RARE ABBA INTERVIEW: Band members on songs, Mamma Mia and world tour | 7NEWS Spotlight

music started, the heart just sped up. My mom says that she started as soon as she heard the music, she started smiling and that smile didn't leave her face the entire time. I think everyone was just. in shock australia's obsession with

abba

continued in melbourne the fans paralyzed the city center for a welcome at the town hall they were unlike anything else out there at the time they were so beautiful the music is so fantastic the

songs

are so catchy and they were so brilliantly done that they seemed like really simple pop

songs

, but they weren't, so I think that's partly why the music grabbed everyone so much, even though it seemed like really upbeat pop music, there's something you know a lot more serious below.

What do you think it's about

abba

? that has so captivated the Australians, apparently brilliant music because their music is brilliant and I think with the Australians they could feel that as Australians they were down to earth, you know, yeah, absolutely down to earth, you know, how does that feel as an artist? You see thousands and thousands of people waving and shouting, mostly you feel humbled by the fact that this is actually happening and that they are out there because of you and something we had done while Abba fans were lining the street and they crowded. I walked into the airport devastated to see them leave and the feeling was mutual.

I want to refresh your memory here, so I hope it plays. That's when we're leaving Australia. Uh-huh, so I remember we felt very, very sad and we wanted to. So much for holding their hands and so on, but we had to leave this wonderful country, so it was sad that you wanted to give more to the fans, um, we also had a great time, yeah, so we didn't want to go back. Over a 10-year career, Abba became one of the most successful

band

s in the

world

. Catchy choruses and happy music, hit after hit. More than 380 million records sold, but the songs were only part of the package.

Tell me about those clothes. They were very, very. special, yes, and when you look back, maybe it may seem very strange, sometimes I wasn't very comfortable in high heels, but when abba was on stage, they owned it, but actually everyone preferred to write and record music at home in Sweden. thank you for the music it's very special for you because you were very pregnant yes I was pregnant and the doctor said you can't push too much I mean you really have to work when you record and upload. in high pitches so I had to be very careful so they arranged like a chair but like a bed so I could be lying down and I knew I almost went to bed singing that song wow you were actually reclining while you were singing thank you for the music yeah That's how it was special with his stomach nine months after the Australian

tour

Annieta and Bjorn had their second child Christian Then, the following year, Freda and Benny got married The

band

was at the top, it's wonderful to be able to work with what you enjoy the most and being successful with that, Abba never returned to Australia, they

tour

ed the

world

again in 1979, but the closest they came was Japan, as the Japanese are very open and very free and we feel that they make us feel good, but the pop star life was taking its toll on everyone.

Is it like experiencing that extraordinary level of fame where everyone in the world seems to love you? How can you explain that it is so difficult? You start and you get used to it, I guess, but I guess you never think about it or people don't. Don't think that there are also butts and, for example, that she is recognized everywhere. You think that once Agnetta had children, that changed everything, right? Because more than all the fame, it was motherhood that she wanted, the two of us, I wanted. fatherhood she wanted motherhood and we were able to combine it, which we did in a good way, I think by not traveling as much, you know, so we traveled less, I think than any other group at that time, I think it's a little bit in a social life On tour you just eat, sleep and go on stage and nothing else, and that kills creativity in a way that I don't like.

One day, when I woke up on a tour in Europe, I started thinking about where I am, in what city, and in what city. Terrible, the papers recently have been full of stories that you will eventually break up, uh, you won't, so everyone has written so many good songs, thank you, thank you, yes, but you should know that by now, well, you never said that, it's okay, so it's the first time, but soon the pressures separated the two couples, both marriages ended in divorce, but the band stayed together for the music and in a difficult time created some of their most memorable songs of all those songs, which one is your favorite, okay?

My favorite song is the winner takes it all, I think it's super really, the winner takes it all. People liked to think it was about your relationship, it was right after our divorce and it was a bit sensitive for all of us, it must have been difficult to sing at the time yeah, it was a bit touching so to speak, it was inspired because of the pain of your breakup, right? um deep down, of course, it was difficult to see Agneta sing that song at that time in your life. A kind of cleansing, but it was the other way around.

The other way around, I had written the words that she sang and somehow it was the right thing to do and then I released it and you know, let the world know that it was something deeply. symbolic because in 1982 abba broke up believing that they and their music would soon be forgotten, we were just happy we did it, we did so well while we were at it, you know, no one expected this to continue, none of us, yeah, when abba ended . You thought maybe the songs would last a year or so, yeah, something like a year two, maybe yeah, that would be it.

Abba's music provided the soundtrack for a small film called Muriel's Wedding that became a classic comedy. PJ Hogan, who directed Muriel's Wedding, yes. He really chased you to get that music, didn't he? Yeah, well, they had to ask a couple of times because we weren't sure it was a great movie. I really like that movie, which is also another thing that helped us stay alive, it was enough. to get even the most deaf to sing along for when you're around in 1999, benny and bjorn's stage musical

mamma

mia launched abba back into the charts, becoming one of the highest-grossing soundtracks and musical films in all time and now there is a The sequel is underway and it is a new generation that again knows about us and thank God I am very grateful for this, but despite all their continued success, it is

rare

to see the four of them together as they They were at the opening of the Mamma Mia restaurant in Sweden last year.

Last year and last June the unthinkable for the first time since the end of Abba Frieda and Aneta came together in a song to surprise Benny and Bjorn. It was very nice of him to do that. Yeah, did you ever think that would happen? No, I was surprised they did. I wanted to do that but it was really touching and now the news abba fans never thought they would hear sounds like abba getting back together and working on a tour. I think in early 2019 there will be a show, a live show, uh, band with a real band and dancers and the stage design, the lights and the sound, everything is live, apart from us, who are there as holograms or in avatar format.

You can get an idea of ​​what it will look like in the holograms in abba. museum in Stockholm we will use the recordings of our live performances or from the records, as well as with the band playing, you know, for the band to play, we could have the vocals from the records or the live performances that the band would play and put it together It takes uh it takes a little bit of work, but it's going to be okay, I think it's going to be great. Will all four

members

have any input into how that project happens?

We already did it. Ah, everyone has come together and yes, they worked. It's available now, yes, and we will continue to do so. There's a lot of work, you know, just deciding what songs we're going to play. Wow, what order will it be? Amber is going to tour again, but she's with a difference with a magical difference, so I. I'll use the old saying, do yourself a favor and check it out. It's the first time the four

members

have collaborated since The Bad broke up and their millions of fans are more than excited about the digital abba.

We can't believe it. It's the most exciting thing ever apart. Due to the fact that the four of them are working together on it, it will be like being at an Abba concert, which is what everyone wants, it will be spectacular, very excited and we have another surprise for Roxanne, Roxanne, how would it go? It would be nice to talk to one of the band members. It would be amazing to talk to one of the band members. And I'm so jealous that you're okay. Roxanne, say hi to Benny, oh my gosh, hi, hi, benny, hi. Where are you?

I'm in Australia, in Queensland, at home. Well, I haven't been there for a while. I don't know what they've been through. 40 years or something like that. Don't know. 77, yeah, 1977. Yeah, boy, yeah. I'm getting old, it's a pleasure talking to you, okay, see you later, bye, for now, Benny, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, do you pinch yourself every day, yes, almost every day because I always Is there someone you know who comes up to you and says thank you? you for music, how do you begin to understand how many people have been affected by your music?

I don't know, but I think it's a lot, actually, and it's so widespread that it's all over the world, but it makes you very humble and I'm very grateful to have been able to do this, it means a lot to you.