Posted on 09/15/2020 2:51:46 PM PDT by Borges
When you’ve sold as many records as Abba have – and only The Beatles have sold more – specific figures become hazy. They disappear into a statistical stratosphere occupied by a tiny elite of global megastars. There are simply too many territories to report on, too many releases to keep track of, too many vast numbers to juggle.
All one can say with any certainty is that the Swedish quartet have sold in excess of 380m albums and singles since they first came to prominence 40 years ago this month, winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with a performance of Waterloo that still ranks as the high point of the much-maligned transcontinental cheese-fest. At their commercial zenith in the late ‘70s Abba were reputedly second only to Volvo in their contribution to Sweden’s exports. Such was the demand for their music that their management had to arrange for royalties from the Soviet Union to be paid in oil commodity rights rather than the embargoed rouble.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Queen actually faded quickly here in the US, after Freddy’s sexuality became known, but they stayed huge in Europe.
BTW, I am a big fan of Elton John the singer, but don't much care for the person.
If you change your mind
I’m the first in line
Honey, I’m still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know
Gonna be around
If you’ve got no place to go
When you’re feeling down
Elton pretty much dropped off after 1976, I think “Sorry Seems to Be The Hardest Word” was he last real good song.
My secondary point, is it seems nowadays that even the most basic fact-checking seems to evade most reporting. All someone needed to do was enter best selling bands in DuckDuckGo and they'd see how wildly off-base was the "fact."
ABBA was a great pop band and wrote catchy tunes. There is a skill in that, which made them mega-millionaires. Their influence was greater than their sales...which happens often. The Who sold maybe 20MM albums in the US but their influence is much greater than those sales. And that's ok. But a little accuracy every now and then would be nice. /rant
I think ABBA’s Greatest Hits collection is their big seller.
Yes
Her father was a Wehrmacht soldier passing through Sweden...
Wow! Now that's success!
The two ladies sounded lovely together and separately. The layered chorus sound they perfected really hooked you. Like on “Chiquitita”.
They formed the name from the first initials of the four band members...
I saw Heart about ten years ago and it was one of the best shows I've ever attended.
I think The Sweet is (are?) British...
This is true.
I actually owned a Dave Matthews Band CD for a while, just because my wife (then my girlfriend) liked them.
And a lot of tennis players too.
Actually, Anni-Frid’s dad was the German soldier.
Agnetha already had a number-one hit in Sweden and was pretty famous in Sweden when ABBA was formed.
In the Beatles’ case, they split in large part because they weren’t getting along anymore. Anything in their later catalog with a “Lennon & McCartney” songwriting credit is really more like Lennon OR McCartney.
I wish I could forget Europe. And it would be easier if my local classic rock station didn’t have “The Final Countdown” in heavy rotation.
Can’t say I’ve heard much by Sabaton. OTOH, I like Opeth, and Sweden of course also gifted us with Yngwie Malmsteen. He’s the best guitarist ever; just ask him and he’ll tell you.
ABBA isn’t throwaway pop! It’s enduring and intricate music.
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