Mamma Mia! Who Is ABBA?

There are so many great musicians and pop groups in the world. I'm sure I've just discovered a little piece of them. My favourites since I was a little girl are Bon Jovi. Last summer I finally got to see them live in Helsinki, Finland. They performed in in the rain in front of 40 000 people. I hope I'll get to see them again. This is however not about Bon Jovi. That will be another hub. This is about the Swedish pop group ABBA that sold about 375 million albums worldwide during their career. I never saw them live, but I'm sure a concert by ABBA would have been something to remember.

What really impresses me, when it comes to good music, is the musicians and bands from Sweden. There are many, many great Swedish singers and pop groups. The most well known group from Sweden is without any doubt ABBA. I mean, who hasn't heard the songs Mamma Mia, Chiquitita, The Winner Takes It All and Dancing Queen?!

This pop group was formed in 1970 with the name ”Festfolket”. If you translate that into English it would be ”The party people”. Later they renamed themselves by using the first letters in the band members' first names. ABBA consisted of two married couples: Björn Ulvaeus and his wife Agnetha Fältskog, and Benny Andersson and his wife Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Their music reached out to people all over the world. ABBA was the first successful pop group in the world that came from a non-English-speaking country. They were the fourth best-selling pop music artists in the history of recorded music at that time. They where so popular in Latin America that they actually recorded a collection of Spanish ABBA songs.

In 1983 ABBA's era as a pop group had come to an end, and the they split. Both marriages had ended during the years of making great pop music. At the end of the group's career, the songs were more sad, and they also reflected the band members' political views. There's no doubt this has been the most popular pop group in Swedish history. Benny Andersson now has his own band "Benny Anderssons orkester" or "BAO". This orchestra is playing and singing Swedish music that is loved by Swedes, and their songs has been on Swedish radio charts for years.The singer in this group is Helene Sjöholm, who also performed in a couple of musicals written by Björn and Benny. Helene gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, early this year 2012.

I don't know much about all the other former ABBA members and their lives today. Especially the ABBA women live very private lives. After the split, Björn and Benny continued working together. They are known for writing musicals like "Mamma Mia!", "Chess" and "Kristina från Duvemåla".

Agnetha and Anni-Frid continued their careers as solo artists. Agnetha released three solo albums in the 1980's, and in Sweden only, they were sold in 320 000 copies. Anni-Frid now lives in Switzerland, where she has many friends working in the music business. She has been singing on another Swedish singer's album recently, but she wants to lead a private life. She said in an interview two years ago that she won't perform on a stage again.

In 1999 ”Mamma Mia!” the musical, written by Björn and Benny, started touring around the world. The musical is based on ABBA songs. The story about a girl and her three possible fathers is written by Catherine Johnson. The musical was a huge success seen by 50 million people all over the world. I saw Mamma Mia! the musical in Stockholm in spring 2006. Wow! What a feeling. Even the baby in my belly seemed to like it and moved around to the music. He is now five years old and he still keeps on dancing to the beat of ABBA music. After seeing the musical I went home with a smile on my face feeling happy.

In 2008 Mamma Mia! the movie, which is based on the musical, was released. It was filmed during 2007 in Greece and in the Pinewood studio in London. The actors in the movie were wonderful. Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth were some of the hot names starring the roles. Amanda Seyfried did a great job playing the lead roll. As a Scandinavian I must say I'm most proud of the Swedish actor Stellan Skargård. You may also have heard of one of Stellan's sons, Alexander Skarsgård, who has a role in the tv series ”True blood”. I've seen Mamma Mia! the movie numerous of times and my children just love it. I guess it's the music, the atmosphere and the story that makes this movie so popular.

The male members of ABBA, Björn and Benny togther with Tim Rice, are also known for writing Chess the musical. This musical is from 1986 and has been performed on big stages and arenas all over the world. I saw this musical in Stockholm about ten years ago myself. The music is wonderful! The actors/singers were great. Tommy Körberg is a Swedish singer, who played one of the leading rolls in the musical. His voice must be one of the greatest in the world. Nothing beats Tommy Körberg singing "Anthem", not even Josh Groban.

I didn't really get the story in Chess, when I saw the musical. Maybe because of my lack of political knowledge. I'd really like to see the musical again, now that I'm older and probably wiser. That's what I'd like to think. The musical will be set up in Gothenburg, Sweden this year (2012) and maybe I should go there on a trip just to see Chess again.

"Kristina från Duvemåla" is a Swedish musical written by Björn and Benny. This musical is based on s series of four books written by the Swedish author Wilhelm Moberg. These books are real classics, and I once had a teacher, who said: "You have to read these books before you turn 25". They are very important considering the history. In the 1917th century many people from the nordic countries migrated to USA to work and earn money and simply survive. Everybody was really pore in Sweden and the surrounding countries at that time. Sometimes just young men and family fathers went to America to work. Many of them never returned home. These books written by Wilhelm Moberg are about a very poor family living in Sweden. They make the hard decision to leave the small village "Duvemåla" in Sweden in 1850 and travel the long way across the Atlantic Ocean to Minnesota to buy some land and build themselves a new home. It's a really hard life with diseases, starvation and even death. It was a reality for many families during these years.

These books have been filmatised and sent as tv series in the 1970's. Benny and Björn made a musical that had its premier in 1995 in Malmö, Sweden. The musical has been translated into English. A concert version of the musical has been given in Carnegie Hall, New York in 2009, and in Royal Albert Hall, London in 2010.

Last weekend "Kristina från Duvemåla" the musical had premier here in Helsinki, Finland. I really need to go and see this. Media described it as a success. I have read the books and seen the movies many years ago.

I just need to mention that my spouse worked in the house of Björn Ulvaes some years ago when we lived in Stockholm. Björn needed a new wood floor in one room and that's what my partner made for him. My spouse never met Björn though. My spouse also found a box named ”Chess” in Björn's house. He thought it was the game chess until he realised it was all the cd's from the musical Chess. Well, that was just a little inside information. And Björn has a nice, big house on a private island. I guess he has more than one house. Ha can probably afford that and much, much more after his career.

ABBA the pop group is history but the ABBA music is still alive.