All language subtitles for АBBA

... 25 fps [HD] movie ...
... for [CC] .. Hi .. (SDH) ...

[laughter]

..

[interviewer] Do you have any
stories of what was happening?

Wait a minute, though, erm...

Before that, there was something else.

There was an international award.
What was that?

[Benny] Erm... the Eurovision Song Contest?

Is that what you mean? In '74?

[interviewer] Tell... Tell me that story.

[Benny] It's, erm...
Is the tape running now, or...

- [Benny] Yeah?
- [interviewer] Yeah.

[fanfare plays]

[presenter] Welcome to
the 19th Eurovision Song Contest,

being transmitted
to no less than 32 countries.

[Björn] Here we have those two guys

who have this burning ambition
to write songs.

- I'm Björn.
- I'm Frida.

- Benny.
- I'm Agnetha.

[Björn] And then one of them falls in love
with a beautiful blonde

who happens to be
the most fantastic singer,

and then the other one
falls in love with a redhead,

beautiful as well and a fantastic singer.

[Anni-Frid in Swedish] We just dream
a little together sometimes. [chuckles]

[Benny in English] Eurovision,
we were mainly in it to show ourselves,

to show people that there is a
band up in Sweden, Stockholm,

that can write pop music.

[Björn] Eurovision Song Contest,

it has a very, very big audience,

probably between
500 and 600 million viewers.

We had, er, funny costumes.

[Agnetha] They were tight.
They were really tight.

[Björn] And we had a song that wasn't
the usual Eurovision stuff.

[applause]

[host] Oh, and it's Napoleon.

No wonder their song is called "Waterloo".

[Walldoff] I don't think
any one of us thought

that we would win the competition.

Benny might have had a feeling.

[Benny] Well, I bet 100 quid on it.

[laughs] Good odds. Forty to one.

[laughter]

[host] Really entered into the spirit
of it all, dressed as Napoleon.

[Agnetha] For me,
that was really, really scary.

[host] Waiting for "Waterloo"
by ABBA, for Sweden.

Watch this one.

[playing "Waterloo"]

♪ My, my ♪

♪ At Waterloo Napoleon did surrender ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ And I have met my destiny
In quite a similar way ♪

♪ The history book on the shelf... ♪

[man] Here are the results
of the Finnish jury.

Sweden, five votes.

[presenter] Cinq votes.

♪ Couldn't escape if I wanted to ♪

♪ Waterloo, knowing my fate
Is to be with you ♪

♪ Woah, woah, woah, woah, Waterloo... ♪

[presenter] Oslo.

[man] Sweden, two votes.

Sweden, three votes.

[cheers and applause]

♪ My, my, I tried to hold you back ♪

♪ But you were stronger
Oh, yeah, and... ♪

[presenter] Sweden, five votes.
Sweden's way in the lead.

[man] Sweden, they've never won it,

but they've surely got to be up
amongst the reckoning with that one.

[presenter] There's no doubt about it.

The winning song of the 1974
Eurovision Song Contest,

"Waterloo," chante par ABBA.

[cheers and applause]

[Agnetha] That was a great moment, really.

[Anni-Frid] But it was a strange feeling.

I didn't expect to win.

[cheers and applause]

[Benny] Wow. Okay. We've achieved this.

Now we need to start working.

["Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
(A Man After Midnight)" plays]

[cheers and applause]

[down-tempo music plays]

[Skinner] Waterloo, the song
that won last Saturday's

Eurovision Song Contest by a mile.

Sung by the Swedish group ABBA,

"Waterloo" looks like being
a really big seller

and making a chart entry
from nowhere next week.

What plans have you got ahead of you now?

What about conquering foreign markets?

[Björn]
The dream is the United States, of course,

if we conquer the British market,
because that's the first thing, really.

[Skinner] A little-known fact, perhaps,
is that the two of you are married.

[Björn and Agnetha] Yes, we are.

[Skinner] Do the fans get jealous?

- [Björn] I don't think so.
- [Agnetha] No.

[Skinner] You don't feel that you're
literally living in each other's pockets?

- [Björn] No.
- [Agnetha chuckles] Sometimes.

- [Björn] I don't.
- [Skinner] Disagreement in the ranks.

[Skinner] The first time I met them,

I was just struck by how genuine
and normal they were.

They were a close-knit team, you know?

And Björn and Agnetha, they were like one.

[gulls squawking]

[speaking in Swedish]
Hello, my name is Stikkan Anderson,

I represent a record company called Polar.

The only Swedish record company
that reaches outside of Sweden's borders.

[Björn speaking in Swedish]
Stikkan believed in us from the beginning,

he always said
one day you'll write a world hit.

[laughter]

That has meant a lot.

Stig had, before Brighton,

he had thought ahead about
what should happen, if we should win.

[speaking in Swedish] When we won
it was just like pressing a button

and everything worked all over Europe.

Take it away, ABBA.

♪ My, my ♪

♪ At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender... ♪

[man speaking German]
They are now at the top

of almost all the European charts,

making the hit Waterloo the biggest

commercial success
since the Grand Prix began.

[singing in English]
♪ At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender... ♪

[speaking Swedish] In other words, ABBA!

[singing in Swedish]

[man speaking in French] Four Swedes have

won the Eurovision Grand Prix
with Waterloo.

Since then, they have become stars.

[singing in English]
♪ Is always repeating itself ♪

♪ Waterloo... ♪

[Benny speaking in Swedish]
Waterloo, in England,

they thought it was quite beige,

even if the song
was number one in England.

If you're a part of Eurovision,
you're dead afterwards.

[Björn speaking in Swedish] It was like an
agreement among all DJs, amongst everyone.

So it was a damn uphill climb.

[cheers and applause]

[Lander in English]
ABBA were seen as total outsiders.

And, er, you know,
the UK press could be mercenary.

A lot of them seemed to turn on the band.

You know, "It's a damp squib.
It's going to end. Tacky, plastic."

♪ I was sitting by the phone ♪

♪ I was waiting all alone... ♪

[Lander] On first seeing ABBA,
you know, I must admit,

I wasn't sold on the fashion at the time.

I found it a little bit cringey,
seeing the outfits that they all wore,

and I think the outfits
were the contributor

that made them look a little bit cheesy.

♪ Please forgive and then forget ♪

♪ Or maybe, darling, better yet ♪

♪ Oh, ring, ring... ♪

[Benny] We weren't taken seriously,
I think,

because we were wearing
such strange clothes.

We thought we had to be more outrageous
than anyone else to be seen.

And then we thought it was great fun too.

It was never any plan that,
this is going to be our image.

The kitsch...

we've really suffered for that.

[down-tempo music plays]

[reporter in Swedish] Anni-Frid Lyngstad,
was this unexpected?

Yeah, I think so,

I couldn't dare hope otherwise.

[Björn in English]
The first Swedish reporter

who came to us with a mic, he said...

[reporter in Swedish] Last year you did
a hit on how you ring one another.

This year you made a song

about how forty thousand people
were killed...

[in Swedish]
That is a very cynical expression

because that isn't the meaning at all.

It is about something
that has happened in history.

[Björn in English] It was kind
of a different mass media climate

in Sweden at that time.

We were not popular.

[del Valle] In the beginning
of my life in Sweden,

when I was working
at the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation,

my co-workers,
they felt ABBA was too commercial,

not talking about
what was happening in the world.

[Wiehe] We were "the upset generation".

We were upset about the apartheid system.

We were upset
about the military coups in Latin America.

[newsreader] Chile today joined the list

of South American countries
to fall under military rule.

[del Valle] 20,000 people
disappeared in Argentina.

[Wiehe] We were upset about
the wars in Southeast Asia.

And we were upset that ABBA weren't upset.

[Björn] There was a kind
of progressive movement

that looked upon ABBA as anti-Christ.

[Halling] I first heard an ABBA record

because my boyfriend at that time
was playing guitar with ABBA.

You know,
he was sitting home in our apartment,

trying out some new riffs,

so I heard the songs in many ways.
[chuckles]

[cash register dings]

[Halling]
I didn't particularly listen to ABBA

because I was listening
to Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd

and the Stones and bands like that.

[reporter in Swedish] Do you like ABBA?

[speaks in Swedish]
ABBA? They are anchovies.

They're too commercial.

Shit.

- It's not your music?
- Nope. Shit.

- They only sing pop.
- No.

[Halling in English] Everyone thought
ABBA was just a manager who decides,

"Let's take two good-looking women,
two skilled musicians,

put them together,
and make a group that will make hits."

You know, just doing this for the money.

[interviewer in Swedish] A tax question,
what has Brighton meant financially?

[Björn in Swedish]
It's difficult to answer still.

Royalties and such
from different countries

comes in the long term, right?

So we still haven't seen much of it.

[Benny in English] What happens to you
when you win that contest is,

if you win it, you're a contest winner
and that's what you are.

I mean, everybody whoever wins it,
they're kind of a one-shot.

It took us some time in Europe
to get rid of that mark.

["SOS" plays]

[Björn] After "Waterloo",
we were trying to find our identity.

[indistinct conversation]

[Björn]
Were we a rock group or a pop group

or something in between?

[speaking in Swedish]
Here is ABBA's music workshop.

Don't you need at least a pen and paper
when you write music?

No it's not necessary. Not in our case.

How do you do it then?

What we do here is more like
we create a melody

that can stick in your head.

And if it doesn't stay in your head
then it's not really that good.

Hep!

[cheers and applause]

[interviewer in English]
How did you meet Björn?

[Benny] We met on the road, actually.

I was in the Hep Stars
and he was playing in a folk group.

- [interviewer] The Hootenanny Singers?
- The Hootenanny Singers, yes.

And we, just by coincidence,

met the day before he was going
to do his military services.

[interviewer]
Did you do your military service?

[Björn] Certainly, I did.

[interviewer] Well, I shall
stand up and salute, sir.

[man speaking in Swedish]
Do you like ABBA's music?

Oh, yeah and I have a lot of damn fun
when we're playing it.

I can't imagine doing anything else.

[guitar strums]

[singing in English]
♪ People need hope, people need lovin' ♪

♪ People need trust from a fellow man ♪

♪ People need love to make a good livin' ♪

♪ People need faith and a helping hand... ♪

[interviewer] Anna and Frida,
how did you meet Björn and Benny?

[Agnetha] By that time, Frida and I
were working as solo artists in Sweden,

and we had a lot of success. [chuckles]

[Anni-Frid]
I met Benny first of all in 1969,

and I fell madly in love with him.

[Anni-Frid in Swedish] Working in a dance
band for 10 years, isn't especially fun.

The march to the top has been tough.

[Björn in English] I remember hearing
Agnetha's first single on the radio.

I was so in love. [chuckles]

[Agnetha in Swedish]
That was the first record I ever did.

I remember the feeling, that's my song!

The most fantastic thing I'd ever done.

[Björn in English] Fantastic,
the way we sort of came together.

[interviewer] Who amongst the four of you
has the final say

in which track will make a single?

- [Agnetha] Frida and I do.
- [laughter]

["Mamma Mia" plays]

[Agnetha]
Mostly, we were standing in the studio

right across each other and,
erm, just singing.

♪ I've been cheated by you
Since I don't know when... ♪

[Agnetha] There was so much singing.

♪ So I made up my mind
It must come to an end... ♪

[Agnetha] But for me,
it was not working, it was just fun.

♪ Look at me now, will I ever learn? ♪

♪ I don't know how ♪

♪ But I suddenly lose control ♪

♪ There's a fire within my soul ♪

♪ Just one look and I can
Hear a bell ring ♪

♪ One more look and I forget everything ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh... ♪

[Anni-Frid in Swedish]
You put your whole soul out there

because it's fun to give it your all.

It makes you happy
to think how you've grown

at least a little bit over the years.

[singing in English]
♪ Mamma mia, does it show again? ♪

♪ My, my, how can I resist you... ♪

[Benny] When they were singing together,

doing all the harmonies, that sound,

I can remember 4,000 metres distance.

♪ Yes, I've been broken-hearted ♪

♪ Blue since the day we parted ♪

♪ Why, why did I ever let you go... ♪

[Björn] Even if they sing very sad songs,
together, they sound somehow jubilant.

With "Mamma Mia,"
we found, we're a pop group.

We found our identity.

♪ Bye-bye, leave me now or never ♪

♪ Mamma mia, it's a game we play ♪

♪ Bye-bye doesn't mean forever... ♪

[Björn in Swedish]
Hello, dear friends from all around.

We are sending you all a musical greeting,
titled "Mamma Mia".

[singing in English]
♪ Yes, I've been broken-hearted ♪

♪ Blue since the day we parted ♪

[fanfare plays]

[Schulman] In Sweden,
there was almost a huge campaign

against ABBA during that time.

You couldn't be open about liking ABBA.

And we even had to hide the records.

Sweden was supposed to host
the Eurovision Song Contest in '75.

There was a discussion
in Swedish television

about not taking part
in this Eurovision Song Contest,

but the rules was that Sweden had won,

Sweden was obliged
to host the final in '75.

There were protests.

People were marching in the streets.

"Stop the music festival."

Swedish television even broadcast
an alternative to Eurovision

with a satirical song that ridiculed ABBA.

The band was accused of selling out...

and having no more soul
than a can of tinned herring.

[Agnetha in Swedish] I think that's
something you have to take, bad criticism.

They criticised us

on those grounds,
that we don't have feeling.

It's quite unpleasant.

[Anni-Frid]
It has been very draining many times.

I felt very overwhelmed.

[Benny in English]
Many people think that there is a formula

or there is a calculation behind.
It's not.

It's just merely that Björn and I
write the music that we enjoy most.

♪ There was something
In the air that night ♪

[man in German]
ABBA don't shy away from hard work.

The quartet will be
introducing themselves to Australia

soon with their self-composed songs.

Here, ABBA are rehearsing
their latest song titled "Fernando".

[in English] Hello. I'm Johnny Farnham
and this is Countdown.

The first edition for...

[Chugg] Countdown was a huge
television pop show in Australia.

They brought ABBA out
and it just blew this country apart.

♪ There was something
In the air that night ♪

♪ The stars were bright, Fernando ♪

[Björn] They played them like mad
and made them gigantic hits.

♪ For liberty, Fernando ♪

♪ Though we never thought
That we could lose ♪

♪ There's no regret... ♪

[Chugg] Just kept getting bigger
and bigger and bigger.

There was a song every fucking two weeks.

They were all over TV.

Hello. I'm Björn.

Hello. I'm Agnetha.

Hello. I'm Frida.

And I'm Benny.

[Skinner] From '75 to '76,

ABBA songs were number one
in Australia for 42 weeks.

Nobody could ignore that.

[Lander] We had a meeting
with Peter Robinson,

the head of UK and international A&R.

He'd just literally
got in some demos from Sweden.

["Knowing Me, Knowing You" plays]

[Lander]
And there were a selection of tracks,

but the one that stood out was
"Knowing Me, Knowing You."

♪ No more carefree laughter... ♪

[Lander] He just sat there and he went,

"Ooh! Yeah, that's got to be
the next track."

You know, you get that feel.

With that, they were now on a flow.
It was working.

♪ Walking through an empty house
Tears in my eyes... ♪

[Skinner] Judd Lander, he could not ignore

what was happening in Australia,
which was phenomenal.

♪ Knowing me, knowing you ♪

♪ Aha, there is nothing... ♪

[Gambaccini] When I first heard
"Knowing Me, Knowing You,"

I just thought, "Oh, my God.
This is a number one. I can't believe it."

And you just wanted to rush
out into the street and tell everybody,

"I've just heard a future number one."

♪ This time, we're through
We're really through ♪

♪ Breaking up is never easy I know... ♪

[Gambaccini]
From that moment on, I just thought,

"Well, I'm listening
to every track they make."

♪ Knowing me, knowing you
It's the best I can do... ♪

[interviewer] You like travelling?

- Car, yes.
- [laughter]

- She's very shaky about flying.
- [Agnetha] Yeah. I don't like it.

[interviewer] You're the happy couple.

- No, we are.
- Are we?

[all laugh]

We are just engaged, you know.

- [interviewer] You're engaged?
- That's why.

♪ Walking through an empty house ♪

♪ Tears in my eyes ♪

♪ Here is where the story ends ♪

♪ This is goodbye... ♪

[interviewer] After that success,

did you find that the press
warmed towards you?

They had been a little cool,
putting you down.

[Björn] No, not really.

They still thought that it was, you know,
this commercial-hit machine.

- [Agnetha] They still do, no?
- They still do.

[Benny] Some of them do, yeah.

The audience that buys the record,

I mean, it's like telling them
that they're not mature enough,

that they don't know what they're buying

and they're buying something
coming out of a calculated hit machine.

I think that's terrible.

[interviewer] Benny and Björn, in England,

your lyrics have sometimes
been called simple and naive.

Do you not have some ambition,
the two of you,

to perhaps put more profundity,

more depth into your lyrics sometimes?

[Benny] Yes. Well, yes, very much so.

And if you listen to the recent lyrics,

they're, you know, somewhat
different from the ones before.

But it seems
that everybody's decided anyway

that they are simple and naive
and nobody bothers to listen.

["Dancing Queen" plays]

[Lander] But they didn't veer off.

Regardless of the critics,
they managed to come back up,

bringing it all together

into a three-and-a-half-minute
killer track.

♪ Baby, baby, you're out of sight ♪

♪ Hey, you're lookin' all right tonight ♪

♪ When you come to the party
Listen to the guys ♪

♪ They got the look in their eyes... ♪

[Benny] We never give up until
we're satisfied and we think,

"This is as good as we can do it."

♪ Leave them burning
And then you're gone... ♪

[Agnetha] When we recorded
"Dancing Queen,"

both Frida and I,
we had those goosebumps.

[Anni-Frid] I remember recording that.

I really felt something
very strongly for it, you know.

♪ And when you get the chance ♪

♪ You are the dancing queen ♪

♪ Young and sweet, only 17 ♪

♪ Dancing queen ♪

♪ Feel the beat from the tambourine ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

[playing "Jingle Bells"]

[reporter in Swedish] This is the third
Christmas where ABBA means more than

tinned fish meatballs and tubed caviar.

This is the third Christmas
since Waterloo.

ABBA has tinned its music in gold
and silver records all over the world.

[interviewer in English] Why do you think
they are that big around the world?

Okay, I'll do that now.

[interviewer] No, I'm asking--

- Why, why do I think?
- Yes.

I think it's because
they're the only group

that's actually giving the world

good commercial pop music that means 1976,

because all the other
commercial pop goes back

to 1975 or '74 or '73. It's too old.

These guys and the girls
are really modern,

and yet they're commercial as well.

[interviewer] Just how big are they
in Great Britain, for example?

Very big.
About the biggest commercial band there.

[interviewer]
Erm, how much of a strain is that?

- Meaning that you're working...
- [Benny] Yeah.

...you're living together.

I'd say my personal...

- feelings is there's no strain at all.
- Mmm-hmm.

- It's rather the opposite.
- Mmm-hmm.

It's an advantage and a privilege

to work together with somebody you...

the one you enjoy most in life.

- Mmm-hmm.
- [Björn] But, of course,

sometimes you come into situations where...

er, having to be together all the time
can create problems.

[Lander] You know, as the band's
success grew, you know,

the focus was always on the girls,
on Agnetha and Frida,

and the guys were there as the musicians,

and they were seen as a backdrop
more than front-of-house.

All the producers wanted were the girls.

But trying to get the band over,
along with Agnetha,

who didn't really want to leave
her daughter in Sweden...

it was a major, major problem.

[Agnetha]
That was a difficult time for me.

We got our daughter in '73,

so she was just, erm, one year old
when we won in Brighton.

So everything happened at the same time.

But that often is like that, I think,

that you start your career
at the same time

you want to be a mother.

[Björn] When we did "Waterloo"
in Brighton, we were away for,

I think, a fortnight or three weeks.

And when we came back, our daughter,

she didn't recognise us.

That was a tough experience.

[Agnetha] That was horrible.

She was so small.

[interviewer]
Do you find there are conflicts

between being a mother
and being a pop star?

[Agnetha] I think so, really.

It's hard work
and you always get back to bed conscious.

She wants me and ABBA wants me,

and it's very hard to do it all.

[woman]
The Polish TV Studio Two special flight

on Polish Airlines is ready for boarding.

The special flight expects
the special guests,

the pop music group, ABBA.

[Schulman] The Polish Television
offered Stig Anderson and ABBA

to come to Warszawa for a TV special.

They were huge in Eastern Europe.

ABBA cut through the Iron Curtain.

[cheering]

[Palm] It's very difficult to get paid
from an Eastern Bloc country

because their currency
is basically worthless.

Stig Anderson, who was quite clever,

he made a deal and he said,

"Okay, we'll do this free of charge."

"But what you're gonna do in return

is make a media event out of it,
and everyone wins."

[interviewer]
What does the word ABBA mean?

It's very simple.

ABBA is the initials of our first name,

and my name is Anni-Frid.

And I'm "B", Benny.

And I'm the other "B", Björn.

And my wife is Agnetha.

She's actually in Warsaw already.

You see, when we fly,

because we have a daughter
of three and a half years old,

er, we try to fly separately when we can.

["SOS" plays]

♪ Where are those happy days?
They seem so hard to find ♪

♪ I try to reach for you
But you have closed your mind... ♪

[Agnetha] I've been flying now
for very much around the world,

and I've never liked it.

And now I'm very, very scared of it.

♪ It used to be so nice
It used to be so good... ♪

[Halling] I'm sure other parents as well
would resonate the same way.

Both parents flying together.
"What if, what if?"

♪ So when you're near me, darling
Can't you hear me? ♪

♪ SOS ♪

♪ The love you gave me
Nothing else can save me ♪

♪ SOS ♪

♪ When you're gone
How can I even try to go on? ♪

♪ When you're gone ♪

♪ Though I try
How can I carry on? ♪

[Schulman] It was my first visit
to Eastern Europe,

and you could see everything was

a bit more worn, a bit grey.

ABBA, it was a big riot.
It was a big thing.

[down-tempo music plays]

[gong rings]

["Money, Money, Money" plays]

♪ I work all night, I work all day ♪

♪ To pay the bills I have to pay ♪

♪ Ain't it sad? ♪

♪ And still there never seems
To be a single penny left for me ♪

♪ That's too bad... ♪

[Palm] Stig Anderson
and his will to become

this big music-industry mogul

clashed against the "Stay where you are

and don't get ahead of yourself
too much" attitude in Sweden.

So, because they were so
closely tied to Stig Anderson,

when people were criticising Stig
for just thinking about the money,

that sort of rubbed off
on their image as well.

♪ Ain't it sad... ♪

[Palm] So that was a struggle for them.

♪ So I must leave, I'll have to go ♪

♪ To Las Vegas or Monaco ♪

♪ And win a fortune in a game ♪

♪ My life will never be the same ♪

♪ Money, money, money, must be funny ♪

♪ In the rich man's world ♪

♪ Money, money, money... ♪

[interviewer]
Are ABBA into the millionaire bracket?

Well, you can't be that,
in a country like Sweden

when you are paying 85% in tax.

Eighty-five, I repeat.

♪ All the things I could do ♪

♪ If I had a little money ♪

♪ It's a rich man's world... ♪

[interviewer] I guess
you're hit with a supertax.

Rod Stewart left England
because of their supertaxes,

or like the Rolling Stones to France.

How do you feel about paying
so much to the government?

- [Benny] It's all right.
- It's all right?

[Benny] Money isn't everything.

♪ All the things I could do ♪

♪ If I had a little money ♪

♪ It's a rich man's world... ♪

Sweden is very important for us, you know?

I think everybody starts, er,

is asking us why we are living in Sweden,

because of the taxes and, you know.

And I don't think
that we can live somewhere else.

It's very hard to... to think of that.

♪ It's a rich man world... ♪

[applause]

We're crossing live by satellite
to Sweden, Stockholm.

Let's meet them now.
Would you give 'em a hand?

Ladies and gentlemen, ABBA.

[cheers and applause]

Did you ever envisage

that you would be
this immensely successful?

- No. No way.
- [Björn] No.

I mean, we've been... we've been writing
and recording for a couple of years,

all the four of us,

and we never expected this, really.

Erm, Björn and Agnetha,
your daughter, Linda, erm,

how old is she now?

She will be four years tomorrow.

[Lane] Does she yet realise who you are?

[laughter]

- [Björn] That's a funny question.
- I hope she does. Well...

[Björn]
She called me "Father" this morning.

- [Lane] Did she?
- [laughter]

[applause]

[Lane] Well, let me get over
to the other two.

I want to ask them something personal.

I read something in a paper.

You two have been engaged for seven years.

- Yeah.
- Eight by now.

- [laughter]
- Eight years, yeah.

[Lane] Are you ever gonna make a move?

Are you ever gonna get married?

- Oh, no.
- [laughter]

[Lane] Look at the look on him.
Are you ready for that?

[laughter]

No, we are not quite sure of that,
you know?

We haven't...
We didn't get the time yet, so...

- [Lane] Oh, I see.
- We don't know.

[Lane] Maybe in another 10 or 12 years,
you'll figure it out.

- Yes.
- Yeah. You never know.

[Lane] Thank you.
ABBA, ladies and gentlemen.

- Thank you.
- Bye.

[Lane] Okay. Bye now.

[Halling] Frida called me in late '76.

We were friends.

We did some fun things together,

played badminton
and were out dancing and stuff.

And she asked me if I wanted
to join ABBA in Australia.

It was a very easy call to make.

[crowd cheering]

We want ABBA! We want ABBA!

[Björn] We were very nervous.

To be perfectly honest,
we didn't know ourselves

whether we could cope
with a tour of this form.

They'd been saying that,

"Oh, they can never reproduce
that sound onstage."

[Benny] When you're trying
to do something special,

trying to reproduce
our records with a band,

live, that's difficult stuff.

[crowd cheering]

[reporter]
The group's arrival in Australia

has been accompanied
by a blaze of publicity.

While they're here, they'll perform
at 11 concerts in 10 days

to an estimated 140,000 people.

According to the promoters,
they're bigger than the Beatles.

And with an entourage of 105 people,

they're almost twice as big
as The Rolling Stones concert.

ABBA are obviously very big business.

[man] ...live to air, and everybody
down there with radios can hear us.

Would you like
to say anything to the people?

[Björn] I'd like to say
that this is the most

fantastic reception we ever had.

And, you know,
we're so overwhelmed and happy

that I just can't say how much.

And we're just really honoured, you know?

[reporter] Say hello.
This microphone is live

to the people down there.
They can all hear you.

- Here, down on the...
- Yes.

Oh. Hello, everybody. This is Frida.

I really appreciate this. I love you.

[reporter] Thank you very much. Thank you.

[Agnetha] That was so enormous.

The fact that so many people
like what you are doing, it's...

You're very proud of it.

But that was crowded, really.

It affects you when it gets too much.

And I could feel that when
we were in Australia sometimes.

Good feeling as well,
but that was so enormous there.

It was really fever.

I think it was a little too much.

[Anni-Frid]
Going on tour is really exhausting,

to travel every day, to change hotels,

you know, never unpack your suitcases.

After a while, it's not funny any more.

[interviewer] I read somewhere
where you are the proud owner

of an award which declares you

as the lady with the most
sexiest bottom in Europe.

- [laughter]
- [reporter] Is that true?

How can I answer to that? I don't know.

- I haven't seen it.
- [laughter]

[Greer]
Well, it's crass, isn't it? It's rude.

But what can she do about it?

It's completely unsurprising.

They're not going to ask
Agnetha about the music.

[Halling] I think it was unworthy,

any person to be talked about
as a body part.

[thunder rumbles]

[reporter] Heavy rain tomorrow
night is now the only thing

that will stop the ABBA concert
from going ahead.

According to showground officials,

the 20,000 or so people out there

should experience no real problems.

How many hours do you reckon
you've been queuing for now?

- [woman] 32.
- [reporter] 32 hours?

[woman] Yeah.

[reporter]
You reckon it's gonna be worth it?

- Oh, yeah.
- [woman] Yeah!

[crowd chanting]
We want ABBA! We want ABBA!

[Halling] They were extremely nervous,
absolutely.

A little group from Sweden
going to conquer the world.

[chanting continues]

[chanting continues in distance]

[vocalising]

["Tiger" plays]

[cheers and applause]

♪ The city is a nightmare
A horrible dream ♪

♪ Some of us will dream it forever ♪

♪ Look around the corner... ♪

[Anni-Frid in Swedish]
When you're on the stage

and doing the things you know you can do,

you can dare to let go
and actually be what you want to be.

There's nothing more fun.

[singing in English]
♪ People who fear me never come near me ♪

♪ I am the tiger... ♪

[Agnetha] I think both Frida and I,

when we were onstage, a bit competing.

It's good, because you really do
your best every evening.

♪ I am behind you, I always find you... ♪

[Agnetha] So much has been written
that Frida and I were not friends.

It's not very fair to do that.

We had a lot of fun,
but we also helped each other.

♪ Look into the shadows
And you'll see the shape of me ♪

♪ I am behind you, I always find you ♪

♪ I am the tiger, tiger, tiger ♪

[cheers and applause]

[interviewer] In Australia,
there was a huge conglomeration

of hit after hit after hit,
and there was that huge peak.

Does that sort of bother you, erm,

the fact that you were
getting so terribly overexposed?

[Björn] In a way, yeah, because it's...

it's harming us now, I think.

If people expect us to have
five songs in the top ten,

all the time, I mean, that's impossible.

That's not normal.

[Benny speaks in Swedish] In Australia,
it was exceptional there because

it had been worked up
that we would come there

and there was ABBA on bedsheets

and ABBA on the caramels
and ABBA on everything.

So I think that when we came there
that it was like the final drop,

the last thing
they wanted was ABBA itself.

[Palm in English] When ABBA The Album
was released in Australia,

it doesn't do as well at all.

So not to make too big a thing out of it,

but maybe there was a bit
of a worry there,

"Oh, this isn't a number one."

"Maybe this is the start
of the end for us."

[down-tempo music plays]

[host] The new craze, they tell me.

They are heroes, not the nice,
clean Rolling Stones.

They're a group called the Sex Pistols.

[Goldman] Punk came along,

overturning and turning its back on

and spitting on all that had come before.

Go on, you've got another five seconds.

- Say something outrageous.
- You dirty bastard!

- [host] Go on, again.
- You dirty fucker.

- [host] What a clever boy.
- What a fucking rotter!

Well, that's it for tonight.
I'll be seeing you soon.

I hope I'm not seeing you again.

From me, though, goodnight.

[Goldman] We felt we were
caught up in a revolution.

[presenter] And here are Björn,
Anna, Frida, and Benny,

who go together to make up ABBA.

And first of all, I'd like to say
welcome to Blue Peter.

Thanks very much for coming along.

- Nice to meet you, Shep.
- And Shep says hello as well.

[Goldman] That was the contradiction,
in a way, of locating ABBA,

when what was prized
was a certain sort of roughness.

ABBA, they seemed to project
a relentless good cheer.

That was somewhat at odds
with the zeitgeist.

I try so hard to be nice.

[Goldman] They represented a wholeness,
something high-functioning,

whereas we were just teetering
on the edge and falling apart.

[Skinner] By the summertime of '77,
punk was in the charts.

It was sometimes four or five
songs in the top 10.

Bands like ABBA were being squeezed out.

[Dahlin] In '77, the Pistols' manager
decided to do a Scandinavian tour.

I was brought up in England,
but I'm Norwegian.

The first thing I remember was Rodent.

He was the roadie,
and he was carrying a cassette player.

And on the cassette player,

they had one cassette, and it was...

["Dancing Queen" plays]

I just turned around and went, "What?"

They played it 24/7, all the time.

Everybody. It was Rodent's job
to turn it around, you know,

when it got to the end.

♪ You can dance, you can jive ♪

♪ Having the time of your life... ♪

[Dahlin] It's a miracle
it lasted the whole tour.

The Pistols, they were huge ABBA fans.

♪ Digging the dancing queen... ♪

[Lander]
A record label can be very mercenary.

It has to be to keep up with demand.

And with an ever-changing musical scene,

there was a little panic in the camp.

"Do we carry on with the band?
Do we call it a day?"

That inevitably comes along.

[interviewer] Having to come up
with new songs all the time,

isn't that very difficult?
Don't you feel enormous pressure?

[Björn] Yeah, we do.

We feel that we have to
come up with something different.

So many people been talking
about the equivalent

to the Sgt. Pepper album, you know,
when The Beatles came up.

And, erm,
it puts a lot of pressure on us, sure.

[down-tempo music plays]

[interviewer]
Er, Benny and Björn are with me.

Anna is, what, due in a couple of days?

[Benny] Yes, yes. She's fine, but, erm...

a bit tired of waiting.

[interviewer]
Yeah. After nine months, no wonder.

Erm, what are you hoping for,
a boy or a girl?

- [Benny] A dog.
- [laughter]

[interviewer] Don't tell Anna.

♪ No smiles, not a single word
At the breakfast table ♪

♪ Though I would have liked to begin ♪

♪ So much that I wanna say
But I feel unable ♪

♪ You leave and slam the door ♪

♪ Like you've done many times before ♪

♪ And I cry and I feel so helpless... ♪

[Björn] People have read a lot
into various lyrics.

And, of course,
there is some of that in the lyrics,

but most is fiction.

- [Benny] But the emotions are there.
- [Björn] Yeah.

[Palm] 1978 was a strange period.

Björn and Agnetha's marriage
is not going so well.

And in the midst of all this,
Benny and Frida get married.

♪ Where did all our love go? ♪

♪ Sometimes when I just can't cope ♪

♪ I cling to a desperate hope ♪

♪ And I cry and I feel like dying... ♪

[Greer] "I cling to a desperate hope
and I cry and I feel like dying."

"Two friends and two true lovers."

"Somehow we'll help each other
through the hard times."

No, you won't. And you don't.

Well, I think what men
mistake for happiness

was in fact, er,
resignation and impatience.

Depends what you're in
the relationship for, I guess.

I mean, it's always
got to be worth staying,

but it might be unbearable.

♪ Daydreams of a better life ♪

♪ But I have to wake up ♪

♪ The sound of a key in the door ♪

[Goldman] The lyrics,
they're talking about very serious,

you know, pains of the heart.

Within them, they did have
really mature reflections

on their relationships.

In talking about things like separation,

they were in the flow
of what was going on socially.

Women's liberation is people's liberation!

[Greer] It was a huge thing.
People were not getting divorced.

[crowd chanting indistinctly]

[host] Benny, try to speak French for me.

[Benny speaking in French]
Oh, I don't speak French.

[host in English]
Are you afraid by the future?

[speaking in French] Who wants to answer?

[in English] You want to answer, Benny?

No. I'm not very afraid. No.

[speaking in French] Apparently you
are not afraid on a professional level.

If I were you, I would still be afraid

to see my two wives fly away.

[in English] You are not afraid
someone might steal your wives?

[laughs]

[Benny] It's not up to us.
It's up to them.

[speaking in French] Yes, of course.

[down-tempo music plays]

[man speaking in Swedish] ABBA in huge
print on sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

It is a huge venture
which ABBA has begun in America.

What will create the breakthrough
is ABBA's participation

in the big star
Olivia Newton John's TV show.

It is one of America's biggest TV shows.

[Binder speaking in English] We know them
as the biggest artists in the world,

er, since The Beatles,
except in the United States.

[interviewer] Speaking
of Olivia Newton-John,

I was told that, er, before being
as noticed in America,

you were quite popular in Australia.
Is that so?

- [Benny] Yeah.
- [interviewer] Why do you suppose that is?

[Benny] Well, I'd say the only territory
where we don't sell records is here.

Er, otherwise, they buy the records
all over the world.

[man speaking in Swedish]
There is a million investment

and a huge ad campaign happening.

Radio stations, TV companies,

press and weekly magazines are arranged.

[Anni-Frid]
People have forgotten that this money,

this is written so much about

would never have come
if the creative side hadn't existed.

That's what it is.

We have feelings and we get hurt
if we get jumped on every time

and there's only talk about money.

Because we are proud of what we do.

That's what we want to talk about.

Not money.

[man]
Stars and money go together, however,

and the million is already rolling in.

[Palm speaking in English] It seemed
impossible to make ABBA as big in America

as they were everywhere else.

I mean, they were doing fine.

They had a number-one hit
with "Dancing Queen",

but it wasn't as successful.

[Farber] At this time,
when ABBA are coming up,

the measure of credibility
in popular music

is pretty much guitar rock.

They didn't look like other rock stars.

And then also, I mean, just even
the sound of the women's voices,

I mean, that kind of thin, high pitch

is almost like Alvin and the Chipmunks
or something.

It sounds like a record
that's being played too quickly.

They knew that there
was resistance to them

from a magazine like Rolling Stone.

They had some great songs. I know one
you could start off with your voice.

♪ Bar, bar, bar ♪ [laughs]

- [Benny] You want to do that?
- You go on. You do it. That's good.

- ♪ Bar ♪
- [piano playing]

♪ Bar, bar, bar, bar Barbara Ann ♪

[together] ♪ Bar, bar, bar
Bar Barbara Ann ♪

♪ Bar, bar, bar, bar Barbara Ann ♪

♪ Barbara Ann, take my hand ♪

♪ Oh, Barbara Ann ♪

♪ You got me rockin' and a rollin' ♪

♪ Rockin' and a reelin', Barbara Ann ♪

♪ Bar, bar, bar, bar Barbara Ann ♪

♪ Went to a dance looking for romance ♪

♪ Saw Barbara Ann
So I thought I'd take a chance ♪

♪ Barbara Ann
Bar, bar, bar, bar Barbara Ann ♪

♪ Barbara Ann ♪

This is the wrong way around.

♪ Rockin' and a rollin'
Rockin' and a reelin' ♪

♪ Barbara Ann
Bar, bar, bar, bar Barbara Ann ♪

[in deep voice] ♪ Bar, bar, bar, bar ♪

[laughter]

How come you're doing the high part
and I'm doing the low part?

[laughter]

- Do some opera.
- [Agnetha] Huh?

Can you sing some opera?

Erm, actually, I don't know many songs.

You know, just a few.

[Newton-John] Just give us a few bars.

[man] You have got a good opera voice.
Sing some scales.

[Benny] Couple of notes.
The one you were rehearsing.

[laughter]

The one you've been rehearsing
for a week now.

[laughter]

That's not fair.

[gentle tune plays]

[singing opera in Latin]

[laughter]

[continues singing in Latin]

[laughter and applause]

[continues singing in Latin]

[hits high note]

[man in English] I like that.

[continues singing in Latin]

♪ La-la-la-la ♪

[laughter and applause]

[Rodgers in English]
There was an interesting connection.

Chic and ABBA were signed
to the same label at the same time,

and I thought
that just like my band, Chic,

their songs and their sound
is uniquely theirs.

You have to understand
that people have different roots.

They're Swedish. [chuckles]

They're not from California
or New Orleans or whatever.

They have a culture
that is uniquely theirs.

[Björn] It's very difficult
to say exactly what ABBA is,

because we've been exposed
to the American music scene,

the English, the Swedish folk music scene,

to the Italian, German, French.

There are a lot of styles,
a lot of different traditions

that we, now and then, like to try.

[interviewer]
It must be very difficult to say.

On average, how long does it take
for you to write a song?

[Benny] That's impossible to answer.
Sometimes, you know, it takes...

it takes you a week,

and there's no song at all for two weeks.

And sometimes it takes four hours
and there is almost a complete song there.

Let's say it has taken us a year
for each album.

[interviewer in Swedish]
When is the next LP record coming out?

Yeah I'm wondering that also.

You're working on it.

Yeah we're working on recording it,
but it's going very slowly,

it's terribly difficult because

it requires time to write new material.

Can you hum a bit of the chorus of a song

which is going on the coming album?

[sighs]

I don't know if I should.

[chuckles]

You caught me off guard.

No, I think I'll save it.

The kids will have to wait
until our LP comes out instead.

That'll probably be more exciting.

[band playing, applause]

[Lander in English] I get this call
from head of entertainment at the BBC.

Erm, "Hi, Judd. Listen, we need ABBA."

"We're doing a Christmas special.
We'd love ABBA to come."

[cheers and applause]

Well, aren't they lovely?
See? That applause,

it just shows you how lovely you are.

- I'll just check your details.
- [laughter]

He seems like a nice boy, doesn't he?

[laughter]

- Which one are you?
- I'm Björn.

Björn? Now, that's... Björn.

That's a very popular name
for babies in Sweden, isn't it?

Yeah, they say there's one Björn
every minute.

[laughter]

He's going to be trouble, isn't he?
I can see that.

[Lander] This was one of the big,
major Christmas shows,

a show called The Mike Yarwood Show.

He was a showbiz impersonator, comedian,

and highly respected entertainer

with the biggest viewership
at the time in the UK.

They're one of the world's
most popular singing groups,

and I love them.
I know you love them. Millions do.

ABBA.

[cheers and applause]

["Thank You for the Music" playing]

♪ I'm nothing special ♪

♪ In fact, I'm a bit of a bore ♪

♪ If I tell a joke ♪

♪ You've probably heard it before ♪

♪ But I have a talent, a wonderful thing ♪

♪ 'Cause everyone listens
When I start to sing ♪

♪ I'm so grateful and proud... ♪

[Lander] We arrived at the hotel,

all marched up to the suites,

and I said goodnight.

And there was Agnetha on her own.

And I saw her going into her own suite.

A slight loneliness
was showing on her face.

You know, the sort of...
It was sad, actually.

[down-tempo music plays]

- [inaudible]
- [applause]

[Palm]
That television special actually aired

on Christmas day in the UK.

So while the British public were sitting

in front of this big television special

and enjoying ABBA and seeing them

as a happy group of two happy couples,

the reality of it was that,
on that very same day,

Agnetha took the kids and moved out.

[Björn] The marriage didn't work,

but we still worked
very well together as, er,

as musicians and artists.

So we decided to split up the marriage,

but not split up, er, split up ABBA.

[Agnetha] I think that was brave of us.

But we were in the middle of something,

and, er, there were no... no hard feelings.

And we knew, all of us,
that this is our way to succeed.

We want to follow...
to do this and to continue,

even if there were some hard times.

I don't want to put the blame on ABBA.

I mean, we are growing apart sometimes,

and, er, you can't do anything about it.

[indistinct song plays]

[man] Coming up next

from the General Assembly
of the United Nations,

the concert of the year,

"A Gift of Song,
The Music for UNICEF Concert."

[cheers and applause]

["Chiquitita" playing]

♪ Chiquitita, tell me what's wrong ♪

♪ You're enchained by your own sorrow ♪

♪ In your eyes ♪

♪ There is no hope for tomorrow... ♪

[Gambaccini] UNICEF needed to raise money

for its children's charities
around the world.

♪ I'm a shoulder you can cry on... ♪

[Gambaccini] The artists
donated royalties for a song,

and UNICEF got it all.

♪ Now I see you broken and fettered ♪

[Gambaccini] Here I am,
sitting in the United Nations

and ABBA are rising into view
on a turntable.

And it was cool.

♪ I hope we can patch it up together ♪

♪ Chiquitita, you and I know ♪

♪ How the heartaches come and they go ♪

♪ And the scars they're leaving... ♪

[Gambaccini] "Chiquitita" was
an enormous multi-million seller

around the world,
and raised millions of dollars

for projects in Latin America
and Southeast Asia,

among other places.

[Skinner] I wonder if we can move on
very quickly, in fact,

to the success,
the great success story of "Chiquitita",

which, as well as being
a number-two hit in Britain,

Frida, has now proved
to be your biggest success

in Spanish-speaking territories.

There's a wee bit of a story behind
how and why that happened, isn't there?

[Anni-Frid] We felt that it would
be nice to do it in Spanish

because it's very much a Spanish song--

[Skinner] Reminiscent of "Fernando"
as well, isn't it?

[Anni-Frid] Yeah, it is, in a way.

So, er, we called a Spanish teacher
to teach us

how to pronounce
the words and the lyrics in Spanish.

I think, er, it turned out very well.

[del Valle] One day...

" God dag! My name is Stikkan Anderson,

and I have a small pop group,

and I want a Spanish coach." [chuckles]

"A small group." [chuckles]

Stikkan Anderson was very enthusiastic

about taking ABBA in Spanish
to South America

because with so many people,
commercially, it makes sense.

I called my sister in Argentina.

She was, like, crazy...

[speaking in Spanish] I can't believe it!

Yes, believe me, believe me.

- [laughs]
- ["Chiquitita" playing]

♪ Chiquitita, tell me why? ♪

♪ You are enchained by your suffering ♪

[del Valle in English] It could be someone
with suffering of love,

but I have to be very honest, darling...

[singing continues in Spanish]
♪ In your eyes ♪

♪ There is shadow of your great sorrow ♪

[del Valle in English]
...for me, it's a song about solidarity.

When you have difficult political times,

like the military dictatorship
in Argentina or somewhere,

you anyhow are a human being, a person.

You want some minutes of happiness.

[singing in Spanish]
♪ Chiquitita, you can confide in me ♪

[inaudible]

♪ As you cry on my shoulder ♪

[people shouting indistinctly]

We want our children here!

♪ You can lean on me ♪

♪ So you can carry on ♪

[del Valle in English] And I am convinced...

[in Spanish] art gives you solace.

♪ You were always sure of yourself ♪

♪ And now your wing is broken ♪

[del Valle in English] When Agnetha
was singing, it was such an emotion

because of the words in Spanish for me.

[singing in Spanish]
♪ Let me help you ♪

♪ I want to see it healed ♪

♪ Chiquitita you know it well ♪

♪ That sorrows come and go
And they disappear ♪

♪ You will dance again ♪

♪ And will be happy ♪

♪ Just as flowers bloom ♪

[del Valle in English]
For me, it was magic.

[singing in Spanish] ♪ Once again... ♪

[del Valle in English] It was magic.

♪ I want to share
Your happiness, Chiquitita. ♪

[del Valle in English]
In a way, ABBA was political.

When they were collecting money
for UNICEF,

that is political.

What they were not doing was,
they were subtle.

They have bigger visions of solidarity.

[in Spanish]
That subtlety touches your heart.

That's what they did.

It wasn't just Dancing Queen.

♪ Chiquitita, tell me why? ♪

♪ You are enchained by your suffering ♪

♪ In your eyes
There is a shadow of your great sorrow ♪

[song fades out]

[interviewer in English] What about
the sort of family life now in ABBA?

You're getting an awful lot of publicity
on various lines,

actually, of the family life.

Has it, in any way,
caused any problem professionally?

You know, is it difficult at all?

[Anni-Frid] When you are a person
that everybody knows,

you have to take that.

You know that they are going
to write about it and you have to take it.

So we don't look at the papers
too much ourselves.

[interviewer] Yeah.

[down-tempo music plays]

[Skinner] They were professionally
still working very well together,

but, particularly Agnetha,
clearly didn't want to be there.

She was very professional.

She turned up for the interviews,

she had the pictures taken,

but clearly just didn't enjoy
being there any more.

[woman] I've got something for you.

[rock music plays]

This is Richard Skinner with
a Radio 1 exclusive, as Benny...

- [Benny] Hello, Richard.
- [Skinner] Hi. Björn...

- [Björn] Hello.
- [Skinner] ...Agnetha...

- [Agnetha] Hi, everybody.
- [Skinner] ...and Frida...

- [Anni-Frid] Hello.
- [Skinner] Hi.

...of ABBA talk to us
about their latest album,

Voulez-Vous,
and we play tracks from the album.

♪ People everywhere ♪

♪ A sense of expectation
Hangin' in the air... ♪

[Skinner] Interestingly,
it's a disco, funk sound

on that title track, Björn,
and, in a way, it sums up the album.

It's a new move for the group, isn't it?

[Björn]
Yeah, that's what we feel ourselves.

♪ Voulez-vous, aha ♪

♪ Take it now or leave it, aha ♪

♪ Now is all we get, aha ♪

♪ Nothing promised, no regrets ♪

♪ Voulez-vous, aha ♪

♪ Ain't no big decision, aha ♪

♪ You know what to do, aha ♪

♪ La question, c'est voulez-vous? ♪

[Gambaccini] When I first heard the album,

I thought, "Oh, they've peaked."

It seemed to gesture to disco too much.

Now, who am I to say
they shouldn't have made a disco record?

Because disco was so big.

["Good Times" playing]

[Rodgers] I grew up
in the era of discos and dancing.

The Latino, the Asian,

the Black, the queer community,

the music brought us all together.

♪ Good times ♪

♪ These are the good times... ♪

[Rodgers] No matter how much it morphs,

this is a whole American vibe
that comes from soul music.

♪ Good times... ♪

[Gambaccini]
Everybody made a disco record.

["Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
(A Man After Midnight)" playing]

And so ABBA delved into disco.

[music continues]

♪ Half-past twelve ♪

♪ And I'm watching the late show
In my flat all alone ♪

♪ How I hate to spend the evening
On my own ♪

- ♪ Autumn winds ♪
- ♪ Blowing outside the window... ♪

[Gambaccini]
It was a successful disco record.

I mean, there's no doubting it.

Gay discos, particularly,
because, of course, of the title.

"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
(A Man After Midnight)."

So, needless to say,
when the clock struck 12:01...

[hums melody]

[music continues]

But it turns out the timing was terrible.

[inaudible]

[reporter] Fifty-thousand people,
the largest crowd of the season,

showed up at Chicago's Comiskey Park

for the twi-night doubleheader
between the White Sox

and the Detroit Tigers.

Fifteen-thousand others
had to be turned away.

Many had come for Disco Demolition Night,
a promotional gimmick.

Between games, as planned,

a huge box containing
thousands of disco records was blown up.

[man] Yes!

That's real good!

[reporter] The rest was unplanned.

Fans stormed out onto the field
in the thousands.

Disco records were hurled like Frisbees.

Bonfires were set, bottles were thrown.

[down-tempo music plays]

[Gambaccini] "Disco sucks",
we can now clearly see,

was basically a racist
and homophobic reaction from rock fans.

A lot of radio stations
stopped playing disco.

Disco died almost overnight.

[Farber] ABBA was bringing in
a lot of disco elements into their music

at just the moment
when disco was publicly demonised.

This album wasn't gonna make it easy
for them to break America.

[reporter] ABBA, Sweden's greatest export,

on their very first American tour...

"ABBA: The Concert."

[Farber] This was gonna be
their first North American tour.

It opened in Edmonton, of all places,
which is quite far north in Canada.

Rolling Stone flew me up there
to interview them.

[reporter] A rush of photographers
met ABBA at the airport,

journalists in from around the world,

chasing the elusive public image of ABBA.

[Benny] We've done a lot of television
and radio and interviews and all that

without touring
and doing live performances.

Not being available here in North America

is definitely a disadvantage.

We're here to try to change that.

[Woodroffe] They were very unassuming,

but clearly the tour
was important for them.

The truck drivers
and the people at the airport

and the people who worked in the hotels,

they all seemed to love ABBA,

but they were not that big
in America then.

We were playing in small places,
not huge arenas.

[reporter] Well, Benny, ABBA seem to be

an entire unit to themselves.

You record your own records,
you write your own material,

you promote your own stuff.

Is there not a danger
that there could be a certain

sameness about the whole thing?

Er, well... [chuckles]

[Farber] I'm sure
that they felt they weren't being

taken seriously as music people.

In the hotel, when I interviewed them,
Björn had said,

"It may be pop music to you,
but it's soul to us."

The men did the interviews.
The women were not part of it.

And I remember
getting the sense at that time

that the women were less enthused
about going on tour.

[Halling] It was a hard-core tour.

There was a lot of back-to-backs
and, er, a lot of travelling.

♪ Ah... ♪

[Halling] A lot of, er, practice.

[vocalising scales]

[Halling]
They were quite thorough in their work.

[up-tempo music plays]

[Woodroffe] You would always
hear Frida and Agnetha

singing backstage,

and that was always
interspersed with laughter.

And I remember saying to Frida,
"Oh, it's been so great."

"The tour's been so great and everything,
and it's so great to see you."

"And you guys,
you're just all so happy together."

And she said,
"It's not quite what it seems, Patrick."

["Summer Night City" playing]

♪ End of night, a new day dawning ♪

♪ And the first birds start to sing ♪

♪ In the pale light of the morning ♪

♪ Nothing's worth remembering ♪

♪ It's a dream, it's out of reach... ♪

[Halling] The response from the audience

was not as it was in Australia.

I'm not sure
that we did sell out all concerts.

[music continues]

But, you know, American audiences,

it's not easy to please.

[down-tempo music plays]

They were really struggling and fighting
to do a good tour

and to break in America.
That was the sole purpose.

[Palm] For Agnetha, that part of the tour
was really difficult.

She was fairly newly divorced.

She felt alone. She hated flying.

[reporter] Tornado. October 3rd.

We got many reports
of tornadoes on the ground,

funnels, and quite a bit of damage,

some winds estimated
in excess of 100 miles per hour.

I can't stress enough,

you should take immediate
safety precautions.

[Agnetha] I don't like to fly.

On our tour, I think we flew
from New York to Boston.

We were up in the air for one-and-a-half...

[chuckles] years, I almost said.

One-and-a-half hours,
er, with this terrible weather.

They tried to take us down

but we couldn't land,
because the airport was blown away.

That was really, really
scary moments for us,

and we were all four in the plane.

[reporter] More than 400 people hurt,

one man killed by the storm.

Damage extensive, expected to run
into the millions of dollars.

[Agnetha] After that, I got sick.

My whole body was... was sick.

That was some hard times, really.

We came to a point when I said
that, erm, "I can't do this."

"We have to have some kind of limit."

[Benny] Touring, it takes too much
away from the creativity

that is essential to write songs.

Of course, it's fun to be onstage,

facing the audience and all that.

That's only two hours a day.

The other 22 hours is just struggling,

getting from place to place.

♪ Super Trouper beams are gonna blind me ♪

♪ But I won't feel blue ♪

♪ Like I always do ♪

♪ 'Cause somewhere in the crowd
There's you... ♪

[Benny] For almost every artist,

er, America is the way
to break it worldwide.

We've done it worldwide without America.

[Björn] We can live without it.

-So it doesn't mean life or death.
- [Benny] No.

♪ I was sick and tired of everything ♪

♪ When I called you last night
From Glasgow ♪

♪ All I do is eat and sleep and sing ♪

♪ Wishing every show was the last show ♪

♪ So imagine I was glad
To hear you're coming ♪

♪ Suddenly I feel all right ♪

♪ And suddenly it's gonna be ♪

♪ And it's gonna be so different
When I'm on the stage tonight ♪

♪ So I'll be there when you arrive ♪

♪ The sight of you will prove to me
I'm still alive ♪

♪ And when you take me in your arms ♪

♪ And hold me tight ♪

♪ I know it's gonna mean so much tonight ♪

♪ Tonight the Super Trouper lights
Are gonna find me... ♪

[reporter] We're at the gates of the BBC,
where there's a lot of expecting fans

hoping to catch a glimpse
of their favourite pop group, ABBA.

- You're obviously all ardent fans...
- Five o'clock.

...and willing to stand around
for quite some time.

- We'd do anything for them.
- Right.

Tell me something, we are girl-less
this morning. Where are the ladies?

We've been working so hard lately
that they're simply too tired to come.

All right. How are you--

We've been having, like, 38 gigs in a row.

How are you standing up to it?

- Well, we're not, really.
- [laughter]

[Lander] America was weird,
but when they came back to the UK,

things couldn't have been more different.

[up-tempo music plays]

Wembley, it was like a mega event.

It was like pop royalty had come to town.

- [Anni-Frid] Is it far to go?
- [man] Yeah.

- It is?
- [man] Yeah.

Good.

[both chuckling]

[Halling] When I heard
that they sold out six concerts

and they could have sold out
six more or 15 more,

I was a bit shocked because
there's very few bands that can do that.

[Lander] It also attracted the critics.

The irony was

that you'd have high-end music journalists

who'd already criticised them all,

but suddenly they wanted that VIP ticket.

And I'd wind them up, saying,

"But I thought you didn't like the band."

[vocalising]

[Agnetha hits high note]

[indistinct conversation]

Benny. Benny.

[indistinct conversation]

[fans cheering in distance]

[Lander] Soon as they came out...

[cheering]

...there was a roar
that you would not believe.

["Voulez-Vous" playing]

[cheering continues]

♪ Voulez-vous, aha ♪

♪ Aha, aha... ♪

[Lander] Everybody wanted
to go to the shows.

The who's who of showbiz wanted to go.

I remember the VIP area at Wembley
on the left was chocka,

and some of the VIPs
like Zeppelin, The Who.

[Benny] We were really surprised to see

that these guys were coming to see ABBA.

That was a thrill, actually,

that we would have a following
within our heroes.

♪ Voulez-vous, aha... ♪

[Björn] One of the most flattering things
I've heard in my life

was I ran into Pete Townshend,
and he says,

"Do you know,
'SOS' is the best pop song ever written."

[chuckles] I was so proud.

[music crescendos]

[women hold final note]

[crowd cheering]

Hello, everybody.

It's now three years ago
since we were in London

and played the last time.
It's far too long.

It really feels good to be back,
I can tell you that.

[cheering]

[in other reality]
It's been tough in many ways,

but it's been very rewarding,

because we've showed
our critics, audiences,

as well as ourselves, we can make it live.

Whoo!

[Halling] That confidence was there
the whole time.

It was there from the tour, '77.

When you do something
that you can stand up for,

then you have the confidence,
because no one can touch you.

They can say, "This is crap."
Yeah, fine, but I love it.

The difference now was that they could

share the confidence with the audience.

They were quite proud
of what they had achieved.

["The Way Old Friends Do" playing]

♪ You and I ♪

♪ Can share the silence ♪

♪ Finding comfort together ♪

♪ The way old friends do ♪

♪ And after fights ♪

♪ And words of violence ♪

♪ We make up with each other ♪

♪ The way old friends do ♪

♪ Times of joy ♪

♪ And times of sorrow ♪

♪ We will always ♪

♪ See it through ♪

♪ Oh, I don't care ♪

♪ What comes tomorrow ♪

♪ We can face it together ♪

♪ The way old friends do ♪

♪ We can face it together ♪

♪ The way old friends ♪

♪ Do ♪

[crowd cheering]

[down-tempo music plays]

[Björn] One thing we'd learned
was that everything starts with a song.

I think great music is created
from the human experience...

deep emotions.

Writing a lyric is, er,

something in between a poem and a melody.

It would conjure up not only a mood,

but, like, images sometimes in me,

almost cinematic.

[Lander] Peter,
the head of UK and international A&R,

called me up.

New tracks had come along.

The business is a very cynical business.

You know, you've got executives there

who, all they're interested in
is the next dollar.

But when we were listening to that track,

there was a silence there.

We all knew what it was all about.

["The Winner Takes It All" playing]

[Björn] I first presented the lyrics
one morning in our studio.

And we had this fantastic backing track.

♪ I don't wanna talk ♪

♪ About things we've gone through ♪

♪ Though it's hurting me ♪

♪ Now it's history ♪

♪ I've played all my cards... ♪

[Agnetha] I'm a very much feeling person

and I really try to put my life experience

and my feelings, everything, in the song.

♪ The winner takes it all ♪

♪ The loser standing small ♪

♪ Beside the victory... ♪

[Björn] Going through a divorce
is, erm, difficult,

as anyone would know who's done it.

That was, of course,
taking up my thoughts.

♪ I was in your arms ♪

♪ Thinking I belonged there ♪

♪ I figured it made sense ♪

♪ Building me a fence... ♪

[Björn] But there was not one winner
in the case of us.

♪ Thinking I'd be strong there ♪

♪ But I was a fool... ♪

[Benny] It was powerful.

You know, one of our best, I think.

It's really honest.

♪ The gods may throw a dice... ♪

[Anni-Frid in Swedish] It wasn't just
the music, it was also love...

it was a life lived together
somehow all four of us.

[Agnetha in English] I think
he was writing about all the four of us.

♪ Loses someone dear ♪

-♪ The winner takes it all ♪
- ♪ Takes it all ♪

♪ The loser has to fall... ♪

[Lander] The Super Trouper album, I think,

turned everything around,
getting the sales

and finally getting
some brilliant reviews.

[in Swedish] To many people's surprise
you've received

almost unanimous positive critique
here in Sweden for the latest LP.

What has actually happened?

Earlier it wasn't like that with ABBA.

No, there must be something wrong.

[chuckling]

[singing in English]
♪ Somewhere deep inside ♪

♪ You must know I miss you... ♪

[interviewer] Everybody is happy with it.

In Holland, it's already a golden album.

You must be rich, but are you happy, too?

Sometimes. Sometimes not. [chuckles]

As other people,
life goes up and down, I think.

♪ Spectators of the show ♪

♪ Always staying low ♪

♪ The game is on again... ♪

[Anni-Frid in Swedish]
Everyone goes through some crisis.

What am I doing?
What do I want with my life?

You have to reassess your life.

[singing in English]
♪ I don't wanna talk... ♪

[Agnetha] We could feel
that it suddenly had got a bit heavy.

It was not so fun any more to record,

and it was something
in the atmosphere, a bit tragic.

♪ But you see, the winner takes it all ♪

♪ The winner takes it all... ♪

[Björn] We had a very explosive
and creative period.

We organically came together gradually,

and then it happened,

and then it stopped.

♪ Takes it ♪

[music stops]

[interviewer]
It's fascinating, that story.

[light laughter]

It is romantic. Okay.
[clears throat] "Waterloo."

Why did you decide to try out
at the Eurovision...

What's the actual title?

[Björn] Eurovision Song Contest.

You know, you have to realise
that, at that time,

it was virtually the only thing

that could help you get outside
the borders of Sweden.

Nobody would listen to a tape
from Sweden at that time.

[Benny] We had to prove
that we were different.

We had to fight our way.

We just started working
really, really hard.

[down-tempo music plays]

["Lay All Your Love On Me" playing]

♪ Don't go wasting your emotion ♪

♪ Lay all your love on me ♪