Why are ABBA so popular?

[pinball1970]

Is there anything more English than the BBC?

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140415-why-are-abba-so-popular

 

[PeroK]

Humour me.

Name one.

...OK ... name another one.

Show an equivalent of an ABBA, or a Led Zeppelin or a The Who.

The Who are an English rock band:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who

 

[DaveC426913]

The Who are an English rock band:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who

Thanks. I've fixed their errors.

 

[Astronuc]

Yes, but that's hardly ALL they did. If they had written great tunes but been crappy singers do you think that would have become so popular. Some of us just LOVE harmony groups. The Ames Brothers, The Kingston Trio (yes, I'm dating myself with those and a few more ), The Everly Brothers, The Beach Boys, the Chad Mitchel Trio, Peter Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, The Mamas and the Papas, and on and on.

I was thinking of the Eagles, which was a popular group with many hits, as I listened to some Joe Walsh.

Certainly, Crosby, Stills, Nash with or without Neil Young.

Harmony, music and lyrics.

 

[phinds]

I was thinking of the Eagles, which was a popular group with many hits, as I listened to some Joe Walsh.

Yeah, it occurred to me that I had left them out. I loved them.

 

[DaveC426913]

Thanks. I've fixed their errors.

Drat. It didn't stay fixed. Well, Wikipedia and I can agree to disagree.

 

[DennisN]

Is there anything more English than the BBC?

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140415-why-are-abba-so-popular

An interesting article, thanks!
And I did not know about Fridas dramatic life, that was pretty intense.

 

[DennisN]

A live performance from ca 1979/1980... listen particularly to the live vocals from 1:14 - 1:57; the harmonies of the two girls are gorgeous, and then Agneta just ends the section with a superb high pitch, high energy glide/glissando at 1:54 - 1:56... it's incredible .

ABBA - Hole In Your Soul (from ABBA In Concert)

 

[PeroK]

Drat. It didn't stay fixed. Well, Wikipedia and I can agree to disagree.

There ought to be no disagreement, other than British English is not Canadian English. You can write color and I can write colour, but we don't have to slug it out to see who's right.

 

[DaveC426913]

There ought to be no disagreement, other than British English is not Canadian English. You can write color and I can write colour, but we don't have to slug it out to see who's right.

Yeah, I did not realize it was actually a British convention to treat groups as collective nouns.

The wiki edit page has this comment: "are" (and other plural being verbs) is used for British English

 

[pinball1970]

An interesting article, thanks!
And I did not know about Fridas dramatic life, that was pretty intense.

I did not know that much about their backgrounds. Freda terribly sad.
I know they all married then divorced.

 

[pinball1970]

Ha. I taught her well

I thought Americans said, "I learned her good." ;)

 

[pinball1970]

“The key to Abba is their understated Swedishness,” explains Carl Magnus Palm.

That explains everything and nothing!

The rest of the BBC article explains a lot more but I love that quote.

Anyway my claim is ABBA is great for a reason and like the Beatles they were great song writers. Point one.
The other part that other posters have referred to was the ABBA harmony which also gave them the "sound."
They had a great sound because they had two individual great voices that sounded perfect together and very similar to each other.

They could sing the same line together, not easy, the Beatles rarely did because it sounds messy. They preferred double tracking their own voice on a lot of tracks.
Clearly ABBA harmony was amazing, not surprising since they had such a good platform from which to play off, the fantastic tune and chords!
They used lots of tricks and I would like to know if the ladies contributed or was it all Benny and Bjorn?
Agnetha had written hit songs before so I would guess yes.
Ignoring what they look like (imagine radio only stars) that is why the music is so great. (To me)

 

[phinds]

I thought Americans said, "I learned her good." ;)

No, Americans don't but Amuricans do.

 

[DennisN]

This is another favorite ABBA song of mine, "When All Is Said And Done", less famous and less successful than many of their other songs.

Though I have to put in a personal caveat: I don't think the production of it quite does the song justice. It is the third song on their last album "The Visitors" and maybe they weren't as motivated as before to do a top notch production, I don't know. I personally think the production could have been better (drums are ok, but could have been better, same with bass and some synth sounds).

Still, I often listen to songs "beneath" the production, so to say, to get the grasp of the core of the song itself.

And this song is an excellent song, in my opinion:

1. The melodies are marvellous, they go up and down, backwards and forwards.
2. The lead vocals AND the backing vocals are very good. Listen particularly to the backing vocals, they are exquisite!
3. There's a cool, subtle yet effective effect on the lead vocals coming in at 1:56.
4. The lyrics are really well written.

This song is also a great example of the peculiar ABBA quality of being happy and sad in the same song. The mood of the song is somewhere in between; somewhat melancholic but also joyful.
It is essentially a song describing a mature breakup.

ABBA - When All Is Said And Done

 

[DennisN]

The Tiger, listening to them with older ears again I have noticed the are absolute kings of middle eight and pre chorus.

"Yellow eyes are glowing....." Part.

That was one of my favorite songs when I was a teen.
I don't think I've heard it in 30 years, actually.

It's a good song, now when I heard it I particularly noticed the low key parts (with just vocals and piano), they are really, really good. It sounds almost a bit psychedelic in those parts, very cool!

Here's a cool live/semilive (?) version:

ABBA - Tiger - High Quality Audio from ᗅᗺᗷᗅ The Movie 1977 - Australia


Thanks for feeding my ABBA obsession, @pinball1970 !
I've tried to quit listening to them, but I can't.

I find it particularly interesting to listen to them nowadays from an analytical (musical) viewpoint; there is so much to learn from their songs regarding composition and production, in my opinion.

 

[DennisN]

Ok, this is an ABBA thread, but I hope it's ok to post two of my favorite songs from Björn and Bennys musical "Chess"... I haven't heard them in a long time, and when I listened to them again I got goosebumps...
...they are so good:

Chess (Instrumental) (1984)


I Know Him So Well (1984) - from Chess, with Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson

 

[Hornbein]

The distinctive sound of the Yamaha DX-7. It never really caught on.

 

[DennisN]

The distinctive sound of the Yamaha DX-7

I used to have one myself!
I never liked it, I used it only as a keyboard to control an external sound module.
The Yamaha DX-7 was a pain in the a** to program, let me tell you (and I can write computer programs ).
Later I switched to a Roland JX-8P, which has a much better and warmer sound.
I still have got it, and it works perfectly.

 

[pinball1970]

I used to have one myself!
I never liked it, I used it only as a keyboard to control an external sound module.
The Yamaha DX-7 was a pain in the a** to program, let me tell you (and I can write computer programs ).
Later I switched to a Roland JX-8P, which has a much better and warmer sound.
I still have got it, and it works perfectly.

You would like our vocalist and key board player. They speak in a different language.

Them: The Korg.....( numbers and letters) Was great at (xyz) but not quite as good as the Roland (numbers and letters) but that had (ABC) issue.

The Rhodes obviously best for (.....)

Me: (wakes up) Randy Rhodes? I liked his technique but the shredding....

Everyone else: Sh.

 

[Hornbein]

My girlfriend said I was extravagant for having three (cheap) keyboards. I showed her a guy who toured with 36. That seemed to quiet her down.

 

[DennisN]

My girlfriend said I was extravegant for having three (cheap) keyboards. I showed her a guy who toured with 36. That seemed to quiet her down.

Very funny!
Which keyboards are those three? It would be intersting to hear.
I've got five at home, three Midi keyboards, the JX8P and a darn heavy Kurzweil rompler in the basement (I got it for free). Total overkill, I've got to get rid of at least two keyboards, I think.

Them: The Korg.....( numbers and letters) Was great at (xyz) but not quite as good as the Roland (numbers and letters) but that had (ABC) issue.

I had Korg synths early on, but I never quite liked them, compared to Roland.

The Rhodes obviously best for

... Riders on the storm.

 

[Hornbein]

He didn't list them. He said they filled an entire semi truck trailer, which I cannot believe.

 

[DennisN]

He didn't list them. He said they filled an entire semi truck trailer, which I cannot believe.

No, I meant your three keyboards.

 

[Hornbein]

No, I meant your three keyboards.

Oh why not. Yamaha PSR 373 (unused) and 473, Roland go:keys 3 (sounds great for some things but user interface so terrible it's an insult. I can't wait to get rid of it.). I don't like expensive electronic keyboards because they are mostly about duplicating obsolete keyboards of the past, which I don't do. That's the market.

Lately it's common for bands to play along with recordings of keyboards. Sometimes the recording is better than the band. Maybe rock bands don't like the personalities of keyboard players.

 

[Hornbein]

You would like our vocalist and key board player. They speak in a different language.

Them: The Korg.....( numbers and letters) Was great at (xyz) but not quite as good as the Roland (numbers and letters) but that had (ABC) issue.

The Rhodes obviously best for (.....)

Me: (wakes up) Randy Rhodes? I liked his technique but the shredding....

Everyone else: Sh.

Yep, that's exactly how it goes.

 

[DennisN]

Another marvellous song by ABBA, I Have A Dream:
(a fun thing is that they used an electric sitar in this song)



This song sounds simple and is pretty simple, but it doesn't need anything more.
It is so powerful in its simplicity.

What I mean is it is a pretty simple composition, but the production is not simple; e.g. the final chorus was sung by 28 children.

 

[jack action]

I couldn't think of a better thread than this one to post this (please don't hate me!):

​

(I know, I know, there is actually more piano than this in the original song)

 

[Hornbein]

I couldn't think of a better thread than this one to post this (please don't hate me!):

​

(I know, I know, there is actually more piano than this in the original song)

European classical art has a big emphasis on difficulty for its own sake. Simplicity that sounds good has a lot going for it.

 

[pinball1970]

European classical art has a big emphasis on difficulty for its own sake. Simplicity that sounds good has a lot going for it.

That is very funny but you can hear the background keys when he is feigning being bored.
EDIT: SOS has some great keyboards, its central infact.

 

[rcgldr]

I rarely heard ABBA, not on the radio much in the early 1970's, and I started going to discos in Los Angeles | Orange County in 1975, and those discos never played any ABBA songs. My impression was ABBA was popular in Europe, but not in USA,or at least not in the Los Angeles | Orange County area. Fleetwood Mac was able to break disco's hold on music in 1976. In the mid-1980's I was also listening to smooth jazz on the radio (KJLH at night (radio vision), KTWV), and the music heard on Miami Vice at that time was popular. In 2012 my wife and I had passes to Disneyland and we started swing dancing with the big bands on Saturday nights, but that shut down during Covid. I now listen to a lot of types of music, but not ABBA. I'm an intermediate guitar player, but that is just one the types of music I like.

 

[pinball1970]

I rarely heard ABBA, not on the radio much in the early 1970's, and I started going to discos in Los Angeles | Orange County in 1975, and those discos never played any ABBA songs. My impression was ABBA was popular in Europe, but not in USA,or at least not in the Los Angeles | Orange County area. Fleetwood Mac was able to break disco's hold on music in 1976. In the mid-1980's I was also listening to smooth jazz on the radio (KJLH at night (radio vision), KTWV), and the music heard on Miami Vice at that time was popular. In 2012 my wife and I had passes to Disneyland and we started swing dancing with the big bands on Saturday nights, but that shut down during Covid. I now listen to a lot of types of music, but not ABBA. I'm an intermediate guitar player, but that is just one the types of music I like.

ABBA are not disco, they just used it like Blondie and Kiss.

If I was going to try and convert an anti ABBA person of your age I would not recommend one of those tracks.

I would go for:

The name of the game.
The Eagle.
When I kissed the teacher.

 

[rcgldr]

ABBA are not disco, they just used it like Blondie and Kiss. anti ABBA person

I'm not anti-ABBA, I had just never heard of them, even before discos (1975). The first time I heard of them was some TV show (PBS?) that played a video of Dancing Queen almost 20 years later around 1996, which ironically is too slow of a tempo for dancing. As I commented before, due to my history, a wider spectrum than most: classic and modern rock, disco (funk and non-funk (Cerrone, Voyage, ...)), funk, swing, some dance|pop songs, some motown, some country. It's what I hear played by cover bands at the venues my wife and I go to. Dancing Queen was 1976, when Billboard top 100 was dominated by disco except for Fleetwood Mac Rumours.

Due to random chance, I have found some one hit wonder songs from European groups, like the Dutch band Within Temptation (good singer):

Within Temptation - Faster

 

[DaveC426913]

... played a video of Dancing Queen ...

Don't know why this has to be their defining song. I agree, it's too slow.
I prefer Mama Mia and Take a Chance on Me.

 

[rcgldr]

ABBA - Dancing Queen - don't know why this has to be their defining song.

Back to the original post, why is ABBA so popular, I would ask where and when they were|are popular and how popular compared to other bands.