related artists
Tomas Ledin
Tomas Ledin
Tomas Ledin is probably the most "ABBA related" artist of them all. He is also one of the most popular artists in Sweden. He worked with ABBA as a background singer on their 1979-80 tour and ABBA worked with him as... background singers on his albums. He recorded a hit single "Never Again" with Agnetha Fältskog 1982 and wrote songs for both Frida and Agnetha.
Polar Music decided to promote Tomas Ledin internationally. The first step was Tomas' participation in ABBA's World Tour 1979. He was background singer and performed one song solo "Not bad at all". The song was released in Sweden and many other countries as a single in the fall of 1979.
The album "Looking for a good time" (1980) was the first one with participation of Agnetha, Frida and Benny from ABBA as well as almost all ABBA session musicians. Agnetha and Frida were background singers and Benny played piano.
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Most of the songs recorded for the album "Gränslös" were translated to English and re-released on the international version of this album which was given the title "The Human Touch". The album has a very strong relation to ABBA because of the participation of Agnetha Fältskog singing duet with Tomas on "Never Again". The song was recorded in both English and Spanish versions. Both versions are available on CD - the Spanish one as a bonus track. The song "I Got Something" was later recorded by Frida and released on her solo album "Something's Going On"
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In 1983 Tomas released a new album "Captured" recorded in English. This LP was very succesfull in Scandinavia. It included "Take Good Care of Your Children" which was covered by Agnetha Fältskog on her solo album "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" released the same year.
Anders Glenmark has always belonged to the ABBA family. In the 1970s he was ABBA studio musician, in the 1980s together with his sister Karin he formed the group Gemini which performed mainly material written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. In 1996 the ABBA primadonna Anni-Frid Lyngstad chose Glenmark as a producer and songwriter for her comeback album "Djupa andetag".
In 1976 Anders Glenmark played guitar on ABBA's top hit "Money Money Money". In 1984 Anders was chosen by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson as one of the background singers in their musical "Chess". Glenmark can be heard in the first single hit from the musical "One Night in Bangkok" which topped hit charts in the autumn 1984.
After the successful cooperation between Björn, Benny, Anders and his sister Karin in "Chess" they decided to form a group which was called "Gemini" in 1985. The first album was recorded in the spring 85 in Polar Music Studios in Stockholm. Björn and Benny had written most of the material for the album. They were even producers together with Anders. The LP called simply "Gemini" was promoted in whole Europe but it never became successful outside Scandinavia.
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In November Gemini and Björn Ulvaeus did TV promotion for the album and the single "Just Like That" a track which had been originally written for ABBA in 1982 but never released. ABBA fans got a possibility to hear the song for the first time performed by Anders and Karin. Björn Ulvaeus was singing background vocals during the promotion.
The UK version of the album had different cover. The album was available on CD during a short period. In 2004 Universal re-released the album on CD in the series Universal Music Archive Collection.
Gemini came back with a new LP in 1987. Even this time most of the material had been written by Björn, Benny and Anders. The album contained a top hit "Mio My Mio" from the movie picture with the same title which was a collaboration between Sweden and Soviet Union.
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Gemini together with Benny Andersson went to Moscow where they appeared in a TV show hosted by the biggest pop singer in Russia - Alla Pugacheva.
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Gemini - the 2005 comeback
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Gemini made a comeback at the beginning of November 2005 with a compilation CD including their greatest hits and some previously unreleased songs. Among rarities a previously unreleased Björn and Benny composition "When I Close My Eyes", a new version of "Too much Love is Wasted" re-recorded in Swedish in 2005, a remixed version of "Copy Love" which previously appeared only as a single B-side. Karin and Anders Glenmark embarked on a Christmas tour in Sweden in November and December 2005.
Gemini - the 2005 photo session
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The French pop star Daniel Balavoine became ABBA related because of the French musical based on ABBA songs "Abbacadabra" and because of the cooperation with Anni-Frid Lyngstad in 1983-84. Together with the ABBA star he recorded the song "Belle" and released as a single in the autumn 1983. Lyngstad have even participated as a backgroud singer on Balavoine's song "Dieu que c'est beau" in 1984. Both songs can be found on the memory double CD "Balavoine sans frontiéres" released in 2005 in France.
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One of the biggest musical talents in Sweden discovered by the ABBA manager Stig Anderson at the beginning of 1970s. Björn and Benny produced most of his records, Frida and Agnetha participated as background singers on several albums.
LP Undringar 1972
Produced by Björn and Benny. Background singers: Agnetha, Frida, Björn and Benny. Guitar: Björn, piano: Benny.
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LP Ted 1973
Produced by Björn, Benny and Ted. Background singers: Agnetha, Frida, Benny, Björn and Lena Andersson. Björn plays guitar and Benny piano.
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LP Upptåg 1974
Produced by Benny, Björn and Ted. Benny plays several instruments. Background singers: Agnetha and Frida.
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
