ABBA: Against the Odds (2024)

[bunniefuu]

[laughter]

..

[interviewer] Do you have any

stories of what was happening?

Wait a minute, though, erm...

Before that, there was something else.

There was an international award.

What was that?

[Benny] Erm... the Eurovision Song Contest?

Is that what you mean? In '74?

[interviewer] Tell... Tell me that story.

[Benny] It's, erm...

Is the tape running now, or...

- [Benny] Yeah?

- [interviewer] Yeah.

[fanfare plays]

[presenter] Welcome to

the 19th Eurovision Song Contest,

being transmitted

to no less than 32 countries.

[Bjrn] Here we have those two guys

who have this burning ambition

to write songs.

- I'm Bjrn.

- I'm Frida.

- Benny.

- I'm Agnetha.

[Bjrn] And then one of them falls in love

with a beautiful blonde

who happens to be

the most fantastic singer,

and then the other one

falls in love with a redhead,

beautiful as well and a fantastic singer.

[Anni-Frid in Swedish] We just dream

a little together sometimes. [chuckles]

[Benny in English] Eurovision,

we were mainly in it to show ourselves,

to show people that there is a

band up in Sweden, Stockholm,

that can write pop music.

[Bjrn] Eurovision Song Contest,

it has a very, very big audience,

probably between

500 and 600 million viewers.

We had, er, funny costumes.

[Agnetha] They were tight.

They were really tight.

[Bjrn] And we had a song that wasn't

the usual Eurovision stuff.

[applause]

[host] Oh, and it's Napoleon.

No wonder their song is called "Waterloo".

[Walldoff] I don't think

any one of us thought

that we would win the competition.

Benny might have had a feeling.

[Benny] Well, I bet 100 quid on it.

[laughs] Good odds. Forty to one.

[laughter]

[host] Really entered into the spirit

of it all, dressed as Napoleon.

[Agnetha] For me,

that was really, really scary.

[host] Waiting for "Waterloo"

by ABBA, for Sweden.

Watch this one.

[playing "Waterloo"]

My, my

At Waterloo Napoleon did surrender

Oh, yeah

And I have met my destiny

In quite a similar way

The history book on the shelf...

[man] Here are the results

of the Finnish jury.

Sweden, five votes.

[presenter] Cinq votes.

Couldn't escape if I wanted to

Waterloo, knowing my fate

Is to be with you

Woah, woah, woah, woah, Waterloo...

[presenter] Oslo.

[man] Sweden, two votes.

Sweden, three votes.

[cheers and applause]

My, my, I tried to hold you back

But you were stronger

Oh, yeah, and...

[presenter] Sweden, five votes.

Sweden's way in the lead.

[man] Sweden, they've never won it,

but they've surely got to be up

amongst the reckoning with that one.

[presenter] There's no doubt about it.

The winning song of the 1974

Eurovision Song Contest,

"Waterloo," chante par ABBA.

[cheers and applause]

[Agnetha] That was a great moment, really.

[Anni-Frid] But it was a strange feeling.

I didn't expect to win.

[cheers and applause]

[Benny] Wow. Okay. We've achieved this.

Now we need to start working.

["Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

(A Man After Midnight)" plays]

[cheers and applause]

[down-tempo music plays]

[Skinner] Waterloo, the song

that won last Saturday's

Eurovision Song Contest by a mile.

Sung by the Swedish group ABBA,

"Waterloo" looks like being

a really big seller

and making a chart entry

from nowhere next week.

What plans have you got ahead of you now?

What about conquering foreign markets?

[Bjrn]

The dream is the United States, of course,

if we conquer the British market,

because that's the first thing, really.

[Skinner] A little-known fact, perhaps,

is that the two of you are married.

[Bjrn and Agnetha] Yes, we are.

[Skinner] Do the fans get jealous?

- [Bjrn] I don't think so.

- [Agnetha] No.

[Skinner] You don't feel that you're

literally living in each other's pockets?

- [Bjrn] No.

- [Agnetha chuckles] Sometimes.

- [Bjrn] I don't.

- [Skinner] Disagreement in the ranks.

[Skinner] The first time I met them,

I was just struck by how genuine

and normal they were.

They were a close-knit team, you know?

And Bjrn and Agnetha, they were like one.

[gulls squawking]

[speaking in Swedish]

Hello, my name is Stikkan Anderson,

I represent a record company called Polar.

The only Swedish record company

that reaches outside of Sweden's borders.

[Bjrn speaking in Swedish]

Stikkan believed in us from the beginning,

he always said

one day you'll write a world hit.

[laughter]

That has meant a lot.

Stig had, before Brighton,

he had thought ahead about

what should happen, if we should win.

[speaking in Swedish] When we won

it was just like pressing a button

and everything worked all over Europe.

Take it away, ABBA.

My, my

At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender...

[man speaking German]

They are now at the top

of almost all the European charts,

making the hit Waterloo the biggest

commercial success

since the Grand Prix began.

[singing in English]

At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender...

[speaking Swedish] In other words, ABBA!

[singing in Swedish]

[man speaking in French] Four Swedes have

won the Eurovision Grand Prix

with Waterloo.

Since then, they have become stars.

[singing in English]

Is always repeating itself

Waterloo...

[Benny speaking in Swedish]

Waterloo, in England,

they thought it was quite beige,

even if the song

was number one in England.

If you're a part of Eurovision,

you're dead afterwards.

[Bjrn speaking in Swedish] It was like an

agreement among all DJs, amongst everyone.

So it was a damn uphill climb.

[cheers and applause]

[Lander in English]

ABBA were seen as total outsiders.

And, er, you know,

the UK press could be mercenary.

A lot of them seemed to turn on the band.

You know, "It's a damp squib.

It's going to end. Tacky, plastic."

I was sitting by the phone

I was waiting all alone...

[Lander] On first seeing ABBA,

you know, I must admit,

I wasn't sold on the fashion at the time.

I found it a little bit cringey,

seeing the outfits that they all wore,

and I think the outfits

were the contributor

that made them look a little bit cheesy.

Please forgive and then forget

Or maybe, darling, better yet

Oh, ring, ring...

[Benny] We weren't taken seriously,

I think,

because we were wearing

such strange clothes.

We thought we had to be more outrageous

than anyone else to be seen.

And then we thought it was great fun too.

It was never any plan that,

this is going to be our image.

The kitsch...

we've really suffered for that.

[down-tempo music plays]

[reporter in Swedish] Anni-Frid Lyngstad,

was this unexpected?

Yeah, I think so,

I couldn't dare hope otherwise.

[Bjrn in English]

The first Swedish reporter

who came to us with a mic, he said...

[reporter in Swedish] Last year you did

a hit on how you ring one another.

This year you made a song

about how forty thousand people

were k*lled...

[in Swedish]

That is a very cynical expression

because that isn't the meaning at all.

It is about something

that has happened in history.

[Bjrn in English] It was kind

of a different mass media climate

in Sweden at that time.

We were not popular.

[del Valle] In the beginning

of my life in Sweden,

when I was working

at the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation,

my co-workers,

they felt ABBA was too commercial,

not talking about

what was happening in the world.

[Wiehe] We were "the upset generation".

We were upset about the apartheid system.

We were upset

about the military coups in Latin America.

[newsreader] Chile today joined the list

of South American countries

to fall under military rule.

[del Valle] 20,000 people

disappeared in Argentina.

[Wiehe] We were upset about

the wars in Southeast Asia.

And we were upset that ABBA weren't upset.

[Bjrn] There was a kind

of progressive movement

that looked upon ABBA as anti-Christ.

[Halling] I first heard an ABBA record

because my boyfriend at that time

was playing guitar with ABBA.

You know,

he was sitting home in our apartment,

trying out some new riffs,

so I heard the songs in many ways.

[chuckles]

[cash register dings]

[Halling]

I didn't particularly listen to ABBA

because I was listening

to Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd

and the Stones and bands like that.

[reporter in Swedish] Do you like ABBA?

[speaks in Swedish]

ABBA? They are anchovies.

They're too commercial.

sh*t.

- It's not your music?

- Nope. sh*t.

- They only sing pop.

- No.

[Halling in English] Everyone thought

ABBA was just a manager who decides,

"Let's take two good-looking women,

two skilled musicians,

put them together,

and make a group that will make hits."

You know, just doing this for the money.

[interviewer in Swedish] A tax question,

what has Brighton meant financially?

[Bjrn in Swedish]

It's difficult to answer still.

Royalties and such

from different countries

comes in the long term, right?

So we still haven't seen much of it.

[Benny in English] What happens to you

when you win that contest is,

if you win it, you're a contest winner

and that's what you are.

I mean, everybody whoever wins it,

they're kind of a one-shot.

It took us some time in Europe

to get rid of that mark.

["SOS" plays]

[Bjrn] After "Waterloo",

we were trying to find our identity.

[indistinct conversation]

[Bjrn]

Were we a rock group or a pop group

or something in between?

[speaking in Swedish]

Here is ABBA's music workshop.

Don't you need at least a pen and paper

when you write music?

No it's not necessary. Not in our case.

How do you do it then?

What we do here is more like

we create a melody

that can stick in your head.

And if it doesn't stay in your head

then it's not really that good.

Hep!

[cheers and applause]

[interviewer in English]

How did you meet Bjrn?

[Benny] We met on the road, actually.

I was in the Hep Stars

and he was playing in a folk group.

- [interviewer] The Hootenanny Singers?

- The Hootenanny Singers, yes.

And we, just by coincidence,

met the day before he was going

to do his military services.

[interviewer]

Did you do your military service?

[Bjrn] Certainly, I did.

[interviewer] Well, I shall

stand up and salute, sir.

[man speaking in Swedish]

Do you like ABBA's music?

Oh, yeah and I have a lot of damn fun

when we're playing it.

I can't imagine doing anything else.

[guitar strums]

[singing in English]

People need hope, people need lovin'

People need trust from a fellow man

People need love to make a good livin'

People need faith and a helping hand...

[interviewer] Anna and Frida,

how did you meet Bjrn and Benny?

[Agnetha] By that time, Frida and I

were working as solo artists in Sweden,

and we had a lot of success. [chuckles]

[Anni-Frid]

I met Benny first of all in 1969,

and I fell madly in love with him.

[Anni-Frid in Swedish] Working in a dance

band for 10 years, isn't especially fun.

The march to the top has been tough.

[Bjrn in English] I remember hearing

Agnetha's first single on the radio.

I was so in love. [chuckles]

[Agnetha in Swedish]

That was the first record I ever did.

I remember the feeling, that's my song!

The most fantastic thing I'd ever done.

[Bjrn in English] Fantastic,

the way we sort of came together.

[interviewer] Who amongst the four of you

has the final say

in which track will make a single?

- [Agnetha] Frida and I do.

- [laughter]

["Mamma Mia" plays]

[Agnetha]

Mostly, we were standing in the studio

right across each other and,

erm, just singing.

I've been cheated by you

Since I don't know when...

[Agnetha] There was so much singing.

So I made up my mind

It must come to an end...

[Agnetha] But for me,

it was not working, it was just fun.

Look at me now, will I ever learn?

I don't know how

But I suddenly lose control

There's a fire within my soul

Just one look and I can

Hear a bell ring

One more look and I forget everything

Oh, oh, oh, oh...

[Anni-Frid in Swedish]

You put your whole soul out there

because it's fun to give it your all.

It makes you happy

to think how you've grown

at least a little bit over the years.

[singing in English]

Mamma mia, does it show again?

My, my, how can I resist you...

[Benny] When they were singing together,

doing all the harmonies, that sound,

I can remember 4,000 metres distance.

Yes, I've been broken-hearted

Blue since the day we parted

Why, why did I ever let you go...

[Bjrn] Even if they sing very sad songs,

together, they sound somehow jubilant.

With "Mamma Mia,"

we found, we're a pop group.

We found our identity.

Bye-bye, leave me now or never

Mamma mia, it's a game we play

Bye-bye doesn't mean forever...

[Bjrn in Swedish]

Hello, dear friends from all around.

We are sending you all a musical greeting,

titled "Mamma Mia".

[singing in English]

Yes, I've been broken-hearted

Blue since the day we parted

[fanfare plays]

[Schulman] In Sweden,

there was almost a huge campaign

against ABBA during that time.

You couldn't be open about liking ABBA.

And we even had to hide the records.

Sweden was supposed to host

the Eurovision Song Contest in '75.

There was a discussion

in Swedish television

about not taking part

in this Eurovision Song Contest,

but the rules was that Sweden had won,

Sweden was obliged

to host the final in '75.

There were protests.

People were marching in the streets.

"Stop the music festival."

Swedish television even broadcast

an alternative to Eurovision

with a satirical song that ridiculed ABBA.

The band was accused of selling out...

and having no more soul

than a can of tinned herring.

[Agnetha in Swedish] I think that's

something you have to take, bad criticism.

They criticised us

on those grounds,

that we don't have feeling.

It's quite unpleasant.

[Anni-Frid]

It has been very draining many times.

I felt very overwhelmed.

[Benny in English]

Many people think that there is a formula

or there is a calculation behind.

It's not.

It's just merely that Bjrn and I

write the music that we enjoy most.

There was something

In the air that night

[man in German]

ABBA don't shy away from hard work.

The quartet will be

introducing themselves to Australia

soon with their self-composed songs.

Here, ABBA are rehearsing

their latest song titled "Fernando".

[in English] Hello. I'm Johnny Farnham

and this is Countdown.

The first edition for...

[Chugg] Countdown was a huge

television pop show in Australia.

They brought ABBA out

and it just blew this country apart.

There was something

In the air that night

The stars were bright, Fernando

[Bjrn] They played them like mad

and made them gigantic hits.

For liberty, Fernando

Though we never thought

That we could lose

There's no regret...

[Chugg] Just kept getting bigger

and bigger and bigger.

There was a song every f*cking two weeks.

They were all over TV.

Hello. I'm Bjrn.

Hello. I'm Agnetha.

Hello. I'm Frida.

And I'm Benny.

[Skinner] From '75 to '76,

ABBA songs were number one

in Australia for 42 weeks.

Nobody could ignore that.

[Lander] We had a meeting

with Peter Robinson,

the head of UK and international A&R.

He'd just literally

got in some demos from Sweden.

["Knowing Me, Knowing You" plays]

[Lander]

And there were a selection of tracks,

but the one that stood out was

"Knowing Me, Knowing You."

No more carefree laughter...

[Lander] He just sat there and he went,

"Ooh! Yeah, that's got to be

the next track."

You know, you get that feel.

With that, they were now on a flow.

It was working.

Walking through an empty house

Tears in my eyes...

[Skinner] Judd Lander, he could not ignore

what was happening in Australia,

which was phenomenal.

Knowing me, knowing you

Aha, there is nothing...

[Gambaccini] When I first heard

"Knowing Me, Knowing You,"

I just thought, "Oh, my God.

This is a number one. I can't believe it."

And you just wanted to rush

out into the street and tell everybody,

"I've just heard a future number one."

This time, we're through

We're really through

Breaking up is never easy I know...

[Gambaccini]

From that moment on, I just thought,

"Well, I'm listening

to every track they make."

Knowing me, knowing you

It's the best I can do...

[interviewer] You like travelling?

- Car, yes.

- [laughter]

- She's very shaky about flying.

- [Agnetha] Yeah. I don't like it.

[interviewer] You're the happy couple.

- No, we are.

- Are we?

[all laugh]

We are just engaged, you know.

- [interviewer] You're engaged?

- That's why.

Walking through an empty house

Tears in my eyes

Here is where the story ends

This is goodbye...

[interviewer] After that success,

did you find that the press

warmed towards you?

They had been a little cool,

putting you down.

[Bjrn] No, not really.

They still thought that it was, you know,

this commercial-hit machine.

- [Agnetha] They still do, no?

- They still do.

[Benny] Some of them do, yeah.

The audience that buys the record,

I mean, it's like telling them

that they're not mature enough,

that they don't know what they're buying

and they're buying something

coming out of a calculated hit machine.

I think that's terrible.

[interviewer] Benny and Bjrn, in England,

your lyrics have sometimes

been called simple and naive.

Do you not have some ambition,

the two of you,

to perhaps put more profundity,

more depth into your lyrics sometimes?

[Benny] Yes. Well, yes, very much so.

And if you listen to the recent lyrics,

they're, you know, somewhat

different from the ones before.

But it seems

that everybody's decided anyway

that they are simple and naive

and nobody bothers to listen.

["Dancing Queen" plays]

[Lander] But they didn't veer off.

Regardless of the critics,

they managed to come back up,

bringing it all together

into a three-and-a-half-minute

k*ller track.

Baby, baby, you're out of sight

Hey, you're lookin' all right tonight

When you come to the party

Listen to the guys

They got the look in their eyes...

[Benny] We never give up until

we're satisfied and we think,

"This is as good as we can do it."

Leave them burning

And then you're gone...

[Agnetha] When we recorded

"Dancing Queen,"

both Frida and I,

we had those goosebumps.

[Anni-Frid] I remember recording that.

I really felt something

very strongly for it, you know.

And when you get the chance

You are the dancing queen

Young and sweet, only 17

Dancing queen

Feel the beat from the tambourine

Oh, yeah

[playing "Jingle Bells"]

[reporter in Swedish] This is the third

Christmas where ABBA means more than

tinned fish meatballs and tubed caviar.

This is the third Christmas

since Waterloo.

ABBA has tinned its music in gold

and silver records all over the world.

[interviewer in English] Why do you think

they are that big around the world?

Okay, I'll do that now.

[interviewer] No, I'm asking--

- Why, why do I think?

- Yes.

I think it's because

they're the only group

that's actually giving the world

good commercial pop music that means 1976,

because all the other

commercial pop goes back

to 1975 or '74 or '73. It's too old.

These guys and the girls

are really modern,

and yet they're commercial as well.

[interviewer] Just how big are they

in Great Britain, for example?

Very big.

About the biggest commercial band there.

[interviewer]

Erm, how much of a strain is that?

- Meaning that you're working...

- [Benny] Yeah.

...you're living together.

I'd say my personal...

- feelings is there's no strain at all.

- Mmm-hmm.

- It's rather the opposite.

- Mmm-hmm.

It's an advantage and a privilege

to work together with somebody you...

the one you enjoy most in life.

- Mmm-hmm.

- [Bjrn] But, of course,

sometimes you come into situations where...

er, having to be together all the time

can create problems.

[Lander] You know, as the band's

success grew, you know,

the focus was always on the girls,

on Agnetha and Frida,

and the guys were there as the musicians,

and they were seen as a backdrop

more than front-of-house.

All the producers wanted were the girls.

But trying to get the band over,

along with Agnetha,

who didn't really want to leave

her daughter in Sweden...

it was a major, major problem.

[Agnetha]

That was a difficult time for me.

We got our daughter in '73,

so she was just, erm, one year old

when we won in Brighton.

So everything happened at the same time.

But that often is like that, I think,

that you start your career

at the same time

you want to be a mother.

[Bjrn] When we did "Waterloo"

in Brighton, we were away for,

I think, a fortnight or three weeks.

And when we came back, our daughter,

she didn't recognise us.

That was a tough experience.

[Agnetha] That was horrible.

She was so small.

[interviewer]

Do you find there are conflicts

between being a mother

and being a pop star?

[Agnetha] I think so, really.

It's hard work

and you always get back to bed conscious.

She wants me and ABBA wants me,

and it's very hard to do it all.

[woman]

The Polish TV Studio Two special flight

on Polish Airlines is ready for boarding.

The special flight expects

the special guests,

the pop music group, ABBA.

[Schulman] The Polish Television

offered Stig Anderson and ABBA

to come to Warszawa for a TV special.

They were huge in Eastern Europe.

ABBA cut through the Iron Curtain.

[cheering]

[Palm] It's very difficult to get paid

from an Eastern Bloc country

because their currency

is basically worthless.

Stig Anderson, who was quite clever,

he made a deal and he said,

"Okay, we'll do this free of charge."

"But what you're gonna do in return

is make a media event out of it,

and everyone wins."

[interviewer]

What does the word ABBA mean?

It's very simple.

ABBA is the initials of our first name,

and my name is Anni-Frid.

And I'm "B", Benny.

And I'm the other "B", Bjrn.

And my wife is Agnetha.

She's actually in Warsaw already.

You see, when we fly,

because we have a daughter

of three and a half years old,

er, we try to fly separately when we can.

["SOS" plays]

Where are those happy days?

They seem so hard to find

I try to reach for you

But you have closed your mind...

[Agnetha] I've been flying now

for very much around the world,

and I've never liked it.

And now I'm very, very scared of it.

It used to be so nice

It used to be so good...

[Halling] I'm sure other parents as well

would resonate the same way.

Both parents flying together.

"What if, what if?"

So when you're near me, darling

Can't you hear me?

SOS

The love you gave me

Nothing else can save me

SOS

When you're gone

How can I even try to go on?

When you're gone

Though I try

How can I carry on?

[Schulman] It was my first visit

to Eastern Europe,

and you could see everything was

a bit more worn, a bit grey.

ABBA, it was a big riot.

It was a big thing.

[down-tempo music plays]

[gong rings]

["Money, Money, Money" plays]

I work all night, I work all day

To pay the bills I have to pay

Ain't it sad?

And still there never seems

To be a single penny left for me

That's too bad...

[Palm] Stig Anderson

and his will to become

this big music-industry mogul

clashed against the "Stay where you are

and don't get ahead of yourself

too much" attitude in Sweden.

So, because they were so

closely tied to Stig Anderson,

when people were criticising Stig

for just thinking about the money,

that sort of rubbed off

on their image as well.

Ain't it sad...

[Palm] So that was a struggle for them.

So I must leave, I'll have to go

To Las Vegas or Monaco

And win a fortune in a game

My life will never be the same

Money, money, money, must be funny

In the rich man's world

Money, money, money...

[interviewer]

Are ABBA into the millionaire bracket?

Well, you can't be that,

in a country like Sweden

when you are paying 85% in tax.

Eighty-five, I repeat.

All the things I could do

If I had a little money

It's a rich man's world...

[interviewer] I guess

you're hit with a supertax.

Rod Stewart left England

because of their supertaxes,

or like the Rolling Stones to France.

How do you feel about paying

so much to the government?

- [Benny] It's all right.

- It's all right?

[Benny] Money isn't everything.

All the things I could do

If I had a little money

It's a rich man's world...

Sweden is very important for us, you know?

I think everybody starts, er,

is asking us why we are living in Sweden,

because of the taxes and, you know.

And I don't think

that we can live somewhere else.

It's very hard to... to think of that.

It's a rich man world...

[applause]

We're crossing live by satellite

to Sweden, Stockholm.

Let's meet them now.

Would you give 'em a hand?

Ladies and gentlemen, ABBA.

[cheers and applause]

Did you ever envisage

that you would be

this immensely successful?

- No. No way.

- [Bjrn] No.

I mean, we've been... we've been writing

and recording for a couple of years,

all the four of us,

and we never expected this, really.

Erm, Bjrn and Agnetha,

your daughter, Linda, erm,

how old is she now?

She will be four years tomorrow.

[Lane] Does she yet realise who you are?

[laughter]

- [Bjrn] That's a funny question.

- I hope she does. Well...

[Bjrn]

She called me "Father" this morning.

- [Lane] Did she?

- [laughter]

[applause]

[Lane] Well, let me get over

to the other two.

I want to ask them something personal.

I read something in a paper.

You two have been engaged for seven years.

- Yeah.

- Eight by now.

- [laughter]

- Eight years, yeah.

[Lane] Are you ever gonna make a move?

Are you ever gonna get married?

- Oh, no.

- [laughter]

[Lane] Look at the look on him.

Are you ready for that?

[laughter]

No, we are not quite sure of that,

you know?

We haven't...

We didn't get the time yet, so...

- [Lane] Oh, I see.

- We don't know.

[Lane] Maybe in another 10 or 12 years,

you'll figure it out.

- Yes.

- Yeah. You never know.

[Lane] Thank you.

ABBA, ladies and gentlemen.

- Thank you.

- Bye.

[Lane] Okay. Bye now.

[Halling] Frida called me in late '76.

We were friends.

We did some fun things together,

played badminton

and were out dancing and stuff.

And she asked me if I wanted

to join ABBA in Australia.

It was a very easy call to make.

[crowd cheering]

We want ABBA! We want ABBA!

[Bjrn] We were very nervous.

To be perfectly honest,

we didn't know ourselves

whether we could cope

with a tour of this form.

They'd been saying that,

"Oh, they can never reproduce

that sound onstage."

[Benny] When you're trying

to do something special,

trying to reproduce

our records with a band,

live, that's difficult stuff.

[crowd cheering]

[reporter]

The group's arrival in Australia

has been accompanied

by a blaze of publicity.

While they're here, they'll perform

at 11 concerts in 10 days

to an estimated 140,000 people.

According to the promoters,

they're bigger than the Beatles.

And with an entourage of 105 people,

they're almost twice as big

as The Rolling Stones concert.

ABBA are obviously very big business.

[man] ...live to air, and everybody

down there with radios can hear us.

Would you like

to say anything to the people?

[Bjrn] I'd like to say

that this is the most

fantastic reception we ever had.

And, you know,

we're so overwhelmed and happy

that I just can't say how much.

And we're just really honoured, you know?

[reporter] Say hello.

This microphone is live

to the people down there.

They can all hear you.

- Here, down on the...

- Yes.

Oh. Hello, everybody. This is Frida.

I really appreciate this. I love you.

[reporter] Thank you very much. Thank you.

[Agnetha] That was so enormous.

The fact that so many people

like what you are doing, it's...

You're very proud of it.

But that was crowded, really.

It affects you when it gets too much.

And I could feel that when

we were in Australia sometimes.

Good feeling as well,

but that was so enormous there.

It was really fever.

I think it was a little too much.

[Anni-Frid]

Going on tour is really exhausting,

to travel every day, to change hotels,

you know, never unpack your suitcases.

After a while, it's not funny any more.

[interviewer] I read somewhere

where you are the proud owner

of an award which declares you

as the lady with the most

sexiest bottom in Europe.

- [laughter]

- [reporter] Is that true?

How can I answer to that? I don't know.

- I haven't seen it.

- [laughter]

[Greer]

Well, it's crass, isn't it? It's rude.

But what can she do about it?

It's completely unsurprising.

They're not going to ask

Agnetha about the music.

[Halling] I think it was unworthy,

any person to be talked about

as a body part.

[thunder rumbles]

[reporter] Heavy rain tomorrow

night is now the only thing

that will stop the ABBA concert

from going ahead.

According to showground officials,

the 20,000 or so people out there

should experience no real problems.

How many hours do you reckon

you've been queuing for now?

- [woman] 32.

- [reporter] 32 hours?

[woman] Yeah.

[reporter]

You reckon it's gonna be worth it?

- Oh, yeah.

- [woman] Yeah!

[crowd chanting]

We want ABBA! We want ABBA!

[Halling] They were extremely nervous,

absolutely.

A little group from Sweden

going to conquer the world.

[chanting continues]

[chanting continues in distance]

[vocalising]

["Tiger" plays]

[cheers and applause]

The city is a nightmare

A horrible dream

Some of us will dream it forever

Look around the corner...

[Anni-Frid in Swedish]

When you're on the stage

and doing the things you know you can do,

you can dare to let go

and actually be what you want to be.

There's nothing more fun.

[singing in English]

People who fear me never come near me

I am the tiger...

[Agnetha] I think both Frida and I,

when we were onstage, a bit competing.

It's good, because you really do

your best every evening.

I am behind you, I always find you...

[Agnetha] So much has been written

that Frida and I were not friends.

It's not very fair to do that.

We had a lot of fun,

but we also helped each other.

Look into the shadows

And you'll see the shape of me

I am behind you, I always find you

I am the tiger, tiger, tiger

[cheers and applause]

[interviewer] In Australia,

there was a huge conglomeration

of hit after hit after hit,

and there was that huge peak.

Does that sort of bother you, erm,

the fact that you were

getting so terribly overexposed?

[Bjrn] In a way, yeah, because it's...

it's harming us now, I think.

If people expect us to have

five songs in the top ten,

all the time, I mean, that's impossible.

That's not normal.

[Benny speaks in Swedish] In Australia,

it was exceptional there because

it had been worked up

that we would come there

and there was ABBA on bedsheets

and ABBA on the caramels

and ABBA on everything.

So I think that when we came there

that it was like the final drop,

the last thing

they wanted was ABBA itself.

[Palm in English] When ABBA The Album

was released in Australia,

it doesn't do as well at all.

So not to make too big a thing out of it,

but maybe there was a bit

of a worry there,

"Oh, this isn't a number one."

"Maybe this is the start

of the end for us."

[down-tempo music plays]

[host] The new craze, they tell me.

They are heroes, not the nice,

clean Rolling Stones.

They're a group called the Sex Pistols.

[Goldman] Punk came along,

overturning and turning its back on

and spitting on all that had come before.

Go on, you've got another five seconds.

- Say something outrageous.

- You dirty b*stard!

- [host] Go on, again.

- You dirty f*ck.

- [host] What a clever boy.

- What a f*cking rotter!

Well, that's it for tonight.

I'll be seeing you soon.

I hope I'm not seeing you again.

From me, though, goodnight.

[Goldman] We felt we were

caught up in a revolution.

[presenter] And here are Bjrn,

Anna, Frida, and Benny,

who go together to make up ABBA.

And first of all, I'd like to say

welcome to Blue Peter.

Thanks very much for coming along.

- Nice to meet you, Shep.

- And Shep says hello as well.

[Goldman] That was the contradiction,

in a way, of locating ABBA,

when what was prized

was a certain sort of roughness.

ABBA, they seemed to project

a relentless good cheer.

That was somewhat at odds

with the zeitgeist.

I try so hard to be nice.

[Goldman] They represented a wholeness,

something high-functioning,

whereas we were just teetering

on the edge and falling apart.

[Skinner] By the summertime of '77,

punk was in the charts.

It was sometimes four or five

songs in the top 10.

Bands like ABBA were being squeezed out.

[Dahlin] In '77, the Pistols' manager

decided to do a Scandinavian tour.

I was brought up in England,

but I'm Norwegian.

The first thing I remember was Rodent.

He was the roadie,

and he was carrying a cassette player.

And on the cassette player,

they had one cassette, and it was...

["Dancing Queen" plays]

I just turned around and went, "What?"

They played it 24/7, all the time.

Everybody. It was Rodent's job

to turn it around, you know,

when it got to the end.

You can dance, you can jive

Having the time of your life...

[Dahlin] It's a miracle

it lasted the whole tour.

The Pistols, they were huge ABBA fans.

Digging the dancing queen...

[Lander]

A record label can be very mercenary.

It has to be to keep up with demand.

And with an ever-changing musical scene,

there was a little panic in the camp.

"Do we carry on with the band?

Do we call it a day?"

That inevitably comes along.

[interviewer] Having to come up

with new songs all the time,

isn't that very difficult?

Don't you feel enormous pressure?

[Bjrn] Yeah, we do.

We feel that we have to

come up with something different.

So many people been talking

about the equivalent

to the Sgt. Pepper album, you know,

when The Beatles came up.

And, erm,

it puts a lot of pressure on us, sure.

[down-tempo music plays]

[interviewer]

Er, Benny and Bjrn are with me.

Anna is, what, due in a couple of days?

[Benny] Yes, yes. She's fine, but, erm...

a bit tired of waiting.

[interviewer]

Yeah. After nine months, no wonder.

Erm, what are you hoping for,

a boy or a girl?

- [Benny] A dog.

- [laughter]

[interviewer] Don't tell Anna.

No smiles, not a single word

At the breakfast table

Though I would have liked to begin

So much that I wanna say

But I feel unable

You leave and slam the door

Like you've done many times before

And I cry and I feel so helpless...

[Bjrn] People have read a lot

into various lyrics.

And, of course,

there is some of that in the lyrics,

but most is fiction.

- [Benny] But the emotions are there.

- [Bjrn] Yeah.

[Palm] 1978 was a strange period.

Bjrn and Agnetha's marriage

is not going so well.

And in the midst of all this,

Benny and Frida get married.

Where did all our love go?

Sometimes when I just can't cope

I cling to a desperate hope

And I cry and I feel like dying...

[Greer] "I cling to a desperate hope

and I cry and I feel like dying."

"Two friends and two true lovers."

"Somehow we'll help each other

through the hard times."

No, you won't. And you don't.

Well, I think what men

mistake for happiness

was in fact, er,

resignation and impatience.

Depends what you're in

the relationship for, I guess.

I mean, it's always

got to be worth staying,

but it might be unbearable.

Daydreams of a better life

But I have to wake up

The sound of a key in the door

[Goldman] The lyrics,

they're talking about very serious,

you know, pains of the heart.

Within them, they did have

really mature reflections

on their relationships.

In talking about things like separation,

they were in the flow

of what was going on socially.

Women's liberation is people's liberation!

[Greer] It was a huge thing.

People were not getting divorced.

[crowd chanting indistinctly]

[host] Benny, try to speak French for me.

[Benny speaking in French]

Oh, I don't speak French.

[host in English]

Are you afraid by the future?

[speaking in French] Who wants to answer?

[in English] You want to answer, Benny?

No. I'm not very afraid. No.

[speaking in French] Apparently you

are not afraid on a professional level.

If I were you, I would still be afraid

to see my two wives fly away.

[in English] You are not afraid

someone might steal your wives?

[laughs]

[Benny] It's not up to us.

It's up to them.

[speaking in French] Yes, of course.

[down-tempo music plays]

[man speaking in Swedish] ABBA in huge

print on sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

It is a huge venture

which ABBA has begun in America.

What will create the breakthrough

is ABBA's participation

in the big star

Olivia Newton John's TV show.

It is one of America's biggest TV shows.

[Binder speaking in English] We know them

as the biggest artists in the world,

er, since The Beatles,

except in the United States.

[interviewer] Speaking

of Olivia Newton-John,

I was told that, er, before being

as noticed in America,

you were quite popular in Australia.

Is that so?

- [Benny] Yeah.

- [interviewer] Why do you suppose that is?

[Benny] Well, I'd say the only territory

where we don't sell records is here.

Er, otherwise, they buy the records

all over the world.

[man speaking in Swedish]

There is a million investment

and a huge ad campaign happening.

Radio stations, TV companies,

press and weekly magazines are arranged.

[Anni-Frid]

People have forgotten that this money,

this is written so much about

would never have come

if the creative side hadn't existed.

That's what it is.

We have feelings and we get hurt

if we get jumped on every time

and there's only talk about money.

Because we are proud of what we do.

That's what we want to talk about.

Not money.

[man]

Stars and money go together, however,

and the million is already rolling in.

[Palm speaking in English] It seemed

impossible to make ABBA as big in America

as they were everywhere else.

I mean, they were doing fine.

They had a number-one hit

with "Dancing Queen",

but it wasn't as successful.

[Farber] At this time,

when ABBA are coming up,

the measure of credibility

in popular music

is pretty much guitar rock.

They didn't look like other rock stars.

And then also, I mean, just even

the sound of the women's voices,

I mean, that kind of thin, high pitch

is almost like Alvin and the Chipmunks

or something.

It sounds like a record

that's being played too quickly.

They knew that there

was resistance to them

from a magazine like Rolling Stone.

They had some great songs. I know one

you could start off with your voice.

Bar, bar, bar [laughs]

- [Benny] You want to do that?

- You go on. You do it. That's good.

- Bar

- [piano playing]

Bar, bar, bar, bar Barbara Ann

[together] Bar, bar, bar

Bar Barbara Ann

Bar, bar, bar, bar Barbara Ann

Barbara Ann, take my hand

Oh, Barbara Ann

You got me rockin' and a rollin'

Rockin' and a reelin', Barbara Ann

Bar, bar, bar, bar Barbara Ann

Went to a dance looking for romance

Saw Barbara Ann

So I thought I'd take a chance

Barbara Ann

Bar, bar, bar, bar Barbara Ann

Barbara Ann

This is the wrong way around.

Rockin' and a rollin'

Rockin' and a reelin'

Barbara Ann

Bar, bar, bar, bar Barbara Ann

[in deep voice] Bar, bar, bar, bar

[laughter]

How come you're doing the high part

and I'm doing the low part?

[laughter]

- Do some opera.

- [Agnetha] Huh?

Can you sing some opera?

Erm, actually, I don't know many songs.

You know, just a few.

[Newton-John] Just give us a few bars.

[man] You have got a good opera voice.

Sing some scales.

[Benny] Couple of notes.

The one you were rehearsing.

[laughter]

The one you've been rehearsing

for a week now.

[laughter]

That's not fair.

[gentle tune plays]

[singing opera in Latin]

[laughter]

[continues singing in Latin]

[laughter and applause]

[continues singing in Latin]

[hits high note]

[man in English] I like that.

[continues singing in Latin]

La-la-la-la

[laughter and applause]

[Rodgers in English]

There was an interesting connection.

Chic and ABBA were signed

to the same label at the same time,

and I thought

that just like my band, Chic,

their songs and their sound

is uniquely theirs.

You have to understand

that people have different roots.

They're Swedish. [chuckles]

They're not from California

or New Orleans or whatever.

They have a culture

that is uniquely theirs.

[Bjrn] It's very difficult

to say exactly what ABBA is,

because we've been exposed

to the American music scene,

the English, the Swedish folk music scene,

to the Italian, German, French.

There are a lot of styles,

a lot of different traditions

that we, now and then, like to try.

[interviewer]

It must be very difficult to say.

On average, how long does it take

for you to write a song?

[Benny] That's impossible to answer.

Sometimes, you know, it takes...

it takes you a week,

and there's no song at all for two weeks.

And sometimes it takes four hours

and there is almost a complete song there.

Let's say it has taken us a year

for each album.

[interviewer in Swedish]

When is the next LP record coming out?

Yeah I'm wondering that also.

You're working on it.

Yeah we're working on recording it,

but it's going very slowly,

it's terribly difficult because

it requires time to write new material.

Can you hum a bit of the chorus of a song

which is going on the coming album?

[sighs]

I don't know if I should.

[chuckles]

You caught me off guard.

No, I think I'll save it.

The kids will have to wait

until our LP comes out instead.

That'll probably be more exciting.

[band playing, applause]

[Lander in English] I get this call

from head of entertainment at the BBC.

Erm, "Hi, Judd. Listen, we need ABBA."

"We're doing a Christmas special.

We'd love ABBA to come."

[cheers and applause]

Well, aren't they lovely?

See? That applause,

it just shows you how lovely you are.

- I'll just check your details.

- [laughter]

He seems like a nice boy, doesn't he?

[laughter]

- Which one are you?

- I'm Bjrn.

Bjrn? Now, that's... Bjrn.

That's a very popular name

for babies in Sweden, isn't it?

Yeah, they say there's one Bjrn

every minute.

[laughter]

He's going to be trouble, isn't he?

I can see that.

[Lander] This was one of the big,

major Christmas shows,

a show called The Mike Yarwood Show.

He was a showbiz impersonator, comedian,

and highly respected entertainer

with the biggest viewership

at the time in the UK.

They're one of the world's

most popular singing groups,

and I love them.

I know you love them. Millions do.

ABBA.

[cheers and applause]

["Thank You for the Music" playing]

I'm nothing special

In fact, I'm a bit of a bore

If I tell a joke

You've probably heard it before

But I have a talent, a wonderful thing

'Cause everyone listens

When I start to sing

I'm so grateful and proud...

[Lander] We arrived at the hotel,

all marched up to the suites,

and I said goodnight.

And there was Agnetha on her own.

And I saw her going into her own suite.

A slight loneliness

was showing on her face.

You know, the sort of...

It was sad, actually.

[down-tempo music plays]

- [inaudible]

- [applause]

[Palm]

That television special actually aired

on Christmas day in the UK.

So while the British public were sitting

in front of this big television special

and enjoying ABBA and seeing them

as a happy group of two happy couples,

the reality of it was that,

on that very same day,

Agnetha took the kids and moved out.

[Bjrn] The marriage didn't work,

but we still worked

very well together as, er,

as musicians and artists.

So we decided to split up the marriage,

but not split up, er, split up ABBA.

[Agnetha] I think that was brave of us.

But we were in the middle of something,

and, er, there were no... no hard feelings.

And we knew, all of us,

that this is our way to succeed.

We want to follow...

to do this and to continue,

even if there were some hard times.

I don't want to put the blame on ABBA.

I mean, we are growing apart sometimes,

and, er, you can't do anything about it.

[indistinct song plays]

[man] Coming up next

from the General Assembly

of the United Nations,

the concert of the year,

"A Gift of Song,

The Music for UNICEF Concert."

[cheers and applause]

["Chiquitita" playing]

Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong

You're enchained by your own sorrow

In your eyes

There is no hope for tomorrow...

[Gambaccini] UNICEF needed to raise money

for its children's charities

around the world.

I'm a shoulder you can cry on...

[Gambaccini] The artists

donated royalties for a song,

and UNICEF got it all.

Now I see you broken and fettered

[Gambaccini] Here I am,

sitting in the United Nations

and ABBA are rising into view

on a turntable.

And it was cool.

I hope we can patch it up together

Chiquitita, you and I know

How the heartaches come and they go

And the scars they're leaving...

[Gambaccini] "Chiquitita" was

an enormous multi-million seller

around the world,

and raised millions of dollars

for projects in Latin America

and Southeast Asia,

among other places.

[Skinner] I wonder if we can move on

very quickly, in fact,

to the success,

the great success story of "Chiquitita",

which, as well as being

a number-two hit in Britain,

Frida, has now proved

to be your biggest success

in Spanish-speaking territories.

There's a wee bit of a story behind

how and why that happened, isn't there?

[Anni-Frid] We felt that it would

be nice to do it in Spanish

because it's very much a Spanish song--

[Skinner] Reminiscent of "Fernando"

as well, isn't it?

[Anni-Frid] Yeah, it is, in a way.

So, er, we called a Spanish teacher

to teach us

how to pronounce

the words and the lyrics in Spanish.

I think, er, it turned out very well.

[del Valle] One day...

" God dag! My name is Stikkan Anderson,

and I have a small pop group,

and I want a Spanish coach." [chuckles]

"A small group." [chuckles]

Stikkan Anderson was very enthusiastic

about taking ABBA in Spanish

to South America

because with so many people,

commercially, it makes sense.

I called my sister in Argentina.

She was, like, crazy...

[speaking in Spanish] I can't believe it!

Yes, believe me, believe me.

- [laughs]

- ["Chiquitita" playing]

Chiquitita, tell me why?

You are enchained by your suffering

[del Valle in English] It could be someone

with suffering of love,

but I have to be very honest, darling...

[singing continues in Spanish]

In your eyes

There is shadow of your great sorrow

[del Valle in English]

...for me, it's a song about solidarity.

When you have difficult political times,

like the military dictatorship

in Argentina or somewhere,

you anyhow are a human being, a person.

You want some minutes of happiness.

[singing in Spanish]

Chiquitita, you can confide in me

[inaudible]

As you cry on my shoulder

[people shouting indistinctly]

We want our children here!

You can lean on me

So you can carry on

[del Valle in English] And I am convinced...

[in Spanish] art gives you solace.

You were always sure of yourself

And now your wing is broken

[del Valle in English] When Agnetha

was singing, it was such an emotion

because of the words in Spanish for me.

[singing in Spanish]

Let me help you

I want to see it healed

Chiquitita you know it well

That sorrows come and go

And they disappear

You will dance again

And will be happy

Just as flowers bloom

[del Valle in English]

For me, it was magic.

[singing in Spanish] Once again...

[del Valle in English] It was magic.

I want to share

Your happiness, Chiquitita.

[del Valle in English]

In a way, ABBA was political.

When they were collecting money

for UNICEF,

that is political.

What they were not doing was,

they were subtle.

They have bigger visions of solidarity.

[in Spanish]

That subtlety touches your heart.

That's what they did.

It wasn't just Dancing Queen.

Chiquitita, tell me why?

You are enchained by your suffering

In your eyes

There is a shadow of your great sorrow

[song fades out]

[interviewer in English] What about

the sort of family life now in ABBA?

You're getting an awful lot of publicity

on various lines,

actually, of the family life.

Has it, in any way,

caused any problem professionally?

You know, is it difficult at all?

[Anni-Frid] When you are a person

that everybody knows,

you have to take that.

You know that they are going

to write about it and you have to take it.

So we don't look at the papers

too much ourselves.

[interviewer] Yeah.

[down-tempo music plays]

[Skinner] They were professionally

still working very well together,

but, particularly Agnetha,

clearly didn't want to be there.

She was very professional.

She turned up for the interviews,

she had the pictures taken,

but clearly just didn't enjoy

being there any more.

[woman] I've got something for you.

[rock music plays]

This is Richard Skinner with

a Radio 1 exclusive, as Benny...

- [Benny] Hello, Richard.

- [Skinner] Hi. Bjrn...

- [Bjrn] Hello.

- [Skinner] ...Agnetha...

- [Agnetha] Hi, everybody.

- [Skinner] ...and Frida...

- [Anni-Frid] Hello.

- [Skinner] Hi.

...of ABBA talk to us

about their latest album,

Voulez-Vous,

and we play tracks from the album.

People everywhere

A sense of expectation

Hangin' in the air...

[Skinner] Interestingly,

it's a disco, funk sound

on that title track, Bjrn,

and, in a way, it sums up the album.

It's a new move for the group, isn't it?

[Bjrn]

Yeah, that's what we feel ourselves.

Voulez-vous, aha

Take it now or leave it, aha

Now is all we get, aha

Nothing promised, no regrets

Voulez-vous, aha

Ain't no big decision, aha

You know what to do, aha

La question, c'est voulez-vous?

[Gambaccini] When I first heard the album,

I thought, "Oh, they've peaked."

It seemed to gesture to disco too much.

Now, who am I to say

they shouldn't have made a disco record?

Because disco was so big.

["Good Times" playing]

[Rodgers] I grew up

in the era of discos and dancing.

The Latino, the Asian,

the Black, the q*eer community,

the music brought us all together.

Good times

These are the good times...

[Rodgers] No matter how much it morphs,

this is a whole American vibe

that comes from soul music.

Good times...

[Gambaccini]

Everybody made a disco record.

["Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

(A Man After Midnight)" playing]

And so ABBA delved into disco.

[music continues]

Half-past twelve

And I'm watching the late show

In my flat all alone

How I hate to spend the evening

On my own

- Autumn winds

- Blowing outside the window...

[Gambaccini]

It was a successful disco record.

I mean, there's no doubting it.

g*y discos, particularly,

because, of course, of the title.

"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

(A Man After Midnight)."

So, needless to say,

when the clock struck 12:01...

[hums melody]

[music continues]

But it turns out the timing was terrible.

[inaudible]

[reporter] Fifty-thousand people,

the largest crowd of the season,

showed up at Chicago's Comiskey Park

for the twi-night doubleheader

between the White Sox

and the Detroit Tigers.

Fifteen-thousand others

had to be turned away.

Many had come for Disco Demolition Night,

a promotional gimmick.

Between games, as planned,

a huge box containing

thousands of disco records was blown up.

[man] Yes!

That's real good!

[reporter] The rest was unplanned.

Fans stormed out onto the field

in the thousands.

Disco records were hurled like Frisbees.

Bonfires were set, bottles were thrown.

[down-tempo music plays]

[Gambaccini] "Disco sucks",

we can now clearly see,

was basically a r*cist

and h*m* reaction from rock fans.

A lot of radio stations

stopped playing disco.

Disco died almost overnight.

[Farber] ABBA was bringing in

a lot of disco elements into their music

at just the moment

when disco was publicly demonised.

This album wasn't gonna make it easy

for them to break America.

[reporter] ABBA, Sweden's greatest export,

on their very first American tour...

"ABBA: The Concert."

[Farber] This was gonna be

their first North American tour.

It opened in Edmonton, of all places,

which is quite far north in Canada.

Rolling Stone flew me up there

to interview them.

[reporter] A rush of photographers

met ABBA at the airport,

journalists in from around the world,

chasing the elusive public image of ABBA.

[Benny] We've done a lot of television

and radio and interviews and all that

without touring

and doing live performances.

Not being available here in North America

is definitely a disadvantage.

We're here to try to change that.

[Woodroffe] They were very unassuming,

but clearly the tour

was important for them.

The truck drivers

and the people at the airport

and the people who worked in the hotels,

they all seemed to love ABBA,

but they were not that big

in America then.

We were playing in small places,

not huge arenas.

[reporter] Well, Benny, ABBA seem to be

an entire unit to themselves.

You record your own records,

you write your own material,

you promote your own stuff.

Is there not a danger

that there could be a certain

sameness about the whole thing?

Er, well... [chuckles]

[Farber] I'm sure

that they felt they weren't being

taken seriously as music people.

In the hotel, when I interviewed them,

Bjrn had said,

"It may be pop music to you,

but it's soul to us."

The men did the interviews.

The women were not part of it.

And I remember

getting the sense at that time

that the women were less enthused

about going on tour.

[Halling] It was a hard-core tour.

There was a lot of back-to-backs

and, er, a lot of travelling.

Ah...

[Halling] A lot of, er, practice.

[vocalising scales]

[Halling]

They were quite thorough in their work.

[up-tempo music plays]

[Woodroffe] You would always

hear Frida and Agnetha

singing backstage,

and that was always

interspersed with laughter.

And I remember saying to Frida,

"Oh, it's been so great."

"The tour's been so great and everything,

and it's so great to see you."

"And you guys,

you're just all so happy together."

And she said,

"It's not quite what it seems, Patrick."

["Summer Night City" playing]

End of night, a new day dawning

And the first birds start to sing

In the pale light of the morning

Nothing's worth remembering

It's a dream, it's out of reach...

[Halling] The response from the audience

was not as it was in Australia.

I'm not sure

that we did sell out all concerts.

[music continues]

But, you know, American audiences,

it's not easy to please.

[down-tempo music plays]

They were really struggling and fighting

to do a good tour

and to break in America.

That was the sole purpose.

[Palm] For Agnetha, that part of the tour

was really difficult.

She was fairly newly divorced.

She felt alone. She hated flying.

[reporter] Tornado. October 3rd.

We got many reports

of tornadoes on the ground,

funnels, and quite a bit of damage,

some winds estimated

in excess of 100 miles per hour.

I can't stress enough,

you should take immediate

safety precautions.

[Agnetha] I don't like to fly.

On our tour, I think we flew

from New York to Boston.

We were up in the air for one-and-a-half...

[chuckles] years, I almost said.

One-and-a-half hours,

er, with this terrible weather.

They tried to take us down

but we couldn't land,

because the airport was blown away.

That was really, really

scary moments for us,

and we were all four in the plane.

[reporter] More than 400 people hurt,

one man k*lled by the storm.

Damage extensive, expected to run

into the millions of dollars.

[Agnetha] After that, I got sick.

My whole body was... was sick.

That was some hard times, really.

We came to a point when I said

that, erm, "I can't do this."

"We have to have some kind of limit."

[Benny] Touring, it takes too much

away from the creativity

that is essential to write songs.

Of course, it's fun to be onstage,

facing the audience and all that.

That's only two hours a day.

The other 22 hours is just struggling,

getting from place to place.

Super Trouper beams are gonna blind me

But I won't feel blue

Like I always do

'Cause somewhere in the crowd

There's you...

[Benny] For almost every artist,

er, America is the way

to break it worldwide.

We've done it worldwide without America.

[Bjrn] We can live without it.

-So it doesn't mean life or death.

- [Benny] No.

I was sick and tired of everything

When I called you last night

From Glasgow

All I do is eat and sleep and sing

Wishing every show was the last show

So imagine I was glad

To hear you're coming

Suddenly I feel all right

And suddenly it's gonna be

And it's gonna be so different

When I'm on the stage tonight

So I'll be there when you arrive

The sight of you will prove to me

I'm still alive

And when you take me in your arms

And hold me tight

I know it's gonna mean so much tonight

Tonight the Super Trouper lights

Are gonna find me...

[reporter] We're at the gates of the BBC,

where there's a lot of expecting fans

hoping to catch a glimpse

of their favourite pop group, ABBA.

- You're obviously all ardent fans...

- Five o'clock.

...and willing to stand around

for quite some time.

- We'd do anything for them.

- Right.

Tell me something, we are girl-less

this morning. Where are the ladies?

We've been working so hard lately

that they're simply too tired to come.

All right. How are you--

We've been having, like, 38 gigs in a row.

How are you standing up to it?

- Well, we're not, really.

- [laughter]

[Lander] America was weird,

but when they came back to the UK,

things couldn't have been more different.

[up-tempo music plays]

Wembley, it was like a mega event.

It was like pop royalty had come to town.

- [Anni-Frid] Is it far to go?

- [man] Yeah.

- It is?

- [man] Yeah.

Good.

[both chuckling]

[Halling] When I heard

that they sold out six concerts

and they could have sold out

six more or 15 more,

I was a bit shocked because

there's very few bands that can do that.

[Lander] It also attracted the critics.

The irony was

that you'd have high-end music journalists

who'd already criticised them all,

but suddenly they wanted that VIP ticket.

And I'd wind them up, saying,

"But I thought you didn't like the band."

[vocalising]

[Agnetha hits high note]

[indistinct conversation]

Benny. Benny.

[indistinct conversation]

[fans cheering in distance]

[Lander] Soon as they came out...

[cheering]

...there was a roar

that you would not believe.

["Voulez-Vous" playing]

[cheering continues]

Voulez-vous, aha

Aha, aha...

[Lander] Everybody wanted

to go to the shows.

The who's who of showbiz wanted to go.

I remember the VIP area at Wembley

on the left was chocka,

and some of the VIPs

like Zeppelin, The Who.

[Benny] We were really surprised to see

that these guys were coming to see ABBA.

That was a thrill, actually,

that we would have a following

within our heroes.

Voulez-vous, aha...

[Bjrn] One of the most flattering things

I've heard in my life

was I ran into Pete Townshend,

and he says,

"Do you know,

'SOS' is the best pop song ever written."

[chuckles] I was so proud.

[music crescendos]

[women hold final note]

[crowd cheering]

Hello, everybody.

It's now three years ago

since we were in London

and played the last time.

It's far too long.

It really feels good to be back,

I can tell you that.

[cheering]

[in other reality]

It's been tough in many ways,

but it's been very rewarding,

because we've showed

our critics, audiences,

as well as ourselves, we can make it live.

Whoo!

[Halling] That confidence was there

the whole time.

It was there from the tour, '77.

When you do something

that you can stand up for,

then you have the confidence,

because no one can touch you.

They can say, "This is crap."

Yeah, fine, but I love it.

The difference now was that they could

share the confidence with the audience.

They were quite proud

of what they had achieved.

["The Way Old Friends Do" playing]

You and I

Can share the silence

Finding comfort together

The way old friends do

And after fights

And words of violence

We make up with each other

The way old friends do

Times of joy

And times of sorrow

We will always

See it through

Oh, I don't care

What comes tomorrow

We can face it together

The way old friends do

We can face it together

The way old friends

Do

[crowd cheering]

[down-tempo music plays]

[Bjrn] One thing we'd learned

was that everything starts with a song.

I think great music is created

from the human experience...

deep emotions.

Writing a lyric is, er,

something in between a poem and a melody.

It would conjure up not only a mood,

but, like, images sometimes in me,

almost cinematic.

[Lander] Peter,

the head of UK and international A&R,

called me up.

New tracks had come along.

The business is a very cynical business.

You know, you've got executives there

who, all they're interested in

is the next dollar.

But when we were listening to that track,

there was a silence there.

We all knew what it was all about.

["The Winner Takes It All" playing]

[Bjrn] I first presented the lyrics

one morning in our studio.

And we had this fantastic backing track.

I don't wanna talk

About things we've gone through

Though it's hurting me

Now it's history

I've played all my cards...

[Agnetha] I'm a very much feeling person

and I really try to put my life experience

and my feelings, everything, in the song.

The winner takes it all

The loser standing small

Beside the victory...

[Bjrn] Going through a divorce

is, erm, difficult,

as anyone would know who's done it.

That was, of course,

taking up my thoughts.

I was in your arms

Thinking I belonged there

I figured it made sense

Building me a fence...

[Bjrn] But there was not one winner

in the case of us.

Thinking I'd be strong there

But I was a fool...

[Benny] It was powerful.

You know, one of our best, I think.

It's really honest.

The gods may throw a dice...

[Anni-Frid in Swedish] It wasn't just

the music, it was also love...

it was a life lived together

somehow all four of us.

[Agnetha in English] I think

he was writing about all the four of us.

Loses someone dear

-The winner takes it all

- Takes it all

The loser has to fall...

[Lander] The Super Trouper album, I think,

turned everything around,

getting the sales

and finally getting

some brilliant reviews.

[in Swedish] To many people's surprise

you've received

almost unanimous positive critique

here in Sweden for the latest LP.

What has actually happened?

Earlier it wasn't like that with ABBA.

No, there must be something wrong.

[chuckling]

[singing in English]

Somewhere deep inside

You must know I miss you...

[interviewer] Everybody is happy with it.

In Holland, it's already a golden album.

You must be rich, but are you happy, too?

Sometimes. Sometimes not. [chuckles]

As other people,

life goes up and down, I think.

Spectators of the show

Always staying low

The game is on again...

[Anni-Frid in Swedish]

Everyone goes through some crisis.

What am I doing?

What do I want with my life?

You have to reassess your life.

[singing in English]

I don't wanna talk...

[Agnetha] We could feel

that it suddenly had got a bit heavy.

It was not so fun any more to record,

and it was something

in the atmosphere, a bit tragic.

But you see, the winner takes it all

The winner takes it all...

[Bjrn] We had a very expl*sive

and creative period.

We organically came together gradually,

and then it happened,

and then it stopped.

Takes it

[music stops]

[interviewer]

It's fascinating, that story.

[light laughter]

It is romantic. Okay.

[clears throat] "Waterloo."

Why did you decide to try out

at the Eurovision...

What's the actual title?

[Bjrn] Eurovision Song Contest.

You know, you have to realise

that, at that time,

it was virtually the only thing

that could help you get outside

the borders of Sweden.

Nobody would listen to a tape

from Sweden at that time.

[Benny] We had to prove

that we were different.

We had to fight our way.

We just started working

really, really hard.

[down-tempo music plays]

["Lay All Your Love On Me" playing]

Don't go wasting your emotion

Lay all your love on me