i know their names but not sure which one is which; but blondie is completely smokin' on that summer night city pic sleeve!
― epigram addict (outdoor_miner), Thursday, 7 June 2012 19:48 (twelve years ago) link
agnetha = blonde (lighter voice)frida = redhead (huskier voice)
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 19:50 (twelve years ago) link
everytime I look at Frida now I see the dude from Erasure (when they dressed in drag for the Take A Chance On Me vid)
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 7 June 2012 19:51 (twelve years ago) link
while we're at it
benny = beardbjorn = no beard
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 19:54 (twelve years ago) link
bjeard no bjeard
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 7 June 2012 19:57 (twelve years ago) link
thanks for that. I always forget which guy is which.
Following their post-ABBA careers a little bit helps keep Agnetha and Frida distinct, though.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 7 June 2012 19:57 (twelve years ago) link
see I was never confused by the ladies, I think I was born knowing which was which lol
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:00 (twelve years ago) link
beards? aye that works although less so SINCE Abba..
http://www.abbafan.dk/images/benny%20og%20bjorn%20stockholm.jpg
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00521/SNF02SPDA_682_521777a.jpg
― piscesx, Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:03 (twelve years ago) link
Agnetha and Frida aren't really confusing at all, no. But, as was the case for most everyone from the 70s, some days you look amazing and others you...GODWHATWEREYOUTHINKING don't. There is plenty of photo and video evidence to document both extremes with those two.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
we need to do an outfits poll one day. so many lols
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:06 (twelve years ago) link
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2a/Take_a_Chance_on_Me_%28Abba_single%29_coverart.jpg8. Take a Chance on MeABBA: The Album, 1977(283 votes, 14 points)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-crgQGdpZR0
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:09 (twelve years ago) link
YES
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:10 (twelve years ago) link
if you change your MINDi'm the first in LINE
i covet frida's sweater in this video
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:10 (twelve years ago) link
ok gonna post one more and then lunch (doing this poll has made me so hungry)
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:14 (twelve years ago) link
http://991.com/NewGallery/Abba-Waterloo-284839.jpg7. WaterlooWaterloo, 1974(289 points, 10 votes, 1 #1 votes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj_9CiNkkn4
So many animated gif opportunities in the Take a Chance on Me video.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:15 (twelve years ago) link
definitely my best lol in an outfits poll would be..
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OGj0XFVwFGw/ShCmN8DuaEI/AAAAAAAAAZw/WeAJY2coOqY/s400/ABBA-Picture-0002.jpg
― piscesx, Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:17 (twelve years ago) link
I think the Waterloo camerman was drunk
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:17 (twelve years ago) link
Frida's perm in Waterloo is pretty lolsy too
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:18 (twelve years ago) link
Take A Chance On Me - it's exactly the kind of good-natured blockbuster that'd turn me off with most other bands ... but there's that second-and-a-half of bubbling synth after "It's magic..." that's just attention-to-detail pop genius.
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:24 (twelve years ago) link
*belch*
ok back to results
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:55 (twelve years ago) link
we have six more songs to go but the next one was ABBA's last official recording
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:56 (twelve years ago) link
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6f/Daybeforeyoucame.jpg6. The Day Before You Came“The Day Before You Came” b/w “Cassandra” single, 1982(318 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 votes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HnOFwqpLRQ
That cover is... something.
― Desire is withered away from the sons of men! (aldo), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:58 (twelve years ago) link
Man, ABBA would have ruled the 80s so hard.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:59 (twelve years ago) link
i want to know the name of the bright pink light in the band
― game of crones (La Lechera), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:59 (twelve years ago) link
skär
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:01 (twelve years ago) link
the narrator of this song could almost be jeanne dielman
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:01 (twelve years ago) link
(don't ask me to flesh that out)
Agnetha has the same haircut my mum had that same year
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:02 (twelve years ago) link
Tom Ewing did One Week One Band on Abba last week. I only saw one or two bits, but one nugget was The Day Before You Came landing at #3 when ITV (Britain's blandest channel) polled Abba a few years back. (i) that's a surprise, esp beating ILM; and (ii) why does it resonate so?
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:06 (twelve years ago) link
why does it resonate so?
Minor key gypsy/eastern european dirges go straight for the heart in ways that a lot of western music doesn't, regardless of the key. If you rearranged The Day Before You Came with piano and weepy violin, it would be very Hungarian.
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:10 (twelve years ago) link
That's interesting, I had supposed it would be the lyric.
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:12 (twelve years ago) link
It could also be the lyric. lol
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:12 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, the level of detail in the lyrics is what makes it for me. as a character sketch i think it's peerless
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:13 (twelve years ago) link
so "take a chance on me" was one of only two ABBA records to go gold in the US. this is the other one (and their only US #1):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8d/Dancing_Queen_That%27s_Me.jpg5. Dancing Queen“Dancing Queen” b/w “That's Me” single, 1975/Arrival, 1976(333 points, 14 votes, 1 #1 votes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrGuyw1V8s
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:14 (twelve years ago) link
Okay, I thought that was nailed on for no.1
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:17 (twelve years ago) link
my heart still swells when i hear the first notes of this songthat's how i know it still works!
― game of crones (La Lechera), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:18 (twelve years ago) link
lol @ Agnetha's expression on the single photo
― Johnny Fever, Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:19 (twelve years ago) link
cf. the parkes essay upthread - i don't really buy the argument that i've often heard/read that this song is "secretly really depressing", at least not in the way that i think eg "should i laugh or cry" is. like certainly there's a sense that all these good vibes are fleeting but i think the mood is ultimately pretty celebratory. it's definitely not one of their more "reflective" songs, so much of it is about the present moment, feel the beat of the tambourine, etc
this argument, otoh, i totally buy (and agree with)
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:22 (twelve years ago) link
up next: my personal #1 vote
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:26 (twelve years ago) link
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/Winner_Takes_It_All.jpg4. The Winner Takes It AllSuper Trouper, 1980(368 points, 13 votes, 3 #1 votes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92cwKCU8Z5c
guilty secret: this song makes me VERY teary for some reason, I have no idea why
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:32 (twelve years ago) link
Dancing Queen is A+ bcz of piano. OH the piano is so great
also aspirational lyrics very clever, everyone wants to be that girl
"winner" makes me well up every damn time
also: that blue eyeshadow
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:33 (twelve years ago) link
the top three songs each got 16 or 17 votes, meaning all but two or three people listed them on their ballots
― yorba linda carlisle (donna rouge), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:36 (twelve years ago) link
I love how happy they all are on the cover of one of their most miserable (in content) songs.
― Desire is withered away from the sons of men! (aldo), Thursday, 7 June 2012 21:37 (twelve years ago) link