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In mid 1970 Björn Ulvæus and Benny Andersson decided to record an album together for the first time. Titled Lycka (Happiness), the album contained eleven songs written by Björn and Benny: Hej Gamle Man, Nanting År På Vag, Ge Oss En Chans, Lieselotte, Lycka, Kara Gamla Sol, Det Dar Med Karlek, Volkommen In I Ganget, Lilla Du LillaVan, Kalles Visa, Livet Går Sin Gang. On this album Agnetha Fältskog, Björn's fiancé, and Anni-frid Lyngstad, Benny's fiancé, appeared as backup singers. Although they were uncredited, this was the first time the four, that would later become ABBA, recorded together. After touring for a while through Swedish restaurants performing a cabaret show, two of the four, Björn and Agnetha, got married in a small village in southern Sweden in July '71.
Several months had passed and Björn and
Benny felt they had enough new songs to justify going into the
recording studio again. This studio session produced five new songs,
People Need Love, He Is Your Brother, She's My Kind Of Girl, Santa
Rosa and Merry Go Round, all of which had English lyrics. After some
interest from a Japanese record company, She's My Kind Of Girl was
released in Japan and was an immense success. Meanwhile in Sweden
People Need Love was released and credited, for the first time, to
Björn, Benny, Agnetha and Frida, while in North America People
Need Love was released under the slightly different name of
Björn and Benny, with Svenska Flicka (Swedish Girls). Due to the
success of People Need Love and subsequent singles, Björn and
Benny 
were invited to submit a
song to the Swedish heats of the Eurovision Song Contest. The result
was Ring Ring which was co-written by manager Stikkan 'Stig' Anderson
(no relation to Benny), Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody. The four
(including a heavily pregnant Agnetha) performed Ring Ring much to
the delight of the Swedish people, but unfortunately it only came
third. Almost two weeks later Agnetha gave birth to her first child,
a daughter, Linda. Regardless of its poor showing in the Eurovision
heats, Ring Ring went on to be a hit in several countries around the
world.
To coincide with the release of Ring Ring,
Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-frid recorded their first album
also titled Ring Ring. Due to the growing popularity of Agnetha,
Björn, Benny and Anni-frid, they, along with manager Stig
Anderson, were now conducting more and more press conferences and
interviews. In one such interview Stig was getting frustrated at
continually referring to the four as Agnetha, Björn, Benny and
Anni-frid, so he coined the name ABBA. With permission from the
Swedish fishing company, also called ABBA, this name seemed to be
ideal and so it 
stuck.
Since the failure of Ring Ring, Björn and Benny had been writing more material for ABBA, and now felt they had enough to go into the studio and record these tracks. Towards the end of 1973 ABBA were also preparing to enter the Swedish heats of the next Eurovision Song Contest. In early 1974 ABBA decided they'd enter a newly written song called Waterloo. Unlike last time ABBA won the Swedish heats and were off to the Eurovision Song Contest in England. Held in Brighton, in southern England, the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest was going to be an uphill battle. After promoting heavily and rehearsing just as much, ABBA performed Waterloo to the British audience on April 6th. After the scores were tallied up, it became apparent that ABBA had won the Eurovision Song Contest of 1974, and they were on their way. After the obligatory promotional visits and appearances, ABBA was not out of the spotlight for long as Waterloo made it to number one in no less than 13 different countries. It was not long before ABBA's second album (Or the first first as ABBA) was released. Shortly after the album was released, the second single from the Waterloo album was also released. Honey Honey was not the success ABBA had hoped it to be and it seemed that the one hit wonder stigma that surrounded Eurovision Wins had befallen ABBA. Regardless of this, ABBA embarked on a tour of Europe just before Christmas of 1974.
Agnetha Ase Fältskog was born in the small Swedish town of Jonkoping on April 6th 1950. Described as a peaceful, strong and caring, it became apparent from an early age that Agnetha was a musically gifted child. She would sing in church, play on neighbours' pianos, and compose her own songs at a very young age. In her early teens Agnetha had her own group The Cambers, but by the age of fifteen she was fronting Bernt Enghart's orchestra, a dance band from Huskvarna in Sweden. By this time Agnetha was composing songs that were used in the bands lineup. One such song, Jag Var Sa Kar (I Was So In Love), caught the attention of a talent scout in Stockholm. Agnetha got a call to come to Stockholm and record the song, but without the rest of the band. It was a tough decision but she decided to do it. Jag Var Sa Kar went on to become a number one hit in Sweden and after she recorded her first album titled Agnetha Fältskog, it was decided that Agnetha should move to Stockholm from Jonkoping. After much success in Sweden Agnetha's record company thought she should try the West German market. Agnetha released eight singles in West Germany but they failed to be noticed and so she returned to Sweden. On her return, Agnetha recorded her second album Agnetha Fältskog Vol. 2. Not long after returning home she was invited to perform in a televised gala. She immediately recognised one of the performers scheduled to appear on the show. Agnetha had already met Björn Ulvæus during some 'Folk Park' tours but their relationship was at first quite bitter. The reason for this was that Agnetha had failed to appear for a show, so Björn's group, The Hootenanny Singers, who were supposed to perform after Agnetha, were forced to go onstage early and Björn was not impressed. Things were different at the filming however, and Agnetha and Björn fell madly in love. And it was through Björn that Agnetha met Björn's musical partner Benny Andersson and his girlfriend Anni-frid Lyngstad.
Mamma Mia
I've been cheated by you since I don't know when leave me now or never Bye bye doesn't
mean forever |
Super TrouperI was sick and tired of everything |
