ABBA - The Inner Circle Interviews
ABBA - The Inner Circle Interviews is a new book by Marisa Garau and
Frédéric Tonan, authors of ABBA On Speaking Terms (Netherlands, in Dutch,
2002) and ABBA - Ihre ganze Geschichte (Their Whole Story; Germany, in
German, 2005).
The book is built around extensive interviews the pair conducted for their
two earlier books, with 38 people who had worked with ABBA or the individual
members since the mid-sixties discussing their personal memories and
experiences. All the interviews were originally conducted in English, making
this book their first untranslated publication.
Interviewees include musicians, producers, colleagues, friends and others
who worked with ABBA during the height of their career, those who
collaborated with the members in various projects after ABBA, even a few
whose involvement pre-dates ABBA. As the majority of those interviewed worked only
with individual ABBA members after 1982, the story of ABBA as a group ends
at page 92, with the remainder of the 230 pages dedicated to the post-ABBA
careers.
Because the book is based around the various interviews biographical and
historical details are fairly light, dependant on what memories the
interviewees shared. This also means that some periods of time are quickly
skimmed over, while others are covered in great detail.
The interviews are each individual's uncorroborated memories that are sometimes conflicting and contradictory with each other or even with themselves, or can be out of context with the ABBA story. Despite this they make for interesting reading, as those who were there at the time tell the stories as they remember them.
The final chapter features an exclusive interview with Björn Ulvaeus, made a year after the the publication of ABBA On Speaking Terms, in which he addresses a few of the comments raised in that book.
Despite the flaws of the concept ABBA - The Inner Circle Interviews is a worthwhile read for its unique perspective on an often-told story, if only for the small peak behind-the-scenes with ABBA.
6 October 2011. Book provided by Marisa Garau.
