Lopez Blogs

If you do not like Abba or at the very least one Abba song then there is something very very wrong with you indeed. In fact the same rule applies to Kylie, Madonna and the Carpenters. I don't mean that in a judgemental way, just in a "you should probably check out your mental health" sort of way. Because Abba are all sorts of glorious. And once again, as happens about every 5-6 years or so, they are back in the public eye. Indeed Abba Gold is number 12 in the UK album charts this very week. Crikey o'reilly! Give me the chance to travel back in time to see either Abba or The Beatles live, and I would pick Abba every single time. And no, that is not because I think Benny and Bjorn are pops biggest bears until Bearforce1 came along... From 1973 to 1982 Abba ruled the pop roost and created intricate, catchy, multilayered tunes that dealt with heartbreak and love and often mirrored the changing emotional relationships in the band. Look past the singles, and there are some gorgeous album tracks that you may not be as familiar with and almost seem like new music...



In 1973, the foursome that was Abba (thank god this wasn't an article about Baba!) pooled their respective previous successes to see if they would all work together. Think about it - it would be like Kylie, Robbie, Lily Allen and Shayne Ward forming a supergroup that would far surpass their previous successes. Ring Ring is the least Abba of all the Abba albums, but certainly doesn't suffer because of it. The best known track is probably the infernally catchy poppy title track, which was a hit single around Europe. The rest belie the folky roots of Bjorn and Benny and often feature the boys on vocals - He Is Your Brother is rather glorious while Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure is Hard Enough)[see video above] has a tremendous refrain: "sweet sweet our love is bitter sweet" that provides the foundations for the marvelosity that is to follow. Plus said song also lays the foundations for the rather bonkers lyrics that sometimes infect Abba's work ~ the guys are singing about how they would treat their girls, to which the girls sing back "Now listen to that, just look at that cat, you'd think he was an angel but he's talking through his hat!" Brillopad.



One year later, and the group had built solidly on the foundations and produced the album that would introduce them to a world beyond mainland Europe. Waterloo remains the group's calling card and would become the template by which all future Eurovision smashes would be measured (Jemini take note). And! More importantly, it was number one in England the very day I was pushed kicking and screaming and covered in placenta from my momma's lady garden birthing area! It's hard to review a song that is so embedded into the public consciousness, but the song really is pure pop perfection. Plus now, everytime I hear it, I can't help but think of Muriel's Wedding and get the urge to shout out "Nicole's having an affair with Chook. Muriel saw them fucking in the laundry on your wedding day. Stick your drink up your arse, Tania. I'd rather swallow razor blades than have a drink with you"...Besides such beautiful memories, there are some other corkers on the album Waterloo: Shades of the songwriting techniques of Lennon/McCartney and multi layered vocals of Brian Wilson creep through on tracks like What About Suzy and the incredibly epic Dance (While The Music Still Goes On), which almost equals Hasta Manana and Waterloo for perfect pop moments. Abba show they work equally well with a ballad on the delightful Gonna Sing You My Love Song. Yes, King Kong Song is a bit shit, but really it's entirely forgiveable.



The self titled Abba, released in 1975 arguably bought to a close the first phase of Abba's career. Tracks like SOS showed the first signs of melancholy creeping into the layered pop tunes. Upbeat tracks like Mamma Mia (ooo, I wonder if that is the song the movie is named after? :P ), Muriel's wedding classic down the aisle tune "I Do I Do I Do" (which makes me want to yell more quotes like "Sorry, mom. You know I love you, but you drive me crazy. And you three? What a bunch of cocksuckers") and the best kiss off song of all time "So Long" demonstrate the intricate harmonies of the girls, and the much overlooked creative abilities of the boys. And again, it's the Agnetha sung ballad "I've Been Waiting For You" is restrained and beautiful in it's execution and delivery. A happy album by a happy band - things, sadly, are about to change, but the music will only benefit because of it.



Any album that kicks off with the off kilter, fantastic, acoustic pop track When I Kissed The Teacher (A theme used by Busted for their debut single?) is bound to be considered the creative peak of a band's career by their fans. Arrival 'arrived' in 1976 and contains 3 mammoth massive singles - Knowing Me Knowing You (more of their melancholy music coming through), the dramatic Money Money Money (perfect for the current credit crunch) and of course, the song Abba is probably most well known for alongside Waterloo. Dancing Queen, once again is a flawless four minutes of pop that is guaranteed to get the drunks on the dancefloor at any party. It's been covered many times, but never equalled and I never get tired of hearing it (Darren however, yells out quotes from Priscilla Queen Of The Desert everytime he hears it - "I've said it before and i'll say it again - NO MORE FUCKING ABBA!" Bah humbug). The up moments on the album equal this riotous endeavour, such as DumDumDiddle and touted single Tiger, while the melancholy continues in the gorgeous and tender My Love My Life. Even the slightly weird, almost instrumental title track showcased the strange world Abba lived in that they sometimes allowed us a glimpse of. The original album didn't include Fernando (my least fave Abba song along with Chicken Tikka) though remastered editions did. Plus! BjornBonus! It was number one the day my younger sister Charlotte came kicking and screaming into the world. Weird, huh?

So approximately half way through this lookback at my favourite ever ever ever pop group (sorry Steps), it's time for a look at how a first greatest hits album would've looked had I been in charge... and for once, the powers that be got it right. CD ONE (download for v short time here!)of the epic Thankyou For The Music boxset ticks all the boxes...