ABBA On The Web - December 2001
This issue we take a look at another of the longest running ABBA sites on the web. It’s the legendary ABBA Internet Database. The site’s webmaster is Brian Sendelbach, a fan in his mid-20s from the USA. The site has had several locations since it went online in 1995 as “a simple little page with lyrics and pictures”.
Why is the ABBA Internet Database “legendary”? For one thing, it has long been one of the most popular ABBA sites on the web. Thanks to its inclusion on just about every major internet search engine, it’s often one of the first sites that newbies find when they search for ABBA. It’s also the most frequently referred to ABBA site by the world’s media outlets, being mentioned in many newspaper and magazine articles.
What can be found on the ABBA Internet Database? The site is self-described as “a collection of information I have collected over the last couple of years on ABBA and each members solo records and productions”. It’s an easy site to navigate, with a separate frame at the bottom of the screen with links to all major pages within the site.
By far the main feature of the site is a thorough discography of ABBA’s album releases.
The eight studio albums and major worldwide compilations are listed, including details of regional variations. There’s also a detailed list of many other compilation albums released around the world since the 1970s. There are some quite rare and intriguing compilations that have been released, some you may not have seen before!
A separate section details all of ABBA’s Spanish recordings, while another includes details of the solo releases by the four, both pre and post ABBA. Also included are a selected bibliography of ABBA books published in the 1990s and ABBA video releases.
Another section includes lyrics to several rare and hard to find songs by ABBA together and solo, plus lyrics for related artist such as Gemini and Svenne & Lotta.
There’s a rather detailed section on ABBA songs subjected to the OOPS (out of phase stereo) effect. Basically, this has the effect of erasing the lead vocals from a song so that the backing track can be clearly heard. A detailed list of how this affects each ABBA song is featured. If you haven’t tried this effect yourself, have a read about it here and then try it out – it’s a lot of fun!
It’s been quite a while since the ABBA Internet Database had an update, and recently Brian mentioned on one of the internet mailing lists that he was planning on replacing the site with “a completely new ABBA-related page containing tons of ABBA cover songs and related mp3s”, so now might be a good time to pay another visit to an old favourite site (and a legend in its own time) before it’s gone forever.
