This documentary on bbc4 tonight has reminded me what a brilliant group Abba were. This is sometimes lost amidst all the hype over Mamma Mia the musical and film and the perception that they are just a camp band from the 70s that sang Dancing Queen.


There is such emotion in songs like Knowing Me, Knowing you and the Winner takes it all. My personal favourites are Take a Chance on Me, which has got a brilliant hook and the beautiful Thank you for the music.

Indeed Robbie - one of the most under rated bands of all time, along with 10cc, Genesis... and what, one wonders, do they all have in common? Answer - a Vile Pervert.

JK2006 wrote:
Indeed Robbie - one of the most under rated bands of all time, along with 10cc, Genesis... and what, one wonders, do they all have in common? Answer - a Vile Pervert.

JK were you involved in Abba's career in any way, or are you referring to someone else?

robbiex wrote:
This documentary on bbc4 tonight has reminded me what a brilliant group Abba were.

Is this worth watching - or is it just a rehash of the similar show on C4 a couple of weeks ago?

I would hardly call them underrated. Over if anything, seen as they were considered uncool and boring for many years and this is never mentioned in the documentaries.

I like Waterloo and Dancing queen best.

Yes Robbie, we publish their songs and I used to pick their singles (or give advice about which I felt were hits) in the 70s.

Each to their own. Abba are not for me just to poppy and light.

In The Know wrote:
robbiex wrote:
This documentary on bbc4 tonight has reminded me what a brilliant group Abba were.

Is this worth watching - or is it just a rehash of the similar show on C4 a couple of weeks ago?

It is (sort of) a rehash / remix of stuff seen before, but there are new (at least to me) interviews (with Dave Haslam, Pete Waterman and other experts). Especially good is the first 20 minutes about the early years in Sweden.

Perhaps JK could explain why Benny refered to Ring Ring (1973) as a Eurovision-style song and Waterloo (1974) as non-Eurovision-style. I cann't spot a big difference between both songs.

DJones wrote:
In The Know wrote:
robbiex wrote:
This documentary on bbc4 tonight has reminded me what a brilliant group Abba were.

Is this worth watching - or is it just a rehash of the similar show on C4 a couple of weeks ago?

It is (sort of) a rehash / remix of stuff seen before, but there are new (at least to me) interviews (with Dave Haslam, Pete Waterman and other experts). Especially good is the first 20 minutes about the early years in Sweden.

Perhaps JK could explain why Benny refered to Ring Ring (1973) as a Eurovision-style song and Waterloo (1974) as non-Eurovision-style. I cann't spot a big difference between both songs.

Dave Haslam says that Joy Division, The Stooges, and Patti Smith were much more influential. Completely disagree. Abba reached millions and had some very profound songs like "The winner takes it all" and "Knowing me, Knowing you".