28 Mar 2010
Benny Andersson on ABBA
reunion: "It was a joke"
NEW YORK. It’s been 27
years since Abba decided to go separate ways. 27 years of rumours,
speculation and hope of the spandex-clad pop group would be willing to
do it again. But 27 years of “no chance”. So what’s the difference this
time? Maybe it actually was Benny Andersson himself who said: – It is
not a bad idea …
Before we go
further with this, and before the horse has bolted for all the fans, we
hold that the door to which Benny said to have opened when he was
interviewed in the British Times, is at most, ajar.
It was the respected British newspaper who reported the duo Björn
Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, during a call with reporters, suddenly
turned upside down in all his years of intense denial and instead chose a
more open reply to the question.
It was not from the perspective of a new world tour – the quartet
who once refused to do for seven billion – but was based on the setup
of a smaller and more intimate event, with an orchestra and with the
more mature material from the later discs.
“Not a bad idea”
- We could sing “The Way Old Folks do”, should have said since Bjorn Benny had wondered about the courses:
- I do not know if the girls sing as much anymore? I know that Frida has been in the studio.
In addition, Benny, having found “It’s not a bad idea actually.”
One answer enough to excite the most TOUGH fans – those who have heard rumours over and over again and always the same emptiness in the extension.
- All of my Facebook page was full when I woke up this morning. I was just trying to reassure the public with “That’s the rumor we have heard before.” Then I saw that Benny had actually said something, “says Anita Notenboom, the founder of Abbas’s official fan club.
“Is there huge demand”
- It would be epic, “said Michael Endelman, one of the editorial heads of the U.S. music magazine Rolling Stone, when the Express talking to him.
- If they made a tour again, it could become one of the largest in the world ever. Just how much they have been here in the U.S. with “Mamma Mia!” on Broadway and in film.
- There is clearly a huge demand, “he says.
But it’s not as good as it sounds in the Times when we get hold of Benny. He and Bjorn are currently in London to oversee rehearsals of “Kristina from Duvemala”, or “Kristina” in the musical, which premieres at the Albert Hall in April.
- All journalists think it is fun to write that “Abba to reunite,” says Benny with a certain weariness in his voice.
- That which we said was a joke. Irony. There is no more with it.
And then we were back to square one.
“We will not be disappointed”
Yet another defeat for the avid Abba Supporter who want nothing more than that the rumors, sometime, will have little basis.
- We have many young fans now, They are very active on the Internet and digging for all articles that could possibly contain something about a reunion, “says Noteboom.
But in her eyes is also the risk of failure – that Abba climb up on stage to the soaring expectations and demolishes the mythical image that many have of them today.
That’s right, however, Michael Endelman difficult to see.
- There is so much to destroy the myth that, at least not here, “he says and laughs at what you get for that is his picture of Abba – in the glittering tights and all that cheesy in how fashion was back then.
- I know they are bigger in Europe and might want to remember it as such, but Abba is not like Led Zeppelin, when we talk about myths, “he says and continues:
- Police made a successful reunion tour that people thought sounded pretty good. Van Halen is a little different, they have had so many singers, but still did a thing with David Lee Roth, which was cool. Led Zeppelin made a comeback in London, a show, but wanted people to see more of.
- But, he adds. I can not see that it would happen to Abba. We did an interview with Benny when they they were elected into the Rock and roll hall of fame. Where he has just told me that they have said no to one billion U.S. dollars. I do not see that they will change their minds.
Do not have a wedding song!
The rumor that Abba is said to consider a private performance at the wedding of Princess Victoria and Daniel. Has also been gaining, but agin it is simply not tue!
2010 Calendar Available now!
 
26 Mar 2010
The Time(s) for Görel!
The Telegraph have followed up the article in Friday’s
TIMES newspaper
with an interview with Görel Hanser and she sets the story straight!
 |  “I’ve spoken to Benny and given him a
stern telling off. I have told him not to make such ridiculous
suggestions anymore."
Görel
|
Fans were offered a glimmer of hope when Benny Andersson said ABBA could reunite for a one-off show.
However, the group has now apologised for raising fans’ expectations and admitted that the comment had been nothing more than a “joke”.
Speculation over a comeback mounted after Andersson and former band mate Bjorn Ulvaeus were asked if they would consider a one-off ABBA performance that could be beamed around the world.
Despite having previously turned down a raft of lucrative offers to reunite, including a £600 million tour deal, Andersson replied: “Yeah, why not?”
During the interview with a newspaper, he continued: “I don’t know if the girls sing anything any more. I know Frida (Anni-Frid Lyngstad) was in the studio,” adding: “It’s not a bad idea, actually.”
eferring to the last song on the group’s Super Trouper album, The Way Old Friends Do, Ulvaeus quipped: “We could sing The Way Old Folks Do.”
But in a blow to millions of Mamma Mia! devotees, the band have swiftly backtracked on the idea.
Görel Hanser, the group’s manager, said: “It’s simply not true.
“It was a passing comment Benny made, almost as a joke – nothing more than that.
“I’ve spoken to Benny and given him a stern telling off. I have told him not to make such ridiculous suggestions anymore.
“There is no prospect of ABBA getting back together – it’s never going to happen. I think the fans know that deep down but we’re sorry if we got anyone’s hopes up.
“It was great in the good old days but we should remember them as they were.”
The band, who split in 1982, previously dismissed any suggestion of a reunion, insisting they would never take to the stage again.
In 2000 they rejected a $1 billion (£600 million) offer to play a 100-date world tour.
At the time Ulvaeus, 64, said: “This is the budget of a small country so we had to give it some thought.
“In the end we decided that, whatever offer was on the table, it would be stupid to re-form and utterly ludicrous to change the images people all over the world have of us.”
And two years ago Ulvaeus said: “We will never appear on stage again. There is simply no motivation to regroup. Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were — young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition.
“I remember Robert Plant saying Led Zeppelin were a cover band now because they cover all their own stuff. I think that hit the nail on the head.”
Andersson has also previously dismissed talk of a reunion, saying: “We’d need a good reason to re-form and I just don’t see one. We could never recreate the old days. I’d rather be remembered for the way we were 30 years ago.”
The group, whose hits include Dancing Queen, Take a Chance on Me and Money, Money, Money, has sold 370 million records.
Famed for the spandex costumes, they have enjoyed a renaissance in recent years, helped by the success of the film version of Mamma Mia!, the musical based on their songs.
However, it remains to be seen whether former female band mates Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog would support the idea of a reunion.
Lyngstad, 64, who married a German nobleman, said in an interview in 2005 that she had no interest in returning to a music career.
Fältskog, 59, has enjoyed a solo pop career since ABBA split but has not hinted at a reunion. Staffan Linde, her spokesman, said that Fältskog was not aware of Andersson recent reunion suggestion.
Andersson and Ulvaeus are promoting their new musical Kristina which opens at London’s Royal Albert Hall on April 14.
By Murray Wardrop
26 Mar 2010
London newspaper the Times, has a great interview with Benny and Bjorn in Friday’s edition of the paper. The boys are in London to oversee rehearsals for the UK premiere of Kristina.
The Way Old Friends Do? Abba offer hope to new generation of fans with reunion hint
They have always maintained that they would never re-form and famously turned down $1 billion (£600 million) to tour again, but Abba have given a new generation of fans hope of seeing the band perform live.
For the Mamma Mia! devotees who have come to the band’s music nearly 30 years after they split, tribute bands and YouTube clips of the Swedish foursome in satin and spandex seemed the closest they could get.
But in an interview with The Times today, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the male half of the Swedish group, offer a beguiling change of tone.
Asked if they would consider an intimate one-off performance — perhaps with an orchestra — that could be beamed around the world, Andersson said: “Yeah, why not?”
He added: “I don’t know if the girls sing anything any more. I know Frida [Anni-Frid Lyngstad] was in the studio.” Then a little later: “It’s not a bad idea, actually.”
Ulvaeus threw in a reference to the Super Trouper album’s last song. “We could sing The Way Old Folks Do,” he said. The pair’s comments may offer little more than a glimmer of hope, but they are in contrast to previous statements by the band members, who split in 1982.
Only two years ago Ulvaeus said: “We will never appear on stage again. There is simply no motivation to regroup. Money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were — young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition.
“I remember Robert Plant saying Led Zeppelin were a cover band now because they cover all their own stuff. I think that hit the nail on the head.”
Andersson has also previously derided talk of a reunion. “We’d need a good reason to re-form and I just don’t see one. We could never recreate the old days. I’d rather be remembered for the way we were 30 years ago,” he said.
Abba have enjoyed a renaissance. One in four British households owns the DVD of a film version of the Mamma Mia!, the musical inspired by their works. They have sold 370 million records, and sell about three million each year.
This year AbbaWorld, an attraction based on the careers of Ulvaeus and Andersson and their female bandmates Agnetha Fältskog and Lyngstad, opened at Earls Court, in West London. Visitors pay £22 for an adult ticket to see costumes that the band wore in 1974 on their way to winning the Eurovision Song Contest, and have the chance to wear a silver jumpsuit and sing and dance with holograms of the band.
Ulvaeus and Andersson are promoting their new musical, Kristina, which opens at the Royal Albert Hall on April 14. The production is based on a 2,000- page epic by the Swedish novelist Vilhelm Moberg, but has been changed for an English audience.
Ulvaeus said: “We’ve cut the play down from three hours down to two hours . . . And, also, I approached Herbert Kretzmer, who did Les Misérables, to translate the lyrics into English.”
Abba are thought to have sung together only once since they split. In 2003 they joined in a rendition of a Swedish happy-birthday song at the 50th birthday party of Gorel Hanser, Ulvaeus and Andersson’s manager, in front of about 150 guests.
In 2000 they turned down a $1 billion deal to reunite for a 100-date tour. At the time Ulvaeus said: “This is the budget of a small country so we had to give it some thought. In the end we decided that, whatever offer was on the table, it would be stupid to re-form and utterly ludicrous to change the images people all over the world have of us.”
It remains to be seen whether the female members would be interested in a reunion. Fältskog lived as a recluse on a remote Swedish island, saying that she hated fame, while Lyngstad married a German nobleman and is a princess.
Please note this is the ‘TIMES’ take on the reunion, Benny is always making a joke of it. So don’t get excited just yet!!!
25 Mar 2010
2011 CALENDAR!!!!!!! YES ALREADY!
15 Mar 2010
ROCK ' N ' ROLL BAND!
HALL OF FAME 2010
NEW PAGE WITH PHOTOS AND VIDEO!
11/3/2010 ( early A.M.!)
ABBAWORLD OPENING JUNE 12, 2010 -MELBOURNE
CONFIRMED TO OPEN AT MELBOURNE’S FEDERATION SQUARE: SATURDAY 12 JUNE
TICKETS ON SALE: WEDNESDAY 17 MARCH
Announced last month by Dainty Consolidated Exhibitions, ABBAWORLD is coming to Melbourne and will enable visitors to experience the music and magic of ABBA in a completely new and distinctive way. Today, the Producers of ABBAWORLD confirmed that this exciting exhibition will open at Melbourne’s Federation Square on SATURDAY 12 JUNE and tickets will go on sale on WEDNESDAY 17 MARCH from TICKETEK.
ABBAWORLD’S Opening Hours from Saturday 12 June are:
Monday – Wednesday 10am – 8pm (Last session commences 6pm)
Thursday & Friday 10am – 10pm (Last session commences 8pm)
Saturday 10am – 11pm (Last session commences 9pm)
Sunday 10am – 5pm (Last session commences 4pm)
Ticket Prices:
$14.90 – $34.90
Bookings:
www.ticketek.com.au
10/3/2010
Benny & Bjorn on Kristina and Football!
Following a two-night run in Carnegie Hall last summer the Abba members’ musical Kristina gets its UK premiere at the Albert Hall next month. Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the two Bs from Abba, are talking football, unimpressed by Sweden’s performance in a friendly last week against Wales in Swansea, even though their national team won 1-0.
“We weren’t very good,” says Benny, with typically Swedish deadpannery. “But they were worse.” Thanks to the all-conquering musical Mamma Mia!, Benny and Bjorn – now well into their sixties – are probably as well known today as they were in Abba’s Seventies heyday. But they are here in the Albert Hall cafe to talk about a very different musical of theirs – Kristina, which premiered in Sweden in 1995 and has now, rather belatedly, been translated for English-speaking audiences.
Famous lyricist Herbert Kretzmer, who co-wrote Les Miserables, the musical epic with which Kristina shares obvious parallels, was drafted in to give it Broadway polish. Following a two-night run in Carnegie Hall last summer — recorded for a forthcoming two-CD set — the opus gets its UK premiere at a one-off concert performance at the Albert Hall next month. In any language, it’s as far removed from the boys’ previous work as is imaginable.
To give its original, full title, Kristina från Duvemåla (Kristina from Duvemala), it is an ambitious adaption of The Emigrants, a quadrilogy of historical novels by Vilhelm Moberg, Sweden’s most revered writer, and follows the misadventures of a poor Swedish family as it attempts to make a new life in Minnesota.
Unlike the Seventies film version of the Moberg novels, which starred Max von Sydow as the head of the family, Benny and Björn’s musical puts Kristina, a level-headed and deeply religious matriarch, centre stage. The privations and tribulations she experiences in seeking a better life for her family — from lice infestations on the transatlantic sea voyage to multiple miscarriages — lead ultimately to her questioning God’s existence. Very Swedish.
With its range of themes (which include prostitution, gold rush fever and — in a lighter song — a bilingual fart gag), as well as its almost Wagnerian length (some four hours in its original format), Benny considers it more than your average West End musical. “I think of it as opera,” he says, unsniffily.
Certainly, it is scored almost entirely for orchestra with an enormous chorus, although it also contains the occasional electric guitar, the odd Nordic folk number, and some very “Benny” piano riffs that give it more than a hint of “popera”. The English version is, thankfully, substantially trimmed. “But now down to three and a half hours, it’s almost too short, if you ask me,” says Benny.
Rather than working together at the piano, as they did when knocking out Abba hits, Benny and Björn worked alone when writing their contributions to Kristina — the score and the lyrics, respectively — which goes some way to explain why it took the pair five years to finish.
“A lot of the material was also written in rehearsal,” admits Björn, who needed the deadline of a opening night to compress the four novels into a show. “With Abba, we didn’t have anyone breathing down our necks. For this, people were rehearsing while I was writing the last lyrics. That was a kind of cliffhanger.”
Despite the downbeat subject, Kristina is swept along by numerous irresistible showstoppers. Upon hearing the musical for the first time, Andrew Lloyd Webber is reported to have said that he’d wished he’d written it.
“You can’t really compare Abba and Kristina,” says Benny. “They’re very different, in a compositional and emotional sense. But I’m easily as proud of it as of Abba.”
There was a strong personal reason to present it to English-speaking audiences. “We did it in English,” says Benny, “just to have an opportunity to say: ‘So there’s Mamma Mia down the road, on Broadway and in the West End, and this here is Kristina and there’s no resemblance, really, apart from it’s the same guys behind it. And that feels good.”
Abba were never big in America — they only ever had one Billboard number one, with Dancing Queen, and the widely panned Broadway production of Chess in 1988 went down as one of Benny and Bjorn’s most notable failures. But thanks to Mamma Mia!, that has changed. Benny now says with a smile: “I think we’ve finally cracked the States.” If proof were needed, the band will be inaugurated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York later this month.
“Isn’t that amazing?” says Benny. “I don’t know what it means exactly, I’m just flattered. We’re considered alongside Little Richard and Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley and Paul McCartney, so it’s not bad. We’re the only non-English or American act to have made it in. Ever. But we were never rock and roll. Kristina at the Albert Hall is light years away from rock and roll.”
‘Kristina’ will be performed at the Albert Hall, London SW7 (0845 401 5045), on Apr 14. Details: www.kristinathemusical.com.
 The soundtrack will be released by Decca on Apr 12.
Benny & Bjorn interview with Alex
ABBA - Benny and Bjorn - EXCLUSIVE
Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus were the musical genius behind ABBA. Belfield travelled to Stockholm, Sweden to talk to B&B at their homes in a rare in-depth interview!
B&B's latest musical 'Kristina' is coming to the UK for the first time in April at the Royal Albert Hall. The concert version of the musical will Star Russell Watson and takes place on April 14th. The show played on Broadway to great success in 2009.
Benny and Bjorn have written classics like 'Mamma Mia', 'Winner takes it all', 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' as well as the musical Chess.
Here's Benny's exclusive 35 minute interview from his studio in Stockholm. Benny even plays the piano Live for Belfield;
  
5/3/2010
 EXCLUSIVE!
ABBAWORLD is to live on in London. The current event will be expanded and maybe even extended! At this stage the Earls court venue will open till March 28 and may now close on the 31st. There is also hope that ABBAWORLD will move to a central London home. Earls Court have the venue booked and ABBAWORLD would have to move anyway. The whole event has been so successful and this is the reason for the plans - stay tuned!!!!
1/3/2010 Voulez Vous Deluxe Edition 
Voulez Vous Deluxe Edition will be released around the end of May (31-5-2010), and will include the following bonus tracks:
Summer Night City (Full Length Version),
Lovelight,
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight),
Dream World and
Voulez-Vous (Extended Remix, 1979 US promo).
The DVD will contain:
The television special ABBA In Switzerland (BBC),
Chiquitita (Music for UNICEF concert New York),
I Have A Dream (extended promo),
If It Wasn’t For The Nights (Mike Yarwood Christmas Show, BBC),
Chiquitita (ABBA Snowtime, BBC),
Björn & Benny Interview (Swap Shop, BBC),
Voulez Vous TV ad Australia, Greatest Hits Vol. 2 TV Ad I, Greatest Hits Vol. 2 TV Ad II
and an International Sleeve Gallery.
THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL! 
John Barrowman has recorded THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL for his new album. It’s the second time he has recorded a B&B song. The first was his amazing version of I KNOW HIM SO WELL from his album MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC. The album is released on March 1st on Cd and via iTunes.
Pre order Now!
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