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ABBA

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The Craft of the Hit Song

An entire industry has grown up around the worship of ABBA, the two former couples from Sweden who became one of the pop powerhouses of the 1970s. There's the long-running Broadway revue Mamma Mia!, books, anthologies, and even a museum in Stockholm, all dedicated to the glory of pop songs that can seem, to unbelievers, like light-weight, airbrushed nothingness.

Love or hate ABBA, this much is difficult to dispute: The singles this quartet released between 1974 and 1979 are models of impeccable craft, ranking with the most carefully sculpted radio fare of all time. Principal songwriters Bjoern Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson started out like many in Europe circa 1970—they learned to sing in English, and tried to imitate the radiant refrains and gilded vocal harmonies of the Beatles. They got good at it right away (see "Waterloo," the first worldwide hit from 1974) and grafted that stuff onto the beats of the 1970s, notably disco and Euro-style funk. Then ABBA polished everything to a blinding sheen.

That gloss explains some of the success, especially considering that in terms of nuts and bolts, songs like "Mamma Mia" are fairly inconsequential. But some of the group's other massive singles—"SOS," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," and the unstoppably buoyant, often overlooked "Fernando"—contain refrains so damn giddy they can't be easily purged from the brain. These tightly scripted songs are an excellent starter kit for those wanting to investigate the DNA of post-Beatles pop.

Genre: Pop
Released: 1992, Polar/Polydor
Key Tracks: "SOS," "Dancing Queen," "Waterloo," "Take a Chance on Me," "Fernando"
Catalog Choice: Arrival
Next Stop: The Cardigans: Life
After That: Duran Duran: Rio
Book Page: 2

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#1 from Suzuki Fairings - 09/25/2008 10:14

I got this CD like 10 years ago and I have to say I’m never tired of it. So fresh and the songs are just melodic that you can hear it from 1 to 19 without being bored.

#2 from Paulo Cunha, Brazil - 11/13/2008 5:13

If you love Music, and does the Music your love, this guide is the perfect wine.

Thank you Tom;

Best from Brazil!

Cunha

#3 from John Adcock, UK - 10/14/2009 4:13

How refreshing that musical “must have” books now have room for ABBA. Throughout the time they were at their peak, critics scorned them, but the public knew better. Since they broke up, they’ve enjoyed something of a re-appraisal, and the music is revealed as being timeless, well-crafted and simple, which is a sure sign of genius at work. For me, The Visitors was their finest achievement - a move on from the sugary pop of the early years, to songs that dealt with more serious issues - but still with that wonderful musicality. If I had to choose one ABBA album - The Visitors would be the one.

#4 from Laura - 12/31/2009 1:26

I recently purchased the book for my Kindle, and I’m trying to find some of the music. Is there a service that would have the missing links? Rhapsody seems to be falling short on this.

#5 from Dave - 01/06/2010 5:14

This album ALWAYS puts me in a better mood, no bad mood a little abba cant fix.

#6 from Mike Hunter, London - 03/11/2010 5:18

well, ABBA is classics to me nowadays… I’m only 16, a new generation so to say;) but love and respect for this great band came to me from my parents. time changes and you change with them, it’s inevitable, but if you have a good music taste (I’m so grateful to my parents for that!) you won’t lost in the torrent of new styles and directions. few ABBA recordings are left in our collection (the work of time again…), but I eagerly download all the songs I can find by http://www.mp3hunting.com music search engine (don’t blame me for that!:) right, everything changes, but still smth remains, smth good.

1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die

Gold

ABBA

The Craft of the Hit Song

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