1974 MELODIFESTIVALEN ON SWEDISH TV!

Here's your chance to re-live (or perhaps see it for the very first time) the 1974 Melodifestivalen in which ABBA won with the Swedish version of Waterloo.

It will be shown on SVT1 May 7th at 9.00 PM.

You can read more (in Swedish) on:
http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=8745&c3a1=197319&c5a1=197319&c5a1showtime=true&selectedDate=20040422

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Filip Jensen, Copenhagen, Denmark

AGNETHA FOR TOTP2

Agnetha's video for IF I THOUGHT YOU'D EVER CHANGE YOUR MIND will be shown on the British television program, Top of the Pops 2 on Friday 7th May :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp2/lineup/

Thanks to ABBA fan Johan Tyvaert, Brussels, Belgium

"ASK IAN" ON WATERLOO ANNIVERSARY EDITION & LIVE IN CONCERT

Finally got to see the Waterloo 30th Anniversary bonus DVD today.

How utterly, utterly fab! For once, everything seems to have gone right. The use of the original Polar label look for the menu screen (also used on the disc labels themselves) was an inspired touch. Having the full introduction to ABBA from the Eurovision contest is another piece of genius. Instead of just showing the song, we get the full thing - even the mostly incoherent English narration from 1974, introducing :the ABBA group", with "Born" (who looks like Benny), Frida, Anna, and Benny (who's lost his beard and is wearing Björn's pink jacket!), then being told that the group's name comes from their initials, one member being called "Annifreed".

But between the CD and the DVD, so many versions of Waterloo in so little time - it all gets a bit much after a while! ;-) Still, it's nice to have all four language versions on one disc for the first time (exluding the
promo single from 1999).

The whole package is just so well done. For once, no little fuck ups that have crept into so many releases for so long (even the fabarama 2001 reissues had their problems). Pity that Universal International has decided that the digipak is "too expensive", so only Sweden gets it while the rest of the world gets the new Sound + Vision plastic case (which still looks okay, but not as gorgeous as the digipak).

Carl Magnus Palm has put some additional information up on his site about the variations with the Waterloo 30 Anniversary Edition, plus some further explanation on some of the other coming releases.
http://www.carlmagnuspalm.com/abba/waterloodeluxe.html

Then there's also ABBA In Concert. Watched some of this this afternoon. The interview with Urban Lasson wasn't very interesting (but I'd been warned about that). Thomas Johansson was more interesting, with a few new stories to tell (such as the seats added to the auditorium in Las Vegas by the promotor, which Thomas and ABBA objected to, but Thomas was told that these were the seats for the people "who you don't object to", and didn't tell ABBA till later).

Nice to have the "bonus" of Thank You For The Music, but it's still a boring rendition of a boring song. The picture quality overall looks brilliant - except for the Björn and Agnetha footage from Words & Music, which looks like it came from someone's home video tape from 1980, and has then been hit with a soft focus filter. Love the look of the menu, but it's a bit of a pain to navigate. Pity that the picture gallery concept got confused somewhere down the line, going from the full tour program to just the pictures from the program (which, if you don't know the tour program, don't really have any context).

But all in all it's still pretty snazzy. Though I'm still not a big fan of the special itself, I did gain a new appreciation of it after reading the booklet, understanding more the concept of what the director's vision
(though it could be argued that it's an ABBA concert TV special not some arty-farty concept film, but that's what he made, and that's what we've got).

Thanks to ABBAMAIL's "Ask Ian" Cole, New South Wales, Australia

DUTCH CHART POSITIONS FOR WEEK 18

Dutch Top 40 Singles Charts
Agnetha's single If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind drops 1 place to nr. 32 in its 2nd week in this chart

* Backcatalogue Album Top 50
ABBA: Arrival drops 16 places to nr. 48 in its 4th week in this chart

* DVD Music Top 30
ABBA: The Definitive Collection goes up 3 places to nr. 13 in its 63rd week in this chart
ABBA: In Concert remains at nr. 24 in its 4th week in this chart

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Walter Veldman, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

YELLOW 4 TRACK AGNETHA HAS ALMIGHTY EDIT

This is the tracklist of the new yellow 4-track maxi CD single of IF I THOUGHT YOU'D EVER CHANGE YOUR MIND

1. if I thought you'd ever change your mind ( original version) 03:13
2. if I thought you'd ever change your mind ( Almighty radio edit) 03:50
3. if I thought you'd ever change your mind ( Almighty remix) 07:09
4. if I thought you'd ever change your mind ( Almighty dub) 07:10

The catalogue number is 5050467-3411-2-8

Thanks to ABBAMAILers Monique Hoevens and Theo van Dijk, The Netherlands

MAMMA MIA! FOR SINGAPORE

Mamma Mia! will come to Singapore from 22nd September. This was not unexpected as usually the Australian versions of major shows go on to tour Asia. Mamma Mia! will first go to Hong Kong and then here.

There will be a press conference next Tuesday whereby the invitation is from Björn Ulvaeus (!).

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Neil Barber, Singapore

AUSSIE AGNETHA RELEASE DATE MOVES AGAIN

Just spoke to Warner Music in Sydney and My Colouring Book is now slated for release on 21 May 2004, which is another week later.

The single isn't coming out, as we know.

She also said, "There's a special on A Current Affair tonight that you might want to catch!"

I can't believe the show is going to show this, and the album and single aren't out. What a total waste of the promotional opportunity!

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Trent Nickson, Sydney, Australia

AGNETHA ON AUSSIE TV TONIGHT

Channel 9's A Current Affair will be premiering the "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" video tonight
(Wednesday).

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Jason Dann, Sydney, Australia

ALCAZAR'S ABBA TRIBUTE SHOW

From the fabulous website popjustice.com

WHERE THEY PLAY THE RIGHT MUSIC
Story filed by Popjustice on Monday, April 26, 2004

Everyone likes a nice bit of Abba. Yes? Oh yes. On Saturday night, in honour of whichever spurious anniversary Abba are celebrating this week, Alcazar staged a full, one-night-only Abba tribute concert in Katrineholm, Sweden. They were backed by a band, a choir and a fifty-piece symphony orchestra. The Gayest Night On Earth consisted of 21 songs, and we were not invited.

Setlist:
'Overture'
'Take A Chance On Me'
'Ring Ring' (Swedish Version)
'Fernando'
'Money Money Money' (Tess)
'The Winner Takes It All' (Magnus and Annikafiore)
'Does Your Mother Know' (Andreas)
'On And On And On' (Magnus)
'Honey Honey'
'Waterloo'

(Interlude)

'Arrival'
'As Good As New'
'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!' (Annikafiore)
'The Name Of The Game'
'SOS' (Andreas)
'Knowing Me, Knowing You' (Andreas and Magnus)
'Under Attack' (Magnus)
'Voulez-Vous'
'Super Trouper'
'Dancing Queen'
'Thank You For The Music'
'Dancing Queen' (reprise)

Still, at least they didn't perform 'Dream World'. Keep an eye on Alcazarworld.com over the next few days for some clips. In other Alcazar news: the comeback single will be called 'This Is The World We Live In' - a 'Crying At The Discotheque'-style belter whose video was shot at the end of last week. How utterly brilliant.

*****************************

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Patrick Blake, Gold Coast, Australia

JAPANESE MAMMA MIA! MOVING

Mamma Mia! is moving to Osaka in January next year to the new Shiki Theatre that is being built inside the new Herbis Complex near the Ritz Carlton.

There is no news yet about opening night. I wonder if any of TAFKAA will turn up?

Thanks to ABBAMAILer George Bourdaniotis, Kobe, Japan

PETER JÖBACK ALBUM NEWS

This is a round-up of what I know so far about Peter's new album "Det här är platsen" (This is the place).

The following is the tracklisting for the album:
1. Är det här platsen? (Is this the place?)
2. Du har förlorat mer än jag (You have lost more than me)
3. Sommarens sista sång (Summer's last song)
4. Ingen skyldighet (No obligation)
5. Mellan en far och en son (Between a father and a son)
6. Bland nattens skuggor (Amongst the shadows of the night)
7. Jag bär dig (I carry you)
8. Du behöver ingen hjälp (You need no help)
9. Glömskans tåg (The train of oblivion)
10. Gör det nu (Do it now)
11. I allt jag ser (In everything I see)

"Jag bär dig" is the duet with Sara Isaksson. It is a cover version of the fabulous song "Don't Give Up" by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. Thomas Andersson Wij wrote the Swedish lyrics.

"Du behöver ingen hjälp" is a Swedish language version of "Help Somebody", a song featured on Peter's 2002 album "I Feel Good And I'm Worth It". "Help Somebody" was written by Niclas Frisk and Andreas Mattsson.

Niclas Frisk and Andreas Mattsson have also written "Du har förlorat mer än jag", the first single from the album.

Mauro Scocco has written six of the songs:
- Är det här platsen? (Is this the place?)
- Ingen skyldighet (No obligation)
- Mellan en far och en son (Between a father and a son)
- Bland nattens skuggor (Amongst the shadows of the night)
- Glömskans tåg (The train of oblivion)
- Gör det nu (Do it now)

The album will be a digi-pack and allow access to exclusive bonus material on the internet.

You can listen to 30 second clips from all the songs at Sony Music's Swedish site. See the news page at http://www.joback.nu for the link.

Peter appeared on TV-huset on the weekend and performed two songs - the new single "Du har förlorat mer än jag" and a Swedish version of the John Hiatt song "Have A Little Faith In Me". You can watch a video of Peter performing "Have A Little Faith In Me". See the news page at http://www.joback.nu for the link.

Thanks to ABBAMAIL's Grant Whittingham, Sydney, Australia

AGNETHA ON DUTCH BOX

April 29th, this Thursday, Agnetha's Almighty Mixes of "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" will be released as a 4-track jewel-case CD-single.

On that same day, Music Channel 'The Box' will make her 'BOX-TOPPER', which means that her video will be played at least every hour!

'The Box' is an interactive Music Channel. It's on 24 hours a day. You can call the station, enter a 'video-clip-code' and the video of your choice will be played. During the hours that most people do other things
than watching TV, you might even get your request played 3,4,5 times in a row.(it works, I know, used to do that often after coming home after a 'night on the town', 5-6 o'clock Sundaymorning ;-), requesting my favourite video of that moment)

Their viewing-audience is young, age between 12 and 25. So Warner Music here in The Netherlands is doing a great job to promote this single I think.

If you want to take a look at their website (in Dutch) go to:

http://www.thebox.nl

The number you have to call to request Agnetha's video for "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" is 0909-9798. Agnetha's 'video-clip-code' will be 920. This code will be activated Thursday April 29th.

I will recieve the "Arrival" Sound+Vision Edition tomorrow, the 3 releases of ABBA ("The Story", Dutch and English version and "The Definitive Collection") have been delayed 10 days.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Lex Corbach, Ten Boer, The Netherlands

MAMMA MIA! IS BACK IN L.A.

On this site you can see some thumbnail pictures of the Mamma Mia! premiere in Los Angeles. (April 25).
http://www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?navtyp=GLS====60071&nbc1=1&str=&styp=&sfld=&sortval=3a&PageNum=1

The shocking news is that Björn wasn't there ;-)

But Lindsay Wagner was!

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Rod Reynolds, California, USA

CANADIAN HELLO MAGAZINE

I bought the latest issue of UK Hello magazine this week here in Canada and it has a lovely double page colour spread of the April 6th MAMMA MIA! celebration with great pics of the three members..

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Brian Johnson, Kelowna, Canada

AGNETHA EXPECTED TO HIT #1 IN SWEDEN

Here are a couple of translations of news stories from Musikindustrin.

------------------

http://www.musikindustrin.nu/mi/smpage.fwx?page=198&NYHETER=4469

Agnetha Fältskog towards the top right away

Agnetha Fältskog's first album in 17 years, My Colouring Book [Metronome/Warner Music], looks like it will easily take over the number 1 spot on this week's hit chart. The album is selling very well in record stores throughout the country, and everything points to Agnetha soon enjoying a number 1 spot again on the Swedish sales chart.

-------------------

http://www.musikindustrin.nu/mi/smpage.fwx?page=198&NYHETER=4471

...and has already sold platinum

Agnetha Fältskog's very eagerly awaited comeback album My Colouring Book had already, before it was shipped to stores last week, been registered for gold- as well as platinum album. The album has been received with open arms by Swedish record buyers the past few days.

------------------

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Claes Davidsson, Orlando, Florida, USA

AGNETHA REVIEW ON DOT MUSIC

I just saw this fanstastic review of MCB at dotmusic.co.uk

Agnetha Fältskog - 'My Colouring Book'
(Monday April 26, 2004 4:44 PM )

Released on 19/04/2004
Label: WEA

Any Abba biog will inform you that the world's greatest-ever pop group actually sprang from the Scandinavian folk scene, where all four members were already recording artists of some success.

That "My Colouring Book", blonde recluse Agnetha Fältskog's first solo album in over fifteen years, comprises covers of her favourite pre-Abba songs might, then, strike fear into the hearts of the 'Mamma Mia' masses, but a pleasant surprise awaits one and all.

Thanking everyone from Doris Day and Cilla Black to Simon & Garfunkel, Demis Roussos, The Beach Boys, Cliff Richards and Bing Crosby on the sleeve, "My Colouring Book" is a collection of well-known and obscure ballads that romanticizes heartbreak in the way only the Swedish can.

Of course, the skill in choosing such songs is in telling your story without having written a word of it. Anyone who had hoped Agnetha had busied herself with pottery and found fulfilment setting up an animal sanctuary, perhaps, will be disappointed. The last two decades have apparently been full of lost and impossible love... could anything be more romantic, in pop terms? Mais non.

Opener "My Colouring Book", previously recorded by Andy Williams, Barbra, Cliff, Dusty, Brenda Lee and Aretha - how's that for credentials? - could have been purpose-written for the project: "For those who fancy colouring books/And lots of people do/Here's a new one for you..." It's followed immediately by the album's stand-out moment, "When You Walk In The Room" (one of The Searchers' many hit Jackie DeShannon covers), rendered in an enormously satisfying Phil Spector style.

Thereafter, the first of two Cilla covers, a Beatles-y "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind", immeasurably improved simply through not being sung by the Scouse foghorn. "Sealed With A Kiss" is next, with a bewitching, Ry Cooder-tumbleweedy treatment that erodes all remembrance of Jason Donovan, then the straight 60s crooning of Petula Clark's "Love Me With All Your Heart" before "Fly Me To The Moon", which remains a slinky cabaret classic.

The Shangri-Las' "Past, Present And Future" is the first oddity, a spookily spoken-word affair that seems to storybook Agnetha's well-publicised stalker troubles ("Take a walk along the beach tonight?/I'd love to/But don't try to touch me..."). "A Fool Am I" is a belter in the Dusty Springfield mould; "I Can't Reach Your Heart" a piano-led song from a long-lost musical.

Elsewhere, "Sometimes When I'm Dreaming", replenishes the quirky quotient with its refrain of "I wake up screaming/Sometimes when I'm dreaming", before the second Cilla track, "The End Of The World" is successfully reclaimed as a shuffling Motown number.

The penultimate track, the little-known "Remember Me", could easily be an Abba outtake, before "What Now My Love", the Shirley Bassey showtune par excellence, closes proceedings with a bizarre yet effective "Where The Streets Have No Name" production job.

In short, "My Colouring Book" is a peerless resurrection of a pop princess, to whom the modern-day equivalents cannot compare; she can sing, for starters - that wonderful, familiar soprano is high and clear in the mix throughout, and age has not wearied it. Oh, and she looks gorgeous on the sleeve, in that middle-aged, Joanna Lumley, better-than-ever way that makes mere mortals weep over their shallow gene pools and misspent years of sunbathing.

Would that all icons had the good grace to wait until they had an album of such quality to relaunch themselves - once again, Agnetha Fältskog has set the gold standard of pop.

8/10 stars by Emma Warren

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Andy Andrews, Conway Arkansas USA

PAUL CARTER'S UK REPORT

Here are some recent news pieces and articles that have gathered over the past couple of weeks:

This is the promotional schedule that Warner UK organised for Agnetha (before she cancelled):
22 April Parkinson
22 April GMTV
22 April This Morning
23 April Top of the Pops
25 April Breakfast with Frost
26 April Richard & Judy
26 April Sky News
26 April ITN News
26 April BBC News
26 April VH1
1 May BBC Music Live

Here are some more reviews and recent articles:

Daily Star (21 April)

ABBA's Muppet Tribute

Super Swedes ABBA are to be reunited for this year's Eurovision Song Contest - as Muppets. It is 30 years since the band won the event with Waterloo, and music chiefs wanted to stage a tribute.

Although Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Annifrid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog rejected a reunion, they agreed to put their voices to Muppet-styled puppets of them for a comedy film to be shown at the BBC3 televised semi-finals on May 12th. The final is on May 15 in Istanbul.

Daily Express (13 April)

Following the fifth anniversary celebrations of Mamma Mia! last week, we hear of another ABBA-related venture - this time planned for the big screen. Twenty years ago, former band member Bjorn Ulvaeus penned the hit musical Chess with lyricist Sir Tim Rice, and the pair are in the process of turning the show - which starred Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige - into a blockbuster.

"I thoroughly enjoyed working with Bjorn the first time around and I am looking forward to working with him again," revealed Sir Tim, at a recent party. "It will be a challenge, going back to something we wrote 20 years ago and thinking of ways to make it suit the silver screen."

Having worked with Madonna in the film version of Evita - which also starred Antonio Banderas - Sir Tim is looking to line up some big names for Chess.

"There are so many talented actors around these days, I'm spoilt for choice," he says. "I'd like to work with Madonna again. She was great in Evita, although I don't think she would be interested. The world of chess is a million miles away from the glamorous world in which Eva Peron lived."

Daily Telegraph (17 April 2004)

A strong early contender for the turkey of the year award, My Colouring Book labours under a couple of tragic misapprehensions. First, that what the pop world needs in 2004 is another ragbag of tunes from the 1960s, orchestrally tortured beyond the reasonable demands of karaoke. And second, that because
she used to be one quarter of the phenomenal ABBA, Agnetha Fältskog ranks as a gifted balladeer who can carry off songs such as 'Fly Me To The Moon' and 'Sealed With A Kiss'. As we learn slowly and painfully over these and 10 other pieces, the brittle and brassy voice that worked so well blaring forth
triumphalist ABBA anthems is less effective when conveying more intimate, self-doubting sentiments.

Aside from the Searchers' hit 'When You Walk In The Room', whose perky melody just about survives a cruel rhythmic beating from the orchestra, the most successful item here is 'Past Present and Future', in which Agnetha talks us through her hopes and fears in a light Scandinavian accent that sounds easy on the ears for once, and almost sexy.

written by Robert Sandall

Mail on Sunday (18 April)

...Another reputation due for a rethink is ABBA's. With compilation packages, a slew of tribute acts and a thriving stage musical, ABBA constitute a flourishing, self-contained music industry second only to The
Beatles.

That's not all the two bands have in common. Alongside that of the Bee Gees, their catalogues make up the folk music of our time, the tunes we all instinctively respond to.

ABBA merit, if not the degree, then at least the type of critical reverence accorded to The Beatles. But they don't get it as their devotees are found at hen parties and karaoke nights rather than aftershow parties and quiz nights.

It is ABBA's fate to be misconstrued as tacky and fluffy. They had plenty of lapses, but their best songs (Voulez-Vous, The Winner Takes It All, The Day Before You Came) can encapsulate in four minutes the futility, hollowness, poetic desolation and very Scandinavian melancholy that would take their compatriot Ingmar Bergman two hours of torpid celluloid. No one in pop, not even Leonard Cohen, has struck closer at loneliness and loss. But because they did it in bad trousers, to a disco beat, they might as well not have
bothered.

That overtone of sorrow provides the one ABBA-like aspect discernible in Agnetha Fältskog's My Colouring Book, the first new music from any of the foursome in donkey's years. A collection of covers, all from the Sixties, it's something of a cabaret turn.

Fans who recognise in ABBA only the bounce and the glitz will be perplexed by this labour of love with its studiedly inflected vocal emulation of Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick.

It's not a bad record, by any means, although it has moments which are every bit as camp and corny as ABBA are mistakenly held to be. People who enjoy cocktail-lounge retro - a sizeable segment of the population just now - may take to it. (2/5)

Independent on Sunday (18 April)

The first crush of a generation, Agnetha Fältskog, the sad-eyed blonde in blue satin, has remained something of a recluse since the disintegration of ABBA, so My Colouring Book arrives as a surprise. For four years, Agnetha has been researching the songs of the 1960s for a personal project, which grew into an album of faithfully-rendered covers. Her voice is undiminished after 20 years and when she delivers the spoken bits in that shiver-inducing Swedish accent: "Take a walk along the beach tonight? Why not...but don't try to touch me", it touches you

written by Simon Price

Stockholm City (as reported by www.raffem.com)

According to Henric Tiselius this album is good for playing for the pensioner charter tourists in Spain. The leading singer in ABBA should have done something better than going back to the 1960s, writes Tiselius. One Globen out of five.

>From www.carlmagnuspalm.com

April 18: I am interviewed about ABBA on the Russian news program Vesti 7, broadcast on the RTR channel. This report will probably include shots from the ABBA exhibit at the Music Museum in Stockholm, and from inside Polar Studios, which will shut down very soon. It is possible to watch the ABBA report on the Internet. Click the Vesti 7 link above, then click the small camera symbol.

----------------

Thanks to ABBAMAIL's Fan of the Year Paul Carter, London, UK

"ABBA" SOUND+VISION

After the "Waterloo"'30th Anniversary Edition', that was released this week, we now have "ABBA" 'Sound+Vision'.

It comes in a 'cut-in-half' see-thru DVD-package, the same one as we saw it for the "Waterloo" '30th Anniversary Edition' release. Where "Waterloo" had the old 'Polar' label on the disc, we now see the
'frosted' look for both discs on this release. On the cover the 'Sound+Vision' sticker, this time in 70's Green, which is more or less in style with the picture on the cover.

It is a bit (?) dissapointing.

The booklet is *exactly* the same as the booklet for the 2001 release. Only difference is the catalogue number on the back. The CD ,and the DVD, look *exactly* the same as the 2001 release. Only the
year has changed.

On the inside of the CD-DVD-case is the picture of ABBA in the hotel lobby on the left, and a picture of the master tape on the right (same as the 2001 release)

The DVD contains 3 video's from the 1975 era:
- "Mamma Mia"
- "SOS"
- "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do"

Background of the 'Menu' is the picture from the cover, ABBA in the Limo. You can choose to play the videos or watch their Discography. When watching their Discography we see ABBA under the yellow tree (same picture as the cover of the Melba release "Golden Double Album") and the 8 albums lined up at the top of the screen. You can choose from which album you would like to see the tracklist. The pictures used for this section are the covers from the 2001 release, but the tracklist shows the original tracklist only, not the bonus-tracks that are on the 2001 release.

The menu is backed by "SOS"

When you choose to watch the videos, you see a section from the front cover picture enlarged, and 3 little moving TV screens with the video's playing.

Due to the fact that "Waterloo" has got '30th Anniversary Edition' next to the title, the titles on the sides of the Sound+Vision-Packages are not in one line like the 2001 releases were. This is one aspect I liked a lot when placing the CD's and LP's on a shelve. Now the little coloured square on "Waterloo" is higher up than the one on "ABBA".

They could have made this a *little* more special if you ask me.

Write at least some new liner-notes. Add some more videos to it.

The videos done for "So Long" and "Bang-A-Boomerang", the black and white clip for "Hey, Hey Helen", and the 'MusikLaden' video's for "Tropical Loveland", "Rock Me" and "I've Been Waiting For You". (perhaps these are copyright protected or something, but we got "Hasta Mañana"(RTVE), "Honey, Honey"(ZDF) and "Waterloo"(SVT) on the "Waterloo" '30th Anniversary Edition', so why not add these to this release.....?)

It is not finished now, and not at all complete. Perhaps a good idea for the future? (...sigh...)

Maybe it is because there are so many releases lately, that I get a bit tired when I see this. In 2001 they got it *SO* right!

"Arrival Sound+Vision" will be released early next week...

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Lex Corbach, Ten Boer, The Netherlands

SUNDAY LIFE STORY

Desolate dancing queen
My John McGurk
25 April 2004

ARE Ulster music fans ready to Take A Chance again on ABBA's most enigmatic member, Agnetha Fältksog?

Or will the now 54-year-old Swedish grandmother meet her Waterloo in a music market place completely different from her Seventies' heyday?

Fältksog was the blonde bombshell with the most famous posterior in pop - a Dancing Queen who fulfilled countless schoolboys and drooling dads' Swedish vamp fantasies.

But as she cheekily winked her way through Take A Chance On Me, and sexily smiled through ABBA's glory days, Fältskog's real life unhappiness belied the shiny exterior.

Other than a bizarre boyfriend-turned-stalker relationship with a young Dutch fan, little has been heard of her... until now.

For Agnetha Fältksog has just released her first solo album in 17 years, My Colouring Book.

The build-up has been typically mysterious, with the notoriously private Fältksog pulling the plug on all promotion, just weeks before its release.

However, she has been astute enough to hook the release of her comeback album to the tide of nostalgia and affection these days for anything to do with ABBA.

Perhaps surprisingly, she hasn't chosen the easy camp disco comeback option, as My Colouring Book is shaped by a selection of middle of the road songs from her teenage days.

Even though its 13 tracks are mostly cover versions of Sixties' standards, My Colouring Book is a concept album in all but name - spine-chilling in its sense of melodic, melancholic desolation.

Only one song - When You Walk In The Room - approximates anything like the happy, pure pop of peak period ABBA.

But the influence of ABBA's loser in love stories - Knowing Me, Knowing You, The Winner Takes It All and The Day Before You Came - uncannily echoes throughout.

It's like Fältskog's highly personalised tracks of her tears - with other people's words spookily reflecting her apparently lonely state of mind.

Current single, If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind is an elegant, elegaic piece of baroque pop - with her voice eerily recapturing the yearning, plaintive performances of the past.

There are mistakes - as on the sort of old fashioned, string-drenched Eurovision-style ballad which ABBA did their best to obliterate - A Fool Am I.

But, for the most part, Fältskog's song choices and performances are flawless - oddly emulating the leftfield eccentricity which the likes of Bjork, Tori Amos and Kate Bush specialise in.

Her cover of the Brian Hyland hit, Sealed With A Kiss, comes complete with a shivering, twangy guitar riff which wouldn't be out of place in a blackly surreal David Lynch film.

Her spoken meditation on old romances and female frigidity on Past, Present and Future is extraordinary as she warns 'Don't try to touch me' in fairytale-turned-bad Ice Maiden tones.

The most surprising aspect of this superficially middle of the road set comes from its utterly desolate, virtually suicidal sentiments, more usually expressed by the likes of Nick Cave and PJ Harvey.

The stripped bare piano and stringed track, Sometimes When I'm Dreaming, is bleakly beautiful, with Fältskog's best vocal performance possessing lines such as 'nobody knew just how it feels to be me' with chilling conviction.

The best is kept for last - Fältskog's understated and subtly dramatic revision of the Shirley Bassey chestnut, What Now My Love, with insistent tribal drums and chiming, U2-like guitar.

Sometimes self-pitiful and sorrowful, Fältksog detonates any hackneyed notions that blondes have more fun. For her worldview is far bluer than the glammed-up eyeshadow of her youth.

ABBA's Swede dreams of old may have turned into real life nightmares for Fältksog. But, ironically, this tear-filled set is an ABBA-solute creative triumph.

My Colouring Book by Agnetha Fältksog is on WEA Records and is available now.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Kaarin Goodburn, Kettering, UK

BBC FILMING IN VASTERVIK

BBC filming in Västervik
The ABBA-members growth enviroments are being documented

1974 ABBA won the Swedish Melodifestivalen with the song Waterloo. 30 years have passed and ABBA is bigger than ever in England.
The intrest in the members of ABBA's background is so big that there has been a big filming team from BBC in Västervik during the Sunday.

- We have been to the old paper factory, the school and to Nortullsgatan where Björn grew up, says Hansi Schwartz who acted as a guide during the visit.

How the the collaboration between Björn Ulvaeus in the folk song group "Hootenanny Singers" and Benny Andersson in the pop group "Hep Stars" started there have been many stories about.

Hansi Schwartz will tell the whole truth in English TV.

- It all started at my place at Västra Kyrkogatan 32 (where the "Floristhuset" is today) during a party.
- Björn and Benny began discussing and then went home to Björn where they started the musical collaboration in the cellar.

Not entirely successful to do that in a house with lots of other people, instead father Gunnar Ulvaeus took his old Saab and drove the boys to the building at the paper factory. The year was 1966.

- The first song "Is it in´t easy to say" (sic) was created, says Hansi Schwarz.
Hansi, who was a member of Hootenanny Singers, became very nostaltgic during the Sunday.

- When we came to the paper factory there was a Volvo duett and a Volvo Amazon.

- Both of these cars were our the makes of our first and second tour cars.
The filming team from BBC won't only visit Västervik.

- We have been to Stockholm and after Västervik we will visit Jönköping, Agnetha Fältskog town of birth and growth, told Rebecca Ibbison who have researched everything when it comes to ABBA's background.

The film team worked very fast and the intention is that the documentary will be broadcast on BBC in June.

Many nice pictures and good PR for Västervik.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Robin Andersson, Stockholm, Sweden

RADIO2 = B-LIST RADIO1 = SNUB

BBC2 has Agnetha's single on the B-list of songs to be played - yes, we all know that. After reaching #11 in the first week of release you might have thought she should have made the A-list. But no!

And BBC1's album show has snubbed Agnetha's album and - now we find out - her single too! The broadcast is available to listen to on the internet:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/index.shtml?hp_lhn

"Also in the same show, when he runs the new chart positions for singles, he skipped Agnetha's single. OK fair enough skip a track if it has plummeted from say 8 to 38, but dropping just 11 places does not warrant being skipped completely. You can hear the entirety of the show at the URL. If you do try to listen to the broadcast on the net, please don't skip the 15 or 5 minutes too much as you'll miss his brief mention of her. It truly is sickening."

Thanks to ABBA fan Diego, UK

Here is a great email sent by an ABBAMAIL site visitor to the BBC DJ:

"I was very disappointed today that you only played a short clip from Agnetha Faltskog's album.
It may not be to your taste but clearly it is to lots of music fans. A lot of new bands could only dream of
getting to #12 on the album charts. I listen to Radio 1 and new bands all the time, but I also like to hear
genuine legendary artists and I bought the new album from Agnetha and think it's great. It's a shame you
didn't play a track so others could hear it too. Afterall, your show is supposed to be reflecting the charts and she's made it to #12 with hardly any promotion, unlike lots of acts where its all promotion
and no talent. Hope you can correct it on next week's show.
Thanks.
best wishes,
Louise, Leicester, UK"

ABBAMAIL feels ABBA fans in the UK particularly should follow Louise's lead and make their feelings known. How about it guys? Sometimes being a fan means more than just listening to the music - it is also about standing up for what you believe in.

BBC1 SNUBS AGNETHA

Despite Agnetha's single hitting #11 in the UK charts and her album debuting at #12 - with very little airplay and no promotion - BBC1's Chart Show has chosen to snub Agnetha's achievement by not playing a track from My Colouring Book during their show.

If you would like to make your feelings known about this, please email your concerns to the DJ concerned:
wes@bbc.co.uk

Keep your comments clean and constructive but don't be afraid to express your feelings at this snub. And British citizens, it is your licence fee that pays for the BBC's existence and for the salaries of the programming staff and DJs like Wes. The BBC is meant to serve the citizens and licence fee payers of Britain, not dictate the the tastes of a few autocrats to the general public. You have every right to make your feelings known and you might try visiting the BBC web site and finding out the BBC Director General's feedback email address and dropping him a line.

Agnetha's album isn't going anywhere without further radio support. And her snubbing at the hands of the BBC's album chart show is highly inappropriate and unfair.

Graeme Read / ABBAMAIL Administration

FANTASTIC - AGNETHA #12 IN UK CHARTS

UK Album chart latest, Agnetha-My Colouring Book debuts at #12.

Radio 1 did not even play a full track from the album, just 10 seconds of the single.

Transcript of email sent to Wes the Radio 1 DJ announcing the chart now:

QUOTE
"Wes,

What's the matter, don't you like songs with melody? On your chart show today in the album run down, you did not play a full album track from Agnetha Faltskog's new album "My Colouring Book", a new entry at #12 (announced by you). Yet you play full tracks from George Michael and Scissor Sisters, albums already in the album chart. (Even those tracks you played were the singles already in the singles chart).

I know Agnetha is not Radio 1 material rather Radio 2, but you are claiming to be the best chart show in the world and the "first". So it is time you reflected the album chart correctly and play a track from new entries, regardless of whether they are "A" or "B" list on Radio 1.

Disappointed that your show is not fully comprehensive of what the record buying public is purchasing. And don't give me the line "time constraints did not allow us to play an album track from Agnetha", you could have dropped George Michael or Scissor Sisters.

A reply from you would be nice, justifying your play list on the album part of the show today.

Yours sincerely,
Diego Lopez,"

Thanks to ABBA fan Diego Lopez, UK

PS: ABBA GOLD drops to #15

PPS: "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind" just announced for her second week in UK singles chart at #22. Outselling Britney at #26, Janet Jackson dropped to around 27 or so. So a peak of #11, not bad for 17 years out of the scene. Maybe that's a record for best comeback position for a single after a long period out of charts.

SUNDAY TIMES REVIEW

This is the rather favourable review from The Sunday Times THE MONTH MAY 04 CD (for computers):

"Here's how it could have been: Warners release the effervescent When You
Walk In The Room as a single, Radio 2 slaps it on the A list, and a
generation hails the magnificent return of Agnetha - the blonde in ABBA -
after the best part of two decades holed up in her mansion, doing a Greta
Garbo.

But that's not how it's going to be apparently, because the reclusive
Fältskog has already returned to her mansion, as wary of the spotlight as
ever, and this collection of her favourite 1960s pop tunes is therefore
destined to remain low-key.

Rather a shame, really, as although My Colouring Book is hardly a
substantial work, Fältskog's voice is still evocative, some of the songs
are crackers, and I rather suspect it could easily be another 20 years
before her next album."

Snippets of six songs can also be heard:
If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind
When You Walk In The Room
Sealed With A Kiss
Love Me With All Your Heart
Remember Me
Sometimes When I'm Dreaming

It also has a section entitled "If you like this, try these:" and features
the following albums:

Dusty Springfield, Dusty In Memphis
The Shangri-Las, Myrmidons of Melodrama
Julie London, The End Of The World/Nice Girls Don't Stay For Breakfast
Various Artists, Phil Spector Back To Mono (1958-1969)

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Paul Campbell, Edinburgh, UK and Trent Nickson, Sydney, Australia

DUTCH NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Please keep in mind that although printed in Holland's biggest newspaper the article is written by Wilma Nanninga, editor of Privé, biggest gossip magazine in the Netherlands.

Abba's Agnetha about her surprising comeback: I'm singing away the misery.

Abba is totally hot, but from lead singer Agnetha we haven't heard for 16 years long. After the many drama's in her personal life, a new career for the blonde singer seemed further away then ever. That THIS woman has secretly been working on a comeback for 4 years is both spectacular as remarkable. On the eve of the release of her new CD Privé had a shocking meeting with the fragile Swede.

Agnetha: 'Sometimes you have to look back in the past to be able to get on with your life. The songs on my new album My Colouring Book are songs with a personal memory of my own youth. They are coming right from my heart, and that's why I wanted to sing them'.

With 360 million sold records and the musical Mamma Mia sold out everywhere Abba are an established part of the pop scene. And who says Abba of course thinks of Agnetha Fältskog. In the 70's and 80's, together with Abba colleagues Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson en Anni-Frid Reuss, she was one of the biggest stars in the world. Everywhere where Abba appeared mostly Agnetha made the fans faint. With her beautiful voice and her sexy naive appearance she was an example to many young girls and young boys lost their heads over her. Agnetha now lives on Helgö, a beautiful island just outside Stockholm. Far away from the rest of the world, she got rid of all glitter and glamour, so it seems if we meet her by accident on the parking place of the local supermarket, a day before the interview. A very special experience.

The Agnetha we meet is a completely different woman then the diva from old times. In the grey reality of a clouded Swedish day she looks like an ordinary housewife. She's 54 years old now. The recognisable blond hair is still there. Styled in a modern way. No other styling or makeup. Agnetha wears a simple cobalt blue coat, with a matching shawl. The shock comes with the near vacuous expression of her face. Her eyes are deep in her orbits and the wrinkles around her mouth show this woman is far from happy. We hardly recognise her. Agnetha is shocked when she sees we recognise her. Her eyes move from left to right, frightened. But she remains standing in a way we can look her right in the eyes. It's almost like she wants us to say, Yes, look at me, it's really me. She looks at us from top to toe. Over a minute long we look at the star's somewhat swollen face, and she looks at us. Agnetha looks like a cornered cat. With that difference that there is no one else present and Agnetha can leave the parking place if she wants to. It seems that deep from the inside she somewhat enjoys the attention.

What's the matter with Agnetha? Is she really the recluse she's made out to be for all those years? But a recluse, lives in total solitude, doesn't do her own shopping, especially when she's a millionaire. And a recluse certainly doesn't make a comeback with a new CD, like Agnetha.

Her ex-boyfriend Bruce Gaitsch tells us: ' Not many people recognise Agnetha when they see her in real life. On the one hand she doesn't want to be recognised. On the other hand she is furious when people don't recognise her. It's a very double sided attitude. The attitude of someone who hates attention, but cannot live without it. It's a vulnerable Agnetha who presents her new album. Commercially it's already a big success. Her first new single in 16 years. If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind has become a big hit in the UK in no time. But behind her success there is a lot of drama. When the interview finally takes place Agnetha tells us shy but openhearted: 'There were moments in the ABBA time, that my daughter Linda didn't recognise me when we came home from a tour. She was so little and had to get used to her mother and father all over again. That hurt tremendously.' On stage everything seemed okay, but behind the screens the domestic problems where a big sorrow for Agnetha. More often her husband Björn had to convince Agnetha to go on long promotion tours. When after many fights Björn and Agnetha's wedding falls apart, Abba doesn't split up as expected by many. But the last world tour is a big trauma for Agnetha. Agnetha's fragile personality, her tendency to phobic fears are severely tested in Australia by hysteric en pushy fans. During a near flying accident the shy star develops several phobias mainly fear of flying and fear of open spaces. Agnetha has crossed her own human boundaries too often and now has to pay the price. When in the beginning of the 80's Abba decide to take a break Agnetha is very relieved. A break that will eventually mean the end of the group. Agnetha starts a successful solo career. Her singles 'Wrap your arms around me' and 'The heat is on' are big hits. To promote these records she decides to no longer fly but travel by a luxury touring car. But destiny strikes again when after a performance in the UK she gets into a severe bus accident and she is swung out of the bus like a cannonball. >From that moment on the emotional damage is beyond repair.

Agnetha now: ' I really thought I wouldn't survive. You think about your life, your family, your responsibilities. For a moment I didn't know how to go on. The accident is a turning point in her career. She makes 2 more solo records, the last one in 1988, but from now on her family comes first. She no longer travels. After a one time performance in the UK her boyfriend at the time Bruce Gaitsch tells Agnetha hasn't slept for 3 nights, just because she had to say a few words on television. Again this is a turning point in her career. Now her attitude towards fans changes. She no longer answers fanmail. Agnetha wants to be alone and to be left alone.

But times change. In the book 'On Speaking Terms' that came out over a year ago Agnetha announces her comeback. A comeback that is now a fact with the release of her new CD. Suddenly enthusiastic Agnetha tells us she is producing a TV special that will be shown in Holland as well. "I will sing 6 or 7 songs from my new record. I worked on the album for 4 years. First with Michael B Tretow, Abba's original sound engineer. But when he became seriously ill, I completed the album with classic schooled arranger Anders Neglin. All songs on the record are memories from my youth. These are songs that - when I was young- inspired me to start singing en composing."

But even more then musical memories the songs on the CD My Colouring Book seem an escape to a time in which Agnetha lived without sorrow. Her divorce of doctor Tomas Sonnenfelt, her second husband, the tragic death of her mother who committed suicide, and the death of her father shortly afterwards were very difficult for Agnetha. And then we haven't even mentioned the misery of her on and off relationship with the Dutchman who stalked for quite some time. Agnetha seems to sing the misery away. Agnetha herself says: " I have always been more attracted to the sadder songs." Her voice sounds more personal and touching. The songs might be covers from hits form the 60's but seem more personal and significant then ever. On the potential hit ' Sometimes when I'm dreaming' she sings: " Though it may not be right, to give up the fight, I'm sailing away, now I'm on my own, alone". We hear a woman who only seems to be happy in her dreams. But Agnetha is not totally alone. Daughter Linda, her son in law and granddaughter Tilda also live on her estate. And son Christian can also be found on the estate very often. Agnetha: " Christian and Linda have convinced me to buy a very expensive stereo system. It might seem strange, but with that purchase my ambition to sing came back. Nowadays I enjoy a lot of different sorts of music. I seldom listen to Abba. For me the group is history. I want to aim at the future. Things I like to do and things I'm good at."

Time seems to have healed many wounds. But some things never change. Agnetha will not personally promote her most beautiful record from her career. She does not appear on an Abba reunion in London. Her manager lets us know that Abba is history for Agnetha. But reality becomes more and more clear when we meet Agnetha. Agnetha knows her limitations and can not handle such an event mentally. We cannot tempt Agnetha to pose for our cameras, the way she looks without a lot of makeup. What was the title of that song again? If I thought you'd ever change your mind? How appropriate, it does seem that Agnetha has changed her own mind to start singing again, but is not capable of accepting the consequences. How can someone that shy still seek attention? Maybe this CD is a turning point for Agnetha? On the new promotional pictures we see a radiant Agnetha, but nothing is further away from the truth. Agnetha makes a strong comeback with her CD, but in reality she is unrecognisably fragile and painfully vulnerable.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Monique Hoevens Tilburg, the Netherlands

EVIL DUTCH "JOURNALISTS" SITE UPDATED

It might be a good idea for you guys to check www.abbaonspeakingterms.com as they are uploading information regularly that does not seem to be available anywhere else (apart from the stuff they take from us!).

Quite a bit of it seems to be accurate too!

Must have turned over a new leaf ;-)

Graeme Read
ABBAMAIL Administration

GET YOUR OWN GOOSEBUMPS!

The 45 second TV advert for My Colouring Book is now on Agnetha's official site - www.agnetha.se - in the 'Music' area under videos. I think it's a great advert and shows clips from several songs though I'm not sure if the clips match what's being sung with the exception of If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind and When You Walk In The Room.

Very nice to see and can't wait to see more!! Got goosebumbs and all when I saw this!

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Randy Minten, all goosebumped up in Paris, France

AGNETHA - AN INTERVIEW OF SORTS

In todays Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet, there's a kind of interview with Agnetha. Unfortunately the interview/article isn't on the online version, but only in the printed version, which I have translated into English for you:

************************

I HAVE HAD A GOOD LIFE.

ABBA-Agnetha breaks the agelong silence with an answer to Ekstra Bladet.


I can look back on a good life and I still hope I can look forward on many good years too, the ABBA-singer Agnetha Fältskog says in an answer to Ekstra Bladet.

The blond Swede has become 54 years old and has the last couple of decades avoided contact with the press and media, while living a totally secluded life in her house on Ekerö outside Stockholm.

All requests about an interview in connection with her new album in 17 years, "My Colouring Book", which was released last Monday, has kindly been refused. In stead of has choosen journalists from all around the world been asked to send her questions by letter and among those hundreds of questions asked, she has choosen to answer 9 - four of the nine were asked by Ekstra Bladet.

Among the answers there aren't any which are connected with the ABBA period. Ekstra Bladet would for example have liked to know if she looked back on the years of success with joy and pleasure - if she still sees Frida, Benny and Björn and if she can understand the whole worlds continuously interest in the Swedish pop-phenomenon. These questions she unfortunately has choosen to ignore.

WANTED TO SING AGAIN

In return for that, she happily and willingly talks about her comeback-album, which has been "slaughtered" by several music critics - but still very fast has turned out to be a sales success.

One of Ekstra Bladet's questions was about what had motivated her to make this comeback-album with cover versions of mainly welknown songs from the 60's. To that she answers: I wanted to sing again and through the years I have got so many kind letters from fans all around the world telling me, that they wanted to hear my voice again. That was my motivation/incentive, besides it also was a nostalgic trip for me to go back to my youth with all those songs, which really meant so much to me.

Ekstra Bladet: How have you kept up your voice - do you sing in the bathroom like everyone else does?

Agnetha: Yes, sometimes I sing in the bathroom. But I haven't decidedly practised in this, can we call it, long silent break or period of mine. In fact I was a bit worried when we started on the recordings. Had something happened to my voice after the years gone? At first it was a bit hard, but pretty fast it came naturally, so it wasn't really a problem. In fact it sounds pretty good, I think.

NOT NERVOUS

Ekstra Bladet: Is it important for you, that the album becomes a success?

Agnetha: It isn't necessary if it will be a hit, but it would be nice if it sells well, though and people do like what one has made. It would be a lie to say something else.

Ekstra Bladet: Are you nervous about going public again?

Agnetha: Not at all. I try to do it my way and at a pace that I like. We have been in the studio over a long period, just so it wouldn't be stressful and I hope you can hear the relaxed atmosphere that has been during the progress.

Ekstra Bladet: You're now 54 years old. What do you think the future will bring you?

Agnetha: You never know that. Right now I'm so much into this album. If I feel for it, I maybe will record another album, but the way I feel now, then it's enough with this one. But let's see what happens.

By Allan Lykke

Translated into English thanks to ABBAMAILer Jan Bach, Copenhagen, Denmark

AGNETHA'S BEAUTIFUL SHAWL

A personal review in the second largest Danish newspaper in DK Politiken by well-known journalist Erik Jensen reflecting the fact that the blonde factor never was as important in Scandinavia as in the rest of the world -though we loved Agnetha well. Quite hard to translate though, contains lots of strange metaphors.

---------------------------------------------------------

Politiken April 23 2004

Agnetha's Beautiful Shawl

3/6

I might as well confess that my personal favourite in ABBA was the dark and the devil-may-care Frida who could snarl 'Rock Me' so the posters in my room transformed into magic carpets loaded with thrilling expectations of the future. And, oh, these women in strange clothes.

But of course ABBA would never have become a Scandinavian world succes without the opposite feeling. The gently absorbing melancholy and female sweetness lying in the mouth of Agnetha Fältskog as naturally as fresh bilberries on a cloudy summer day in a Swedish forest. The shy diva with the troubled life after the hectic pop years who suddenly has revived her career with this CD with her versions of some of the great songs in honour of romance.

I might as well confess that I really like parts of the CD. Excactly because of the bittersweet melancholy characteristic of the best interpretations like 'Sealed With A Kiss', 'Past, Present And future', 'I Can't Reach Your Heart' and 'Remember Me'. On the other hand I easily could have done without tired clichés like 'When You Walk In The Room', 'Fly Me To The Moon' and 'What Now My Love', to which the blonde sweet doesn't add anything. Passion and bravura don't make Agnetha any better. But simple, beautiful songs that she wraps around herself like a shawl against the cold and tristess of the world actually do. A shawl of pure silk warming us as well.

Erik Jensen

----------------------
Thanks to ABBA fan Nils, Copenhagen, Denmark

SOME LATEST UK CHART NEWS

Agnetha re-enters the Top 50 Airplay Chart this week. Two weeks ago she was at #40, then fell back to #60. This week she reaches a new high of #36, with an increase in audience reach up 51% to 17.6m. At the same time she enters the Radio 2 Top 10 airplay chart again, this week at #9. She is still B-listed.

The ABBA In Concert DVD holds again at #2, now for the third week, but is behind Guns n Roses, rather than Blue who swap places at numbers 1 and 3 respectively.

Surprisingly, Agnetha's Almighty Mix doesn't feature in the Music Week dance charts at all, despite being commercially available. Perhaps the DJs were not serviced with the track in time. The five-track ABBA GOLD sampler (which was #1 two weeks ago on the Commercial Pop Top 30) continues to fall back, now at #15 from #8.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Paul Campbell, Edinburgh, UK

UPDATE ON DUTCH CHARTS

An update from the Netherlands about Agnetha and her positions in the Dutch charts:

- (Single) Mega top 50: #20 (from 24) on last Saturday (3 weeks)
- (Single) Top 40 : first entry on #34
- (Album) Mega Album Top 100: first entry at #31
- (Single) Pepsi chart: from #10 to #11 (last Friday) (3 weeks)
- (Album) Pepsi chart album top 40: first entry at #20!

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Gé Teunissen, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

AGNETHA & THE YOUNGER GENERATION

My daughter, who will be 15 in a couple of weeks, was out shopping with her (current!) boyfriend.

In Virgin Megastore she stopped at the display full of Agnetha albums, seeing her looking, the b/f enquired "Who the f*ck is Aggneeetha Faltscog".

"Agnetha Fältskog", she corrected him, "is one quarter of ABBA, the blonde one. She has a gorgeous voice and I already heard the single before it was released."

"How do you know all this stuff - you can't like it surely?"

"I adore ABBA and my Dad is a huge fan. He says the Agnetha album is stunning, although it might not be our taste."

"Load of crap more like. Fancy having a Dad into ABBA ".

"Well, my Dad was in the audience at one of the world's biggest selling musical's 5th anniversary performance last week. He was there as 3/4 of ABBA walked in."

"So what, meaningless crap."

"Selling more than 10,000 records a day world-wide even now - that's crap? That's more records in a week than most of your favourite bands sell in the time they're together. Get real! Besides, Dad says Frida is stunning and divine. That's enough for me."

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Kevin Fletcher, Birmingham, UK

LINKS TO SWEDISH AGNETHA REVIEWS

Some reviews in Swedish press lately:

http://www.halsingekuriren.se/20040422/artiklar/K1_20040422_023_1_6.htm
TT SPEKTRA: 2/5

http://www.arbetarbladet.se/article.php?id=231715&avdelning_1=0&avdelning_2=0
Arbetarbladet

http://www.folkbladet.nu/index.asp?vf=1&x=24402
Västerbottens folkblad: 2/5

http://www.ystadsallehanda.se/Article.jsp?article=50539
Ystads Allehanda: 3/5

http://w1.sydsvenskan.se//Article.jsp?article=10081528
Sydsvenska dagbladet: 2/5

http://www2.unt.se/avd/1,2883,MC=5-AV_ID=315376,00.html?from=recenbox
Uppsala Nya Tidning. And it gives the album a 4 out of 5 "birds".

Aftonbladet has reviewed it in their "PULS"-attach and it gets 2/5

http://www.norran.se/sektion_c.php?id=350131&avdelning_1=121&avdelning_2=152
Norran gives it 3/5.

http://www.ekuriren.se/ekuriren/artikel_skiv_recension.php?id=250740&avdelning_1=109&avdelning_2=132
Eskilstunakuriren: (No grade)

http://www.inorr.se/pt/index.php?artikel=88366
Piteåtidningen 2/5

http://www.ltz.se/artikel_standard.php?id=156847&avdelning_1=124&avdelning_2=161
Länstidningen i Östersund: 3/5

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Robin Andersson, Stockholm, Sweden

NAZI DOCO ON DUTCH TV

From an article in the Dutch Gaykrant nr 506, on page 50:

"Norway's Nazi Secret", a documentary will be broadcast on: Tuesday, 27 April.
VPRO TV Channel: Nederland3, time 23:40
A part of this documentary will be specific about Frida's lifestory.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Pieter Wever, Amersfoort, The Netherlands

WATERLOO ANNIVERSARY EDITION

People seem to be having problems obtaining the Waterloo 30th Anniversary Edition CD/DVD in regular shops outside Sweden. You can actually order it from Skivhugget now - www.skivhugget.com

The tracklisting on the CD and the DVD is:

1. Waterloo
2. Sitting in the Palmtree
3. King Kong Song
4. Hasta Manana
5. My Mama Said
6. Dance (while the music still goes on)
7. Honey, Honey
8. Watch Out
9. What about Livingstone
10. Gonna sing you my Lovesong
11. Suzy-hang-around

BONUS TRACKS:
12. Ring, Ring (US remix 1974)
13. Waterloo (Swedish version)
14. Honey, Honey (Swedish version)
15. Waterloo (German version)
16. Waterloo (French version)

BONUS DVD:
17. Waterloo (Eurovision song contest, BBC)
18. Waterloo (Melodifestivalen, SVT) The pre-heat for the Eurovision - sung in Swedish
19. Honey, Honey (Star Parade, ZDF) Great colourfull clip from German TV
20. Hasta Manana (Senoras y senores, RTVE, Spain) Weird black and white clip!

All the clips are from TV-shows around Europe in 1974. Beautiful packaging and design.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Mandy Johnson, Brooklyn, New York, USA

MIDWEEK MADNESS!

Agnetha's mid week UK chart position for the album is...No 7!

Probably won't maintain that for the end of week chart but anyway...Bloody Hell!

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Richard Simcock, Sydney, Australia

UK TELEVISION

Loads of ABBA stuff happening on next week. Apart from the Celebrity Extra thing on Living that supposedly has the ABBA members there (probably ABB), ABBA's Greatest Hits is on Thursday 29th at 20:00 on Channel 5. Their website says:

Documentary celebrating the pop phenomenon that was Abba with a countdown of their biggest selling singles. Featuring contributions from Elvis Costello and Dannii Minogue.

Afterwards they're repeating the ABBA's Biggest Secret thing about Alfred & Synni.

VH1 UK are also getting in on the act with Abba in Concert for 90 minutes (?) at 21:30 on 3rd May and ABBA feature in the Top 40 Greatest Songs Ever on Sunday 2nd at 20:00

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Cliff Docherty, Wembley UK

AGNETHA GOES YELLOW

Encouraged by the success of Agnetha's single in the UK with the fabulous Almighty Mix, Warner will now release a "maxi CD single" of If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind across Europe on April 28, 2004.

The cover has been tinted yellow for this release which includes all 4 mixes of the song. CD-ON has begun to accept pre-orders for the single.



Thanks to ABBAMAILer Robin Andersson, Stockholm, Sweden

AGNETHA TV SPECIAL FOR DENMARK

Agnetha's promotional TV special for "My Colouring Book" will feature on Finnish television on May 13 at 7.05pm.

Also in Finland, the magazine "Finna" this week has published a three page story on Agnetha.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Dominic "Ice" Wallis, UK

SOME AGNETHA REVIEWS

A few Agnetha reviews :

TISCALI :

" Agnetha Faltskog- 'My Colouring Book' album review

Release date: April 19th 2004

Four years ago Agnetha Faltskog (the blonde one from Abba) started to research the music of the sixties.

She delved into books, checked charts and began collecting large quantities of rare records. The eventual results of this meticulous undertaking became the central focus on 'My Colouring Book'.

The album was recorded in Stockholm's legendary Atlantis Studios (where Abba first recorded thirty years ago) and features thirteen tracks of mesmerising pop brilliance.

'When You Walk In The Room' (written by Jackie de Shannon) and 'Sometimes When I'm Dreaming' (written by Mike Batt) are obvious highlights, but they are joined by a host of other classic gems.

Features the single 'If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind'

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"Agnetha Faltskog - 'If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind' review

Single release date: 12th April 2004

The 'blonde one' from Euro-pop behemoths Abba hasn't released any English language recordings in over eight years. Her welcome return with 'If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind' is taken from her forthcoming 'My Colouring Book' album heralding a true renaissance for the "voice of Abba".

Originally recorded in 1969 by Cilla Black, Faltskog's version is a marvellous amalgamation of epic balladry and sixties production, sounding like a great lost Carpenters' track.

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THE GUARDIAN :

Agnetha Faltskog, My Colouring Book

(WEA)

Caroline Sullivan
Friday April 16, 2004
The Guardian

The only former member of Abba to have acquired a stalker - resulting in the cancellation of promotion for her first album in 15 years - Agnetha Faltskog has a vulnerability that gets under the skin of a song. She may be cheating a trifle by including no original material on this collection of 1960s covers, but if anyone can do justice to the likes of Sealed with a Kiss, it's her. The soaring sentimen-tality evokes Cilla Black and Sandie Shaw in their mini-skirted pomp, and I don't say that lightly.

Faltskog has a Prince-like disdain for fashion, and My Colouring Book feels as if pop stopped in 1964, before MOR became a term of abuse. Strings are layered like there's no tomorrow and a lone trumpet parps mistily, to which Faltskog's vocals are a tremulous counterpoint. A mix of standards (Fly Me
to the Moon, The End of the World) and obscurities (If I Thought You'd Ever Change your Mind, a minor Cilla hit), this album offers proof that Abba's sense of melodrama wasn't entirely the work of the bearded one.

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A Dutch Review :

by Hanneke Van Der Berg

" How beautiful nostalgia can be !!!!! Agnetha releases her first solo album in 17 years and offers us a caleidoscope of gorgeous memories and scenes from the past. Listening to her still great voice makes you not only relive some of the ABBA magic but also some of the glorious sixties. Songs like When You Walk ....,Sealed with a Kiss,etc ... are such well-known tracks that not many would be able to make you forget the original versions, but Agnetha manages to do it without any problem. And her accent makes it all even a bit more special,so that the whole album is turned into something rather irresistible "

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Thanks to ABBAMAILer Jurgen Parys, Bremen, Germany

POLISH FANS OUT FOR MY BLOOD!

The Polish ABBA fans are after me!

I have been ordered to tell you that Agnetha's album, My Colouring Book, was available in shops on Friday April 16th - some 3 days before its official release date.

The Polish fans are v.v. impressed with this and say gone are the days when living in Poland meant having to wait months or years for the release of an album.

They love Aggie's album and want you to know many of them got it before you did!

So there!

Graeme Read
ABBAMAIL Administration

AGNETHA SONGWRITER V.V.HAPPY

This fab email just came in from Barbara Cameron (wife of John Cameron, the composer of IF I THOUGHT YOU'D EVER CHANGE YOUR MIND) in response to a comment I put on the Latest News Page about it being pretty damn good that Agnetha's single reached #11 on the UK charts:

"Hi Graeme - wondered where you'd got to. Then realised you were probably en route (as they say). Don't envy you the jet-lag. You beat me to it - just wanted to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your
magnificent campaign. We're amazed at the no 11 slot - I think this is an incredible achievement by Agnetha. Well... what more can I say. John was talking to Julie Felix on the 'phone last night - she was, in
fact, the first person to sing If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind (originally titled 'I Will Bring You Flowers) on her TV show she used to have here in the UK in the 60's. She was very excited and rushed off to look at the video of Agnetha on Sky's Magic channel (which seemed to be being aired every few minutes)! Ho, Hum. Hope you had a fab time in London and hope you recover soon.
Barbara"

And Graeme says: thanks for the great feedback Barbara. Hope those royalty cheques start rolling in soon ;-) ;-p

Graeme Read
ABBAMAIL Administration

EVEN THE DUTCH REGIONALS LOVE HER!

Agnetha`s new single is a big hit in the regional Rijnmond Top 30 in the Netherlands:
She's at number 3!

http://217.149.193.67/rijnmond30.html

Thanks to ABBA fan Ed Aldus, The Netherlands

AGNETHA ON SKY MAGIC MUSIC CHANNEL

First sighting today (April 16th) of the video for "If I thought you'd ever change your mind" on Sky's Magic Music Channel (452) -- The video will now be on rotation play for at least a week and when it charts or if viewers phone in to request it then maybe for longer.

Agnetha looks great in the video and let's hope it (and the single's) success will give her the confidence to emerge further out of the shadows.

Thanks to ABBA fan Jeremy Scholes, Manchester, UK

SWEDISH ALBUM CHARTS

Okay, Agnetha's number 2 on the singles charts but what about the album charts?

Well, would you believe that the 30th anniversary edition of Waterloo has charted? Number 56 first week in. Not bad for a reissue of a 30 year old album.

The Hep Stars compilation has crept up to number 9.

And Funky ABBA has dropped to number 46.

To see the complete album chart, go to: http://tinyurl.com/2zd6z

Singles can be seen at: http://www.sr.se/p3/topplistor/topplistan/ (if you would like to see Agnetha's name in the chart for yourself)

Thanks to ABBAMAIL's Grant Whittingham, Sydney, Australia

AGNETHA CLIPS ON DUTCH SITE

Just watched a short clips for the videos for "When You Walk In The Room" and "Sealed With A Kiss at:
www.cafezizo.nl.

Click English, then "videos" and there's a Dutch language show, showing short clips to the album TV advert, the full video to "If I Thought You'd Ever Change Your Mind", a studio video of "Wrap Your Arms
Around Me", Fly Like An Eagle", "I Stand Alone", "short clips of ABBA and solo work, "Mamma Mia", "Waterloo", then the show goes off into other areas of pop and videos..70's Spacer by Sheila B Devotion, some weird drag acts...(If you understand Dutch then its great ;-p )

Thanks to ABBA fan Diego Lopez, St. Albans, UK

AGNETHA IN DANISH CHARTS

Agnetha entered the danish single charts a Top 20, at number 15. This is a local sensation. After all, it's mainly very young people who buy CD-singles, and they ususally go for more comtemporary sound.

The Danish television has a lot of spots about the new album, so it will probably also make the top 20. Exciting to see her danish chart positions, because Denmark