ABBA

jellyroll

As a boy in the 70s, I'd have listened to those girls sing George Formby songs as long as they appeared on TOTP in their jump suits and boots.

Fretwired

I saw them live .. beat that ABBA fan boys .. :-)

Bidley

Life's too short to listen to Abba.

richardhomer

Dislike them immensely. No amount of 'really they're cool' revisionism will change my mind.

I have no doubt that they were very good at what they did - I just never liked it.

Oddly one of my favourite singles is the wonderfully incongruous cover of 'The Day Before You Came' by Blancmange....

Gassage

richardhomer said:

Dislike them immensely. No amount of 'really they're cool' revisionism will change my mind.

I have no doubt that they were very good at what they did - I just never liked it.

Oddly one of my favourite singles is the wonderfully incongruous cover of 'The Day Before You Came' by Blancmange....

This is what comes from living on the ceiling.

Beexter

Wisdom awarded. Still maintain they are the greatest pop band of all time. First band I was ever into as a kid - just gutted I never got to see them live.

Emp_Fab

What confounds me about them is the way Benny & Bjorn manage to come up with chord sequences that throw you - your mind is expecting one thing but then it suddenly goes off in a different direction - but it's always a better direction.  That kind of tangential thinking is beyond me.

crunchman

They are great in small doses.  If I hear an Abba song in isolation it's great.  For me, the Abba Gold greatest hits album just got too much to listen to the whole album through.  I must admit I've not heard the more obscure stuff.

Kebabkid

Brilliant band and songwriters.

I always said to myself, if I ever had the brains and understanding to do a music degree/Masters, my dissertation would've been on these guys, or Steely Dan.

Wasn't there talk this year of ABBA reforming to play some dates?

Dopesick

'Dancing Queen' will always be my ABBA jam.

Roland

We're playing a wedding later this month. Both SOS and Dancing Queen are on the set list, but Does Your Mother Know got vetoed because the bassist felt uncomfortable. Methinks he's been there.

Both well written songs, and we've enjoyed rehearsing them, albeit tuned down a fifth. Best thing for me has been that we've got vocalists who can sing them.

EricTheWeary

I'm another who likes them in small doses. Bit like The Carpenters I go 'oh that's wonderful why don't I listen to these more' but then after about three songs all those complex arrangements and the slightly saccharine nature of it all makes me want to go listen to the Clash or ACDC.

scrumhalf

Never liked them. Didn't like them in the 70s, didn't like them when they became retro-cool, don't like them now.

To me the music is sterile. It's been operated on from first to last, in a clinical environment. They would never have released a record with a tiny imperfection on it even if it had the mojo and the vibe.

I was one of those who thanked the lord that punk and new wave came along.

ourmaninthenorth

richardhomer said:

Dislike them immensely. No amount of 'really they're cool' revisionism will change my mind.

I have no doubt that they were very good at what they did - I just never liked it.

Oddly one of my favourite singles is the wonderfully incongruous cover of 'The Day Before You Came' by Blancmange....

You're dead to me....

Neil

scrumhalf said:

Never liked them. Didn't like them in the 70s, didn't like them when they became retro-cool, don't like them now.

To me the music is sterile. It's been operated on from first to last, in a clinical environment. They would never have released a record with a tiny imperfection on it even if it had the mojo and the vibe.

I was one of those who thanked the lord that punk and new wave came along.

Wis awarded.

Glad to see the back of that sugar sweet, head bobbing stuff.

Rocker

I group ABBA and The Carpenters as music that cheers me up - lets a bit of sunshine in. But not all day every day. Nothing wrong with waving your arms about on the dance floor and joining in the chorus.....

RobDavies

I dreamed I was getting a blowie from the blonde one in Abba.

I woke up when I felt his beard tickling my balls.

ICBM

Rocker said:

I group ABBA and The Carpenters as music that cheers me up - lets a bit of sunshine in. But not all day every day. Nothing wrong with waving your arms about on the dance floor and joining in the chorus.....

And yet the odd thing is that most of their music is quite sad, if you listen to the lyrics - ABBA especially. Many of ABBA's greatest songs are break-up songs - from both before and after their real-life break-ups. I think that's what makes them touch a lot of people.

scrumhalf said:

To me the music is sterile. It's been operated on from first to last, in a clinical environment. They would never have released a record with a tiny imperfection on it even if it had the mojo and the vibe.

I don't agree with that at all - they were very well-recorded and produced, but I don't think with that sort of over-perfectionism… they were simply good at what they did. That was how you were expected to be able to perform then.

Bygone_Tones

the winner takes it all is one of the best pop songs ever written in my opinion.

Bygone_Tones