Abba is my favorite band after Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Neo Punk Death Metal, and Kill The Baby. So I was looking for a couple of my old favorites from my early records from the seventies. But I found most of the early Abba is not available on iTunes. Except in hits collections. Fortunately there were a bounty of those:
ABBA: Greatest Hits
ABBA: the Definite Collection
ABBA: Gold
ABBA: Number Ones
ABBA: Thank you for the music (box set)
ABBA: Classic Abba
ABBA: 18 hits
I'm not kidding. D'ya think somebody is trying to milk it? :-)
... Anyway, I was sort of kidding about the "favorite band" part, they were slightly too poppy for me, though I liked when I was a kid and I still respect them. But you have to admit: after Lennon/McCartney, Andersson/Ulvaeus was one of the greatest hit-machine teams in pop/rock ever. My gawd, there's barely one song in their numerous albums which does not just slide right in under your skin and stick to your brain, it's amazing. Talk about making it look easy. Think about the number of hard working bands and composers all over the world who would kill to write just a single hit as big as any one of Abba's thirty most popular songs, but it can't seem to happen. Talent is a mystery.
It's funny, I find that the songs I still like the most were those I really love when I was probably not even a teen yet. Like Honey Honey, So Long, and Ring, Ring. I am guessing it is not so much that they are better, but just that my youthful joy is still triggered when they are played now, over thirty years later. It's interesting that you just can't shake that early evaluation of something, and most of the time the bias is not even visible to you.
4 comments:
So any thoughts on covers of Abba songs? Like Erasures Abbaesque, or Leather Nuns "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme".
What about the Not The Nine O'Clock News Abba spoof "Super Dooper". Ever seen Rowan Atkinson look so young!
How about "Muriel's Wedding". Great use of Abba songs. Wasn't there some Abba in Moulin Rouge as well?
Who knows, maybe I'll go see the film of the musical now it is out.
Abba are just so pervasive in Brit culture, thoroughly annoying, but good for a dance, like Tight Fit, Black Lace etc.
You're right there, Eo, ABBA is indeed one of the best pop groups ever, with almost any of their songs being a hit. Amazing.
I remember when I heard them in a video in a shopping window in London a while ago. I was listening for half an hour or even longer, in the cold.
The NTNON spoof was fun, but I'm not really familiar with other covers. I very rarely listen to radio.
There you go - I've just purchased 4 bargain CD's by ABBA, their greatest hits etc etc.
The group still appeals to me.
Post a Comment