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ONJ en mode "Reine du Mellow" !! Qu'est ce que j'ai pu l'écouter ... très fort cet album.. sur ma platine à 33t ... ado .. ! Et la pochette du disque ; un remède contre la déprime !
SWEDE DREAMS
It’s 50 years since Abba won Eurovision. MARION McMULLEN looks at how their Waterloo sparked international success
- Bristol Post
THE conductor walked out dressed as Napoleon and it took Swedish group Abba just two minutes and 40 seconds to be crowned Eurovision winners with their catchy song Waterloo.
They beat off competition from British entry Olivia Newton-John, who finished fourth with Long Live Love, and contestants like Luxembourg’s Ireen Sheer, Norway’s Anne-Karine Strom and Romuald singing Celui Qui Reste Et Celui Qui S’en Va for Monaco. Gigliola Cinquetti, the 1964 winner, returned to the contest to represent Italy with her song Si and finished second. Irish contestant Tina Reynolds performed Cross Your Heart.
Eurovision was staged in the UK at the Brighton Dome even though Britain had not won the previous year. Winners Luxembourg did not wish to host the event again because of the heavy financial costs so Eurovision headed to Blighty and the seaside.
Britain’s Katie Boyle hosted the event for the fourth and final time 50 years ago on April 6, 1974, and she still holds the record for hosting Eurovision the most times.
Greece took part for the first time with singer Marinella representing the country with Krassi, Thalassa Ke T’agori Mou, which translates as Wine, Sea And My Boyfriend, but France had to withdraw from the contest following the death of French president Georges Pompidou the week leading up to the competition.
Abba – an acronym of the names of band members Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad – had wanted to enter Eurovision a year earlier but their song Ring Ring failed to be chosen to represent Sweden. Their debut album was also called Ring Ring and is their lowest-selling album in the UK.
The band were undeterred though and tried Eurovision again. Waterloo proved a winner going to number one across Europe – although the UK awarded them zero points. On their way to the stage to collect their awards, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus were almost stopped by security guards, who failed to recognise them.
Bjorn recalled of the competition: “We had two songs to choose from. One was more typical of Eurovision at that time. Waterloo was completely different from anything else that had been before but it was also risky. We chose it because it was more fun to perform. Take risks!”
The Eurovision win launched Abba on the international stage and they went on to produce eight studio albums, with numerous hits including Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, Dancing Queen, Super Trouper, The Winner Takes It All and Mamma Mia.
They were particularly popular in Australia, where a 1976 TV Special
by the band picked up more viewers than the moon landings. The UK cultivated a similar Abba obsession and a two-date show at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1977 attracted 3.5 million ticket applications – enough to fill the venue 580 times.
The quartet held a newspaper competition in the early days to come up with a name and Baba, Alibaba, and FABB were all put forward before the group settled on Abba. There was already a Swedish fish-canning company, founded in 1838, called Abba who were particularly well-known for their pickled herring. After a short negotiation, the firm agreed to let the group use their name providing they did not bring it into disrepute.
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Sweden in May and will mark the 50th anniversary of Abba’s 1974 win.
The band, who have sold more than 400 million albums and singles, were the first competitors from the Nordic country and Sweden has since seen six more wins over the years.
They are one of the most successful acts on the UK Official Charts with nine UK number ones and 19 top 10 hits and their music is still being discovered by new generations of pop lovers. The group’s flamboyant and outlandish costumes, which included capes, flares, catsuits and platform heels, were part of their appeal.
The relationships between the quartet, and the demise of them, are part of the supergroup’s story.
Agnetha and Bjorn, as well as Frida and Benny, were married for a period and announcements of divorce changed the band’s happy image. Abba recorded some new music for the first time in 2018 – they first since they split in 1983.
The Swedish group have already said they will not be taking to the Eurovision stage for the 50th anniversary of their win, but the group’s achievement are still being celebrated.
Their hit album Waterloo is being reissued alongside a limited edition box set of the three vinyl singles originally released in 1974. The singles will also be available as separate picture discs and there is also a 10 inch vinyl disc featuring Waterloo in four different languages.
Brighton Dome is honouring its part in pop history with a plaque outside the building. Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival chief executive Andrew Comben says: “Fifty years since their Eurovision win, Abba’s music continues to bring people together across the world and we’re thrilled that Brighton Dome has played a part in their story.”
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