Thursday 30 April 2015

May 2015 Abba Calendar Picture

Here is the picture for the month of May (love Bjorn's doggy jumper !) from my 2015 Abba calendar...

Abba Greatest Hits Compilation Album

Today I have been listening to this double Greatest Hits album from Japan - as well as having all of the early singles there are lots of great album tracks including "Another Town, Another Train", "I've Been Waiting For You" and "Gonna Sing You My Lovesong".

Collection - Abbaworld Note Cards #2

The image below shows the AbbaWorld cards which I bought from the exhibition when it was in London...

Wednesday 29 April 2015

Collection - Abbaworld Note Cards #1

When I visited the "Abbaworld" exhibition whilst it was in London my credit card had a work out when it came to the gift shop - one of the items I bought was a pack of note / greetings cards - the image below shows the front and back of the packaging...

Pictures From "The Complete Abba" Book

Here are some pictures from "The Complete Abba" book which I posted earlier...

Tuesday 28 April 2015

Collection - "The Complete Abba" Book

Simon Sheridan's "The Complete Abba" was first published in 2009 and follows Abba's history by documenting each single, album and tour from "People Need Love" in 1972 to the 2009 "Thank You For The Music" concert in London. An updated version of the book is available which takes the group's story up to 2012.

Frida Fan Club Magazine #1 Pictures

The image below shows some of the pictures from the first issue of the Frida Fan Club magazine...

Monday 27 April 2015

Frida Fan Club Magazine #1

The first edition of the Frida Fan Club magazine was published in April 1985 and included the following content -

  • An introduction from the author welcoming readers to the magazine as well as discussing the aims of the Fan Club.
  • An extract from a Swedish press article from 1984 where Frida talks about recording "Shine", her song writing as well as living in London.
  • A fans account of seeing Frida as the "Chess" concert in London on the 27th October the previous year.
  • An article which details Frida's trips to Holland during the promotion for her "Shine" album where she appeared on two TV shows performing "Shine" as well as "Come To Me (I Am Woman)".
  • A small article mentioning Frida's son Hans where he discussed working with Abba during the tours of America and Australia and his last album (with his group FX) called "Push Here" which included a track written by Frida titled "I Don't Wanna Be Alone".

Collection - "Does Your Mother Know" 12" Single

Following on from my post this morning the closest I have to a 12" version of "Does Your Mother Know" is a double a-side (with "Voulez-Vous") red vinyl version which was originally released in France in 1979.

Sunday 26 April 2015

Abba Date - April 27th 1979

On the 27th April 1979 Abba released their latest single "Does Your Mother Know" in the UK. The single entered the charts at number 19 before jumping up to number 4 where it stayed for 3 weeks. The top five in the UK w/c 6th May 1979 was as follows -

  1. Art Garfunkel - "Bright Eyes"
  2. M - "Pop Muzik"
  3. Boney M - "Hooray, Hooray, It's A Holi-Holiday"
  4. Abba - "Does Your Mother Know"
  5. Racey - "Some Girls"

Outside the UK the single was also a big hit reaching number one in Belgium ; other chart positions are shown below -

  • Number 3 - Ireland
  • Number 4 - Netherlands
  • Number 6 - Switzerland
  • Number 7 - Australia
  • Number 8 - Canada
  • Number 9 - Zimbabwe
  • Number 10 - Germany
  • Number 12 - South Africa
  • Number 13 - Austria
  • Number 17 - Mexico
  • Number 19 - USA


Abba Magazine No. 6 Pictures #2

Here are some more pictures from issue 6 of the official Abba Magazine...

Saturday 25 April 2015

Abba Magazine No. 6 Pictures #1

Here are some pictures from issue 6 of the official Abba Magazine...

Agnetha "My Colouring Book" Singles

The image below shows the various CD singles released from Agnetha's album "My Colouring Book" which entered the UK album chart on this day in 2004.

Friday 24 April 2015

Abba Date - 25th April 2004

On the 25th April 2004 Agnetha's new album "My Colouring Book" entered the UK album chart at number 12. At this point this was Agnetha's most successful solo chart position in the UK - previously her highest charting album was "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" which reached number 18 in 1983.

However her 2013 album "A" would climb even higher than both of these reaching peaking at number 6.

Outside of the UK the album reached the top 30 in 8 countries ; the chart positions are shown below -

  • 1 - Sweden
  • 2 - Finland
  • 6 - Germany
  • 5 - Denmark
  • 11 - Netherlands
  • 17 - Switzerland
  • 25 - Austria
  • 25 - Norway

Thursday 23 April 2015

Collection - Frida's Single "Belle"

Frida single from my collection - "Belle" (from "Abbacadabra") with Daniel Balavoine which was originally released in France where it reached number 15 during December 1983.

Frida Box Set Pictures

Here are some pictures from the booklet included with the Frida CD / DVD box set...

Wednesday 22 April 2015

Collection - "Frida The DVD" Box Set

Here are some pictures of Frida's CD and DVD box set from my collection ; the set includes four CDs ("Ensam", "Something's Going On", "Shine" and "Djupa Andetag") plus a DVD containing the following -

  • An interview with Frida which was filmed in the summer of 2005, in Zermatt, Switzerland
  • A documentary about the making of the "Something's Going On" album
  • A TV documentary filmed during the recording of "Djupa Andetag"
  • Promotional videos for Frida's singles

Josh Groban Album "Stages"

Today I have been listening to Josh Groban's new album "Stages" which includes "Anthem" (from "Chess") and "Gold Can Turn To Sand" from ("Kristina") - a wonderful album....

Collection - Abba The Movie DVD Pictures

Here are some images from the booklet included with the "Abba The Movie" DVD...

Tuesday 21 April 2015

Collection - Abba The Movie DVD

Here are some pictures of the Limited Special Edition of "Abba The Movie" from my collection...

Daily Express Frida Article

The image below is from the Daily Express newspaper in the UK yesterday which featured a picture of Frida and Agnetha on the front page and a small article regarding Frida's upcoming 70th birthday in the entertainment section...

Monday 20 April 2015

Abba Date - 21st April 1984 "From Abba With Love"

On the 21st April 1984 the compilation album "From Abba With Love" entered the charts in the Netherlands where it spent 11 weeks peaking at number 6. The album included a mix of Abba singles, album tracks as well as Frida and Agnetha solo tracks.

Side A

  • One Of Us
  • Lay All Your Love On Me
  • Eagle
  • The Winner Takes It All
  • Head Over Heels
  • To Turn The Stone (Frida)
  • Voulez-Vouz

Side B

  • My Love, My Life
  • Wrap Your Arms Around Me (Agnetha)
  • Cassandra
  • The Day a Before You Came
  • Elaine
  • Slipping Through My Fingers
  • Thank You For The Music

Sunday 19 April 2015

Collection - Agnetha Fan Club Magazines

The image below shows the font covers of the Agnetha Fan Club magazines from my collection...

Agnetha Fan Club Magazine #10

Issue 10 of the Agnetha Fan Club magazine was published during February 1986 and included the following content -

  • News that Abba had recently appeared together for a "This Is Your Life" style TV show for Stig where they performed "Tivedshambo"
  • Details of the "Gemini" album that had recently been released which included seven tracks written by Bjorn and Benny including "Slowly" and "Just Like That"
  • An interesting article over four pages titled "Agnetha - In Her Own Write !" which covers Agnetha's song writing from 1968 to her post-Abba solo albums
  • Details of how the Fan Club members could contribute to a "Birthday Book" which was being created for Agnetha

Archive - "Slipping Through My Fingers" Clipping

As a follow-on to my earlier post here is a clipping (I think from the Record Collector magazine) which talks about the album and single release of "Slipping Through My Fingers" by Coca-Cola in Japan...

Saturday 18 April 2015

Collection - "Slipping Throught My Fingers" Picture Disc

The image below shows a 7" picture disc version of Abba's "Slipping Throught My Fingers" from my collection. From what I have been able to find out this was issued by Coca-Cola in Japan in 1981 as a promotional item.

Abba Magazine No. 5 Pictures #2

Here is a second set of pictures from issue 5 of the official Abba Magazine

Friday 17 April 2015

Abba Magazine No. 5 Pictures #1

Here are some pictures of the group from the 5th issue of the official Abba Magazine...