Sunday 9 February 2014

Taking A Chance On ABBA!
























A magic combination - that is what anyone who tries to put together a pop band are looking for. The magic combination which has only occurred a few times in the history of pop music, when each member of the group brings something unique to the equation.  If one of the members hadn't been there from the beginning, or if one had left the group, much if not all of the magic would be gone. So precise and so delicate is the balance between the different temperaments and inclinations of those individuals.  To find that special blend of people is not possible through cold calculation.  It requires intuition, the ability of each of the individuals involved to recognize the abilities and strengths of the others and the realization that this group, this complex set-up of shifting personalities, moods and aspirations, is the context in which they need to express their creativity and love for music-making in a certain period of time.


































ABBA is a prime example of such a group.  No one could have dreamed them up, at least not at the point of their formation in the early 1970s, when none of the prevalent tends - such as glam rock, prog rock, Philly Soul, singer/songwriters suggested that there would be a place for ABBA's straight forward, melodic pop. Yet, there they were:  An outstanding singer whose emotional intonation and tear-drenched vocals struck a very special chord with her audience.  A vocalist who wrapped her tonal precision in an exceptionally seductive blend of warmth and intimacy.  A former Folk Singer and ambitious song writer who had s a gift for a good tune and a finely calibrated ear for what constituted effective pop music and a former rock n'roll star who let the music flow through him, blending it with  his musical talents to create his own special brand of unsurpassed melodies and inventive arrangements.  When Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson gradually gravitated towards the musical platform from which ABBA operated - for that is how it happened - they came up with something truly unique, something that hadn't existed before and something that others have tried to emulate but which has never been successfully duplicated.




  












ABBA wanted nothing more than to entertain us, to create a string of remarkable tuneful melodies, reaching our from their audience within a  distinctive soundsape and featuring some of the most gorgeous vocals ever heard in pop.  But, wittingly, their songs and their performances tapped into something universal in the human experience: the dizziest heights of joy as well as the most devastating depths of heartbreak.  As they themselves phrased it, "times of joy and sorrow" They didn't flaunt it, they didn't make any pompous statements about their perceived importance - they simply let the music speak, which perhaps made it all the more powerful and which is part of the reason that it still sounds so fresh today.














Back in 1976 when I was a mere ten year old kid my Saturday mornings were taken  up by going to the local cinema in my home town of Ilkeston.  I'd go with four friends from the same family. This was a regular occurance and to my knowledge lasted through out the entirety of 1976.  One particular morning, and when I close my eyes I still see that morning to this day, Fernando by ABBA was played before the main picture and I fell in love with this masterpiece.   Nearly forty years have gone and Fernando still remains not only my favourite ABBA song, but my favourite song of all time.  This was that defining moment in time when I was introduced to ABBA.  I love ABBA and always will.