It seems there were always a few groups that just weren't on the tips of the tongue of music lovers and radio listeners. Abba was one although in my area of the country, they had lots of hits and plenty of airplay, enough to say they were among the top played groups/artists. I just knew nothing about them except the occasional American Bandstand appearance. I never saw displays in record store and never heard factoids about the group mentioned by jocks. Another group that seemed much like Abba was The Grass Roots...plenty of hits, lots of airplay but no displays in record stores or any of the other things that gave the listener much knowledge of the group.
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Abba: The lost factor.
- Thread starter davideduardo
- Start date
I thought for the longest time that the Grass Roots were a studio band, like the Ohio Express or Tony Burrows' numerous UK bands. They had even less of a public image than Three Dog Night, and I don't remember ever hearing about them touring during their heyday.
Most of his material must have gone right over those school kids' heads. They probably thought he was some kind of gross-out humor act, based on that one song. I saw him at Syracuse University a few years after "Dead Skunk." I don't think he even sang it during his set. Didn't matter, he'd built a reputation as a brilliant singer-songwriter by then and the crowd was familiar with, and loved, his material.
Australians have long had a great love for European pop music. In fact, they are so obsessed with the Eurovision Song Contest that they were able to convince that event's organizers to let Australia compete in the contest despite being far away from Europe.
In the US, from 2016 to 2018, Logo TV aired Eurovision for the US audience. However, a measly 74,000 viewers tuned in to Logo TV's coverage of Eurovision. Therefore, in 2019, Logo TV canceled their coverage of Eurovision.
On September 10, 2021, the two new songs that ABBA released -- "Don't Shut Me Down" and "I Still Have Faith in You" -- made it to the Top 15 of the UK's Official Chart. However, in the US, neither song made it to the Billboard Hot 100.
Having said that, I am glad to read about young people, like your daughter, who appreaciate ABBA's classic hits.
In going to Miami for my First Phone test after First Phone Wonder School in Sarasota, a roomate and I were walking in Fort Lauderdale where the Spring Breakers were congregating, and there's a Boom Box playing "Funkytown". Guy walks by and says "disco sucks, man"
Because they broke up in 1982, ABBA had a relatively short span of Billboard hits (1974-1983) and they were pretty much done with Top 40 entries by 1980. While they had a healthy 14 Top 40 hits, they only landed 4 in the Top 10:
This new album has some of the same flaws as their later 70s work: treacly subject matter and a hesitant lyric delivery that sounds like they don't understand what they're singing.
- Dancing Queen peaked at #1 in 1976
- Take A Chance On Me (#3 1978)
- Waterloo (#6 1974)
- The Winner Takes It All (#8 1980)
This new album has some of the same flaws as their later 70s work: treacly subject matter and a hesitant lyric delivery that sounds like they don't understand what they're singing.
This week, Voyage, ABBA's new studio album, is number one in several European countries and in Australia. In the UK, the album outsold the next 35 albums combined.
Chart Performance for Voyage
Chart Performance for Voyage
Surprised that "Fernando" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You" didn't go top 10. I remember hearing them more than "The Winner Takes It All" at the time they were current.
Was it true that Blue Swede, the Scandinavian band that covered "Hooked on a Feeling" and "Never My Love," sang those songs phonetically and had no idea what the words meant? I seem to recall reading that some time ago.
Never underestimate the gullibility of the consumer
Susan Boyle sold a lot of records once too, ONCE.
All four members of ABBA were fluent in English and chose to sing in that language, primarily, for better universal exposure.
If they didn't understand the words, at least they made up for it with a confident delivery. Or maybe they just distracted us with the "Ooga-chaka, ooga-oogas!"
Absolutely. And they sounded better delivery-wise at different times in their career. Anna-Frida's vocals on her solo US releases (as Frida) sound great (Phil Collins' sympathetic production didn't hurt), so they can deliver. They just aren't on this new release.
Perhaps it's the age factor, or maybe it's a calculated move. Alt-rock band Shonen Knife all speak fluent English, and yet they made a career out of sounding naive about the language, if not the music.
My .02, since I programmed during ABBA's first chart run:
Here in the U.S., the majority of their singles were turntable hits. They rarely moved product, but they'd get great female (both teen and adult) phones.
By the time they had a couple of records that could move not only 45s but LPs ("Dancing Queen" and "Take A Chance On Me"), the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and others were selling albums in such numbers that ABBA paled by comparison, peaking at #20 and #14, respectively).
Looking at their discography, I skipped most of their singles when I programmed, playing only "Waterloo", "SOS", "Fernando" and "Dancing Queen". I was so burned on "Fernando" that I was hoping to not play them again, but I dropped the needle on "Dancing Queen", heard a monster and went on it out of the box.
Why weren't they bigger in the U.S.? Biggest thing was image, I think. Not a bad image, just out of step with what was hip in the U.S. at the time. I heard one jock introduce them on-air as "The Swedish Carpenters."
Here in the U.S., the majority of their singles were turntable hits. They rarely moved product, but they'd get great female (both teen and adult) phones.
By the time they had a couple of records that could move not only 45s but LPs ("Dancing Queen" and "Take A Chance On Me"), the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and others were selling albums in such numbers that ABBA paled by comparison, peaking at #20 and #14, respectively).
Looking at their discography, I skipped most of their singles when I programmed, playing only "Waterloo", "SOS", "Fernando" and "Dancing Queen". I was so burned on "Fernando" that I was hoping to not play them again, but I dropped the needle on "Dancing Queen", heard a monster and went on it out of the box.
Why weren't they bigger in the U.S.? Biggest thing was image, I think. Not a bad image, just out of step with what was hip in the U.S. at the time. I heard one jock introduce them on-air as "The Swedish Carpenters."
And if you could see the raw numbers and how few copies move in a week these days (remember when "A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie" hit #1 on 749 copies two years ago?), that wouldn't seem nearly so impressive.
Airplay and sales are two different things.
If you listen to UK stations that play their catalog, you'll hear "Super Trouper" and "Gimme Gimme Gimme" as often as any of their other hits. Neither made any impact at all here.
Oops, forgot that the chart in those days was sales-based.
Both were big hits in the UK, where they had 20 Top 10 hits, including nine #1s.
As mentioned above, they are all quite proficient in English.
Americans don't seem to understand that in many parts of the world, and particularly in Europe, knowing a handful of languages is not uncommon.
I'll repeat the old joke:
1. What do you call someone who speaks many languages?
2. A polyglot
1. And what do you call someone who speaks two languages?
2. Bilingual.
1. And someone who only speaks one language?
2. An American
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