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What about ABBA?
Hello again everyone! After the last debate, Beatles vs Beach Boys, I was wondering if anyone had any views on ABBA? I think they were brilliant, great songs, vocals and production.
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17 Replies
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I love ABBA! B and B were great at writing catchy songs, and A and A were great singers. They developed their own unique sound and style, and they were one of the most commercially successful groups of the 70’s. All thumbs up!
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I liked some of their early songs like SOS, Mama Mia, Waterloo, and Fernando. Their songs were very catchy, unique and I remember were very popular and all had that dance sound to it, very energetic, upbeat and bright, but they all sounded quite similar and I’d lose interest after listening to 3 or 4 ABBA songs. I never really got into their music too much. Every few years an ABBA song will come on the radio or as part of a movie soundtrack and I’d enjoy it, but then then I’d had enough.
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”I never really got into their music too much. Every few years an ABBA song will come on the radio or as part of a movie soundtrack and I’d enjoy it, but then then I’d had enough.“
Interesting observation there on ABBA Jung, and quite similar to my feelings about the Beach Boys!
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Hi Graham. There have been many debates in the Club about comparisons between various bands. In particular, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys. And before the advent of the Club, The debate on Facebook was apparently ABBA vs MonaLisa Twins, and unfortunately, a couple of members in particular, seemed to be upset by a comment about ABBA from Lisa in response to a question.
My personal view is that it is ultimately unproductive to compare groups when they all have their own particular uniqueness (I’m talking about the elite groups here, not the clones) and qualities that set them apart. For me, ABBA were a very successful commercial act during the Seventies and the boys wrote some excellent commercial songs that were understandably very popular and the group performed well on stage. They deserve their place in seventies music history, but they were never my cup of tea.
Comparisons between the top bands have traditionally been fostered by managers and media people trying to promote their particular client. After all, they received a percentage of the profits. For dedicated fans of particular groups, this was merely hyped industry noise!
Having said that, I don’t think there is any serious way you can compare The Beach Boys to the Beatles, on any level, whether it be musicianship, song writing or performing. To me, the Beach Boys developed out of the Doo Wop music era of the late fifties, early sixties and initially backed themselves on their own instruments. They were heavily influenced by Wilson senior and this influence was both positive and negative.
I believe the negative impact of his father became very apparent when Brian Wilson was taking time off to write Pet Sounds. He had a particularly good ear for music (although probably half deaf from the constant smacks from the old man) and with the aid of professional musicians, a professional lyricist and unlimited studio time, he was able to produce his masterpiece. Some say with the assistance of drugs, and this may be so as just about all the creative musicians of the time were doing the same.
However, we aren’t all affected by drugs the same way, and while Brian may have obtained a freeing of the mind for a while, which fuelled his creativity, the long term affects, considering the traumas of his youth, weren’t so positive.
He eventually came to realise his band didn’t have what it took to seriously compete with the likes of the Beatles, or the Stones and Who for that and retreated to the sand pit in his living room.
MLT Club members all have their own favourite groups, but what they seem to have in common is respect for what the Beatles achieved and an appreciation of what Mona and Lisa are doing to revive sixties beat music, and in particular, guitar based harmony songs, as they have shown with their extraordinary albums of original music. The anticipation and excitement for what they are going to release next is reminiscent of what many of us experienced in the sixties with new Beatles’ releases.
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Hey Graham!
Have you seen that movie “Mama Mia” with Pierce Brosnan, Cher and a host of other big stars. An awesome musical with wonderful ABBA music. Attests to the influence ABBA had on music.
I’d take everything that is expressed in this forum with a grain of salt. We are a diverse group with different musical preferences all here together in mutual respect and love and passion for Mona and Lisa’s music and everything they do. The diversity in opinions I think just make discussions more fun and refreshing to see different points of view.
In reference to what Lisa said about ABBA, to set the record straight, I believe it was to do with something she said in a radio interview about ABBA in a very light hearted and humorous way expressing her opinion that a particular individual here took issue with. MLT have the right to express their preferences in music too like the rest of us. I recall this individual was a big fan of Sheryl Crow at one point but had a falling out with her too. I think he had a pattern of falling out with people who didn’t share in his musical preferences. Maybe Sheryl wasn’t a huge fan of ABBA either! 🙂
My personal view is that it is ultimately unproductive to compare groups when they all have their own particular uniqueness (I’m talking about the elite groups here, not the clones) and qualities that set them apart.
I can agree with one point you said Howard.
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“I’d take everything that is expressed in this forum with a grain of salt.”
Well not quite Jung. There is some very serious and factual debate and then there is the hyperbole and as you state, “We are a diverse group with different musical preferences all here together in mutual respect and love and passion for Mona and Lisa’s music and everything they do.”
I think members are intelligent enough to separate the facts from the hyperbole. Members obviously have a passion for music, and in particular, their favourite groups, as well as the music of Mona and Lisa.
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In reference to what Lisa said about ABBA, Jung, it may have been mainly about the music preference, but to set the record straight regarding Cheryl Crow, it was more to do with the individuals’ religious conservatism and Cheryl’s alleged language at live concerts.
This would have taken many groups off this person’s radar. Also, they had nothing but negative things to say about the Woodstock festival. It wouldn’t be easy to appreciate music when you approach it from a position of bias.
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Hello Howard, My initial idea was to open up a discussion aimed at featuring the strong points and differences between the Beatles and the Beach Boys. The heading “Beatles vs Beach Boys” was chosen simply to start the ball rolling rather than lead to direct comparison. Obviously the Beatles are regarded, almost universally, as the worlds most talented and successful group and I have to agree also. However, in a 1966 NME poll in the UK the Beach Boys were chosen as Top recording artists ahead of the Beatles! A straight comparison between those two bands is pointless due to the group dynamics, nationalities, culture and song content. I find it quite interesting that despite their obvious differences there was a friendly rivalry between 1964-68 that no doubt influenced and inspired each others output! No doubt other groups benefited at the time also.
One final point, I think it is strange that lots of people (over here anyway) see the Beach Boys mainly as a surf band, while the Beatles aren’t tied to their mop-top era image in the same way! Strange.
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I think the appreciation of the music of ABBA continues to grow, a lot of people considered the music to be cheesy and rather popish back in the 70s but today a whole new generation of fans seem to be accepting their output for what it was, quality recordings.
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It’s hyperbole to just you Howard. Anyway have a good day down under. -
LOL! I’ll take that comment with a grain of salt Jung!
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Yes, I like ABBA, and enjoyed both Mamma Mia movies…. ?
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Hi Graham, if you haven’t seen Mama Mia 2, I would definitely recommend it. There is great ABBA music and singing throughout. I have to admit after watching the movie, I pulled up all the old ABBA songs again. I saw it at the theater when it came out so the impact on the big Silver Screen and big sound was even bigger.
Jacki, I’ve only seen the 2nd one, but if the first one is half as good as the 2nd, it would be worth seeing too.
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Hello Jung, Yes I have seen the Mamma Mia films. Both easy on the eye and ear, I was particularly impressed with the singing talent of Meryl Streep! I think her appearance and vocal near the end of the second film is tremendous!
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Hi Graham. Yeah, all the ABBA music in that movie were performed awesome and sounded so good. By the way do you know what ABBA stands for? Is it an acronym?
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Hi Jung, Yeah, Anifrid, Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha. Please excuse the spellings! They are probably wrong.
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Ahh, it’s their names. That’s clever, thanks Graham. 🙂
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