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[Nick Sevilla]

LONDON (Reuters) - Swedish supergroup ABBA made British chart history as their "Gold -- Greatest Hits" compilation became the oldest album to reach number one, the Official UK Charts Company said on Sunday.

Wow.

I guess new music can't top this band.

"Talk amongst yourselves"

[phantom309]

At the top of my guilty pleasures list.

Love 'em.

[Devin Knutson]

Me too, actually.

I rediscovered them about 10 years ago at the opening night party of a theater show I was involved with.  It was held at the producer's favorite hang, an upscale gay bar.  So, the drinks were strong, the food was superb, and  it was ABBA night, with the music system playing them in constant rotation.  As I hung out up at the bar (the smoking section), the guitar player found me and asked what I was up to.  I said (ironically) that I was just hanging out digging on the ABBA.

After an hour or so, I found that the irony had vanished, and I really WAS grooving on it.

Oh, the shame.  Still...   best pop ever.

[Jessica A. Engle]

Why are people embarassed to say they like ABBA?

[Devin Knutson]

I don't think people  are... I think mostly "men of a certain age" are.

Rampant camp and fluff have certain associations for those of us who used to get threatened with bodily harm for not agreeing that Poison was the best band in the world, and in fact attempting to assert the unthinkable, that they were actually just as pop (and therefore just as artistically bankrupt) as anything else for their day.

Again...  it was "ABBA Night" at the upscale gay bar.  See?  

[Jessica A. Engle]

Devin Knutson wrote on Tue, 05 August 2008 12:41

I don't think people  are... I think mostly "men of a certain age" are.

This made me giggle.   I think I forgot where I was for a moment (she said out of nothing but love and respect).  

[phantom309]

I like them so much, I just bought a copy of Agnetha Faltskog's 6 CD compilation set last month.

Also, when I last visited my Mellotron partner Markus in Stockholm, I made him take me to Polar before it closed...not for the Led Zeppelin connection, not because they had a Yamaha GX-1, because it possibly still had some ABBA sweat on the floor somewhere.  

There. I said it.

[Edvaard]

Nick Sevilla wrote on Mon, 04 August 2008 18:49

LONDON (Reuters) - Swedish supergroup ABBA made British chart history as their "Gold -- Greatest Hits" compilation became the oldest album to reach number one, the Official UK Charts Company said on Sunday.

And according to wikipedia:


"Further triumphs for ABBA as their Gold - Greatest Hits returns to number one in the UK album chart for the fifth time at the top since 1992, in its 365th week on the chart."



One reason that they were Sweden's second largest export (after Volvo) a couple of years:

(no need no listen to all of these, just look at the titles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIg0yyN8Q-0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky3s2967PZI

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4_2TGXZubQ&feature=relat ed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ0F9ZKGYn8&feature=relat ed

http://    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5gBj-3SC1U&feature=relat ed

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SreCQSmXD34&feature=relat ed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu-0IzEoDJo

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxHIz-eg5UQ&feature=relat ed

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBjYTW25AEg&feature=relat ed




OTOH, I don't recall them ever doing any Australian versions of their songs, yet during their peak they were more popular there than anyplace.

[Tomas Danko]

phantom309 wrote on Wed, 06 August 2008 05:24

I like them so much, I just bought a copy of Agnetha Faltskog's 6 CD compilation set last month. Also, when I last visited my Mellotron partner Markus in Stockholm, I made him take me to Polar before it closed...not for the Led Zeppelin connection, not because they had a Yamaha GX-1, because it possibly still had some ABBA sweat on the floor somewhere.   There. I said it.

HA! Did you remember the music store on the corner there, to the right of the Polar studio entrance?

That used to be mine.

[phantom309]

Tomas Danko wrote on Wed, 06 August 2008 16:25

phantom309 wrote on Wed, 06 August 2008 05:24 I like them so much, I just bought a copy of Agnetha Faltskog's 6 CD compilation set last month. Also, when I last visited my Mellotron partner Markus in Stockholm, I made him take me to Polar before it closed...not for the Led Zeppelin connection, not because they had a Yamaha GX-1, because it possibly still had some ABBA sweat on the floor somewhere.   There. I said it. HA! Did you remember the music store on the corner there, to the right of the Polar studio entrance? That used to be mine.

Yep, I have a shot of that spot from the bridge somewhere around here. God, what a beautiful location though.

[Tomas Danko]

phantom309 wrote on Thu, 07 August 2008 02:53

Tomas Danko wrote on Wed, 06 August 2008 16:25 phantom309 wrote on Wed, 06 August 2008 05:24 I like them so much, I just bought a copy of Agnetha Faltskog's 6 CD compilation set last month. Also, when I last visited my Mellotron partner Markus in Stockholm, I made him take me to Polar before it closed...not for the Led Zeppelin connection, not because they had a Yamaha GX-1, because it possibly still had some ABBA sweat on the floor somewhere.   There. I said it. HA! Did you remember the music store on the corner there, to the right of the Polar studio entrance? That used to be mine. Yep, I have a shot of that spot from the bridge somewhere around here. God, what a beautiful location though.

Since I used to own my part of the building (the store was two floors and about 1200 m2), which was the largest area among all owners, I also had a place on the board for the building and were involved in this and that. I got to see the very sad story unfold regarding Polar, due to this. But I also got to use a lot of facilities in that building.

During summer I used to buy sushi for lunch and sit down by the water beneath the bridge with a beer, pondering life. It was gorgeous.

I also had my old studio in the same building, and access to a small apartment. So I spent most of my time around that block for many years. I sold the company three years ago however, and I don't miss the business one bit.

The building used to house an illegal gambling club from the 60s and onwards, that had a VIP area with a huge sauna (both steam and heat) that could easily fit twenty people. It also used to house a porn video theater with twelve small booths where customers were... watching porn video.

I wonder how many rock stars that recorded at Polar visited those facilities...  

I took over part of the gambling club to expand the store, which gave me that huge sauna. Boy did we have some wicked parties in there... Great place to invite people over to an after party after all the places in the city closed. And the porn video theater closed and became part of my studio. Actually, the recording room was where all the customers used to sit and... watch movies.

I used to say the vibe was still in the walls despite all billion souls lost on the soil of the ground...

[phantom309]

Tomas Danko wrote on Thu, 07 August 2008 01:44

I used to say the vibe was still in the walls despite all billion souls lost on the soil of the ground...

So, why did Polar finally close? Markus didn't know.

You live in a beautiful city.

[Tomas Danko]

phantom309 wrote on Thu, 07 August 2008 16:46

Tomas Danko wrote on Thu, 07 August 2008 01:44 I used to say the vibe was still in the walls despite all billion souls lost on the soil of the ground... So, why did Polar finally close? Markus didn't know. You live in a beautiful city.

I'll PM you instead.