'They knocked everyone's socks off' – How ABBA's Eurovision win 50 years ago changed the course of pop music | 1S5P1M0 | 2024-04-08 21:08:01
There's little question that ABBA has cemented their status as true icons of the music world, with their impressive back catalogue of smash hits adored from era to era and followers turning out of their tens of millions to see the band's ABBA Voyage show.
And this weekend marks 50 years because the band's breakthrough at the Eurovision Song Contest once they gained for Sweden with Waterloo.
The foursome – consisting of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad – have since turn out to be synonymous with Eurovision glory. But once they took to the stage on the Brighton Dome in England on April 6 1974, they have been virtual unknowns to the British viewers and worldwide viewers watching from house.
'No one had heard of them outdoors of Sweden but from the moment they came on stage, people sat forward in their seats,' Jan Iles-Kaluza tells Metro, who was working as a music journalist for Document Mirror at the time and has since launched the e-book 'The Journal Women guide'. 'It was a reasonably bland present earlier than they got here on. However their music was immediately catchy and it just caught everybody's consideration. It was their competition from that second. They knocked everyone's socks off and had that power that followers still like to this date.'
Another factor concerning the group that immediately drew consideration was the flamboyant stage costumes. The foursome have been resplendent in shiny satin suits, bold metallic boots and bell bottoms.
'They only had that look about them,' Jan recollects. 'They seemed unimaginable and encapsulated the magic and the fashion of the 70s.'
Though the band has since admitted that the fitted apparel was not probably the most snug to identify.
'I keep in mind funnily enough the shuttle bus from the lodge to the actual area where my outfit was so tight, I couldn't sit down…I used to be barely obese,' Björn recalled of the night time in an interview final yr.
ABBA stormed to victory on the night time and have been awarded 24 points, with Italy's Gigliola Cinquetti coming second with 18.
'I keep in mind going into work on Monday and other people have been speaking concerning the efficiency,' Jan says. 'There were still a number of music snobs who turned their noses up to Eurovision however so many agreed Waterloo was merely an incredible pop track.'
ABBA's victory at Eurovision was a long time coming as Benny had already tried to enter his music 'Hej Clown' for the 1969 Eurovision Track Contest. Though he lost out, he met fellow hopeful Anni-Frid Lyngstad and the pair quickly turned a couple.
Coincidentally across the similar time, Björn Ulvaeus met one other singer-songwriter Agnetha Fältskog whilst filming a tv particular. Björn and Benny already knew one another by way of the music scene and had already collaborated on a couple of songs. The foursome got here collectively and formally shaped ABBA in 1972. They first tried to enter Eurovision in 1973 however placed third at Melodifestivalen, Sweden's annual occasion to determine the Eurovision entry. Yet they remained decided.
'We knew that the Eurovision Track Contest was the only route for a Swedish group to make it outdoors Sweden,' Björn insisted in a current interview.
Profitable at Eurovision was only the beginning for ABBA. Waterloo, which that they had translated into English for the competition, went on to prime the charts everywhere in the world, including the UK, and reached number 6 on the Billboard Scorching 100. In a single day, they turned household names.
'As a music journalist, I turned the unofficial ABBA correspondent and began reaching out to interview them shortly after their win,' Jan says. 'Lots of people have been intrigued by their dynamic as they have been both couples. But each time I interviewed them, they stayed skilled and only needed to discuss the music. They have been all sort and humorous but they have been targeted. The lads particularly have been formidable and sought success. That they had distinctive talent as songwriters.'
The group achieved UK primary singles with Fernando (1976), Dancing Queen (1976), Understanding Me, Figuring out You (1977), The Identify of the Recreation (1977), Take a Probability On Me (1978), The Winner Takes it All (1980), and Super Trouper (1980).
But once they returned to the studio in 1982, both couples had since cut up they usually decided to take a break.
Nonetheless, the love for his or her music refused to die down. In 1992 they launched their biggest hits report ABBA Gold, which has gone platinum 20 occasions. In 1999, their music was become the stage musical Mamma Mia! and in 2008, a film adaptation was made starring Meryl Streep.
Then in 2021, the band launched their album Voyage ahead of their virtual actuality live performance of the same identify. The present, which makes use of virtual avatars (dubbed 'ABBAtars') to depict the group as they appeared in 1979, has bought more than 1.5 million tickets. In current weeks, there have been studies that the group could be set to sign a multi-million dollar deal to take the show to Vegas.
With this yr's Eurovision happening in ABBA's homeland of Sweden, many hoped the band would reunite on stage to mark the momentous anniversary. But sadly for fans, it appears unlikely.
Asked concerning the probability of a surprise reunion, Benny insisted last yr: 'I don't need to, and if I don't need to, the others gained't. It's the identical for all four of us – somebody says, 'no' – it's a no.'
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