ABBA On The Web - June 2001
One of my favourite ABBA websites is also one of the oldest. It may not be the fanciest to look at, with lots of flash animation and other whiz-bangery, but it’s certainly one of the most informative. It’s “ABBA – The Worldwide Chart Lists”, created by 25 year old Australian fan Trent Nickson.
The title says it all: on this site you’ll find details of ABBA’s chart success from a diverse range of countries. It made its appearance on the net in January 1997, coincidentally a time when ABBA interest on the net started exploding (indeed, that was around the time I first went online).
Trent tells me that he started his research as a reaction to people’s negative comments when he told them that he was an ABBA fan – he wanted some ammunition to prove to them just how successful ABBA had been over the years.
Where does all this chart information come from? Trent says “In the beginning, I went to my local library and photocopied the UK and US chart books, then contacted Australian Music Report in order to get the local positions.
“Since the dawn of the Internet, the majority of positions have come from fans around the world who have wished to see the chart positions of their country online. Some came from other websites, who kindly allowed me to use their positions.”
I asked Trent if he finds it hard to get reliable information about ABBA's chart positions. “Chart positions in the larger countries are usually quite reliable as they often have books published with the chart placings”, he says. “Even more obscure countries do. However, many European countries had more than one chart in the 1970s, and no matter which I put up, I get irate e-mails telling me of how this and that is incorrect.” Irate ABBA fans? Oh dear!
So what countries are currently represented? Well, you’ll find single and album chart details from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, United States of America, and Zimbabwe.
There’s particular attention paid to Australia, which stems from a time when Trent worked for the Australian Music Report, where he was able to dig out all the old charts and noted down ABBA’s week-by-week positions. And as he says, “ I live here, and I wanted the record to be available for my own curiosity and also to preserve it for posterity.”
But it doesn’t end with Australia: Trent says that he has weekly chart positions from the UK and the Netherlands, and also some album reviews from the UK and USA that he’d like to add, when he gets the time.
Are there plans for any other additions to the site? “Nothing that isn't chart information. I never wanted to create an ABBA site that covered other things, as so many others have done that. I wanted the definitive chart site - both for myself and other ABBA fans. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Finally, Trent mentions that in the future he’d also like to include chart commentaries and original album and single reviews, so if any readers have any other information that they think may be of use for “ABBA – The Worldwide Chart Lists”, you’ll find his e-mail address on the site.
