Sex Pistols, Punk, Townsend, Lennon, and ... Abba!

[alexis]

.
I loved this little story about the cultural headwinds Abba faced, maybe still does. I was too young to follow them when I first heard their music, but there was nothing subtle about its effect on me ... I remember singing the verse from Waterloo on the school bus (yeah, I was that kid), and loving Fernando as well. Fast forward some decades ... man, they knew what they were doing and were dang good at it!

(I'm sitting here drinking my morning coffee, and there are tears streaming down listening to/watching The Winner Takes it All, https://youtu.be/8tE0GjSQpes?si=xi-7iX8ZJ47J1Rkq . Not least knowing that she had just broken up with the writer, and he wrote it and made her sing it ... in public, facing close up right into the camera. The pain in her face and her voice is so clear you can almost touch it. Those lyrics, to die for! ("...The rules must be obeyed ...").

(Please, I want to write like that! Then I put on another hat ... I'd probably ruin the song by noticing there were zero breaks in the chord progression, and try to "fix that". Ha!)

I found it funny that the Sex Pistols had Abba on cassette. I also nodded "knowingly" when I read that Lennon and Townsend were fans - they knew earworm, I mean pop, music when they heard it!

Anyway, here's the article, I hope sometime like it!:
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/202 ... ded-sweden

(Look, Ma ... no paywall!)

[Hugh Robjohns]

I remember when all the cool kids hated Abba and loved Punk. I always thought Abba's song were clever, catchy, and superbly well crafted musically and in the engineering.

And, like Lennon & McCartney, the songs just kept coming. I think the Visitor remains my favourite Abba album. Some hauntingly good stuff there.

But I like a lot of (less spitty) 'punk' too, some of which was often just as well crafted. The Jam, The Clash, Ian Dury, and Stranglers were favourites among many others I've forgotten.

[Aled Hughes]

I remember when all the cool kids hated Abba and loved Punk. I always thought Abba's song were clever, catchy, and superbly well crafted musically and in the engineering.

And, like Lennon & McCartney, the songs just kept coming. I think the Visitor remains my favourite Abba album. Some hauntingly good stuff there.

But I like a lot of (less spitty) 'punk' too, some of which was often just as well crafted. The Jam, The Clash, Ian Dury, and Stranglers were favourites among many others I've forgotten.

The Visitors is my favourite too. In my mind, possibly the best opening trio of songs to an album ever! The title tracks is also perhaps their very finest moment.

But I’m young enough to not have my love of Abba clash with any other musical ‘loyalties’, as it were. I also like a lot of the ‘punk’ bands. Especially The Clash!

[Drew Stephenson]

I must* confess that I've never really 'got' ABBA. Partly it's the pure pop style (which has not often floated my boat) but it's mostly the song-writing; I don't think I'm musically smart enough for it and it's all just a bit too clever for me.
As a result it always ends up sounding a bit too much like a technical exercise rather than an emotional expression.

But I never liked The Beatles either so I'm not expecting to get a lot of support here!

* Well, I don't have to actually, but I'm going to.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Burn the Heretic....

[ManFromGlass]

Brave words from Drew but still - Beatles?


Next thing we hear is he hates tofu!

[Wonks]

Brave words from Drew but still - Beatles?


Next thing we hear is he hates tofu!

Hold the line!

…Hang on, that was Toto, not Tofu.

[Dynamic Mike]

I struggle with 'The Winner Takes It All' lyrically. The line 'A big thing and a small' smacks of misguided google translate and just makes me giggle, which isn't really in keeping with the sentiment of the song.

But then I'm not a big Beatles fan either, so what do I know.

[tea for two]

I must* confess that I've never really 'got' ABBA.

I thawd ABBA morphed into kinda Swedish Disco.
I must confess I prefer Disco overall to ABBA. There's so many stunning Disco songs including those written by Rod Temperton, intricate Disco songs as September by Earth Wind and Fire.

I have danced my heart out to ABBA in night clubs.
Eagle by ABBA is my fave of theirs.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dDI7x1nwT ... YWdsZSA%3D

::

But then I'm not a big Beatles fan either, so what do I know.

I can headbang to their early mega hits wild energy.
I choose bits n bobs from their other stuff.
So I can't say I'm a fan. I never got the memo lol as it were.

Eg. from Revolver the only song I dig is Tomorrow never knows. It's brill.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m4BuziKGM ... dGxlcyA%3D

Let it be : one of the wisest lines put on record imo.

::

But I like a lot of (less spitty) 'punk' too, some of which was often just as well crafted. The Jam, The Clash, Ian Dury, and Stranglers were favourites among many others I've forgotten.

Nuthin like Punk to feel yeeeah I'm my own person.
If I had the musical skills I would mishmashed classic Prog with Punk.

System of a Down their Chop Suey song from melodic morphs into mayhem morphs into gentle to return to mayhem.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CSvFpBOe8 ... 93bg%3D%3D

[DGL.]

Well as a lover of synths you kinda have to love Benny at least, how many people brought a GX-1 let alone still own it!
ABBA were simply a group of excellent performers and songwriters and to think they were writing everything in a second language!
Also you play an ABBA song anywhere and everyone knows all the words and sings along, not may artists can say that.

I too agree that The Visitors is probably their finest album though their finest song wasn't originally on it, that being "The Day Before You Came", the GX-1 just sounds sublime in it.

I do find it funny that in an interview Benny thought that ABBA had 10-15 good songs, I would beh to differ!

[amanise]

I reckon I missed out on Abba at the time due to it not being too cool for a budding heavy rocker. Silly. Love it all now. The biggest miss though was all the amazing funk stuff of the time. KC and the Sunshine band, Pavement, Kool and the Gang etc. Then the really amazing stuff from Odyssey, Earth Wind and Fire and bands like Osibisa.

All amazing. Still - its all still out there now, so still there to be enjoyed

And I still like most of all the rock stuff - the ever expanding musical appreciation portfolio.

[alexis]

I struggle with 'The Winner Takes It All' lyrically. The line 'A big thing and a small' smacks of misguided google translate and just makes me giggle, which isn't really in keeping with the sentiment of the song ....

Yeah, good point on that one.

I just always assumed she was comparing her private knowledge of Bjorn vs Benny. It being the 70s and all.

[Telemaxis]

But I like a lot of (less spitty) 'punk' too, some of which was often just as well crafted. The Jam, The Clash, Ian Dury, and Stranglers were favourites among many others I've forgotten.

This got me reminiscing - saw the Clash and the Stranglers on consecutive Saturdays at the mighty "Eric's" in Liverpool and that was that - we had to form a band - and then learn how to play!

Inevitably, the band didn't last, but it was the start of wonderful musical journey - through Magazine, The Pixies, Radiohead, Brad Mehldau, The National and Nick Cave - to name but a few.

As Paul Whitehouse might have said - isn't music brilliant!

[alexis]

..
But I never liked The Beatles either so I'm not expecting to get a lot of support here!
...

You anti-Beatles folks are in esteemed company!

https://americansongwriter.com/here-is- ... musicians/

(No, I am not referring to the Beatles album burners! https://149777103.v2.pressablecdn.com/w ... ug-300.jpg )

[Folderol]

But I never liked The Beatles either so I'm not expecting to get a lot of support here!

WHAT!!!
Who gave you permission to not like the Beatles?
{mutter} kids to^H^H yesterday {mutter}

[MOF]

I’ve never understood the tribal aspect of music, every Thursday evening TOTP had such an eclectic mix of musical styles so you could appreciate good tunes regardless of what genre they came from. It’s a shame it’s not still going!!!
Abba’s music just leapt out of the speakers, it was the arrangements, production and catchy melodies that were so different from what we’d heard before. The Beatles are still my favourite group though.

[alexis]

There's something about that lower female harmony that I have the hardest time actually hearing (Abba). I know it's there, I can peck it out on the piano, but somehow to my ears it becomes one with and indistinguishable from the lead female vocal.

It'ss almost like there is some kind of magic going on.