jeudi 30 décembre 2010
Amelia rencontre Agnetha Fältskog M-magasin (suède)
mercredi 1 décembre 2010
ABBA : le b.a.ba de la pop (the ABC of pop)
here is a new interview of bjorn ulvaeus
in the french magazine "les inrockuptible"
-translation first part -
For a long time time Abba was the "band to hate" ,but the group knew how to dictate a songwriting blueprint and popular ,a band sophisticated as brian wilson's.
while the musical Mamma mia is a French triumph we had an interview with bjorn ulvaeus .Mamma mia ,Abba is back!
after eleven years around the world (ten countries) the musical featuring Abba songs has settled in Paris and is already a success another triumph for a unique pop group in the hole history of pop. the sixties were the golden era for pop ,Beatles went separate ways in 1970 ,end of the feast .but in 1972 ,in Sweden abba (build of the acronym agnetha bjorn benny and annifrid) take up the glitter,study alchemic formulas of spector and
Abba gave love songs without limits .after eurovision in 74 ,first battle
victory with waterloo,till their separation in 82 ,abba was a irresistible
hit machine , a stream of hits that we couldn't enumerate here,and some for the trip back in time : SOS, Dancing Queen, Take a Chance on Me, Chiquitita, The Winner Takes It All, On and on and on…
the best antidote to the depression and morosity
.then and now
The two "A" of Agnetha and Anni-Frid,the singers (wifes of b& b) brought feminity to the band ,the erotic touch that lacked to beatles and beach boys.
two beautuiful couples in the 70ties hum fantasy.
the symetric name (acronoum, palindrome or anagram, would note linguists) and the band itself perfect .
we love abba for all this but first for the songs ,invention of a pop music universal its root in european folklore , carnival music propelled in the milky way.
so "Thank You for the Music", . at the head of top sellers , with
Elvis, Beatles and Michael Jackson, Abba sold 375 millions albums :
the secret Garden the most visited in the world, one of the creative
team Björn Ulvaeus opened the door for a rare interview.
interview
* what was your dream when you started Abba ?
B U :before Abba, i was in another group ,started in 1963.
after, with Abba, i had two dreams above all : music and go outside
Sweden . since the start with Benny Andersson in 1965, we wanted to
write pop songs that would have international impact.
* Beatles stopped in 1970, Abba formed in 1972.did you want to take
over ?
i don't believe so. Beatles are incomparable for me. Benny and i
started writing songs thanks to them. before the Beatles, songwriters were
behind the scene. nobody knew who composed for Elvis. but in 1962, a
band that compose its own songs was there .
Benny and i used to listen to a large panel of styles :
French,Italian, Scandinavian folk music ,of course American rock and
roll, country.this mix build our background. my first band was a
folk group.
* in the 70s and 80s,you were considered commercial (hit machine),
a band with commercial pop music without real intrinsic quality.you
had the success but not the recognition. was it frustrating ?
yes sometimes it's hard. after the eurovision, waterloo was a huge
hit, we had a monster hit. but as soon as the single was leaving the
charts, everybody was sure we were one hit wonder.
eurovision winners were supposed to be like that . for one year long,before
the album featuring Mamma Mia & SOS, music critics dismissed us as a
bubble gum pop band,without future. it was hard sometimes. at the
same time, we sold more records than other bands that we respected
others colleagues, like Led Zeppelin, who understand what kind of
band we were, that our melodies and our records weren't crap !
Abba was not manufactured,the band magnified naturally.
it started with friendship between us two (Benny and me) ,we met the
two girls and felt in love.they were singers,but at the beginning we
didn't predict to make a band !
they changed their attitude towards us except the journalists
* Abba was the band that pushed the limits to the pop dimension :your
songs were sophisticated ,ambitious but always made to dance ,never
pretentious ?
I'm proud to hear that .Abba's music is not arty,that's sure but is
honest ,it talks about feelings .it was the best you could have at
the time without any doubt.
* between 73 and 81,there was almost one album per year.was it
deliberate ?
after the eurovision victory nobody could tell us what to do,we had a
total freedom artistically and make our own decision
* did you have a magic formula ?
it was hard to generate a hit every time .there was no formula ,it's
obvious on the records ,just compare "the winner takes it all" and
"mamma mia" ?
* was it hard task to generate all those hits ?
that was our secret ,we took lot of time to compose compared to other
groups of the era .lot of them used to be roadies unlike us.
vendredi 5 novembre 2010
I LEFT ABBA BEFORE THEIR SUCCESS !
Very few Genevans can pretend to have assisted to the birth of a mammoth of pop music.
Gustav Horn ,aka gus, has.
even if some people migh think i am a mythomaniac he said (laughing).
From a music family background ,student at the Geneva conservatoire, Gus
went to sweden in the late sixties ,played with Bob azzam orchestra , then
flew to stockholm and met Benny andersson who was already known with the
hepstars ,this groupe going to implose.
as confirm it Carl Magnus Palm in his ABBA biographie .Benny left his groupe
and intensifie collaboration with Bjorn who, he knew three years ago ,the
late left his own folk band the hootnanny singers.the two men already in
relation ship with the two women ,already stars ,going to become their
spouses and singers in the band.
the next summer ,1970, in the lycka sessions,he played bass with another
swiss ,john cuonz , a drummer brought by him.he vaguely remembers the
recording sessions .i played a lot of sessions in sweden ,i can't remember
.it was in the metronome studio.they both met michael B Tretow ,
sound ingenieur , crucial in the birth of the ABBA sound.
music!
in stockholm there was plenty of it .since prime minister olof palme
opened the doors to americans who decided to boycott vietnam war.
Playing with benny and bjorn ,made me mad !their music was too white ! too elaborated to my tatse !
but he praised their methodology ,"we used to play until late at night,we
ate on the go and carried on working,they know exactly what they wanted" .
while he is talking "lycka" album is playing ,we brought to him.he listen
and then comments:"what a crap !" he lower the volume and tell us ,it's
impossible ,neighbours will be shoked!, i play only good music !
more late he hums a title ,hej gamle man ,the first number agnetha and
frida sung on .their first quartet recording and a local hit ,he precised :"i
remember this song ,we did it on stage!
because ,during the following months he tours with the members of the
future ABBA.he participated to the first solo album of frida (?????) ,produced by
Benny."her carrier was not really boosted " then he followed them on their
first incarnation as a cabaret live act known as festfolket "we began on a
restaurant in gotebourg .the audience was nearly null !"
for the members of the band this will remain the worst ,an absolut
desaster in the carrier of four .bjorn remembers and will say "this is
what we would avoid from now on" even Frida and Benny nearly broke up
according to carl magnus palm .Gus remembers especially long winter trips
in a bus ,"the show was perfect but the audience didn't follow.
he remembers a clean image of the groupe "uptight".
great improviser ,captured by any new sound ,he played like an
enthusiastic child .artistically he was the most openhearted".
the two ladies were less known to him.about the blonde Agnetha ,he says
she was a sentimental singer ,very talented in that style and even she
won lot of money,she was sensible .she use to sing out of tune ,Beside
that she very beautiful with that long blonde hair ... and that bottom !.
her posterior was a mythical subject during the decade ,conducting
her to prepare responses like "how can i talk about it, i never seen
it!" he adds that she was not as prude as she pretends !!!
regarding the brunette Frida .She was an excellent singer very precise .she
knew lot of old jazz standars and use to improvise scat numbers during the
evenings.as a woman ,she was restrained ,not really joyful,depressed .you
could feel a hard childhood.(frida lost her mother at 2 and was rised by
her grandmother and discovered her father at th age of 31!)
from the two divorces that distroyed Abba (????) it's the late one of
Benny and Frida that didn't surprised him! their relation ship was so passional ,it couldn't survive !
i remember one day in the sauna ,with benny and his back full of scars ;
after the festfolket fiasco ,they waited more than one year to collaborate as the foursome
chorist) and his money needs ,it was hard to resist the temptations ,there
was so much reason to go out and attractive ladies !
he wanted to teach music so he got help from rutger gunnarsson to
integrate the royal swedish academy of music ,he then presented him to
abba members .Rutger will be the bassist of all abba's carrier ."today,he
(rutger)'s got a big mansion near a lake with a boat ,gus sighs ,in his
three rooms appartement in saint jean (switzerland) ,i regretted sometimes
,when i think about the money .but in fact it was not my register at all !
he met abba only one time in 1975 ,the band was already winner of the ESC
and begining to achieve worldwide success .we granted each other ,that's
all!
in 1982 ,he came back to geneva where he actually teaches music . in only one year
it wll be retirement .
my girlfriend is senegalese ,we'll spend winter in africa "
Gus is not embittered ,in the contrary,he has students of 7 years who
want to learn abba songs like thir mothers .he tells with enjoyment !
sure that they would have success but not at thet level!
whent they understood that the two girls had better voices and images ,it took flight .
their strength emerged because of these contagious melodies that never
become irritating !
dimanche 31 octobre 2010
Björn Ulvaeus : "we will never reform ABBA"
vendredi 29 octobre 2010
new interviews in paris of Björn Ulvaeus
picture not included in the original article (just to illustrate)
here is an english translation :
All great musicals have a wonderful story as a plot. Les Misérables, My Fair Lady, West Side Story...
In this case ("Mamma mia !"), i think the success is due to the fact that the songs blend naturally to the story line.
i never understood why ! . everywhere i go around the world people know them and it's ,i feel,a wonderful feeling.
ABBA never leave me. there is not one day without something reminds me of it.and we are very careful to the use of our songs,in the media.
___________________________________________
recent picture of Björn
(well said Bjorn ,own comment)
samedi 16 octobre 2010
AGNETHA a la première de Mamma Mia ! au Danemark
Agnetha a provoque une grande et agréable surprise en accompagnant Björn a la première de Mamma Mia ! au Danemark,elle est même monte sur scène et ce pour la première fois depuis la création de l'opéra rock base sur les chansons du groupe .
(image courtesy of INTERMEZZO)
vendredi 1 octobre 2010
nouvel interview de Benny Andersson
dans le magazine suédois VI
Benny Andersson se confie
ma vie n'as pas été de tout repos ,si succès il y a ,je n'est aucun mérite ,c'est la chance c'est tout
l'homme doit saisir sa chance et savoir la gérer
la solidarité est un devoir en suède !
il parle pour la première fois ouvertement de son combat avec l'alcool et comment il est sobre depuis 2001
la vie n'est pas aussi simple
Spriten höll på att ta ABBA-Bennys liv
vendredi 17 septembre 2010
NEWS
19 septembre 2010
Frida n'exclut pas d'enregistrer avec Agnetha , le souhaite , mais craint de n'etre a la hauteur des esperances d'une telle collaboration (en fait , quelqu'un trouvera toujours a en re-dire !) mais elle ne ferme pas toutes les portes .
en ce moment elle ecoute beaucoup "Crossby Still Nash and Young" ainsi que "Chicago" (dont Peter Cetera avait produit l'album 'I stand alone' d'Agnetha ainsi qu'un duo)
lien : (mikory abba blog article suedois traduit en anglais)
une reprise de "Morning has broken" popularise par Cat Stevens
pour l'entendre : morning has broken frida
lundi 16 août 2010
mardi 27 avril 2010
news of the world of abba
there will be french articles translation or english ones
avis aux francophones ,si vous desirez la traduction d'un articles sur ABBA .
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