[nomorelurker]

“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.

[dfwgator]

Queen actually faded quickly here in the US, after Freddy’s sexuality became known, but they stayed huge in Europe.

[rbg81]

Elton's songs are much better and they have aged extremely well. The lyrics of some of them are amazing (Tiny Dancer, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Crocodile Rock, etc), but Bernie Taupin (not Elton) is largely responsible for that. It is probably hard for any single performer to beat EJ’s catalog from the Seventies.

BTW, I am a big fan of Elton John the singer, but don't much care for the person.