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1983

At the beginning of 1983 it was Agnetha's turn to record a solo album. The LP entitled "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" was recorded during the first three months of 1983. Björn, Benny and Tim Rice started writing musical together in January 1983. On 23 January 1983 Agnetha gave an interview to the newspaper "Dagens Nyheter" where she said that ABBA had split up. The article and Agnetha's words became a big sensation all over the world. Agnetha was the first ABBA member who said to the press that the ABBA era is over.

Under Attack - more releases

Even if Agnetha stated in the newspaper that ABBA did not exist any more it was not officially confirmed and the group's new single "Under Attack" was released in Sweden on  February 21st, 1983. The single did not make the Swedish hit chart though.

The record company Vogue in France released the "Under Attack" single with two different covers - perhaps it was difficult to choose which photo was better for the French single.

In Poland "Under Attack" entered the hit chart on January 15th, 1983 and stayed there for 5 weeks. "Under Attack" on the Polish chart: Jan 15: #18, Jan 22: 319, Jan 29: #17, Feb 5: #11, Feb 12: #16.

EP in East Germany

An EP with "Under Attack" was released in East Germany (DDR) in 1983. The other tracks on this EP were: "Super Trouper", "Head Over Heels" and "One Of Us".

One of Us - the single in USA

The promotion of the latest album "The Singles - The First Ten Years" in USA was made with the help of the single "One of Us" b/w "Should I Laugh Or Cry". The single which was released in February 1983 flopped on the US chart and it became the last ABBA single released in USA.

Äntligen sommarlov

A new Polar compilation the album called "Äntligen sommarlov" (Finally summer vacations) was released on June 13th, 1983. The album contained some ABBA related rarities which were unavailable on any other ABBA album. One of them was the live version of "Summer Night City" recorded on Wembley in 1979. Another rarity was the Swedish traditional "Den blomstertid nu kommer" arranged and performed by Benny as well as "Sommar sommar sommar" (Summer Summer Summer) performed by Stikkan and the Polar Music Office choir.

Video - Music Show 3

The third "Music Show" video contained 6 ABBA songs: Super Trouper, Happy New Year, Head Over Heels, When All Is Said and Done, The Day Before You Came and Under Attack. For the first time two solo songs recorded by Agnetha (The Heat Is On) and Frida (I Know There's Something Going On) were included on an ABBA video.

The ABBA stamp

On 1 October 1983 the UNESCO International Music Council (IMC) had proclaimed World Music Day, and in 1983 it was celebrated in Stockholm in connection with the biannual General Assembly of the IMC. The Swedish Post Office issued a minimum sheet with five stamps. The motifs featured music in Sweden for the last 100 years. One of the profiles featured was ABBA.

I Love ABBA

The compilation album "I Love ABBA" was the first in the "I love..." series and it was released at the end of October by Polystar in West Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The LP/MC contained 16 songs - 14 performed by ABBA and 2 performed by respective Agnetha and Frida solo. The track listing featured both ABBA hits and several songs which never had been released on singles as for example "Andante Andante", "Move On" and "Arrival". Agnetha's "The Heat Is On" was extended with 4 seconds and Frida's latest hit by that time "To Turn the Stone" appeared in a remixed version 3.24. The album entered the chart in Switzerland on November 6th, 1983 where it stayed for 3 weeks reaching #14. In Austria the LP reached #5 and stayed on the chart 4 weeks.

Greatest Hits Vol. 2 on CD

The hit compilation album "Greatest Hits Vol. 2" originally released on LP & MC in 1979 saw its CD release in 1983 on Polar, Polydor and Atlantic.

Thank You For The Music - the single in France

At the beginning of September the single containing "Thank You For The Music" (the LP version from 1977) on the side A and "Our Last Summer" (from LP Super Trouper 1980) on the side B. The single reached #58

Thank You For The Music - the single in UK

In Great Britain the single "Thank You For the Music" b/w "Our Last Summer" promoted the compilation LP with the same title.  The single entered the British chart on 12 November 1983 where it stayed for 6 weeks reaching #33.

Thank You For The Music - the album in UK

The LP "Thank You For The Music - A Collection of Love Songs" entered the UK album chart on November 19th, 1983 and stayed there for 12 weeks peaking at #17. The 14 songs included on the LP (MC) were mixed together. The album featured some rare tracks as "Should I Laugh Or Cry" or the Spanish language version of "Fernando".

Golden Hits

A compilation album "Golden Hits" saw its release in 1983 in Brazil. The album featured a very interesting track listing with seven tracks on each side. The two last ABBA singles: "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack" were included on the album.

1984

Thank You For The Music - the single in Holland

Even in Holland the record company "Polydor" tried to keep ABBA alive on the charts at the beginning of 1984. The idea was about the same as in Great Britain the year before, a kind of "final" single. The Dutch single release contained "Thank You For The Music" b/w Medley: Pick a Bale of Cotton... The single entered the Dutch hit chart in May 1984 and reached #38.

From ABBA with love - the album in Holland

This compilation released by Polydor in Holland was one of the most interesting ABBA compilations available in the early 80s. It was released as LP, MC and CD and it contained some rare (by that time) remixes of well-known ABBA hits. The album featured 14 songs. Among remixed rarities there was a short version of Eagle (4.21) which appeared on CD for the first time. Even two single B-sides: Cassandra and Elaine had their CD debut here. Frida's hit from "Something's Going On" - "To Turn the Stone" appeared in a shortened version of 3.24 and Agnetha's "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" was cut down to 3.50. Even "The Day Before You Came" was slightly shortened to 5.44 (the full length was 5.50). The CD was digitally remastered. The release of the album was promoted by Dutch TV.

TV promotion

ABBA International - West Germany

One more interesting compilation entitled "ABBA International" was released in the mid 1980s as MC and CD. Among the tracks there were German version of "Ring Ring" and "Another Town Another Train" (Wer im Wartesaal der Liebe steht), French version of "Waterloo", live versions of "Take A Chance On Me" and "I Wonder" previously released only as single B-sides. Even Spanish version of "Chiquitita" was added as well as edited version of "Eagle" (4.23) and "Happy Hawaii" (B-side of the single "Knowing Me Knowing You").

I Love ABBA - France

The French edition of "I Love ABBA" album was totally different to the West German one released in 1983. It contained songs released mainly between 1979-82 with three exceptions: Fernando (76), Eagle (77) and Thank You For the Music (77). Even Frida's "I Know There's Something Going On" and Agnetha's "The Heat Is On" were included. None of the tracks appeared in edited version.

The Best of ABBA - USA

Warner Music in USA released a 16-track-compilation entitled simply "The Best of ABBA". The album contained ABBA's two last US singles "When All Is Said and Done" and "On And On And On".  The compilation was manufactured by Warner Special Products for Silver Eagle Records.

ABBA remixed

The 1980s saw a real explosion of remixes and 12" singles on the music market in Europe. All artists who started their career in the early 80s released their singles on both usual 7" singles and 12" maxi singles. ABBA indeed released some maxi singles but the versions released on those singles were neither extended nor remixed. The Polydor/Vogue maxi singles released by ABBA between 1979 and 1982 were: Chiquitita, Voulez-Vous, I Have a Dream, The Day Before You Came and Under Attack.

In 1984 Epic released a compilation album "EnergHighs" which featured two real remixes of ABBA songs: The Visitors and Lay All Your Love On Me. It was the very first ABBA remixes released officially on an album.

Greatest Hits - the CD

"Greatest Hits" saw its release on CD in 1984 in USA. CD releases were still very unusual by that time and this item became one of the biggest rarity in the ABBA world as it was deleted quite quickly and at the beginning of 1990s replaced by all "Gold" and "More Gold" releases.

The Love Songs

The compilation album "The Love Songs" saw its release in West Germany in 1984. The record company Polydor released the LP only as a club edition.

I Love ABBA - USA

The last album in the series "I Love ABBA" was released in USA in 1984. It featured probably the most interesting track listing of them all with songs as: Cassandra, Should I Laugh Or Cry, My Love My Life or I Wonder. Several songs were edited: Eagle (version 3.36), The Name of the Game (3.52) and Chiquitita (4.36). No solo tracks of Agnetha and Frida were included.

The Story of ABBA - Canada

If you do not look carefully you can think that you see the well-known compilation "The Magic of ABBA" released in many countries in both Americas in 1984. But it is not right even if the cover is almost the same. The Canadian LP entitled "The Story of ABBA" was released in 1984 and it contained 16 ABBA hits which had been successful in Canada and USA - from Waterloo to When All Is Said and Done.

1985

The year 1985 was relatively quiet on the ABBA front. No new compilation albums were released and the ABBA time seemed to be definitely over. Björn and Benny enjoyed their success with "I Know Him So Well" on the top of the UK single chart and Agnetha was ready with her new solo album "Eyes of a Woman". Frida decided to leave show business after the flop of her 1984 album "Shine".

But it was not totally quiet that year. Two long-time ABBA admirers from Holland - the singers Bonnie St. Claire and Jose Hoebee released a full-length album filled with ABBA songs in Dutch. Both singers had had recorded ABBA covers in Dutch before. Their first single was "Cassandra" one year before, in June 1984. "Cassandra" entered the Dutch chart on June 30th, 1984 and stayed there for 8 weeks peaking at #19.

In June 1985 the ladies released a single with their Dutch version of ABBA's "The Way Old Friends Do" (in Dutch: Zoals vreinden doen) which entered the chart on July 7th, 1985 and stayed there for 9 weeks reaching #19.

The third single release featured "Move On" entitled in Dutch "Waarom" which entered the chart on December 21st, 1985 and stayed there for 6 weeks peaking at #35. The fourth  single from the album was the title song "Herinnering" originally known as "Andante Andante". "Herinnering" did not appear though on the chart. Even the last single featuring "The Piper" did not enter the chart.

The album entitled "Herinnering" featured 12 ABBA songs performed in Dutch. The songs were: "The Way Old Friends Do", "The Piper", "Move On", "I Let The Music Speak", "Chiquitita", "Why Did It Have To Be Me", "Andante Andante", "Soldiers", "Cassandra", "Lovers", "One Man One Woman" and "Arrival".

The best of ABBA

A limited edition picture disc entitled "The best of ABBA" saw its release in 1985 in Holland. The disc contained 13 early ABBA hits which originally had been released on the 1975 Greatest Hits album though the track listing was changed.

1986

For Stikkan

The four ABBA members met each other in front of the TV cameras on 16 January 1986. The recording of the folk song "Tivedshambo"  was a surprise  for their manager Stig Anderson. Swedish TV had by that time a TV programme "Här är ditt liv" (Here is your life) which featured the biggest profiles in the industry and culture in Sweden. In January 86 it was time for Stig. The special was aired from Malmö and ABBA participated just with the pre-recorded video clip. The video had been filmed at the Polar Music office in Hamngatan 11 in Stockholm. It was the last recording featuring all four members of ABBA on TV. Björn and Benny were special guests in the show.

ABBA Live

In the spring of 1986 ABBA's engineer Michael B. Tretow was back in the Polar Studios remixing tracks for a new ABBA project.

The ABBA members had never enjoyed live albums and that's why it was strange that Björn and Benny suddenly accepted the idea of releasing a half fake live album. The tracks chosen for this project were taken mostly from the concerts on Wembley in 1979, the TV show "Dick Cavett Meets ABBA" 1981 and the Australian tour in 1977. It is unknown why it was decided to mix together songs from three so very different events on the same album. The track listing was strange as well. The opening track was... "Dancing Queen" which used to be one of the last songs performed by ABBA on their concerts. "Two for the Price Of One" sounded funny among the other hits as the song had never been a hit itself and it was performed in the Dick Cavett show only because it was one of the first songs being ready for the forthcoming album in 1981. It was even funnier that the "phone effect" when Björn sings "Alice Whiting" was taken from the studio recording and mixed into the live one. The tracks were remixed and overdubbed in the studio and it was very hard to know what was the real live sound and what was the studio overdub.

The LP contained 11 tracks and the CD version 14 tracks (the CD bonus tracks were: Money Money Money, The Name of the Game/Eagle mix and On And On And On). The album was released in Sweden was on August 18th, 1986. It entered the Swedish chart first on September 10th where it stayed for one week in #49.

ABBA Live was even released in West Germany but not in the UK.

The Polish release of the album.

CD

MC

The Story of ABBA - the video

The video "The Story of ABBA" was released in the UK in 1986. It contained the original show from the Dutch TV "Veronica" recorded with ABBA in the studio in 1982. An interview with ABBA and Stikkan Anderson was mixed with ABBA videos and 4 pre-ABBA appearances.

Doctor and the Medics

The British group Doctor and the Medics made their own version of ABBA's "Waterloo" in 1986. The single entered the UK chart on November 22, 1986 where it stayed for 4 weeks peaking at #45.

1987

The Best of ABBA - Poland

The period 1983-1990 was probably the worst time for ABBA and their fans. The band was almost forgotten and the ABBA compilation releases in the world were extremely occasional. A very odd release in Poland came out in 1987 - a double LP "The Best of ABBA" which was nothing but the Polish version of "The Singles the first ten years" originally issued in late 1982. The cover was slightly changed but the same photo as on the original issue was used here as well. Both LPs had the same track listing as well.

The Collection - UK

The double album "ABBA The Collection" was released in Great Britain and France by the record company Castle Communications in the series "The collector series". Two LPs contained totally 24 tracks and the CD 18 tracks.

The Hits - UK

Another low-budget compilation "ABBA The Hits" was released in England - firstly as LP in the spring 1987 and in December as CD. The album contained 12 songs - mostly single hits but even "The Visitors" which never appeared on a hit chart as it was only B-side of the single "Head over Heels" in 1982. "The Hits" did not make British album chart but the record company Hallmark did not give up and even volumes 2 & 3 would be released in 1988.

1988

The best of ABBA in Holland

The compilation "The Best of ABBA" was released in the series "25 Jaar Pop Muziek" in Holland. Both the LP and the CD contained 13 songs including "The Day Before You Came" which did not appear very often on compilation albums

The Hits 2 & 3

The year 1988 saw two new album releases in England - "The Hits 2" and "The Hits 3" which were continuation in the series released by the low-budget record company "Hallmark". Both albums were released both as LP, CD and MC. "The Hits 2" contained edited version of "The Name of The Game" (edit 3.55) and 13 other songs featuring mostly ABBA's hit singles but even some odd selections as "Andante Andante", "Arrival" or "Kisses of Fire". One of the biggest ABBA hits "The Winner Takes It All" appeared first on "The Hits 3"

The Hits Box

All three CDs were collected in a box.

Massive MC release in Sweden

The year 1988 saw a massive release of music cassettes with ABBA songs in Sweden. The record company TMC AB released totally 9 cassettes partly with the same track listings but with different covers. The record company TMC AB was a short lived daughter company to Sonet Records originally a Danish record company which today belongs to Universal Music. The track listings were quite odd at that time when the ABBA popularity in the world was on its lowest level and nobody thought that any ABBA release would sell good.

The first series

The first series was made up of 5 cassettes:

1. Showtime - ABBA - which featured well-known hits in its original versions as well as the Swedish version of "Ring Ring".

2. Money Money Money - which was a repackaged version of the above mentioned release with exactly the same track listing.

3. Dancing Queen - another compilation featuring all the biggest hits as well as some no single hits as "When I Kissed the Teacher" or "Tiger".

4. ABBA - included 14 songs from the period 1977 - 1979 (mainly from ABBA The Album and Voulez-Vous).

5. The Winner Takes It All - featured 14 songs from the period 1980 - 1982. This tape contained an alternative remixed dead-end version of "Under Attack" STILL NOT AVAILABLE ON ANY OTHER ABBA RELEASE.

Guld Hits

The second series of the ABBA cassettes released by TMC got the common title "Guld Hits" (Golden Hits).

1. Guld Hits Vol. 1 contained 14 early songs of ABBA taken from the albums Ring Ring and Waterloo.

2. Guld Hits Vol. 2 had the same track listing as "Dancing Queen" (see above).

3. Guld Hits Vol. 3 = MC "ABBA" (see above) with the songs 1977- 1979.

4. Guld Hits Vol. 4 = MC "The Winner Takes It All" - even here with the remixed version of "Under Attack".

CD releases in Sweden

The first three ABBA albums ("Ring Ring", "Waterloo" and "ABBA") saw their CD release in Sweden in 1988. This low budget release covers were scanned from the original LP with some parts of the text covered with yellow strips. Nowadays hard to find rarities.

The Collection Vol. 2 - UK

The follow-up to the 1987 "ABBA The Collection" was "The Collection Vol. 2" released in England in 1988. It was a very strange compilation album which in fact contained two ABBA records mixed with each other - never released in England LP "Ring Ring" and "ABBA Live".

Absolute ABBA - UK

One more double LP compilation saw its release in England in 1988. The album entitled "Absolute ABBA" featured 24 greatest UK chart hits of ABBA and a very nice gatefold cover with nice pictures of various ABBA memorabilia, album and single covers, puzzles. The album was even released as a double CD. "Absolute ABBA" entered the British album chart on November 19, 1988 and stayed there for 7 weeks reaching #70.

Some of the tracks appeared in edited version as for instance: "The Name Of The Game" 3.21

CD

An ABBA The Golden Box was released in Sweden in 1988 and it contained all ABBA studio albums except "Ring Ring" Even the double LP "ABBA The Singles The First Ten Years" was included in this package. The cover pictures were taken from the "Voulez-Vous" photo session. The albums were listed in slightly different order than their original release years. The first LP was "ABBA" referred to the years 1974-75, the second LP was "Waterloo" surprisingly referred to the year 1976 as well as "Arrival". The only explanation can be that the LP "Waterloo" included in the box was the 1976 re-release of the original album. The box was issued by book company "Bokorama" and it was only a club release not a commercial one. It can explain why this box is extremely rare and hard to find.

Os grandes sucessos

The year 1988 was very exciting for all ABBA fans who enjoy compilation album. In Brazil it was released a new ABBA compilation entitled "Os grandes sucessos". The album featured 14 songs and among them an unique extended version of "I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do" which had never appeared on any other album with ABBA songs. The extended version was 4 minutes and 20 seconds long and it is not known who is standing behind this remix. "Fernando" was shortened from 4'15 to 3'30 and "Chiquitita" appeared here in its remixed version 3'32.

The Christmas compilation

Stikkan Anderson was executive producer for a new Christmas compilation that was sponsored by Swedish furniture company "Polarator". The album released on red vinyl was entitled "Polarator Jul" (Polarator Christmas) and contained Christmas carrols performed by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad as well as ABBA's "Happy New Year".

1989

Love Songs

In October 1989 the Dutch record company "Dino" released a new ABBA compilation entitled "Love Songs" in 1989. The album and MC contained 14 songs and the CD edition additionally 4 bonus tracks. The album entered the Dutch album chart on October 28, 1989 where it stayed for 11 weeks peaking at #38.

Edelweiss

The Austrian male/female group "Edelweiss" reached a Europe-wide #1 position with their hit "Bring me Edelweiss", supposedly by following the instructions given in The KLF's book The Manual. Borrowing large parts of its melody from ABBA's " SOS" and Indeep's "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life", the song humorously targeted Austrian ski resorts and yodeling and sold five million copies worldwide. In the UK with the single entered the chart on April 29, 1989 where it stayed for 10 weeks peaking at #5.

The album which was released in Austria in 1988 contained two different mixes of "Bring me Edelweiss".

Love Songs in the UK

After the ABBA Hits 1, 2 and 3 series Pickwick came up with a follow-up entitled "Love Songs" in December 1989. The album contained only two single hits from ABBA's career: "Under Attack" and "So Long" and the other 12 songs were chosen from different albums. Even two songs previously released only as B-sides of ABBA singles - "Should I Laugh or Cry" and "Lovelight" were included on the compilation. This release remains as a kind of odd song collection.

ABBA not forgotten in South Africa

A double compilation album entitled "Unforgettable ABBA" saw its release in South Africa in 1989. The two records contained 27 songs.

The Very Best of...

Reader's Digest in the UK released a limited edition compilation album "The Very Best Of ABBA" featuring 14 hits from the period 1974 - 1980.

1992

ABBA - The Album on CD

German record company "Polydor" released "ABBA The Album" on CD under two different numbers in 1992. The first CD had number 0040 150 and the second one 821 217-2. The latter was distributed even in Australia.

ABBA-esque

There was something in the air in 1992 when the Swedish press announced that Björn and Benny together with Michael B. Tretow are back in the studio preparing a re-release of the biggest ABBA hits in digitally remastered versions. Exactly 10 years after the group split up the big ABBA revival started all over the world when the British pop duo Erasure released "ABBA-esque" with covers of four ABBA songs: "Lay All Your Love On Me", "SOS", "Take A Chance On Me" and "Voulez-Vous". Always big fans of ABBA, performing various songs in concert for years, Erasure (Vince Clarke and Andy Bell) released this EP, which was originally intended as a full album.

The ABBA-esque entered the UK chart on June 13th, 1992 and stayed there for 12 weeks reaching #1.

CD single

A special video band with videos for all four songs was released. The funniest was the video for "Take A Chance On Me" which was a parody on the original ABBA video for the same song filmed in 1977.

Erasure came to Stockholm and played two concerts at Cirkus on August 29 and 30, 1992. A special compilation album entitled "Take a Chance On Me" featuring the 1992 summer hits was released at the same time.

Erasure Club

As a follow-up to the ABBA-esque, Erasure released maxi single entitled "Erasure Club" which contained four ABBA songs from the esque in special remixed versions.

Dancing Queen - the single

First out was of course the biggest ABBA hit "Dancing Queen" which was released in Europe on August 24, 1992. It entered the UK chart on September 5 and stayed there for 5 weeks reaching #16. The single was released as 7", 12" and CD maxi single. The 7" featured "Lay All Your Love On Me" on the flipside, the 12" "Dancing Queen" and "Lay All Your Love On Me" on the side A and "The Day Before You Came" and "Eagle" on the side B. The CD maxi single hade the same contents as the 12".

ABBA Gold

The compliation "ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits" featured 19 newly remastered hits of ABBA. The CD/2LP saw its release on September 21st, 1992. It entered the Swedish album chart one week later on #10. In the UK "ABBA Gold" entered the chart on October 3rd, 1992 and stayed there for unbelievable 328 weeks reaching #1.

The Swedish album chart, September 30, 1992.

On TV

Swedish TV broadcasted ads for "ABBA Gold" during the autumn 1992. Even Björn Ulvaeus was interviewed by both SVT 1 and TV 3.

ABBA The Tribute

Already at the end of January the Swedish newspaper "Expressen" informed about forthcoming recordings for a special ABBA tribute album. Several well-known Swedish pop and rock artists would participate in this project. The album "ABBA The Tribute" was released in autumn 1992 in Sweden and featured 12 songs performed by: Army of Lovers, Sanne Salomonsen (Denmark), Pelle Almgren, Freda, Rob'n'Raz, Papa Dee, Irma, Sator, Stonecake, Beagle, Mats Ronander and Electric Boys. The album became quite huge success in Sweden.

Björn Again - Erasure-ish

The release of the Abba-esque EP by Erasure earlier in 1992 was a reason for the release of a similar EP, Erasure-ish, by ABBA tribute band Björn Again, which featured two Erasure tracks ("A Little Respect" and "Stop!") performed in the style of ABBA as an answer record. The single entered the UK chart on October 24th, 1992 where it stayed for 3 weeks peaking at #25.

Voulez-Vous - the single

The second single promoting the "ABBA Gold" album was "Voulez-Vous" with "Summer Night City" on the flipside. The maxi version of the single had even "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" and "I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do" as bonus tracks. The single saw its release on October 26th, 1992.

In the UK the single was even released as a cassette single with Voulez-Vous and Summer Night City on the both sides.

Selma & Sabina

One more exciting tribute project which saw its release in autumn 1992 in Sweden was a whole CD performed by Pakistani sisters Selma and Sabina. The CD featured 8 songs sung in Hindi.

Thank You For The Music

The third and last single promoting "ABBA Gold" was a "Christmas" single featuring the ABBA anthem "Thank You For The Music" as well as "Happy New Year" and "The Way Old Friends Do". The single saw its release on December 14th, 1992.

1993

More ABBA Gold

The smashing success of "ABBA Gold" encouraged the record company Universal to releasing a follow up compilation which got a title "More ABBA Gold". This compilation featured one previously unreleased track "I Am The City" recorded in 1982. The song in the ABBA 1982 style remained of "Under Attack" and "You Owe Me One" - probably not the best ABBA song but the presence of it on this compilation made "More ABBA Gold" to a very valuable album for all ABBA fans. Besides "I Am The City" there were 19 other songs - both bigger and minor chart hits as well as some tracks from B-sides of ABBA singles. "More ABBA Gold" was released on May 24th, 1993.

Gold becomes platinum

On October 5th, 1993 Frida, Björn and Benny represented ABBA by receiving the Platinum Record for selling of 5 millions "ABBA Gold" album. The ceremony took place at Café Opera in Stockholm.

...wishful thinking...

1994

Thank You For the Music - the box

The first official ABBA Box entitled "Thank You For The Music" containing 4 CDs saw its release on October 31, 1994. The box featured 3 CDs with ABBA songs recorded between 1972 and 1982 as well as one CD with rare songs and previously unreleased stuff which was mixed together in a medley. Among unreleased songs there were parts of: "Just Like That", "Rubber Ball Man", "Hamlet" and many others. Even other previously unreleased songs as "Put On Your White Sombrero", "Dream World" and the Doris Day version of "Thank You For The Music" saw their release on this box. A 66-side-booklet contained hundreds of rare pictures as well as the story of the group

The release of the box was promoted in media.

A special video entitled "Thank you ABBA" was released the same year.

1995

Brasil

A special exclusive picture disc compilation album saw its release in Brasil in 1995. The compilation featured 12 songs - the greatest hits from the period 1973 - 1979.

1999

Görel Hanser 50

In June 1999 all four former members of ABBA met each other at Görel Hanser's 50th birthday party in Stockholm.

2000

ABBA The Stamp

A new stamp featuring ABBA was issued in Sweden on 17 March 2000 in the series "Our 20th Century part 3". It was the second stamp with ABBA issued in Sweden (the first issue in 1983). The 2000-edition featured ABBA in the "Waterloo" costumes.

2004

The last ABBA video

The last video was created at the beginning of 2004 in order to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ABBA's victory in Brighton with "Waterloo". All former members of the group participated in the filming of the video though not at the same time. Several well-known Swedish actors played different roles in the video which was screened for the first time during the Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul (Turkey). The premiere was followed by DVD release of the clip together with some other classical ABBA videos.

2008

ABBA The Album

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the long-playing record, Universal Music Group released 80 titles (in four batches) on much-loved 30cm black vinyl across 2008, starting with the first batch of 20 titles in July 2008. All were exact replicas of the original packages. Abba The Album Deluxe Gatefold 180 gram Audiophile Vinyl LP was released on August 4th, 2008 (remastered version from 2001).

2009

ABBA in Japan DVD out

The DVD ABBA in Japan was released in Sweden on October 26th, 2009. The special edition of the DVD contains 2 discs. The special edition features even special attachments as the tour sticker and three photo cards and a special booklet with the Japanese story of ABBA. The running time is: 1 h 21 m (disc 1) and 36 m (disc 2).

Disc 1
The TV show 1978
Eagle, Take A Chance On Me, Money, Money, Money, SOS, That's Me, Tiger, Dancing Queen, Waterloo, Fernando, Summer Night City, The Name Of The Game, Knowing Me, Knowing You, If It Wasn't For The Nights, Thank You For The Music

Behind The Scenes Documentary 1978

If It Wasn't For The Nights (Alternate Mix)


Disc 2
Behind The Scenes Documentary 1980
Photo Gallery

Single And Album Sleeve Gallery

The complete ABBA

A new ABBA book has been issued in the UK at the beginning on October 31st, 2009. "The Complete ABBA" written by Simon Sheridan gives information about all ABBA single and album releases as well as the most important TV shows featuring the group.

2010

ABBA world

Frida and Björn attended the premiere of the ABBA world exhibition in London on 26 January 2010.

ABBA in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Anni-Frid and Benny attended the 25th Annual Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria on March 15, 2010 in New York City. Benny said: "I just think it's quite a flabbergasting thing... It's like being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was not on the map, really. And I think we're the only non-Anglo-Saxon act ever to be inducted. I'm not sure, you have to check that - but I think that's true."

Anni-Frid has ruled out a much-anticipated band reunion, insisting it's "too late for that". The other half of the band, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog, missed the event due to prior engagements - ruling out a reunion at the ceremony. And, despite constant reports of a get together, Reuss insisted the chances of an Abba reunion are slim.
She said, "We haven't performed or sang together for 28 years; we broke up in '82. And I never think we will reunite again - it's a bit too late for that."
Andersson teamed up with Faith Hill and the house band to perform Abba classic The Winner Takes It All at the ceremony, where Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies, The Stooges, Genesis and music boss David Geffen were also inducted.

Voulez-Vous Deluxe edition

The "Deluxe" version of the 1979 album "Voulez-Vous" was released on May 31, 2010. This one year and 1 month delayed release contains one CD and one DVD. The CD features 10 tracks from the original album and 5 bonus tracks - all of them well-known and released before.

The DVD contains: a 39-minute-special ABBA in Switzerland filmed at the beginning of 1979. There are even videos for Chiquitita from Unicef, I Have A Dream live (long version), If It Wasn't For The Nights from BBC, Chiquitita from Snowtime special. A Björn and Benny interview from BBC (Swap shop) is added as well as two commercials for Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (but not Voulez-Vous). The booklet contains a couple of alternative shots from the Voulez-Vous session.

ABBA Gold

The 2010 version of ABBA Gold package contains one CD and one DVD with new remasters of ABBA videos and an alternative cartoon version of the video "Money Money Money". There are even 5 videos in a split version where you can see difference between the old version of the video and the new remastered one.

The booklet is written by Elisabeth Vincentello and not by Carl Magnus Palm like it used to be. Most of the pictures of the group in the booklet are well-known but there are even two nice pictures from the recording sessions in 1977 added. Not totally unknown but nice, one of them featuring Frida sleeping in the couch in the studio.

The release date in Sweden was December 6th, 2010.

The vinyl collection

A special fan box entitled "ABBA The vinyl collection" saw its release on December 6th, 2010.

The box set contains ABBA’s eight studio albums, originally released 1973–1981: Ring Ring, Waterloo, ABBA, Arrival, ABBA: The Album, Voulez Vous, Super Trouper and The Visitors. An extra album, entitled ABBA Tracks contains the five single A-sides not included on the original studio albums. The B-side of ABBA Tracks features a further five non-album songs, personally selected by Benny.

The albums in the box have been remastered for vinyl especially for this release. The track listings of the albums is exactly the same as on the original Swedish releases, as originally planned and conceived by ABBA. Similarly, the eight studio albums are presented in replica covers featuring the original art work and inner sleeves – exactly as they looked when they first hit record shops back in the '70s and early '80s.

2011

ABBAWORLD in Prague

The members of ABBA are happy to see ABBAWORLD arrive in the blooming capital of the Czech Republic in springtime. The exhibition, which will premiere on May 6, 2011 at Slovansky Dum in the centre of the Czech capital, is presented by Sony Music Prague, in cooperation with Viva Art Music. The exhibition stayed in Prague until the end of August.

go.to/ABBAworld
 

Super Trouper - Deluxe edition

A Deluxe Edition of ABBA’s seventh studio album, Super Trouper, was released on May 9, 2011. Super Trouper Deluxe Edition is a 2-disc release, featuring a CD with a remastered version of the original album along with relevant bonus tracks, plus a DVD of rare television performances and interviews from the archives, including previously unseen footage.

The CD features several bonus tracks featuring previously unavailable stereo version of the full-length "On and On and On" as well as "Elaine", "Put on Your White Sombrero" and the Spanish versions.

One nice surprise on the DVD is the documentary "Somewhere in the crowd there's you" featuring rare footage from October 3rd, 1980. You can see incredibly clearly that something is wrong between Frida and Benny - they don't touch each other, they don't talk to each other which means that their marriage had been already dead

The Show Express performance from ZDF is well known and available in HQ since many years ago as ZDF broadcasted the ABBA Kultnacht. Pity that the French TV performance of Super Trouper and The Winner Takes It All does not appears on this release.

Words and Music - a quite short TV special with short interviews with the band members and some video clips. The SVT version of "Happy New Year" around the piano which is available in top quality on fan DVDs as it has been shown several times by SVT during last years. Remastered videos for Super Trouper and Happy New Year (but not The Winner Takes It All and not Felicidad either) has been added as well to fill the DVD up to its full capacity. Two Super Trouper commercials and the picture gallery close the DVD.

The booklet contains the story of the album and some alternative shots from well-known 1980 photo sessions.

Happy New Year - the single

New vinyl single featuring "Happy New Year" b/w "The Way Old Friends Do" was released on November 30th, 2011. This was a limited edition item released in 500 pieces.