On Saturday, April 6, 1974, in the English coastaltown of Brighton, a group known in their native Sweden but unknown to the restof the world, won the Eurovision Song Contest with a song entitled “Waterloo.”ABBA had arrived and the rest is not merely history but the stuff of legend. Todate, ABBA has sold over 350 million records and remains the world’s secondbiggest selling band of all time, surpassed only by The Beatles.
Following their Eurovision triumph, AgnethaFältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (the initialsof their first names made the name ABBA) were catapulted onto the world stage. “Waterloo”topped pop charts all around the globe. Over the next eight years, ABBA wouldachieve countless hit singles, platinum albums, sell-out concert tours and evena hit movie, "ABBA - The Movie."
The group’s chart domination of Europe wasunequivocal – with only the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and The Beatles achieving longer runs of top ten singles inthe U.K. at the time. In Ireland, 13 songs reached number one while in Belgium there were seven consecutive numberone singles (overall 16 singles reached number one) and seven consecutivenumber one albums. Across Scandanavia,France, Italy, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria thestatiscis remain mindboggling. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the Americanhits continued as 10 songs made the Top Twenty, with “Waterloo,” “Take a ChanceOn Me” and “The Winner Takes It All” making the Top Ten. “Dancing Queen” tookABBA to number one on the Billboard charts.
A truly global success, “Dancing Queen” was alsonumber one in twelve other countries. But Europe and North America were not theonly continents to experience ‘ABBAmania’ - there were six consecutive numberone singles in Australiaand four number one albums. “The Best of ABBA” remains, to this day, thecountry’s highest selling music album. ABBA’s Melbourne concerts were legendary. There weresix number ones in New Zealand with a further twelve singlesreaching the Top Twenty. In Mexico, the group scored eleven Top Ten hitsingles, with seven reaching number one, and six number one albums; and inZimbabwe there were thirteen Top Ten singles and no less than eight consecutivenumber one albums (excluding the compilations still on general release!). InJapan, fourteen singles made the ‘All Japan Pop 20’ with “Summer Night City,”“Chiquitita,” “Voulez-Vous” and “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” all reaching number one.
But by 1982, it was all over. Plans for another newalbum were abandoned and “The Singles – The First Ten Years” released in itsplace. The year ended with the release of the single “Under Attack” which wasthe last for the group. Yet despite the fact that ABBA ceased to record or tourtogether, their music continued to entertain, to enthrall, and to inspire. ABBAis very much a continuing success story. The countless hits have transcendedtime to remain as popular today as they were when first released, in some casesmore so. “ABBA Gold” remains a best-selling album worldwide.
The movies “Muriel’s Wedding” and “Priscilla, Queenof the Desert” both featured ABBA’s music and won the group whole newgenerations of fans. The opening of MAMMAMIA! has not only seen theatergoers dancingin the aisles - reliving memories or discovering the ABBA sound for the firsttime – but has also seen “ABBA Gold” back in album charts everywhere the showhas played. With at least 3,500 records still being sold every day around theworld, the ABBA phenomenon is seemingly unstoppable.
MAMMA MIA! will play the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wisconsin August 21-26, 2012. Tickets are on sale now at foxcitiespac.com!
Source: Mamma Mia!
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