They had a hot blond chick and catchy tunes.
“The hot blond Swedish chick is probably what it came down to. Abba Arrival was a very good album. They had some other hit singles too. Maybe its the fact that they were a Euro band that had so much appeal in both Europe and the US. However, from a European perspective, Queen was a better band and Elton John was a better performer.”
Queen was a better band in the true sense of band. ABBA had two great hot chick voices and two guys (along with a cousin or two) who could write songs and music rings around everyone. Not sure Elton John even belongs in 3rd place.