I heard a rumor that the former ABBA members were offered $1,000,000,000 (that's right, one billion dollars) to reunite and go on a world tour. Seems kind of steep, but the fact is that musical acts have gotten a bit stale in the last couple of decades. Let's see, if tickets averaged $100 each, then only 10,000,000 tickets would have to be sold to pay their royalty fee. If they packed in 100,000 at each concert, only 100 concerts would be needed at $100/ticket to break even on the reunion fee. Sounds a bit steep, even by Mick Jagger ego standards.
Also, I just read that a woman is sueing Gene Simmons for things he said in an interview because she felt she was in a committed monogamous relationship with him for 3 years from 72-75 and he made her feel like a slut by what he said. He's claiming to have had sex with at least 4600 women since then. That's simply unbelievable........the monogamous relationship part, I mean.
$1,000,000,000 offered for world tour
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atomic_punk
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Only 9,999,998 left to go! That shouldn't be so hard...
Actually, were they EVER a big touring draw? I remember seeing that they were touring, but kinda put them in the Osmonds category for a live show.
And Gene Simmons should be sued for almost EVERYTHING he says, especially about "doing it for the fans" when he should substitute the word "Cash" for "Fans".
Actually, were they EVER a big touring draw? I remember seeing that they were touring, but kinda put them in the Osmonds category for a live show.
And Gene Simmons should be sued for almost EVERYTHING he says, especially about "doing it for the fans" when he should substitute the word "Cash" for "Fans".
"They make great f***'n basses". - Lemmy, NAMM 2009
For me, what makes music so interesting is the "era" associated with each style. We have the recordings of each popular group to savour after they have peaked and cease to tour. There have been a limited number of artists who have returned to tour and have done it well. John Fogerty and The Eagles are but two that I consider maintained or improved upon their intial act.
I would be most interested in hearing how many acts that visitors to the Forum have seen that equal the "peak" days.
I would be most interested in hearing how many acts that visitors to the Forum have seen that equal the "peak" days.
Life, as with music, often requires one to let go of the melody and listen to the rhythm
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atomic_punk
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Peter, I find that hard to measure. When you saw someone like Fleetwood Mac in the 70's, it was a much bigger deal than if you were to go and see them now. Granted, they are better sounding, and tighter musically, (and less high) but there just isn't that "Buzz" that they had at the height of their career.
The problem to me is when the older acts can't stay relevant today, they seem like a nostalgia act. Nothing wrong with that at all, and I love seeing them play the songs I love to hear, and I enjoy myself tremendously. But a band like Aerosmith, for example, spreads across almost 3 generations now, and can draw teenagers as well as 40-ish people like myself. It's still a big deal when they come on tour.
Granted, I liked them better when they were the "Toxic Twins", but I commend them on getting their lives together, even though the music seemed to lose that "urgency".
The problem to me is when the older acts can't stay relevant today, they seem like a nostalgia act. Nothing wrong with that at all, and I love seeing them play the songs I love to hear, and I enjoy myself tremendously. But a band like Aerosmith, for example, spreads across almost 3 generations now, and can draw teenagers as well as 40-ish people like myself. It's still a big deal when they come on tour.
Granted, I liked them better when they were the "Toxic Twins", but I commend them on getting their lives together, even though the music seemed to lose that "urgency".
"They make great f***'n basses". - Lemmy, NAMM 2009
ABBA was a tremendously huge concert draw in places like Australia. I seriously doubt the ABBA gals look anything like they did in the late 70's. Frida has a class action lawsuit against the Norwegian government, the last I heard. She and her mother were basically run out of Norway at the end of WWII because she was a child of the Nazi Lebensborn program. Some of the children like her were abandoned to insane asylums or worse and sufferred horrible treatment. Sweden took in hundreds of abandoned Norwegian/German Lebensborn children like her, to their eternal credit (Frida alone has probably more than paid them back economically, not even counting the others like her.). I doubt that she is interested in performing a world tour now that she's a semi-recluse and political activist. Anybody seen a photo of Agnetha lately? I suspect it was a fake offer just to see if they would bite, since it has at least two too many zeroes to seem real. They probably laughed at it themselves when they heard it.
ABBA was (and still is) way beyond even what Donnie Osmond imagines himself to be. ABBA sold at least 250 million recordings by the end of their career, putting them ahead of everybody except the Beatles. ABBA preferred to stay in the studio and dominate the pop charts with their songs instead of wearing themselves out with a lot of touring. They sang in 5 languages and sold in huge numbers all over the world. I have one of their Spanish albums. When I took a taxi in Russia between two cities, there was an ABBA album in the driver's tape player. They were hugely popular behind the iron curtain as well. It's like their recording engineer, Michael Tretow, said about some of the songs; they are very complex and well performed masterpieces. Some are true classics that will be covered for many decades yet. When Michael worked with lesser artists later on, he said that he then realized just how good Agnetha and Frida really were. I noticed that their backing musicians were really good, like Rutger Gunnarson (bass guitar and string arrangements).
ABBA had music videos years before there was an MTV even. Their recordings were state-of-the-art for their day. They used their own world class studio (Polar Studio) toward the end of their career, and even groups like Led Zeppelin have recorded there if my memory serves me correctly. U2 did a cover of "Dancing Queen" on one of their concert tours. ABBA is hugely great.
"Thank You ABBA" is the video of their career. All four members were well known in Sweden when ABBA was formed. Their music styles were diverse (Bjorn-folk, Benny-pop/rock, Agnetha-pop, Frida-pop/jazz). In the song "Thank You for the Music", Agnetha is probably telling the truth when she sings that her mother said she was a dancer before she could walk, and could sing long before she could talk. Bjorn probably just wrote the song based on stories her mother told him. I looked up her biography, and Agnetha really has been singing practically her entire life. Even if you don't like their style, it can't be denied that ABBA were grand masters of pop music. When you look at how many recordings ABBA sold in relation to the total number of songs they wrote, I think they may surpass even the Beatles in that regard. I think the Beatles did more covers. Almost everything ABBA recorded for their albums was an original. Anderson/Ulvaeus is a songwriting duo close in stature to Lennon/McCartney.....at least while their bands were intact. ABBA had some gems that you may have never heard on the radio, like Hasta Manana, Ring Ring, Dum Dum Diddle, Bang-A-Boomerang, Angeleyes, Kisses Of Fire, When I Kissed The Teacher, Slipping Through My Fingers (a female country artist will make a big hit covering that one some day), Lovelight, Cassandra, If It Wasn't For The Nights, Our Last Summer, When All Is Said And Done, Summer Night City, The Day Before You Came, My Love My Life, etc. Radio stations tended only to play the mega hits where I lived, but that's hardly half of what ABBA did that was really good (and maybe sometimes not the best songs). Unless you buy all their albums, you really don't know ABBA. I think it may have been a marketing ploy. If you wanted ALL the good songs, you had to buy an album because great songs were left off the air in the USA on practically every one of them.
My vote for the biggest ABBA dud song is "Intermezzo #1". A surprisingly small percentage of their songs were real stinkers. Anybody else have a most/least favorite ABBA dud? It makes for a more interesting discussion, because their good songs are everywhere all over their albums. "King Kong Song" is such a humorous piece that I can imagine ABBA being a fun group to be around on a daily basis. Few groups with their serious aspirations would put something like that on an album.
ABBA was (and still is) way beyond even what Donnie Osmond imagines himself to be. ABBA sold at least 250 million recordings by the end of their career, putting them ahead of everybody except the Beatles. ABBA preferred to stay in the studio and dominate the pop charts with their songs instead of wearing themselves out with a lot of touring. They sang in 5 languages and sold in huge numbers all over the world. I have one of their Spanish albums. When I took a taxi in Russia between two cities, there was an ABBA album in the driver's tape player. They were hugely popular behind the iron curtain as well. It's like their recording engineer, Michael Tretow, said about some of the songs; they are very complex and well performed masterpieces. Some are true classics that will be covered for many decades yet. When Michael worked with lesser artists later on, he said that he then realized just how good Agnetha and Frida really were. I noticed that their backing musicians were really good, like Rutger Gunnarson (bass guitar and string arrangements).
ABBA had music videos years before there was an MTV even. Their recordings were state-of-the-art for their day. They used their own world class studio (Polar Studio) toward the end of their career, and even groups like Led Zeppelin have recorded there if my memory serves me correctly. U2 did a cover of "Dancing Queen" on one of their concert tours. ABBA is hugely great.
"Thank You ABBA" is the video of their career. All four members were well known in Sweden when ABBA was formed. Their music styles were diverse (Bjorn-folk, Benny-pop/rock, Agnetha-pop, Frida-pop/jazz). In the song "Thank You for the Music", Agnetha is probably telling the truth when she sings that her mother said she was a dancer before she could walk, and could sing long before she could talk. Bjorn probably just wrote the song based on stories her mother told him. I looked up her biography, and Agnetha really has been singing practically her entire life. Even if you don't like their style, it can't be denied that ABBA were grand masters of pop music. When you look at how many recordings ABBA sold in relation to the total number of songs they wrote, I think they may surpass even the Beatles in that regard. I think the Beatles did more covers. Almost everything ABBA recorded for their albums was an original. Anderson/Ulvaeus is a songwriting duo close in stature to Lennon/McCartney.....at least while their bands were intact. ABBA had some gems that you may have never heard on the radio, like Hasta Manana, Ring Ring, Dum Dum Diddle, Bang-A-Boomerang, Angeleyes, Kisses Of Fire, When I Kissed The Teacher, Slipping Through My Fingers (a female country artist will make a big hit covering that one some day), Lovelight, Cassandra, If It Wasn't For The Nights, Our Last Summer, When All Is Said And Done, Summer Night City, The Day Before You Came, My Love My Life, etc. Radio stations tended only to play the mega hits where I lived, but that's hardly half of what ABBA did that was really good (and maybe sometimes not the best songs). Unless you buy all their albums, you really don't know ABBA. I think it may have been a marketing ploy. If you wanted ALL the good songs, you had to buy an album because great songs were left off the air in the USA on practically every one of them.
My vote for the biggest ABBA dud song is "Intermezzo #1". A surprisingly small percentage of their songs were real stinkers. Anybody else have a most/least favorite ABBA dud? It makes for a more interesting discussion, because their good songs are everywhere all over their albums. "King Kong Song" is such a humorous piece that I can imagine ABBA being a fun group to be around on a daily basis. Few groups with their serious aspirations would put something like that on an album.
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atomic_punk
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Philip, don't get me wrong, I dig ABBA too. You hit on a lot of their great obsure ones too! Can't deny those melodies and great songwriting. I just don't see them as enough of a concert draw (mostly in the US) to justify all those Zeroes! I just don't see them doing Wembley Stadium or Soldier Field.
My dud? Fernando. Never liked it. I know there was one other one that I didnt like either. I know I had "Waterloo" stuck in my head all day today, thanks to this thread!
My dud? Fernando. Never liked it. I know there was one other one that I didnt like either. I know I had "Waterloo" stuck in my head all day today, thanks to this thread!
"They make great f***'n basses". - Lemmy, NAMM 2009
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loendmaestro
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atomic_punk
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