About 50 years ago in June of 1966 in Sweden Björn Ulvaneus and Benny Anderson met while touring for their respective groups at the time. Björn at the time was a member of “The Hootenanny Singers,” a popular folk music group, as for Benny he was playing keyboard in Sweden’s biggest pop bands of the 1960s, “The Hep Stars.” A few weeks passed and the two had written their first song together and by the end of the decade they had established themselves as regular partners as composers. Benny by then had left, “The Hep Stars,” and Björn’s, “Hootenanny Singers,” only existed in the recording studio. “The Hootenanny Singers,” had released some of their records with Polar Music owned by Stig Anderson who went on to become “ABBA’s,” manager. In the Spring of 1969, Björn and Benny met two women, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad who not only went on to become their fiances but the other half of, “ABBA.” Björn and Agnetha were married in July 1971, and Anni-Frid or sometimes referred to as, “Frida,” and Benny were married in October of 1978.
Only a year into the making of around August of 1975 Arrival was at a point where ABBA discarded the previous Eurovision novelty pop tag and transformed themselves into a sleek hit machine. Originally the band intended for Arrival to release in Spring of 1976 which got pushed back to October of the same year. They created a groove called, “Boogaloo,” inspired by “Rock Your Baby,” by George McCrae. The Band ready to move forward with the release of Arrival was delayed because of the success of their other singles, “SOS,” and “Mamma Mia,” both which had become major hits. They had to leave the Island of Viggsö to go to Europe, the UK, the United States, and Australia, going there swiftly becoming one of the biggest names in pop.
The First of the ten songs on this album is, “When I Kissed The Teacher,” written by Benny and Björn. The song is if you couldn’t already tell about a student who has a crush on her teacher and one day cannot restrain herself and kisses him. The song is the opening song to Mamma Mia Here We Go Again, the second volume of a musical/ movie where the songs they use are all ABBA songs.
The second song on the list is, “Dancing Queen,” the song was released as the head single to the album. Recorded in august of 1975, the song being the groups first attempt at disco. The song topped charts in the US as well as the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, and Norway. The song went on to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015.
“My Love, My Life,” The song is one of ABBA’s breakup songs, though there is a very mature tone to the song. Thee narrator coveys being heartbroken by the realization that the relationship had faded out and went stale, but the narrator is handling it in a very mature way, specifically the part in the chorus when Agnetha sings, “but i know i don’t possess you, so go away, god bless you, you are still my love and my live, my one and only,” it conveys that no matter what happens she will always love and appreciate what they had.
Our fourth song is, “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” the song’s theme and lyrics suggest the song is about accepting the inevitability of a breakup.
Our fifth song on the album is, “Money Money Money,” recording of the song in May of 1976. The song originally titled, “ Gypsy Girl,” is sung from the perspective of a woman who, despite working hard at work, can keep her finances in surplus, and so she desires a well-off man.
I have gone through five of the ten songs on this album. I’m a huge fan of ABBA so of course I’m gonna recommend it to y’all but not only because I’m a fan but also because it’s actually a great album and a great band.
