ABBA Gold (The Complete Story)
		Author: John Tobler
		Published by: Century 22 limited, 1993
		Pages: 162
		ISBN:

Text:
Traditionally, the giants of popular music have come from either Britain or America, and if it had been suggested at the start of the 1970s that the biggest pop/rock act in the world at the end of the decade would come from Sweden, the reaction would have been one of total disbelief. This is the story of ABBA, the group who defied all conventions, and from the somewhat insubstantial platform of victory in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, progressed to become the biggest record sellers in the world. The name "Abba" was first known in the music business over 40 years ago, although it had nothing to do with the quartet from Sweden. The first Abba was a songwriter, a New Yorker named eden ahbez (he believed that only Gods should spell their names with capital letters). He wrote a song called "NatureBoy" which became a number one hit for Nat `King' Cole in 1948 - the songwriting credit was abbreviated to Abba. In Scandinavia, the name Abba is also well known as the trade mark of a famous food compagny who specialise in canning fish. The name is perhaps better known around the world however as the abbrevation of Anni-Frid, Björn, Benny and Agnetha - the pop sensations of the 1970s and 80s.
ABBA Gold - The Complete Story updates the group's history at a time when its great heritage is being discovered by a new young generation, whose parents are happily rediscovering it. It also coincides with the worldwide release of ABBA Gold, the first ever ABBA compilation to include all the group's biggest hits on a single album, which has been a massive seller around the world. The group's recordings are surveyed chronologically, from the early failures to the multi-million sellers, with an account of the events which influenced and affected the group in their hugely successfulquest for superstardom. Lavishly illustrated in colour and black and white and including many previously unpublished photos, ABBA Gold - The Complete Story is the definitive account of ABBA's career authorised by the group themselves.

Contents:

1. Introduction (p. 3)
2. Anni-Frid Lyngstad (p. 5)
3. Björn Ulvaeus (p. 9)
4. Benny Andersson (p. 14)
5. Agnetha Fältskog (p. 17)
6. 1969-72 The formative years (p. 19)
7. 1973 Ring Ring, wrong number for Eurovision (p. 26)
8. 1974 Home win for Waterloo-now for Europe (p. 30)
9. 1975 No tour-and not much of a hit (p. 42)
10. 1976 Success sustained-big time in Britain (p. 48)
11. Dancing Queen makes it a hat track (p. 52)
12. 1977 Awards a gogo (p. 57)
13. 1978 Abba-the platinum album (p. 64)
14. 1979 Keeping it together (p. 77)
15. Chiquitita for charity (p. 85)
16. 1980 (p. 92)
17. 1981 (p. 96)
18. 1982 (p. 101)
19. 1983 (p. 109)
20. 1984 (p. 116)
21. 1985 (p. 122)
22. 1986 (p. 124)
23. 1987 (p. 125)
24. 1988 (p. 131)
25. 1989 (p. 138)
26. 1990 (p. 139)
27. 1991 (p. 141)
28. 1992 (p. 142)
29. Discography (p. 152)
30. Index (p. 157)

Tom HUDEC, hudec@fi.muni.cz, Last modification: February 25, 1998

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