History Trivia / Abba

* ContentLeak: In 1983, many unreleased Visitors-era songs were [[http://abbaarticles.blogspot.com/2009/08/hitkrant-february-1985-abba-robbed.html hijacked by a fan who stole them from Bjorn's car near Polar Studios]]. The songs (which included 3 mixes of "Just Like That", "I Am The City", "Nationalsång”, “When The Waves Roll Out To Sea” and "Every Man Needs A Helping Hand" (widely nicknamed "Every Good Man"), alongside early mixes of serval released tracks) had later been incorporated into later projects by Bjorn and Benny, one track was released on ''More ABBA Gold'' and said tracks had appeared on a large number of bootlegs.

* OldShame:
** Benny and Björn have expressed embarrassment at their first album, ''Music/RingRing'', and some of the stuff on ''Music/{{Waterloo|Album}}''.
** Somebody at Danish TV had a very long memory and a lot of time on their hands. Why else would they go searching through the archives to find [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pclUhHNe604 this little gem from their 1970 tour as Festfolket?]]
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEbZqnC2oN4 original exterior video]] for "Ring Ring" was so badly lit that they [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL0EoXdpOqg reshot it on a soundstage.]]
** When ABBA began getting popular again in the 90s, Björn and Benny were bemused by it, feeling that their music was dated and they had moved on from that period of their lives. That's not to say they weren't flattered by their continued popularity, and they did work on archival releases because of it.

* ReferencedBy:
** In ''Webcomic/KnightsOfBuenaVista'', Walter considers ABBA a good band, and [[BerserkButton is furious]] when Dick compares them to ''Music/{{Nickelback}}''.
** In ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble DK Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble]]'', there are two bear characters named Benny and Björn. They run a ski-lift business...in a warm, rocky area.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eidyrlSdKcE French and Saunders' parody]] is the most well-known {{affectionate parody}} out there.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U4kDzwZAMk Toni Colette and Rachel Griffiths lip-syncing "Waterloo"]] in ''Film/MurielsWedding''.
** In the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] version of ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'', the revive life code is A-B-B-A, as seen in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bByE7n2AJj4 this episode of Angry Video Game Nerd]].
** In ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'', which is already rife with musical references, there's a character named A.B.A.
** ''Series/KnowingMeKnowingYouWithAlanPartridge'' was named after "Knowing Me, Knowing You", and Alan's enthusiastic "Ah-HAAAAH!" was a reference to the refrain of the song. (The fact that Alan chose a song about a relationship that's falling apart for the title of his show and that his "Ah-HAAAAH!" is far more enthusiastic than the more understated one in the song are part of the joke.)
** Creator/TheBBC TV series ''Series/GimmeGimmeGimme'' is named after the song. There was also the episode "I Do, I Do, I Do" in the first season, named after another of their songs, which was also about one of the main characters getting married.
** Despite being known for playing radio-friendly pop songs, ABBA is apparently surprisingly popular with HeavyMetal musicians. The list of artists who have covered ABBA's songs includes the world-famous Neo-Classical Metal-icon Yngwie Malmsteen and Danish Neo-Classical/Power Metal band Seven Thorns, who ironically got a bigger following after their cover of "Mamma Mia" on ''Denmark's Got Talent'' than they had before it. Music/{{Therion}} covered "Summer Night City" on their album ''Secret of the Runes''.
** In ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', Dipper and the Multi-Bear are both fond of the song "Disco Girl" by Icelandic pop band BABBA.

* FollowTheLeader: Entering "Waterloo" for the Series/EurovisionSongContest was a conscious aversion of this, as at the time the winning songs tended to be gentle ballads and they were aiming for something that would really stand out. (Even then, they ''nearly'' changed their minds in favour of "Hasta Mañana", which was far more in the then-standard Eurovision mould). After "Waterloo" won, it became the Leader that a lot of entries Followed for years to come.

** Björn and Benny aren't too fond of "Santa Rosa", "I Saw It In the Mirror", "Åh Vilka Tider", "Dum Dum Diddle", "Summer Night City" or "You Owe Me One". They also don't like parts of "Just A Notion" and "Just Like That" hence editing them for the ABBA Undeleted Medley. Also, they disliked the chorus of the song "Terra Del Fuego" so much that they edited it out and renamed it "Here Comes Rubie Jamie" for its part of the Undeleted Medley. "Just a Notion", however, eventually earned a reprieve from the duo when the completed version appeared on 2020's ''Voyage'' and was even the album's third single.

** Björn and Benny aren't too fond of "Santa Rosa", "I Saw It In the Mirror", "Åh Vilka Tider", "Dum Dum Diddle", "Summer Night City" or "You Owe Me One". They also don't like parts of "Just A Notion" and "Just Like That" hence editing them for the ABBA Undeleted Medley. Also, they disliked the chorus of the song "Terra Del Fuego" so much that they edited it out and renamed it "Here Comes Rubie Jamie" for its part of the Undeleted Medley.

* BreakthroughHit: All four members had been part of the Swedish music scene since the 1960s. Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson were members of The Hootenanny Singers and The Hep Stars respectively, while Anni-Frid Lyngstad (AKA Frida) and Agnetha Fältskog were solo singers. They first worked together in 1970 and, by the end of 1972, were a fully-fledged group. However, because Sweden was then considered to be something of a musical backwater, the only way they could hope to achieve international recognition was via the ''Series/EurovisionSongContest''. Their first attempt (1973's "Ring Ring") failed to make it past the selection contest, but they returned the following year with "Waterloo" and, this time, they not only reached the finals in Brighton, England but went on to win. They subsequently became one of the most successful groups of the Seventies.

** The band's last album ''The Visitors'' and after that, their last recorded song "The Day Before You Came". Agnetha was clearly on the verge of tears for the latter song.
** Of the six songs the band recorded for their ninth album, only "I Am the City" could be said to be joyful and upbeat. "You Owe Me One", "Just Like That" (which is still unreleased), and "Under Attack" all sound cheerful...so long as one doesn't listen to the lyrics, which concern a strained relationship from the perspective of a scorned partner, a woman abandoned by her secretive and deceptive lover, and a woman threatened by a stalker. The final two, "Cassandra" and "The Day Before You Came", are very dark indeed.

* ColbertBump: Their song "Dancing Queen" gained a lot more attention when ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' made a parody of it called "Disco Girl" (albeit it's a ''very'' brief song).

** The three songs the band initially recorded for their ninth album, "You Owe Me One", "I Am the City" and "Just Like That" (which is still unreleased) are joyful and upbeat. However, when the album was cancelled they decided to record three new songs for a Greatest Hits. Something must have happened between the sessions because the last three songs they recorded, "Under Attack", "Cassandra" and "The Day Before You Came" are very dark indeed (well, "Under Attack" isn't musically, but it is lyrically).

* NoExportForYou: ''Music/RingRing'' wasn't released in the UK until the CD issues in the 90s.
** ''Music/RingRing'' was never officially released in Brazil (except for the title song, released as a single), and ''[[Music/WaterlooAlbum Waterloo]]'' remained unreleased until 2014, when the 40th anniversary deluxe version finally reached the Brazilian stores. ''[[Music/ABBAAlbum ABBA (1975)]]'' was remade to accomodate the tracklist from ''[[GreatestHitsAlbum Greatest Hits (1975)]]'' (see RemadeForTheExport below), and its original tracklist was not available in the country until the 2000s.

* RemadeForTheExport: The Australian version of ABBA Gold had "Ring Ring", "I Do I Do I Do I Do" and "Rock Me" replacing "I Have A Dream", "Super Trouper" and "Thank You For The Music". The first two were subsequently included on "More ABBA Gold", although "Rock Me" was not. Eventually, a special edition coupling "ABBA Gold" and "More ABBA Gold" with a bonus disc called "Golden B-Sides" was released in 2014, which at last included "Rock Me" - as representative of the b-side to "I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do".
** The Brazilian version of the original ''[[GreatestHitsAlbum Greatest Hits]]'' album is an interesting case. By early 1976, none of ABBA's studio albums had been released in Brazil yet (see NoExportForYou above), and the group was still relatively obscure in the country, save for a few of their songs that were previously released as singles and [=EPs=]. With the massive success of ''Fernando'', RCA noticed there would be a high demand for ABBA's [=LPs=], but considered it would not make sense starting off with a "greatest hits" compilation, since the group was still relatively new to the Brazilian public. So, instead, RCA released ''[[Music/ABBAAlbum ABBA (1975)]]'' with the same tracklist as ''Greatest Hits'', [[https://www.discogs.com/pt_BR/release/4528711-ABBA-ABBA with the back artwork adapted accordingly]]. In 1979, with the international release of ''Greatest Hits Vol. 2'', RCA once again needed to readapt the local version of the album, this time releasing it as ''[[https://www.discogs.com/pt_BR/release/4734845-ABBA-Greatest-Hits Greatest Hits]]'', since there was technically no "Vol. 1" in the country yet.

** ''ABBA Gold: The Complete Story'', which was at one point the "authorised" ABBA biography is full of factual errors to the point that some of them have become CommonKnowledge, most notably him describing “SOS” as ABBA’s first big post-“Waterloo” hit[[note]]which is true in the UK and other countries where they didn’t have a hit following “Waterloo”, but not in countries were there were hits after that song[[/note]].

** The Brazilian version of the original ''[[GreatestHitsAlbum Greatest Hits]]'' album is an interesting case. By early 1976, none of ABBA's studio albums had been released in Brazil yet (see NoExportForYou above), and the group was still relatively obscure in the country, save for a few of their songs that were previously released as singles and [=EPs=]. With the massive success of ''Fernando'', RCA soon realized there would be a high demand for ABBA's [=LPs=], but thought it would not make sense starting off with a "greatest hits" compilation, since the group was still relatively new to the Brazilian public. So, instead, RCA released ''[[Music/ABBAAlbum ABBA (1975)]]'' with the same tracklist as ''Greatest Hits'', [[https://www.discogs.com/pt_BR/release/4528711-ABBA-ABBA with the back artwork adapted accordingly]]. In 1979, with the international release of ''Greatest Hits Vol. 2'', RCA once again needed to readapt the album, this time releasing it as ''[[https://www.discogs.com/pt_BR/release/4734845-ABBA-Greatest-Hits Greatest Hits]]'', since there was technically no "Vol. 1" in the country yet.

* DevelopmentHell: "Don't Shut Me Down" and "I Still Have Faith in You" and the planned [="ABBAtar"=] tour, which would have used virtual holograms of the band members from their heyday. Initially announced in 2018, with a planned release date for the end of the year, the project has been delayed multiple times. Presumably, the delays are due to the development of the [=ABBAtars=], the fact that they've written five new songs and the COVID-19 pandemic. The new release date and tour are set for sometime in 2021, though time will tell if this date still holds.
** On September 2, 2021, two new songs were released in a livestream on [=YouTube=], alongside the announcement of the [=ABBAtar=] stage show in London, and an album with ten songs to be released on November 5, 2021.

** It’s common for ABBA biographies to not mention the name of Eurovision’s Swedish selections (Melodifestivalen), leading into some confusion.

** On September 2, 2021, two new songs were released in a livestream on YouTube, alongside the announcement of the [=ABBAtar=] stage show in London, and an album with ten songs to be released on November 5, 2021.

* ContentLeak: In 1983, many unreleased Visitors-era songs were [[http://abbaarticles.blogspot.com/2009/08/hitkrant-february-1985-abba-robbed.html hijacked by a fan who stole them from Bjorn's car near Polar Studios]]. The songs (which included 3 mixes of "Just Like That", "I Am The City", "Nationalsång”, “When The Waves Roll Out To Sea” and "Every Man Needs A Helping Hand" (widely nicknamed "Every Good Man")) had later been incorporated into later projects by Bjorn and Benny, one track was released on ''More ABBA Gold'' and said tracks had appeared on a large number of bootlegs.

* ContentLeak: In 1983, many unreleased Visitors-era songs were [[http://abbaarticles.blogspot.com/2009/08/hitkrant-february-1985-abba-robbed.html hijacked by a fan who stole them from Bjorn's car near Polar Studios]]. The songs (which included 3 mixes of "Just Like That", "I Am The City", "Opus 10" (the supposed instrumental title track of said album, named after the name of The Visitors that was reported pre-release in newspapers) and "Every Man Needs A Helping Hand" (widely nicknamed "Every Good Man"), supposedly with the 1982 singles also included in the proposed album) had later been incorporated into later projects by Bjorn and Benny, one track was released on ''More ABBA Gold'' and said tracks had appeared on a large number of bootlegs.

** ''ABBA Gold: The Complete Story'', which was at one point the "authorised" ABBA biography is full of factual errors to the point that some of them have become CommonKnowledge, most notably the "18 months with no ABBA hits"[[note]]This refers to ABBA's UK chart positions prior to the release of "S.O.S."[[/note]] and "ABBA entered Eurovision twice, winning the second time."[[note]]While they did enter and win in 1974, the festival they entered in 1973 was ''Melodifestivalen'', the Swedish selection festival for Eurovision, with "Ring Ring" and came third, meaning that they didn't even get into Eurovision yet. Officially averted as their current "official" historian rarely refers ''Melodifestivalen'' by name.[[/note]]

* CreatorBacklash:

* BlindIdiotTranslation: Björn and Benny's "En Karussell" was translated into English for the Japanese market as "Merry Go Round", but due to poor communication, the Japanese single reads "En Carousel", which not only is Engrish, but doubles as a NonAppearingTitle in that version of the song. Fortunately, "Merry Go Round" was soon repurposed as the b-side to ABBA's first single "People Need Love", and so remains better known by its intended title.

** ABBA didn't intend to split permanently in 1983 (hence why their compilation album was called "The Singles: the FIRST Ten Years") Rather, the intention was to go on hiatus for a year or two, during which time Björn and Benny would write the musical ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'' whilst Agnetha and Frida would focus on solo careers. Additionally, despite the two divorces, relations between all four members were still amicable. However, the time apart simply helped them realize that they didn't want to get back together. When you look at how the band evolved over their decade-long lifespan, it would have been very interesting to see what other songs they might have recorded had they lasted a few more years...

** Björn and Benny were Tim Rice's first choice to compose the song's for ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'', but they were busy with Kristina from Duvemåla, so Rice went with his second choice, Music/EltonJohn.

** The song "Arrival" from ''Music/{{Arrival|Album}}'' was supposed to have lyrics but Björn forgot to bring them to the recording sessions. The lyrics were about the birth of his and Agnetha's daughter Linda.

* DevelopmentHell: "Don't Shut Me Down" and "I Still Have Faith in You" and the planned [="ABBAtar"=]tour, which would have used virtual holograms of the band members from their heyday. Initially announced in 2018, with a planned release date for the end of the year, the project has been delayed multiple times. Presumably, the delays are due to the development of the [=ABBAtars=], the fact that they've written five new songs and the COVID-19 pandemic. The new release date and tour are set for sometime in 2021, though time will tell if this date still holds.