut solo album, outsold ABBA's debut album in Sweden, and topped the Swedish charts for six weeks. It’s a fascinating tale.

Have you ever met any of the members of Abba ?

No unfortunately I have not. I have communicated with their management/PA people, and they are also aware of my book.

Apart from Abba what other groups / performers do you mention in your book ?

My book deals with artists from mainly the 1970s to the 1980s, (with a few from the 1960s) as artists from that era are the ones that shaped my musical tastes and life and soundtracked my growing up. Artists covered in chapters range from The Beach Boys and The Animals, to Bryan Adams and Billy Squier. Also covered are KISS, 10cc, Foreigner, America, The Korgis (with whom I currently collaborate with musically) amongst several others.

Did you manage to see them during any of their tours when they were performing in the 1970s ?

No, I was very young. Plus, I was brought up in a very strict religious Italian household, and being so young, and with the lack of any support, there was no option for going to any concerts let alone ABBA. And by the time I was old enough to go, the band were no longer.

If pushed what are your top 5 Abba songs and why ?

My number one song is “SOS”. It’s pop perfection, from the melody to the musical arrangement to the vocals. It’s faultless and timeless. The Who’s Pete Townsend once stated it was the ‘best pop song ever written’. And I agree. Totally. Nothing else comes near it.

A close second is “The Winner Takes It All”. That is another master stroke of a pop song, it essentially shows what masters ABBA were at creating pop songs that had dark lyrical subject matters put to light, uplifting music, and a melody that is the perfect earworm.

Third is “Dancing Queen”, and what more can I say about this, apart from the fact that it will make you get up and dance, and feel good. It is one of ABBA’s iconic songs with one of the most instantly recognizable choruses in pop music – ‘You can dance/you can jive/having the time of your life/See that girl/ watch that scene/digging the Dancing Queen’.

Fourth is “Voulez-Vous”, perfect for its time with its synth driven, bass pumping disco infused sound. Both Agnetha and Frida do a masterful job in delivering almost ‘white-girl funk’ vocals that were pretty common in many of the disco hits of the day for example, Blondie’s “Heart Of Glass’, and which as we all know, was due to the influence of it being recorded in a recording studio in Miami, USA, where many of the Bee Gees 70s disco chart hits were recorded.

Fifth and last is “Eagle”, which I think is a totally underrated ABBA track, especially the album version, as it edges on progressive rock territory while retaining the pop sensibility, and further highlighted by the spacey, dreamy guitar solo.

Have you been to see Abba Voyage in London yet and if so, what were your impressions of the experience ?

Not yet but hoping to get to it at some point as I’ll be on a UK tour in November performing several concerts together with The Korgis.

Joe’s book “Louder Than Words : Beyond The Backstage Pass” is available on Amazon UK now.