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I have touched on this before. My question relates to sales figures in Australia for the albums such as The Album (1978), Voulez-Vous ( 1979) and Super Trouper (1980) I had thought sales in Australia in the 1970s for these albums were around 150,000 to 200,000? An article/blog I read recently indicated these three albums only sold around 50,000 copies sold in Australia per each of these albums. I have never seen any official RCA commentary on sales for these albums other than a 1979 Billboard feature on ABBA which would have included The Album and Voulez-Vous where an RCA Australia spokesperson seemed to have a bit to say on ABBA in Australia and their reports seemed to say ABBA while not selling like 1976 were still solid. I believe 1979 was a kind of solid year for abba in Australia compared to 1978. I have previously asked if the single ‘Chiquitita’ received a gold record in Australia – did any of these three albums also receive Australian certification such as a gold record. I know RCA are no more, but you would have thought Polar might have had such a record? Maybe you know on average what an album reaching number 4 or 5 in Australia back then may have sold?  Anyway, any thoughts?

Kind Regards
Ross, Australia

According to data published on the ABBA Charts site, The Album sold 70,000 copies, Voulez-Vous 200,000, and Super Trouper 70,000 in Australia. The only certifications noted are that Voulez-Vous made gold at 50,000, and Super Trouper received platinum certification. At the time gold certification was 35,000 copies and platinum 70,000.

The Billboard article you speak of also quotes Glenn A. Baker. At the time he was in the anti-ABBA camp, and tried to downplay ABBA’s sales. For example, he wrote that thousands of unsold copies of Arrival were returned to RCA at the end of 1976 – as if it didn’t sell into 1977 and beyond. 

Is there any truth to a Netflix production on the life and times of ABBA? Supposedly directed by Benny himself and is a 40+ episode series, 4 million dollar budget, actors, etc, etc.

Cheers,
Mike, Canada

It’s fake AI-generated clickbait. There are a few different versions of this story going around, some with terribly fake looking AI images. Another version says there will 15 episodes, with Björn being the lead producer. Yet another is a 25-episode series about Agnetha and Benny, written by Björn and directed by Frida! Those sites reporting these stories have some other “interesting” headlines that I won’t bother to repeat, because they’re just too bizarre to be believed.

Could you help me find a hard copy of ‘Chiquitita’ music for guitar (tabs) with the Spanish lyrics.

Thank you
Rebecca

The only place I know of that features sheet music for ‘Chiquitita’ with the Spanish lyrics is the Gracias Por La Música music book. You might be able to find a copy on sites like ebay or Tradera, but it is very rare. It might be easier to find the single sheet music with English lyrics. The Spanish lyrics can be found on the official ABBA site.

Could you tell me if Agnetha has a Telegram account? If it’s negative, who is the person claiming to be Agnetha? Thanks.

Antonio, Italy

Agnetha does not have a telegram account. There are official Agnetha accounts on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, but they are run by the record company, not Agnetha herself. Any account claiming to be her is a fake and probably a scammer and should be avoided. 

You can read more about official ABBA social media here.

I have a question, as I am rather not sure anymore: quite a while ago, don’t know how many years though, I bought the Japanese SHM CD box. In this case before the release of Voyage, so only 8 CDs. I don’t see that appearing anywhere on Discogs, or anywhere else for that matter. It has got an outer slipbox with Arrival artwork. Am I dreaming or what?! No it really is in my cupboard with all the other ABBA stuff. Would you know anything about this release? Any help is appreciated. 

Greetz from a rather cloudy Amsterdam.
Edward, Netherlands

I do remember that item, but not the exact details. As I recall it was an unofficial limited edition bespoke box that contained the regular Polar/Universal SHM CDs of the 2001 remasters. It wasn’t an official product.

UPDATE 8 DECEMBER 2025: This was a box set exclusively planned by Disk Union, a record chain primarily operating in the Tokyo area, when the original 8 albums were reissued in paper sleeves on SHM-CD on January 21, 2009.

As a novelty for those who purchased all 8 titles simultaneously, the store provided a box they had specially made. Disk Union sometimes creates such novelties for other artists too, but since it was a limited period with few copies, it’s now a rare item. The product number is UICY-93889BOX, continuing the number from the standalone release of Arrival.

(thank you Isao for the additional information)

The 2006 Expanded Version of Bjorn & Benny’s Lycka includes ‘Merry-Go-Round’ (2’42” version). On the Lycka album page on your website. this ‘Merry-Go-Round’ version links to ‘En Carousel‘ (3’27”). I can’t seem to find a link to Bjorn & Benny’s 2’42” version of ‘Merry-Go-Round’ on your website. Do you have more information on this 2’42” version? Is this just an edit of the 3’27” ABBA version? Do Frida and Agnetha perform on the 2’24” version? To me, the backing vocals don’t sound like Frida and Agnetha; they sound more like Bjorn & Benny singing in some kind of falsetto to me. Carl Magnus Palm also mentions this in his The Complete Recording Sessions book.

Sincerely,
Rudy, Belgium

That link to ‘En Carousel’ is the right page, but it had the wrong running time, which has now been corrected. When ‘Merry-Go-Round’ was released in Japan in 1972 it was given the mangled Swenglish title ‘En Carousel’, based on the Swedish title ‘En karusell’. To my ears it sounds like Agnetha and Frida singing the “merry-merry-merry-merry-merry-go-round” chorus at the end of the full version, but this isn’t heard on the 2.42 edit heard on the Japanese single and on the Lycka CD. I agree, the backing vocals in the chorus don’t sound like the girls.

What can you tell us about Frida’s films Gå på vattnet om du kan, Jokerfejs and Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest? Also, Agnetha’s films Nöjesmaskinen and Raskenstam? Will these ever be released commercially, do you think?

Simon, UK

Sorry to disappoint, but I’ve never seen any of them, so I can’t tell you much at all. I can’t find anything about a release of Gå på vattnet om du kan. Frida’s one scene is on YouTube. Jokerfejs was released on VHS, apparently on the same day as its cinema release in 1984. Frida’s two scenes are on YouTube (scene 1 scene 2). Fern Gully – Den Sista Regnskogen was released on VHS in 1995. The English version has been released on DVD with multiple language options, but as far as I can see not Swedish. The whole film is available on YouTube. Raskenstam was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 21 December 2022, but without any subtitles in other languages. Nöjesmaskinen was a TV news magazine programme. Agnetha appeared solo twice in 1982 and 1983, and ABBA’s last Swedish TV appearance was on this programme on 19 November 1982.

I direct you to ABBA on TV for more information on all those films.