Exactly .. the arrange studio orchestra ... Not really many pop bands or even rock bands went so crazy about the full scale orchestra in the background...

And very clever lyrically despite English being their second language

@@personalcheeses8073 And they grew up in a time when they weren't as exposed to the English language as young people are now.

Most hits of all time. They have enough hits to make 3 separate albums.

They werent soo big in usa

Actually they were a lot bigger in the U.S. than soccer ever was

Its mostly called soccer in America and 1970's uk lol... The clue is in the action.... foot- ball... lol.... Funny how Rugby in America was converted to... American football... when the ball is mostly carried.. lol... Football is the sport of the world.... except America.. as you say.

@@samthehikingman9484 Btw, the full name for rugby is "rugby football".

@@xoxxobob61 wow but had ABBA toured the USA more often they wouldve been so big i dont think eagles the beatles or queen wouldve been that big. They wouldve started a frenzy not even the beatles started

So do I!

With a grown up song...

The blue eye shadow is iconic.

Lisa Clough Yes the band were two couples that split while still having to perform together

Amazing voice, very underrated.

She was a Hitler baby, one of the ones Hitler took her mother and a German officer, and she was the result.

@@hadassah356 She was born in 1950 dude. I think you mean Anni-Frid.

刘凯琳 agreed

I saw the KZfaq of ABBA’s induction into the Rock Hall of Fame. Faith Hill sang this song in tribute. You are correct. She didn’t do it justice.

@@davewhitehead5116 .. I love the line "Spectators of the show, Always staying low" it say's so much.

As far as I know, Benny did the melody, Björn did the lyrics and Agneta performed it. Bottom line: This is a song about love lost, as genuine as you will ever see or hear. The only discrepancy is the fact that in a divorce there rarely are "winners" and the children born in that relationship are ALWAYS the losers.

It's about their break up.

I belive her husband wrote this and they are all divorced

It's not mew-zik, it's mew-sick...

Exactly, even back when they grew up English was a must to learn in Swedish schools, they knew English. Besides if they didn't speak any English, how could they have written so many songs in English? Dictionaries existed, sure, but they'd have been better off writing only Swedish if they had to use dictionaries to translate every word. And the lyrics would take ages to write and make actually sound good while still telling the same story.

And besides, we don't dub television shows or movies. We subtitle everything - even back then. Hearing English all the time has been the norm for ages. 😉

Most Europeans speak very good English.

Yes but most Swedish people don’t use it on a daily basis and pronunciation would be far from perfect. Remember they grew up in a time when maybe English wasn’t taught at importantly, even if they knew English before it was a struggle for them to pronounce things and their time in fame was extremely difficult.

Her ex-husband wrote the song, and she sang it.

@@lorrilewis2178 i always found that incredible. how could he be able to write the song that way,for her? what an understanding of each other.

Aik Richter i hate my exs😐 I wouldn’t be able to sing with them she is a talented individual to do that🤗🤗

Benny told in an intervju that the song is fictional ,U can see Agnetha still got a ring on her finger in the liveversion.

@Freelaxx - Agreed, no AutoTune back then!

They did some pretty bad stuff-I have the entire albums collection & they did a lot of substandard filler. But singles wise you cannot really go wrong-them & the record company were very smart about what was released.

@Ziggy Stardust Thanks Ziggy! That is awesome news, I will check this out!

@Ziggy Stardust Oh wow, they are going to do a world tour, as avatars, wicked!!

1 in 16 people has one of their albums.

Beatles Tim.

The Beatles is the greatest rock band ever. ABBA is the greatest pop band ever.

I can think of many that were more talented, even though I love Abba. Benny and Bjorn were great at writing and producing pop songs and produced some real pop classics. However, when it comes to musical talent, musicianship, innovateness and influence, there are numerous bands that outclass them. The same is even true, albeit to a lesser extent, when it comes to songwriting. If you believe that Abba were more talented than groups such as, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen etc etc, then you are deluding yourself.

Codex7777 That’s why I said “pop”, or at least pop as I understand it. Although I understand that line is not clearly stablished. Let me explain how I figured it out: 1. If a group uses electric guitars, bass and drums, and their music is based of riffs, and has some influence from blues, that group is a a rock band: Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, etc. 2. To me “pop” as we currently know is more based on keyboards, piano, synth, typical the guitar used is acoustic guitar, and a large part of the actual sound comes from production and mixing, at the studio room. Examples: ABBA, Michael Jackson, Eurythmics, Bjork, Billie Joel.

@Carlos Arias - I take your point re' pop, I was replying to the OP, thus I didn't address it to anyone, as is the convention. Though there are 2 definitions of pop music. One is general and refers to all popular music. The other refers to a genre, whose only definition appears to be that it's not certain other genres... but even that doesn't always stand up. It's probably the vaguest musical genre of the lot, tbh. For instance al the bands I listed used piano and keybords extensively. Two of them also used synths, as have many non 'pop' bands. Abba themselves used electric guitar, drums and bass guitar extensively. The Beatles covered many genres, including both rock and, what is now referred to as, 'pop'. Back then anything in the charts was 'pop music' and many still use that general term. All the acts I listed also had more success in the pop charts than Abba too. Re' the genre definition, I've always wondered why rock and classical are not allowed to be called 'pop' when virtually every other genre is, to some extent at least. Mind you, both the Beatles and Queen were both pop as much as rock. The Beatles in particular. I've even heard/seen people refusing to acknowledge the Beatles as rock at all. Though, until you, I hadn't heard/seen anyone claim that they weren't a pop band. Probably because they, very obviously, were. You also mention production as a defining characteristic of pop bands. Again, all the bands I listed were renowned for their production and even invented many of the techniques used today. All were production innovators. More so than any 'pop' act, tbh. As for genres, as well as pop, re' The Beatles and Queen, all incorporated styles from many genres, including blues, folk, classical, jazz, music hall/vaudeville etc. I could go on but you get the point... For me, I think the only really defining characteristic of pop, that stands up, is that pop artists tend to be single orientated, whilst non pop bands tend to be album orientated. Another could be that pop artists, in general, are less likely to write their own music, or play musical instruments. Putting all that aside, by ANY definition the Beatles are the greatest and most succesful pop band of all-time, even if they did create some rock songs too. In terms of sales Abba re the 10th biggest group of all-time. However, as all the others, bar The Beatles, are predominantly rock bands, it COULD be argued that they're the SECOND greatest pop group in history... but definitely not the first. If we're using the general definition, or talking about anything other than sales, then , much as I love them, Abba don't even come close to the top spot.

Their marriage came under attack.

I always liked frida

But the couple in the song are still together - he's now a family man and a football fan...

Bjorn did grow a beard a year after The Winner Takes It All was released & it was in the video for One Of Us was where he was first shown with a beard.

Codex7777 I always thought The Visitors was about madness too. Waiting for the arrival of the men in white coats to take them away. Björn, a few years back admitted it’s about Soviet dissidents!

Waterloo and Fernando are my faves! But I love all their other songs too. Dang that brought back memories, lol.

Lay All Your Love On Me !

William Kyle Yep. This is the best one of them all. 🙂

Probably well over 400 million by now , that 375 figure has been around for years.

They're actually ranked the 10th biggest selling group. Well behind the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen and The Rolling Stones. The actual official figure, for Abba, is around 150m, with only about 60m of that figue being certified sales. Their record company is the only one claiming figures above that. No one in the music industry believes their figures. 500m would put them on a par with The Beatles and Elvis Presley! They only released 8 studio albums. The biggest selling of these was Arrival, which sold about 9m copies worldwide. Abba Gold, their greatest hits album, was their only album to sell more, with worldwide sales of about 28 million. It's plain to see that even 150m is probably stretching it.

Killer bassline. Disco era ABBA was phenomenal-Summer Night City, Voulez-Vous, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Lay Your Love On Me etc.

Nordics are world class at melancholy...

Early in ABBA's career, only the guys in the group knew English; the two ladies had to sing it phonetically. But they did learn it quickly when they became international stars.

@@vwestlife Again, that is simply not true

@@vwestlife We study english in school. Also we have subtitles so we listen to english everyday. Many jobs and at university you get text in english. Many as i the music business, collaborate with other countries.

There is a difference between learning English in school and being able to speak it fluently. They all certainly knew at least some English from the beginning, but if you watch ABBA's early interviews, the guys do most of the talking and especially Agnetha (the blonde one) doesn't say that much and doesn't seem that comfortable talking in English. Also the early ABBA songs had very simple, repetitive lyrics (like "Ring Ring", "Honey, Honey") because it was easier for them to write and sing until their English got better.

@@vwestlife You're right about it being different being a native speaker and learning later. But you totally skipped what I wrote about all the other areas where we learn english. You also state to be an expert on Abba even if you're not swedish. Did you even live during they hay day. You state the women didn't know english and that Agneta was especially bad it- You totally ignore that the man were writing the music and the women only sang it. You totally ignore that someone can be apprehensive when talking in public or to strangers. Agneta became an reclusive after her carrier, she's very shy and sensitive. You totally ignore that light pop songs have simpe lyrics. Claiming that light english pop songs are profoundly deeply poetic is just arrogant. When they made it big Björn and Benny they make the music they really wanted to do. They made for example an musical "Kristina från Duvemåla" based on "The Emigrants" by Wilhelm Moberg. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l5iZl7l6nJnFmac.html

Both had amazing voices. I don`t think Agnetha could have done the Abba -sound alone: the magic happened when the two fantastic voices sung in harmony. The sound of Abba.