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April 2026
I’ve just read a blog from a Swedish well-known fan that ABBA are “open” to the idea of releasing their 77 tour finally. Can you shed any further light on this?
Simon, UK
At the recent 40th anniversary event for the Official International Fan Club, Polar Music GM Mia Segolsson stated that planning was underway to commemorate the 50th anniversaries of ‘Dancing Queen’, Arrival, the 1977 concert tour, ABBA – The Movie, and ABBA – The Album, as well as the fifth anniversary of Voyage. She also mentioned that ABBA were “open” to 1977 tour recordings, and Polar was investigating whether there was any material that was in a releasable state. At no time did she say that a live album would definitely be released, or indeed what form any other anniversaries would be commemorated.
For some reason, the lyrics for ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ as found in the 2001 remastered CD of The Visitors appear to be taken directly from the original LP inner sleeve, instead of a new transcription like the rest of the album. My theory is simple: The song was absent from the “ABBA Lyrics A-Y” section of ABBAnatic, one of the first notable ABBA fansites. A lot of ABBA releases from this era pulled their lyric sheets from this site, with some errors (“do you still recall that frightful night we crossed the Rio Grande?”) become widespread as a result.
For songs that weren’t on the now-barely-updated site, compilers had to resort to other sources. Although your site did contain an adjusted (to match the recording) version of the LP transcription in its previous incarnation, whoever put together the CD booklet forgot to do so, as the second chorus indicator is still there (“Slipping through my fingers…” without the rest of the lyrics), and there is still a certain lyric spilt that irritates me (“Barely awake/I let precious time go by” interpreted as “Barely awake I/Let precious time go by”). Is it like this on any other releases?
Love,
Aaron, Australia
That’s no theory. That is exactly right. The lyrics in the 2001 remasters of ABBA’s eight studio albums plus the Love Stories CD in 1998 came from that site. At the time that was the easiest place to find all the lyrics in one place in digital form. There were quite a few errors in those lyrics that made it into the CDs. They were also copied across many of the lyric sites. I hadn’t noticed that ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ wasn’t on ABBAnatic, so yeah that does appear to be transcribed from the original album inner sleeve.
The official website didn’t have the lyrics at the time. That didn’t come till a couple of years later. I don’t remember any other official releases using those lyrics. The recent half speed albums used the official site lyrics, though a couple of mistakes did sneak in that weren’t on the site.
Sadly, Michael, the guy behind ABBAnatic, died at the end of 2023.
Having purchased a copy of the Valentine’s edition of ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’ in heart shaped edition vinyl, I was wondering what the quantity produced could be? As with the ‘Happy New Year’ and Box set of singles always have the number stamped on the sleeve.
Regards
Julian, UK
According to Universal Music, 3,500 copies of last year’s heart-shaped disc were pressed. The Official ABBA Fan Club reports 5,000 copies of this year’s 10-inch picture disc were made. Not all limited-edition records are numbered.
Did Boney M record their Leysin special when ABBA recorded theirs? There doesn’t seem to be much footage available of Boney M show. We know the two groups socialised at the same time. What can you tell us?
Simon, UK
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. The only certifications noted are that Voulez-Vous made gold at 50,000, and Super Trouper received platinum certification. At the time gold was 35,000 and platinum 70,000. The data might be incomplete. I seem to remember seeing reported sales of 100,000 for The Album. I thought it might have been in the fan club newsletters of the time but I couldn’t spot it.
The Billboard article you speak of quotes music historian Glenn A. Baker. At the time he was in the anti-ABBA camp and tried to downplay ABBA’s sales (he was manager of Ol’ 55, and boasted in the press when their album replaced The Best Of ABBA on a Sydney radio chart in 1976). He said 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. I don’t know if Polar would have any data on sales back then. I might look into that.
Do we know if the male start of ‘Take A Chance On Me’ was looped, if so how long the loop was? And was it overdubbed?
Regards,
Simon, UK
According to Carl Magnus Palm’s ABBA – The Complete Recording Sessions, that repeated vocal was “recorded several times over, each time stopping when they ran out of breath” and then mixed together to create the singing heard on the completed record. The book should be your first stop for any questions about ABBA’s recordings.
There is an ABBA special on Netflix called ABBA: Against the Odds from 2024. Its 90 minutes long and it’s really good.
I have heard that ABBA has more new music to put out left over from Voyage. Do you know if this is true or not? I have been an ABBA fan since I was 12.
I bought their first Greatest Hits album with some money I got for my birthday. I had never heard of them before. I bought it because I liked the pictures in the front and back covers. It was love at first song. I still listen to them every single day and I will be 61 in a couple of months.
Laura
That documentary has been played on many TV stations around the world and is on various streaming services in different countries. I know it’s on Netflix in the US, I’m not sure if it’s on that platform in other countries.
A few more songs were attempted during the recording sessions for Voyage, but they were never finished. Benny has since said they will never be finished or released.
What a wonderful story about your introduction to ABBA. I think many of us have similar stories.
ABBA Omnibus 