03 September,2021 07:48 AM IST | Mumbai | Shunashir Sen
(From left) Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson of ABBA on stage in Gothenburg, Sweden, which is their home country, in 1976. Pic/AFP
There was no television in India when I left the country to live in England in 1973, and I was first introduced to ABBA on the Eurovision song contest, which they won with the song called Waterloo. I later heard them on weekly shows like Top of the Pops, too, and my friends and I would also play tracks like Dancing queen at parties, which remains my favourite song to this day. They were huge in the UK back then, and I liked their rich vocals. I am amazed that they are making a comeback and that they are still functioning as a group. There are a lot of things that could have transpired over 40 years that might not have made them stick. I am glad that they are going strong health-wise and in terms of their lifestyle, which need not have happened.
I remember that the way I looked at speakers and amplifiers and record players changed after listening to ABBA as a child - the band became a pleasure point. ABBA, Boney M, Nat King Cole and Pat Boone - that's the stuff we grew up on in the early 1980s. Rock music hadn't happened for me yet and the only things that preceded ABBA were Sound of Music and My Fair Lady. What appealed to me back then was the sort of imagery that they threw at me. They made the room feel like a party and played havoc with my emotions; I felt happy and yet I felt like crying at the same time. They put me in my thrill zone and I hope that they retain their sound when they return, without changing a thing. It would go down really well if they went old-school with their production, keeping the same funky brass-band sound that is in vogue right now. Their sound is really cinematic, which is what bands are trying to do right now since music has become somewhat dependent on pictures. They are the pioneers of that, since they had pictures inside their songs.
My father was a huge music fan, and as a child I used to dance to ABBA songs at home. They were in the same sort of bracket as Boney M - that's what dance music was to me back then, and it still is. And then when the musical Mamma Mia! was released when I was in school, it was a lovely way of immersing myself in their music again after being steeped in contemporary songs. I like the vibrancy of their tracks, it's a party feel. It's such a bright sound and gets everyone in a good mood. They are also a safe bet to play when you are in a space with people older than you since they get everyone on their feet. Then there's their harmony, the fact that they are four people who create a great unison with their voice. I actually had no knowledge of their comeback until I was approached for my comments here. It's exciting to see what they will come up with. I'd call it anxious curiosity to see whether they have evolved with time, or whether they will remain like what they used to be.
