ABBA PROGRAM ON SYDNEY RADIO

A Sydney radio station, 2UE, is featuring an ABBA look-back tonight as part of their "Nostalgia" show. The host is Paul Makin who interviewed ABBA when they toured Australia in 1977.

The details are:
2UE Saturday 06:00 PM - 11:59 PM
Nostalgia
Paul Makin Paul relives the news, music and personalities that helped shape the 60s, 70s and 80s using 2UE's extensive archives and record library.

The ABBA segment may be from 8pm-9.30pm

Check out their net broadcasting site here:
http://www.mytalk.com.au/NewDesign/Pages/S_Talk_2UE.aspx

Thanks to Paul Makin, 2UE and ABBAMAILer Ian Cole, Sydney, Australia

SPECIAL PRICE ON ABBA THE LAST VIDEO

Check our special offer on ABBA - The Last Video in the Webshop!

Follow this link or click the website link above...
http://www.abbamail.com/shop/category21_1.htm

ERASURE MENTIONS ABBA

In the July 07 issue of INSTINCT magazine, there is an interview with Andy Bell of Erasure talking about their new cd "A Light At The End of the World" in which he mentions ABBA:

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

.....But from the sound of the new record, if anything, they've at the very least rediscovered their love of all things ABBA.

"I don't know where Vince came up with these riffs," Andy laughs. "He's got some really amazing riffs on 'Sunday Girl' and on the single 'I Could Fall In Love With You.' There is one track that's an extra on the limited-edition CD, called 'Take Me On A Highway' and it's just so ABBA. I said to Vince, "Oh God, we can't have this! It's too commercial. It's awful! It's even too commercial for me!"

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Jon Axelrod, Miami Beach, USA

WATERLOO MADE-UP VIDEO

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/#54873

Description: "In the video, a faux special Fox News report features Bush, Blair, Condi---all your favorites singing along (Late Night with Conan O'Brien-style) to "Waterloo", which is filled with very prescient lines about "history repeating itself", "I feel like I win when I lose" (which really brilliantly sums up Dick Cheney) and "couldn't escape if I wanted to," which sums up how a lot us feel about the next year or so with Bush at the helm. Click on the video for more."

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Scarlett Ray, Texas, USA

NO ABBA ON THE CHARTS

Well, for the first time since I started reporting the charts WAY back in
about September 2001 (A month after I started here), there is nothing to
report.

ABBA really have left the charts.

Nothing in: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Ireland and New Zealand.

At least nothing on the regular top albums and top singles charts, or any DVD chart I looked at.

This means up til now ABBA have been charting continuously somewhere in the world for the last, probably, 9 years or so.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Dean Scapolo, Wellington, New Zealand

FRIDA ON SWISS TV

Sunday, 17th June 2007
Time 20:30

I just saw Frida on a Swiss documentary programe called "Die Bergretter - Unterwegs mit der Air Zermatt".

It's a documentary serie about the helicopter pilots and their life and work in the Zermat/Matterhorn area. As we all know Frida is a close friend of Heinz Julen, a Zermatt "Allrounder" Artist !

One of the pilots joined the opening of Julen's new trendy restaurant in Zermat and Frida was introduced to him by Heinz Julen. The excerpt with Frida is about 30 seconds long.

Link
http://www.sf.tv/tvprogramm/tv_detail.php?slotid=4B252820-1ADF-40B5-BAE9-878C6BA97438&tvdate=2007-06-17&titel=Die%20Bergretter%20-%20Unterwegs%20mit%20der%20Air%20Zermatt

Thanks to ABBA fan Harry from Germany

CHART UPDATE

Here are the charts for the last 2 weeks: 1-8 June and 8-15 June 2007.

1-8 June
SPAIN: 18 Hits - down 3 to #61

8-15 June
SPAIN: 18 Hits - down 24 to #85

AUSTRALIA: 16 Hits DVD - back on at #38, they have the peak at #34, but it peaked at #32 in June last year. (Week 6)

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Dean Scapolo, Wellington, New Zealand

MAMMA MIA! HITS JERUSALEM

From the Jerusalem Post

Take a chance on this
By AMANDA DAN

Confession time: Prior to arriving in Israel, my only exposure to ABBA had been through the blockbuster Australian films Muriel's Wedding and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Assuming the band was Australian, I was surprised to see a CD in my Israeli future husband's very small "foreign" music collection. Looking at me in complete shock he said, reverentially, "But this is ABBA! They're from Sweden! They won the Eurovision in 1974 for 'Waterloo.'" (Though I didn't know then what Eurovision was and didn't want to show even greater ignorance by asking, I was later glad to have the peppy music when cleaning the house.)

After attending Tuesday night's gala performance of MAMMA MIA!, all those associations have been swept away.

Upon arriving at Tel Aviv's Nokia Stadium we were already in a good mood: for once, a convenient location and smartly designed parking lot. Having made it in record time we enjoyed gawking at the who's who milling nonchalantly at the VIP reception. Fittingly, we spotted Zvika Pick (a.k.a. "The Maestro," currently seen on Kochav Nolad), whose own massive repertoire was used to stage a similar show, Marilu. And as befits the king of kitsch (not at all a put-down), he was seated in the front row alongside his current queen and two celebrity daughters.

MAMMA MIA!, which hit the London stage in 1999, is essentially a vehicle for ABBA hits, and although incredibly entertaining, it requires more than the usual dose of suspension of disbelief to make the thin plot credible. But if you are a fan (or even just indifferent to ABBA), it is well worth the extra effort. Especially if, like most present at this performance, you really like to belt out the songs (words are encouragingly projected at both sides of the stage).

The show begins with a lengthy Prelude, happily played live with the show's travelling band. (Unhappily, the band is mostly synthesizers.) The curtain rises and young Sophie Sheridan (played convincingly and energetically by the golden-voiced Katie Brayben) sends wedding invitations to three mystery men. Unbeknown to her mother Donna, Sophie has filched Donna's diary from 21 years ago and discovered that instead of being the product of a sperm donor, as she was led to believe, she has three potential fathers.

It is the eve of Sophie's wedding and the three "fathers" arrive to the Greek island taverna Donna has made home. (I'll leave it for you to discover how the plot unfolds.)

Donna, played by Carolanne Weidle, is the hands-down star of the show. Whether it is acting, singing, dancing or fuming (which she does really well), Weidle has them all mastered. She is a pleasure to behold and utterly natural on stage.

The trio of past lovers are a mixed bunch. Cameron Blakely as Sam Carmichael is definitely the best singer of the lot, and has a surprisingly angelic tone for such a stiff, uptight character. Jefferey Harmer, as the intrepid adventurer Bill Austin, is jolly and in his few solo lines sings admirably. The disappointment was Tim English (as banker Harry Bright), whose singing is mediocre at best, off-key at worst.

A reoccuring gag features Donna and the Dynamos, the friends' band from back when they all looked good in their costumes. Donna's two best friends are the unconventional Rosie and vampy Tanya (think a more sober Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous). In their numbers we are treated to potentially show-stopping renditions of classic hits, including "Chiquitita" and "Dancing Queen." The former works beautifully, but the latter fell terribly flat as the three women struggled to reach the low-notes in the unsuitable key. Morag Siller as Rosie puts on a good show, but Joan Walker's Tanya is heavy on the vavavoom and light on the vocals. But she certainly shows off her great legs!

Craig Adams as the young male lead, Sky, is suitably wide-eyed and silky-voiced, though his part is given such illogical turns that it must be difficult to play him to any depth.

The lighting, sound (a little too loud) and set are definitely up to par, but the costuming is especially well done and changed with amazing speed.

The portion of the Nokia Stadium set aside for the production sits 3,000. We enjoyed our seats in the orchestra section, but I would recommend buying the "cheap" seats in the stands where the audience sees better and can more easily follow the Hebrew translation and bilingual song lyrics.

Over 63,000 tickets have been sold, but there are some 10,000 left. Boogie, don't walk to buy them. You won't be disappointed. And I say gimme, gimme, gimme more high-caliber British productions.

BENNY & HELEN - MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

Here is a fabulous performance by Helen Sjöholm and orchestra (with Benny on piano) doing 'Money, Money, Money' live.

Wow, what a woman! She almost owns the song (oh to see Frida do something like this...)



Thanks to ABBAMAILer Michael Cain, Sydney, Australia

ESTONIA CELEBRATES 35 YEARS OF ABBA

http://www.esctoday.com/

In the upcoming Õllesummer festival to be held in Tallinn, Estonia, between 4-8th July, on the last day a concert celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Swedish pop phenomen ABBA is going to be held.

So far Tanel Padar (winner of the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest) and Lenna Kuurmaa (lead singer of the Estonian group Vanilla Ninja which represented Switzerland in 2005) have recorded an Estonian version of ABBA's winning song Waterloo from the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

Kuurmaa commented on the song that 'Waterloo is the most played and covered song from ABBA but our version is also very cool. Tanel's and my voice make the song sound very different from ABBA's original version, not to mention it's in Estonian'. You can listen to the song here.

The single to be released in Estonia is a preview for the concert that is celebrating the 35 years of ABBA. Many Estonian singers are going to perform ABBA's hits at the concert. Amoung others Ines (Estonian representative at the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest), Ivo Linna (1996) and Gerly Padar (2007). Dave Benton who won the Eurovision Song Contest together with Tanel Padar in 2001 is also going to perform.

The concert is going to be held on 8th July at the Õllesummer festival taking place at the Tallinn Song Festival grounds. It's one of the largest festivals in Estonia and has a tradition of dedicating one concert at the festival to one artist.

PIERCE'S DANCING PROBLEMS

http://www.irishabroad.com

MAYBE Pierce Brosnan needs a stint on Dancing With the Stars. The Co. Meath native, who’s currently working on his co-starring role alongside Meryl Streep in the movie version of the hit ABBA musical Mamma Mia, says his dance moves aren’t quite up to scratch. Speaking of co-star Colin Firth, he says, “Colin’s a lot more nimble than me.

It’s going to be a real battle. I’m just concentrating on getting it right.” He’s certainly moving in a good direction with regards to philanthropy, though. Pierce and his wife Keely recently donated $100,000 to fix up a deteriorating school playground at a school on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where they own a home . . .SINEAD O’Connor says she hocked a few loogies on the petite Prince many years ago during her first brush with stardom courtesy of the single “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which Prince penned. ‘’At the time he had a lot of female protégés and I had covered his song without having anything to do with him,’’ O’Connor said.

“He invited me to his house in Los Angeles and started to give out to me for swearing in interviews. When I told him to go (bleep) himself he got very upset and became quite threatening, physically. I ended up having to escape.’’ The little guy, Sinead says, knows how to duke it out. “He can pack a punch. A few blows were exchanged. All I could do was spit. I spat on him quite a bit.’’

ARRIVAL TO TOUR USA - DATES

The American Production “ABBA THE TOUR” USA 2007 June 23 to July 28

With the Swedish group Arrival and ABBA Musicians Finn Sjöberg and Roger Palm

www.arrival.se
www.abbasolutely.de
www.westbox.com

Saturday June 23 Cincinnati OH Riverbend Music Center (Grand Opening with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)

Thursday June 28 Highland Park I L The Ravinia Festival
Saturday June 30 Clarkston MI D T E Energy Music Theatre
Thursday July 5 Milwaukee WI Northern Lights Theater @ Potawatomi Casino
Friday July 6 Milwaukee WI Northern Lights Theater @ Potawatomi Casino
Saturday July 7 Milwaukee WI Northern Lights Theater @ Potawatomi Casino
Sunday July 8 Milwaukee WI Northern Lights Theater @ Potawatomi Casino
Tuesday July 10 Uncasville CT Cabaret Theatre @ Mohegan Sun Casino
Wednesday July 11 Uncasville CT Cabaret Theatre @ Mohegan Sun Casino
Thursday July 12 Uncasville CT Cabaret Theatre @ Mohegan Sun Casino
Friday July 13 Uncasville CT Cabaret Theatre @ Mohegan Sun Casino
Saturday July 14 Uncasville CT Cabaret Theatre @ Mohegan Sun Casino
Sunday July 15 Uncasville CT Cabaret Theatre @ Mohegan Sun Casino
Wednesday July 18 Westbury NY North Fork Theatre
Thursday July 19 Cape Cod MA Cape Cod Melody Tent
Friday July 20 Cohasset MA South Shore Music Circus
Saturday July 21 Ocean Grove NJ The Great Auditorium
Sunday July 22 Landcaster PA American Music Theater
Friday July 27 Denver CO Red Rocks Amph.
Saturday July 28 NY Saratoga NY Club Vapor @ Saratoga Gaming & Racetrack

BOYCOTT IN ISRAEL? WHAT BOYCOTT?

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3411501,00.html

ABBA musical boycotted in Israel?

London Times publishes story claiming Israel is boycotting Mamma Mia!, but show's producer denies report and tickets for production almost sold out
Merav Yudilovitch

Under the heading "Tel Aviv gets ready to silence Mamma Mia!," the London Times published a thorough report Monday on Israel's response to the proposal of the British University and College Union to boycott Israel.

"The ABBA musical Mamma Mia! could be the first casualty of a growing Israeli backlash against a proposed British academic boycott of Israeli universities," the report said, claiming that the British production has been jeopardized by threats from local theaters who refuse to stage it in retaliation over the boycott threat.

"But the musical is only the beginning," the report continued, referring to the recent law proposals of a group of Israeli politicians, including Kadima MK Otniel Schneller, who drafted a law that could trigger a consumer boycott of British imports.

Despite the Times' alarming headline, the production's participants landed in Israel Monday morning, ready to perform their 24-show tour at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv theater managers said they knew nothing of a retaliatory boycott, and did not hear of any theaters refusing to host the show.

Sources told Ynet that the production could not be staged in certain venues such as the Israeli Opera House due to technical problems and the size of the production, and not as a result of a counter-boycott.

The show's producer, Mark Lieberberg, told Ynet, in response to the London Times' report, "We are here, and that's a fact. No Israeli theatre or organization told us anything about a boycott, this is bullshit. The truth should be told. This whole matter is part of the British tabloid business that has unfortunately reached the Times as well.

"This is an attempt to blow things out of proportion, and unfortunately, British media lives off of this. They don't care about the details, they want to create news and to do that, they do what completely contradicts the tradition of British journalism. They don't give facts but speculations that are presented as facts. Anyway, we are looking forward to opening the show in Israel and I am convinced the audience will enjoy it."

MK Schneller: I didn't push for boycott

MK Otniel Schneller, who is quoted in the Times story, also confirmed that he never approached the production or made efforts to prevent it from coming to Israel.

"I spoke to someone who knows the producer, I don't know if this ever reached him. I said, and I still believe, that if the Brits don't change their position, this musical's arrival to Israel should be delayed, although I'm glad to see foreign productions finally coming to Israel. I think we should encourage the arrival of foreign productions," he said.

This sounds a bit like you're contradicting yourself.

"We should be much firmer in our response to this whole affair and tone down our warm attitude toward the Brits. We are allowed to do this."

So the answer to the boycott is a counter-boycott?

"I don't think so, which is why I never suggested not to bring Mamma Mia to Israel, but only to postpone their arrival until the crisis is resolved."

Although MK Schneller will apparently not be seen at Mamma Mia's opening, it seems that the Israeli public in general doesn't really care about the headlines in Britain, considering the fact that most of the tickets to the shows had already been sold for NIS 200-400 ($45-95).

Sonia Verma, the author of the Times story, said in response: "I think that the basis for the misunderstanding may be that the article's headline is misleading. The people of the theater are just one aspect of the story, which refers to the Israeli response to the boycott. I didn't write the headline, but all the information that appears in the story is true and had been verified."

FRIDA SPOTTED OUT WITH HEINZ

Frida was spotted this week in Sihlcity, a hype district of Switzerland's biggest city Zurich, where she attended the opening of a new restaurant designed by her close friend from Zermatt, Heinz Julen.

The attached picture was seen on Schweizer Fernsehen, the German speaking branch of national Swiss TV.

Thanks to ABBA fan Marc, Geneva, Switzerland

MORE ON ABBA MUSEUM

From the Svenska Dagbladet website:

http://www.e24.se/dynamiskt/klacksparkar/did_15678710.asp

ABBA gave in for the nagging

You have to have faith to believe in your idea to win. This fact is known by
the entrepreneurs Ewa Wigenheim-Westman and Ulf Westman, the entrepreneurs
that had to fight for a long time to start the ABBA museum in Stockholm.

Both of them are working in the music business, Ewa as a singer and Ulf as a
record company manager and ABBA have been following them throughout life.
The couple had the idea of the ABBA museum several years ago.

- It feels like all of the experience we’ve been gathering during our
lifetime is brought to a close in the ABBA museum, and that’s why the idea
comes so natural, Ewa Wigenheim-Westman says. It also comes as a bonus to be
able to work with their biggest mutual interest – music.

- We’ve been growing up with ABBA. Everyone born before 1974 has in a way
practically been living with ABBA, Ulf Westman says.

- ABBA have so very much. Their music is fantastic to sing, and I’ve been
singing Dancing Queen on stage for as long as I can remember. I like the
complexity. There’s noone who won’t dance when ABBA is played at a disco.
Everyone can find something they like in their music, Ewa continues.

Fans from all over the world are calling already. Many are asking when the
museum is opening, and others want to donate their ABBA related possessions.
Ulf Westman tells about a fan who sent DVD:s with almost every TV recording
ever done with ABBA all over the world.

- It was a incredible to get access to such a great database.

Media have been very interested. After only three days the news was
published in more than 700 channels all over the world, and Ewa and Ulf were
giving interviews for BBC World as well as several American and Australian
radio channels.

- I don’t think we Swedes actually understand how big ABBA are worldwide.
Only The Beatles and Elvis have sold more records, Ulf says.

For the entrepreneurs Wigenheim-Westman the ABBA museum is a dream come
true.

- It’s a once in a lifetime project, and it is fantastic to do this, Ulf
says.

The fact that it was him and Ewa who got the okay from the “ABBA:s” was a
result of a long-time effort, and also for providing a thoroughly worked-out
plan, he says. And also for being right in time.

Three years ago they presented the idea for Benny Andersson, with whom Ewa
earlier has been working as a PR-consultant, but the answer was no.

- But we didn’t give up, so Benny finally agreed to ask the other three
“ABBA:s”, and then it was just a short while until we did have a Go!

The museum will open in 2009, and the ticket sales start in 2008. The vision
is to become an established attraction that is marked on the maps all over
the world.

A ticket will cost 150-200 SEK, and they estimate to have about 500 000
visitors a year.

- When you exit the museum you’re going to desire to enter once again. To be
pleased we want it to be a constantly living museum, Ulf Westman says.


Published on Svenska Dagbladet website, June 5th 2007
By Ann-Louise Larsson
Translated to English by Tony Becker

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Tony Becker, Helsingborg, Sweden

MAMMA MIA! FINAL PERFORMANCES AND THEN NEW ONES!

In September, the Mamma Mia! productions in Hamburg and Stuttgart will have their final performances, but from October on there will be two shows again in Germany : the one in Essen, which had its premiere one month ago, and in Berlin, where Mamma Mia! will open in the Theater am Potsdamer Platz, the current home of the Blue Man Group.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Erik Menkens, Wangerland, Germany

DAY BEFORE YOU CAME COVER

On UK iTunes they recommend a song by The Real Tuesday Weld which is a cover of ABBA's TDBYC. Apparently it was recorded some time ago, and released on the CD BACKSPIN, a look back at 10 years of the Six Degrees independent label. Released in June 2007.

http://sixdegreesrecords.com/compilations.php?upc=657036113220

'The Real Tuesday Weld's cover of ABBA's "The Day Before You Came" is now available on The Six Degrees compilation: Backspin - and has been getting a lot of airplay in the US apparently. I wonder if Benny and Bjorn have heard it yet?'

http://www.tuesdayweld.com/index.html

If you can't get it on iTunes you can take a listen with the link below:
http://www.sixdegreesrecords.com/catalog.php?upc=657036113220

I have liked most covers of the song that I've heard - particularly Tanita Tikaram and the 12" version by Blancmange, and I also think this is a great cover. See what you think.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Paul Campbell, Edinburgh UK

LOOKING A BIT GREEK?

...in Mamma Mia! The Movie?

Saw this on an actors audition website:

Greek actors wanted for... Mamma Mia! The Movie, based on the hit West End show.

The musical phenomenon 'Mamma Mia!' is heading to the big screen courtesy of Tom Hanks and his Playtone partner Gary Goetzman. 'Mamma Mia!' tells the tale of a young woman embarking on a quest to discover the identity of her father on the eve of her wedding. It includes 22 Abba hits, from 'Dancing Queen' to 'The Winner Takes it All' to 'Knowing Me, Knowing You'.

The London filming will commence at mid July (at Pinewood Studios) and continues through September culminating in x2 weeks filming in Greece. There would be some rehearsals in June.

Casting: The characters are part of the staff at the hotel which Donna runs: Elena - Head Cook/Housekeeper - Large imposing lady, strict but has a sense of humour. Age 50/60. Arina - Kitchen Assistant - again a larger lady but younger. Age 30/40. Petros - Handyman at the hotel - good looking. Age 30's. Gregoris - Older character, bigger man. Age 30/40.

To apply for this role and view more jobs go to www.tobeseen.co.uk

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Richard Knight, London UK

RARE FERNANDO ON FRENCH TV

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Pascale Ranson, Strasbourg, France

MORE CHART NEWS

There's another Swedish chart that an ABBA-related CD is doing well on and that's the Midprice Album chart.

The Swedish cast recording of "Mamma Mia!" is currently at number 2 and was previously number 1.

In its current chart run, "Mamma Mia" went 2-5-1-2. In total, it has spent 19 weeks in the midprice chart.

To check the chart, go to www.hitlistan.se and select "Veckolista Album Midprice" in the drop down box near the top.

Thanks to ABBAMAIL's Grant Whittingham, Sydney, Australia

CHART NEWS - JUST ONE

Well, it's back to 'chart' as, again, there is only the one.

SPAIN: 18 Hits, down 2 to #58.

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SWEDEN: Number Ones, Off the chart.

(Australia & NZ: DVD, Sweden: CD)

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Dean Scapolo, Wellington, New Zealand

MAMMA MIA! MOVIE GOSSIP

Something I saw on the tube in London last week...

As I was catching the District Line into work, a young lady sat next to me and begin to read a Mamma Mia! script from page 1. I realised quickly that it was the movie script. Here's what I read over her shoulder (a bit naughty, I know).

In the draft that I read - which may of course not be the final draft ...

Basically there's some connection in the opening title sequence to Istanbul (movie starts in Istanbul?) and the song Summer Night City is going to play over the opening credits.

One of the dads flys in on Olympic Airways and the first shot of Donna is her emerging out of water on a beach (Halle Berry-like) on the island. She walks into the taverna and rouses the boys who work with her there (including eg Pepper).

Sky awakens with Sophie in another room, and Sophie kicks him out as it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding ...

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Best, Rod Pails, London, UK

PRISCILLA STORY

From thestar.com

There are just two ways about it when actors go drag.

It can be a career boost, as Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon found with Some Like It Hot, or it can be an albatross, as Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) and Jaye Davidson (The Crying Game) discovered to their eternal typecast regret.

Fortunately for Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce, the three itinerate drag queens of Stephan Elliott's campy road comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the outcome has been more than favourable.

They've all had success in a variety of roles since then, something that couldn't have been predicted 13 years ago when Priscilla first caught moviegoers – both straight and gay – by surprise.

Aussie actors Weaving and Pearce were at the time unknowns outside Oz. Britain's Terence Stamp was the marquee star, and you needed to qualify that. Stamp was primarily known to cinephiles as the serious face of such 1960s classics as Billy Budd, Poor Cow and Far From the Madding Crowd. His best days seemed behind him and mainstream appeal was lacking.

Even more deficient was support for making the movie, as writer/director Elliott recalls on his commentary in this "Extra Frills Edition" DVD. Traditional Aussie reserve and macho culture made it a tough slog casting the movie. Especially for the key role of Bernadette, an older transsexual mourning the lost of her life partner.

Elliott had no shortage of ideas for the Priscilla leads: rock star Michael Hutchence and actors Jaye Davidson, Rupert Everett, Colin Firth and Jason Donovan were all canvassed.

Tony Curtis nearly signed on as Bernadette ("I started my career in a dress; I'll end it in a dress," he told Elliott) but got cold feet. Elliott finally decided to go with actors who people wouldn't immediately think of for the roles.

There was also a lack of support from the gay community, which couldn't figure out if Priscilla was to be good fun or savage mockery.

"In those early stages, a lot of people didn't want to know about us," Elliott says.

So it was a real leap of faith for the three actors to fearlessly don feathers, latex and thongs to play drag troupers Bernadette (Stamp), Tick (Weaving) and Adam (Pearce), who travel in a battered pink tour bus (christened Priscilla) from Sydney to remote Alice Springs for a month's engagement at a casino.

By all accounts, Stamp, Weaving and Pearce loved the experience – although we don't really get that firsthand on the DVD, since only Elliott does a commentary.

The movie was a worldwide smash, returning more than $100 million on an investment of some $5 million. Priscilla won an Academy Award for its costume design, and the gay community embraced it as a touchstone of community acceptance of alternative lifestyles. The use of ABBA for the soundtrack was a fortuitous accident. Priscilla was a low-budget film, and major backer Polygram held the rights to the Swedish group's 1970s pop hits. Elliott agreed to use ABBA tunes in Priscilla, which led to a mid-1990s ABBA revival.*

Most amazing of all is how the three Priscilla leads have prospered in mostly dramatic films: Stamp in the first Star Wars prequel and The Limey; Weaving in The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix trilogies; and Pearce in L.A. Confidential and Memento. You'd hardly know they used to wear heels.

(ABBAMAIL HQ Note: Take this part of the story with a grain of salt)

ISRAELI BOYCOTT OF MAMMA MIA!?

From http://www.theage.com.au/

ABBA's Waterloo on Israel boycott

Ed O'Loughlin, Jerusalem

THE ABBA musical Mamma Mia! could be the first victim of an Israeli backlash against proposals from three British trade unions for a boycott of Israeli goods and universities.

Knesset member Otniel Schneller said he would ask local backers of the British-produced travelling show, due to open in Tel Aviv in a few weeks, to refuse to stage it until the British unions abandoned plans for a boycott.

"Boycotting a product because it's made in Israel resembles, in my opinion, hanging a sign on a store that reads, 'Jew'," Mr Schneller told the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

Calls for a counter-boycott of British goods and services follow a vote by the UK National Union of Journalists this year to shun Israel in protest at the occupation and settlement of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza, 40 years ago this week.

Last week the University and College Union, representing British tertiary teachers, voted to consult its members about a possible boycott, which would include shunning Israeli universities and scholars. Unison, Britain's largest trade union, is planning to vote on a proposed boycott of Israeli goods.

The boycott calls are part of a wider push in Europe and beyond to replicate the popular campaign waged in the 1980s against South African apartheid.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has called on its members and Government to boycott Israel for, in its view, imposing its own form of apartheid on the Palestinians.

The proposed boycotts have sparked bitter anti-British sentiment in Israel, where mainstream politicians and commentators attribute foreign criticism of Israeli policies to anti-Semitism rather than concern for human rights.

The Government is planning its own international campaign against the boycott. As well, Israeli support groups in the US are being called on to mount their own boycott British goods, travel and people.

Last week Israeli Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni summoned the British ambassador to Israel to discuss the issue that, she told the British Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, in a telephone call, threatens relations between the two countries.

Israeli academic Professor Uriel Reichman, the president of the Interdisciplinary Centre in Herzliya, said the British boycott was "a modern reformulation of Judenreine" — the Nazi term for an area cleared of Jews.

Mr Schneller, a member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party, is part of a cross-party group that hopes this week to introduce a bill requiring all British imports to be prominently marked so consumers can avoid buying them.

Local media reports say an Israeli airport union has said it will refuse to unload freight from British Airways jets or handle British goods until the proposed boycotts are abandoned.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Ron Miskoff, New Jersey,USA

CARPENTERS THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC

"Does anyone know if the Carpenters actually recorded it?"

This is a question onced asked of Richard about the song:

I read in one of the fan club newsletters c.1978 I think it was that you were considering putting "Thank You For The Music" on an album. What wound up happening to this track?

"A terrific song and even better record, but, of course, nobody does ABBA like ABBA. I was really taken with that song. We first heard them perform it on a highly popular music program in Europe called " Starparade" on which we were both performing in Bremen, Germany, 1978.We laid down a track, but the more I thought about it, I realized that, as usual, Benny and Bjorn had done the definitive arrangement and all I'd be doing was copying it; something I just don't do, of course. It's an outtake, never completed and in storage with the rest of the stuff in Pennsylvania."

Thanks to ABBAMAILers Kevin Evans, Springfield, USA and Pepe Melton, California, USA

DANCING QUEEN....WELL UM, KIND OF...

If Zippy and George from Rainbow had replaced Agnetha & Frida this is what we might have got...




Thanks to ABBAMAILer Andrew Hyde, London, UK