Sure they were cheezy by current standards but they are responsible for a lot of happy. To say nothing about how what they did in the recording studio...techniques ect set standards in innovated concepts for many that came later.
Ah... The dream of united Europe under Napoleon... err... Hitler... err... Putin. Oh well, let’s just hope that never happens. I’m all for European union, but with borders to ensure that the maniacal types stay in their own country. As for ABBA, they were truly awesome but a real rock n’ roll fan would never admit that in the day. I remember one poor chap that we used to torture because he was a huge ABBA fan. Of course, everybody was a fan secret or otherwise and how can you not like their taste in women?
I remember reading that ABBA wore these outrageous costumes because Sweden taxed them so much, they could get a tax write-off for purchasing “uniforms”. They paid top dollar for those funky threads, but the cut on taxes was bigger than the costs.
Their music still holds up well today.
Frida actually isn’t Swedish, she’s half-Norwegian half-German. Her father was a Wehrmacht soldier serving in Norway during the war....They had to flee to Sweden, because obviously “collaborators” weren’t going to be treated very well in Norway after the war.
I served in the US Army during 69-70 in Germany, and when ABBA hit the scene in America I recognized it as what I called “Euro-Pop.”
In retrospect it was also along the lines of the coming Disco era.