$1,000,000,000 offered for world tour
If RIC instruments averaged $1000 street price, and RIC built 25,000 per year, a billion bucks would tie up the next 40 years of production. It could also buy up about all that were ever produced. Every Rickenbacker that was ever produced, and that many more in future production yet to be built, would not equal the number of recordings that Agnetha alone sold with her biggest solo album after ABBA disbanded. Somebody out there owns those 299,999,986 ABBA albums that I do not, besides their pre and post ABBA albums.
I think ABBA already has at least a hundred fan clubs, judging by the internet sites relating to them. Realize that the USA was not their strongest fansite when indexed to population.
If ABBA were to reunite for a tour, it would be interesting to see if they could outdraw The Rolling Stones. It would make more sense for me than to see those mummified dinosaur glimmer twins, Keith and Mick, making pterodactyl looking spectacles of themselves. Bill Wyman jumped ship at a good time. Should have talked Charlie and Ron into joining him. A couple of frontman egomaniacs can't be that hard to find. Keith's replacement would only need to pretend that he spoke English. Mumbling through a cigarette can't be that hard. They could do a Viagra Tour.....and then softly fade away.
ABBA was a very professionally promoted and managed group. At one time only Volvo had more export earnings than ABBA in Sweden, and ABBA stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Since they invested their money wisely through a professional money management group, rather than snorting it through their noses, I doubt that they would miss a billion bucks here or there. The Beatles hoped for the best when they started out. ABBA was formed with a marketing plan in mind, sort of like a family business. The Beatles were unknowns when they started, but all the ABBA members had their own successful solo careers in music. Agnetha and Frida were popular on Swedish TV and recordings, and Bjorn's (The Hootenanny Singers) and Benny's (Hep Stars) separate bands were paying the bills for them. Bjorn's band was very popular in Sweden at the time. You don't jump out of one business deal unless you smell more money elsewhere. ABBA can't be compared to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, or Elvis in that regard. There isn't a rags to riches to rags story in there for any of the ABBA members. Except for Frida taking on an entire foreign government, they are just ordinary people that happen to work in music. Maybe Norway would pay her a billion to stay away, because the reparations she wants for hundreds of lebensborn children less fortunate that herself will cost a fortune if she wins her case. ABBA could always go on tour and she could make a big donation to the Norwegian lebensborn readjustment program. I always thought (from watching the videos) that if anybody in the group was a real life spunkmeister, it had to be Frida.
BTW, ABBA never really officially broke up. They just all went off on solo careers as they had done before ABBA, and never got back to recording together again. Funny what a few hundred million can do to change a lifestyle these days. The valkyrie vendetta that Frida has with Norway might finally die down and maybe she will want to go back to performing with Agnetha. Hard to find a better matched pair of female singing voices anywhere than those two.
Here's another tidbit that I found out: vinyl LP album sales peaked out in 1977, right in the middle of ABBA's career. CD sales peaked out in the early 90's, when ABBA reissued their albums and put together the ABBA Gold and More ABBA Gold greatest hits albums. They still obviously have a marketing plan at work, so capitalizing on any future reunion plans is a possibility if conditions were ever favorable, I would think. Rather than go see it, I'll stay home and buy the video.....and a case of wine.
I think ABBA already has at least a hundred fan clubs, judging by the internet sites relating to them. Realize that the USA was not their strongest fansite when indexed to population.
If ABBA were to reunite for a tour, it would be interesting to see if they could outdraw The Rolling Stones. It would make more sense for me than to see those mummified dinosaur glimmer twins, Keith and Mick, making pterodactyl looking spectacles of themselves. Bill Wyman jumped ship at a good time. Should have talked Charlie and Ron into joining him. A couple of frontman egomaniacs can't be that hard to find. Keith's replacement would only need to pretend that he spoke English. Mumbling through a cigarette can't be that hard. They could do a Viagra Tour.....and then softly fade away.
ABBA was a very professionally promoted and managed group. At one time only Volvo had more export earnings than ABBA in Sweden, and ABBA stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Since they invested their money wisely through a professional money management group, rather than snorting it through their noses, I doubt that they would miss a billion bucks here or there. The Beatles hoped for the best when they started out. ABBA was formed with a marketing plan in mind, sort of like a family business. The Beatles were unknowns when they started, but all the ABBA members had their own successful solo careers in music. Agnetha and Frida were popular on Swedish TV and recordings, and Bjorn's (The Hootenanny Singers) and Benny's (Hep Stars) separate bands were paying the bills for them. Bjorn's band was very popular in Sweden at the time. You don't jump out of one business deal unless you smell more money elsewhere. ABBA can't be compared to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, or Elvis in that regard. There isn't a rags to riches to rags story in there for any of the ABBA members. Except for Frida taking on an entire foreign government, they are just ordinary people that happen to work in music. Maybe Norway would pay her a billion to stay away, because the reparations she wants for hundreds of lebensborn children less fortunate that herself will cost a fortune if she wins her case. ABBA could always go on tour and she could make a big donation to the Norwegian lebensborn readjustment program. I always thought (from watching the videos) that if anybody in the group was a real life spunkmeister, it had to be Frida.
BTW, ABBA never really officially broke up. They just all went off on solo careers as they had done before ABBA, and never got back to recording together again. Funny what a few hundred million can do to change a lifestyle these days. The valkyrie vendetta that Frida has with Norway might finally die down and maybe she will want to go back to performing with Agnetha. Hard to find a better matched pair of female singing voices anywhere than those two.
Here's another tidbit that I found out: vinyl LP album sales peaked out in 1977, right in the middle of ABBA's career. CD sales peaked out in the early 90's, when ABBA reissued their albums and put together the ABBA Gold and More ABBA Gold greatest hits albums. They still obviously have a marketing plan at work, so capitalizing on any future reunion plans is a possibility if conditions were ever favorable, I would think. Rather than go see it, I'll stay home and buy the video.....and a case of wine.
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atomic_punk
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Bob, I was just over at eBay and I saw some ABBA albums selling for over $200.
Steve, I think Bjorn probably owns about any kind of guitar there is. I saw some guitars in the ABBA videos I never saw before. Probably a Rick or two in his collection, and I'll bet he has a Hagstrom or two as well. There was a notable lack of Fender guitars, although I might have seen a Fender bass headstock. ABBA was a very commercial group, a big company like Fender would NEVER get a model shown on ABBA video unless they paid for the privilege. On the Chiquitita video, Bjorn plays an old acoustic guitar with noticeable finish wear, so maybe he was a collector or fine old guitars. Not as much info available on the guys as the gals got shoved to the forefront after the first couple of albums. The guys sang a lot on the first couple of albums. As I said, they were POP, and every effort was made to maximize sales of recordings and airplay.
I think it might be a smart idea to get a Rickenbacker signed by Bjorn and sell it to an Abbahead judging by some of the prices I saw on eBay.
Scott, did you ever notice that the B's were mirror imaged in the ABBA logo, and when you hold their album up in a mirror, it still says ABBA just like looking directly at the logo. This was a smart move on their part. As an ex-navy photographer, I know that negatives sometimes get reversed, and writing will show up sdrawkcab (backwards) in a photo. ABBA chose a logo that still said ABBA even if the printer screwed up. Remind me to be careful in business dealings with Swedes.
Steve, I think Bjorn probably owns about any kind of guitar there is. I saw some guitars in the ABBA videos I never saw before. Probably a Rick or two in his collection, and I'll bet he has a Hagstrom or two as well. There was a notable lack of Fender guitars, although I might have seen a Fender bass headstock. ABBA was a very commercial group, a big company like Fender would NEVER get a model shown on ABBA video unless they paid for the privilege. On the Chiquitita video, Bjorn plays an old acoustic guitar with noticeable finish wear, so maybe he was a collector or fine old guitars. Not as much info available on the guys as the gals got shoved to the forefront after the first couple of albums. The guys sang a lot on the first couple of albums. As I said, they were POP, and every effort was made to maximize sales of recordings and airplay.
I think it might be a smart idea to get a Rickenbacker signed by Bjorn and sell it to an Abbahead judging by some of the prices I saw on eBay.
Scott, did you ever notice that the B's were mirror imaged in the ABBA logo, and when you hold their album up in a mirror, it still says ABBA just like looking directly at the logo. This was a smart move on their part. As an ex-navy photographer, I know that negatives sometimes get reversed, and writing will show up sdrawkcab (backwards) in a photo. ABBA chose a logo that still said ABBA even if the printer screwed up. Remind me to be careful in business dealings with Swedes.
...here in Russia they were very popular once, maybe still are, at least, when New Year's eve comes, you just cannot get rid of "Happy new yeeear" poppin' its head towards you from literally every corner (but anyway, here, and for $100 a ticket, i doubt the gig would be sold out). Oh well ... there was TOO MUCH ABBA when i was a toddler (too much for me, of course). I kind of like it when Bjorn sings. Benny is cute, too. I'm not really fond of female vocals, but Frida does know how to do it.
PS: i like "King kong's song"!!!! and "Watch out", "Hey Helen", "Does your mamma know", and even "Intermezzo #1".
PS: i like "King kong's song"!!!! and "Watch out", "Hey Helen", "Does your mamma know", and even "Intermezzo #1".
Nothing will get you dead quicker than being deadly serious about yourself.
If Elvis Costello opens for them they could be billed as "ABBA and Costello"....ba dump bump...But seriously, I think everyone's missing Phil's point. Just because radio in this country gave us two songs by an act doesn't mean that's all there is to it. ABBA wasn't my thing back in the '70's even though my girlfiend LOVED them,and looked just like Agnetha by the way. I didn't like disco either but who cares. Music is about reaching people on some level which I'm pretty sure they did. It's musical elitism to think less of them because they weren't the best musicians(although I bet their backup musicians were all studio quality). The Beatles were a pop cover band and then a pop band before they did drugs and started writing their most interesting stuff.
My point is, don't believe everything you see on TV or hear on the radio about anyone or anything. Give it a listen first. Now I've got "Dancing Queen stuck in my head. Thanks Phil...
My point is, don't believe everything you see on TV or hear on the radio about anyone or anything. Give it a listen first. Now I've got "Dancing Queen stuck in my head. Thanks Phil...
The Beatles played everything on their records, wrote a lot of great stuff right from the beginning, they paid their dues in Germany doing two sets a day for months, and changed music forever. They were young non-professional kids when they first started and look where they went in ten years. They had two of the best, if not the best songwriters of the whole last century. Abba looked pretty and sold a lot of mediocre records. They went as far as they could, they made bubblegum music, nothing more nothing less. To even compare them to the Beatles is an insult. People bought millions of Hula Hoops also but that doesn't make it a world-changing event. The fact that this thread even exists is ridiculous. Maybe a non-musician doesn't know the difference between quality music and junk, but we are supposed to. They had their day, made lots of money and made a lot of people happy with their confections but that is about it for them. I like a lot of garage music from the 60's but I don't for one minute try to pretend that it's great serious music nor try to pretend that the players were great musicians. I enjoy it for what it is: mostly non-professionals playing in their garage.
Drugs did not make The Beatles what they were, drugs ruined The beatles. To intimate that drugs fueled the Beatles greatest period is to not understand drugs at all and also is insulting to their legacy.
Drugs did not make The Beatles what they were, drugs ruined The beatles. To intimate that drugs fueled the Beatles greatest period is to not understand drugs at all and also is insulting to their legacy.
The Beatles were the supergroup of the 60,s and ABBA was the supergroup of the 70,s. To compare them is like trying to compare apples and oranges. They were both brilliant in their respective decades.
Bjorn and Benny both acknowledge Lennon/McCartney as their main influence and you can hear their influence in ABBA, but they were both very capable musicians with two girls who were soprano and mezzo-soprano singers.
The stats speak for themselves. All that Phil says, and more, earning a million pounds a day in the 70,s, to the present where their musical "Mama Mia" is the highest grossing musical production in the world today.
Their best songs of the 70,s are a wonderful creation of melody, harmony and rhythm that few could equal at the time and nobody has got close to in the last generation of pop music. I,ll take "Dancing Queen" with it,s musical arrangements and production over "Love me do" any day...
Bjorn and Benny both acknowledge Lennon/McCartney as their main influence and you can hear their influence in ABBA, but they were both very capable musicians with two girls who were soprano and mezzo-soprano singers.
The stats speak for themselves. All that Phil says, and more, earning a million pounds a day in the 70,s, to the present where their musical "Mama Mia" is the highest grossing musical production in the world today.
Their best songs of the 70,s are a wonderful creation of melody, harmony and rhythm that few could equal at the time and nobody has got close to in the last generation of pop music. I,ll take "Dancing Queen" with it,s musical arrangements and production over "Love me do" any day...