Love Stories

PolyGram 1998

Very confusingly written (more so than usual), with some paragraphs highly detailed (especially the 5th paragraph, discussing every record released in 1979), and others sketchy and seemingly quickly edited. ABBA sometimes (but not every time) written as Abba.

1st paragraph: "By 1969, when that group [The Hep Stars] called it a day…" Not quite, though there was a split in the band, the Hep Stars continued for some years with Benny (and occasionally Björn, and I think on at least one occasion one of the girls as well) along with other members of the group.

5th paragraph: Björn and Agnetha’s children’s names are written as "Peter Christian" and "Linda Elin", which should be "Elin Linda".

Same paragraph: "A second world tour was also planned for 1979…" Calling it a "world tour" is a misnomer, considering that ABBA only visited two continents, as did the previous tour in 1977.

6th paragraph: "…although the quartet managed to survive until the end of 1983." Wrong. The final group recordings were in August 1982, and the final television appearances in December 1982.

7th paragraph: "Fernando… was the previously unreleased track included on their ‘Greatest Hits’ album." Wrong. It was included on this LP later, after it became a hit.

Same paragraph: "… they had realised that to really conquer the United States, regular and frequent tours would be a vital ingredient - which they no longer wished to undertake." ABBA rarely wished to undertake tours, and only went on two concert tours after breaking big worldwide in 1975, and when they did tour it was in blocks of two to three weeks at most.

Same paragraph: "One Man, One Woman from 1978…" Wrong. ABBA - The Album was released in December 1977.

Continuing: "Eagle, also from 1978…" Same as for ‘One Man, One Woman’.

Continuing: "[‘Eagle’ was w]idely believed to be a tribute to the American country/rock band, The Eagles…" An often quoted chestnut, probably appeared in an early review of the album and has never gone away, even though the song sounds nothing like a tribute to The Eagles. Tobler even quotes a review from New Musical Express later in the same sentence, who wrote that ‘Eagle’ was "a superbly crafted pastiche of The Eagles style". Björn has since said that the lyrics were inspired by the book Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.

Same paragraph: "…‘The Girl With The Golden Hair’, which performed during ABBA’s first world tour." As above, calling it a "world tour" is a misnomer, considering that ABBA only visited two continents, as did the later tour in 1979.

Same paragraph: "Perhaps Benny and Björn were experimenting with different musical styles preparatory to their first post-ABBA project…" Given that Tobler has written himself that Björn and Benny were planning to write a musical before actually starting the Chess project, he should be able to write more definitely that this.

Same paragraph: "… this success [‘I Know Him So Well’] made Benny & Björn only the tenth production team ever to achieve ten chart-topping hit singles." One of those useless statistics.

And apparently these notes were checked by Kathryn Courtney-O'Neil of the ABBA News Service!

Lyrics:

Fernando

3rd verse:

"And since many years" Wrong.
"Since many years"

"Do you still recall the frightful night" Wrong.
"Do you still recall the fateful night"

Chiquitita

2nd verse:

"I am a shoulder" Wrong.
"I’m a shoulder"