The old bliss is back for ABBA fanatics. By Cameron Adams

The head of ABBA’s Melbourne fan club since 1978 had seen the Swedish pop phenomenon split – their chart fortunes wane, and their name the epitome of uncool.

“That was like an ABBA wasteland,” said Young. “If you liked ABBA you were very strange.”

Now, like flares and yo-yos, ABBA are back.

Again.

This week the musical Mamma Mia! hits Melbourne with a ferocity that recalls the band’s 1977 Australian tour, when fans lined Swanston St. for a glimpse of the band.

Complete Gold Collection, a double disc of ABBA hits, stormed back into the charts yesterday at No.22, while their ABBA Gold-Greatest Hits compilation has sold more than 500,000 copies locally since 1992.

Melbourne-born cover band Björn Again are now a virtual McABBA, touring the globe like ABBA never did and raking in millions.

Kylie Minogue performed Dancing Queen at the Olympics last year, adding to an endless string of ABBA covers.

“It’s not quite the same as 1977 but it’s pretty over the top,” Young said. “It’s wonderful.”

Mamma Mia! was overseen by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus, who will attend opening night in Melbourne this Saturday.

“They always put quality into their music,” Young said. “They took time to write the songs.

“I’ve heard them say they never wrote anything down, they thought if it stuck in our heads it’d stick in our heads.”

Young’s fan club will host an overdose weekend for fans celebrating the Mamma Mia! opening.

On Friday there’s a dose of tribute band BABBA in Bulleen.

“Most of us do not like Björn Again at all. Björn Again is a parody, it’s a send-up. BABBA is a tribute band, they love ABBA.

“They do great versions of the songs, it’s not a joke thing. They’re serious musicians, they care about what they do, it’s not a money thing.”

While some attend Mamma Mia! on Saturday, the group heads to a restaurant (Swedish food, of course) for ABBAvision, a Eurovision Song Contest-style contest to find the most popular ABBA song. There’s also an ABBA disco, with dance remixes.

Monday afternoon at the Longford Hotel there will be a marathon, interviews and rare footage, then ABBA-The Movie, filmed in Melbourne on their 1977 tour.

While ABBA’s Agnetha Fältskog, now a recluse, referred to Australian ABBA fans as “a sweaty, obsessed crowd,” Young claims he’s not obsessed, despite having a room of memorabilia.

“It’s not something that rules my life, but it’s a part of my life that could never be removed.

Young is attending a preview of Mamma Mia! this week. “I’ve been to the theatre, in the foyer, heard them singing through the doors, and it sounded amazing.

“But no one can sing like Agnetha and Frida (Lyngstad), even Björn and Benny (Andersson) acknowledge that.”

Kerry Packer buys private showing of Mamma Mia! By Harbant Gill

ABBA mania knows no bounds.

Australia’s richest family, the Packers, bought out the Princess Theatre on Saturday for a private showing of musical Mamma Mia!

Kerry Packer, 62, who was in hospital just last month, flew from Sydney to catch the show with family members, and several hundred of friends.

If they paid the top price of $82.50 a ticket, booking the 1600-seat Princess Theatre would have cost the Packers’ Consolidated Press Holdings $132,000.

And that’s before counting the cost of the before-and-after-show drinks and a party that went on until the wee hours at Crown casino.

Molly Meldrum, who brought ABBA to Australian audiences’ attention on Countdown in the 1970s, was thrilled by the show. And Sydney radio broadcaster Alan Jones, who saw the London production, said Melbourne’s was much better. Transcribed for ABBA World

Photos: (1) It’s wonderful – Michael Young shows of the collection in his ABBA room. (2) How it was – ABBA in Melbourne at the peak of their fame. (3) Delightful company – Björn Ulvaeus with a glass of Penfolds wine.

Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia) · Tuesday, 5 June 2001 (Page 6)

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