Champagne Music of Abba is timeless much to the chagrin of critics

It has always been fashionable in some circles to rubbish the music of Abba. Much of this criticism stems from an insecurity or snobbery on the part of some scribes and critics. Due to the success of the movie version of Mama Mia! , a musical written around the Swedish group ABBA's greatest hits, the 1992 album "ABBA Gold Greatest Hits" has risen to the top of the British album charts after sixteen years.
This twin success has brought the anti Abba brigade out in force. Neil McCormick in the Telegraph writes a particularly acerbic article. Somehow I think that he may be writing tongue in cheek. An interesting article on the group- appeared in the Telegraph on 10/7/2008. Titled "Abba - the music: why everyone loves Abba",it was written by Ivan Hewett and delves successfully into the reasons for the group's stunning success-even if it is unfair to the band members themselves. It is a must read for all Abba fans.

Clip from Mama Mia below

ABBA Agnetha Fältskog I'm Still Alive (Japan Live Concert 1980)

ABBA Cassandra 1982

Ola Brunkert ABBA drummer dies in tragic accident

A tragic accident has claimed the life of Ola Brunkert, 62 who was drummer for 1974 Eurovision winners, ABBA.




He toured with the group in 1977,1979, and 1980 and played on all their albums. Brunkert first played with ABBA on the group's first single, "People Need Love".


Whilst not usually in the spotlight he played a major role in the success of the group which has sold more than 370 million albums and sells nearly 3 million records annually. He was born on September 15th, 1946, in Örebro Sweden and was a jazz drummer. He was also a member of the blues band Slim's Blues Gang, before joining pop group Science Poption in the mid-1960s.


He died yesterday in Mallorca, Spain. It is believed that he fell through a glass door in his dining room, shattering the glass and cutting himself on his face and his neck. He left his home to seek help. However Brunkert collapsed in his garden and a neighbour discovered his body late last night. He had bled to death. He was predeceased by his wife.

R.I.P. Ola Brunkert (September 15th 1946 - March 16th 2008)

Sweden's ABBA museum to open in 2009

According to the heraldsun
FANS of Swedish group ABBA can dance down memory lane when their museum opens in Stockholm, featuring costumes, instruments and rare memorabilia."We're going to open the ABBA museum from June 3 to 7 (2009). It will be an inaugural week," said Ulf Westman, who masterminded the world's first ABBA museum along with his wife, Ewa Wigenheim-Westman. "It will be an international museum with a lot of technological and multimedia aspects," he said, adding visitors will be invited to take part in various activities related to the group's heyday in the 1970s.

ABBA stars Bjoern Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, Agnetha Faeltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad became international sensations with hits such as Money, Money, Money, Waterloo, Fernando and Dancing Queen. All four members have given their backing to the project and will provide clothes, instruments and music, though they are not formally involved in the creation of the museum. Visitors will be able to take the microphone and record their own version of Take A Chance on Me or Voulez Vous in a model of the Polar Studio in Stockholm where the quartet recorded their hits. .........