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1983

At the beginning of 1983 it was Agnetha's turn to record a solo album. The LP entitled "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" was recorded during the first three months of 1983. Björn, Benny and Tim Rice started writing musical together in January 1983. On January 23rd, 1983 Agnetha gave an interview to the newspaper "Dagens Nyheter" where she said that ABBA had split up. The article and Agnetha's words became a big sensation all over the world. Agnetha was the first ABBA member who said to the press that the ABBA era is over.

Under Attack - more releases

Even if Agnetha stated in the newspaper that ABBA did not exist any more it was not officially confirmed and the group's new single "Under Attack" was released in Sweden on  February 21st, 1983. The single did not make the Swedish hit chart though.

The record company Vogue in France released the "Under Attack" single with two different covers - perhaps it was difficult to choose which photo was better for the French single.

In Spain "Under Attack" entered the single chart in February 1983 where it stayed for 6 weeks peaking at #19. B-side of the single featured "The Day Before You Came".

In Poland "Under Attack" entered the hit chart on January 15th, 1983 and stayed there for 5 weeks. "Under Attack" on the Polish chart: Jan 15: #18, Jan 22: #19, Jan 29: #17, Feb 5: #11, Feb 12: #16.

EP in East Germany

An EP with "Under Attack" was released in East Germany (DDR) in 1983. The other tracks on this EP were: "Super Trouper", "Head Over Heels" and "One Of Us".

One of Us - the single in USA

The promotion of the latest album "The Singles - The First Ten Years" in USA was made with the help of the single "One of Us" b/w "Should I Laugh Or Cry". The single which was released in February 1983 flopped on the US chart and it became the last ABBA single released in USA.

The Showbiz Wedding of the Year

That's how the Swedish newspapers described the wedding of Stig's daughter Marie to singer Tomas Ledin. On Sunday May 22nd, 1983 about 80 friends adn relatives of the happy couple (plus as many photographers and reporters) converged on a little place some 4 hours drive from Stockholm. The couple was excorted by a fiddler and an accordion player reeling out Swedish polkas and in the procession that followed strolled Agnetha, Benny and Mona and Björn and Lena. Unfortunately Frida was away doing TV but she sent her warmest congratulations in a telegram.

Äntligen sommarlov

A new Polar compilation the album called "Äntligen sommarlov" (Finally summer vacations) was released on June 13th, 1983. The album contained some ABBA related rarities which were unavailable on any other ABBA album. One of them was the live version of "Summer Night City" recorded on Wembley in 1979. Another rarity was the Swedish traditional "Den blomstertid nu kommer" arranged and performed by Benny as well as "Sommar sommar sommar" (Summer Summer Summer) performed by Stikkan and the Polar Music Office choir.

Video - Music Show 3

The third "Music Show" video contained 6 ABBA songs: Super Trouper, Happy New Year, Head Over Heels, When All Is Said and Done, The Day Before You Came and Under Attack. For the first time two solo songs recorded by Agnetha (The Heat Is On) and Frida (I Know There's Something Going On) were included on an ABBA video.

Thank You For The Music - the single in France

At the beginning of September the single "Thank You For The Music" (the LP version from 1977) on the side A and "Our Last Summer" (from LP Super Trouper 1980) on the side B was released in France. The single reached #58.

The ABBA stamp

On 1 October 1983 the UNESCO International Music Council (IMC) had proclaimed World Music Day, and in 1983 it was celebrated in Stockholm in connection with the biannual General Assembly of the IMC. The Swedish Post Office issued a minimum sheet with five stamps. The motifs featured music in Sweden for the last 100 years. One of the profiles featured was ABBA.

I Love ABBA

The compilation album "I Love ABBA" was the first in the "I love..."- series and it was released at the beginning of October by Polystar in West Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The LP/MC contained 16 songs - 14 performed by ABBA and 2 performed by respective Agnetha and Frida solo. The track listing featured both ABBA hits and several songs which never had been released on singles as for example "Andante Andante", "Move On" and "Arrival". Agnetha's "The Heat Is On" was extended with 4 seconds and Frida's latest hit by that time "To Turn the Stone" appeared in a remixed version 3.24. The album entered the German chart on October 17th where it stayed for 12 weeks peaking at #10. In Switzerland "I Love ABBA" entered the chart on November 6th, 1983 where it stayed for 3 weeks reaching #14 and in Austria the LP entered the chart on December 1st, 1983 and stayed there for 4 weeks peaking at: 5.

Greatest Hits Vol. 2 on CD

The hit compilation album "Greatest Hits Vol. 2" originally released on LP & MC in 1979 saw its CD release in 1983 on Polar, Polydor and Atlantic.

Thank You For The Music - the single in UK

In Great Britain the single "Thank You For the Music" b/w "Our Last Summer" promoted the compilation LP with the same title.  The single entered the British chart on November 12th, 1983 where it stayed for 6 weeks reaching #33.

In Poland

"Thank You For the Music" entered the Polish hit chart on November 26th, 1983 at #39 and stayed there for three weeks peaking at #20 on December 10th, 1983.

Thank You For The Music - the album in UK

Thank You for the Music (subtitled A Collection of Love Songs) was a compilation album released in November 1983 in the United Kingdom by the record company Epic. The compilation featured 14 tracks, including the singles "I Have a Dream", "Chiquitita" and "The Day Before You Came".  It also contained the Spanish version of "Fernando", which was the first time this version was released in the UK. The 14 songs included on the LP (MC) were mixed together.

The LP "Thank You For The Music - A Collection of Love Songs" entered the UK album chart on November 19th, 1983 and stayed there for 12 weeks peaking at #17. The total length of the album is 62'59".

LP

MC

Belle - the single

The idea of using ABBA's music for a fairy-tale musical came from the group's representatives in France and Belgium - Alain Boublil and Roland Kruger. Alain drafted in writer Daniel Boublil (no relation) to help him write new lyrics and as Alain was already well known in France for his production of two previous musicals - "Les Miserables" and "La Revolution Francaise" the attention of the French public was virtually guaranteed. The single "Belle" featuring Frida and Daniel Balavoine was quite successful in France where it the hit chart in December 1983 reaching #15.

L'enfant do

Another single promoting the album was "L'enfant do" (Fernando) b/w "Abbacadabra" (Take a Chance On Me).

Abbacadabra - the album

The album "Abbacadabra" was released in France in 1983. The first 1983 edition of the album featured 12 songs including "Belle" with Frida and Balavoine. A new edition of the album which was released one year later contained even two bonus tracks: "Gare au loup" (Waterloo) and "La planete amour" (Lay All Your Love On Me) which had been recorded in 1984.

Golden Hits

A compilation album "Golden Hits" saw its release in 1983 in Brazil. The album featured a very interesting track listing with seven tracks on each side. The two last ABBA singles: "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack" were included on the album.

I Love ABBA - France

The French edition of "I Love ABBA" album was totally different to the West German one released in 1983. It contained songs released mainly between 1979-82 with three exceptions: Fernando (76), Eagle (77) and Thank You For the Music (77). Even Frida's "I Know There's Something Going On" and Agnetha's "The Heat Is On" were included. None of the tracks appeared in edited version.  "I love ABBA" entered the French album chart in December 1983 where it stayed for 3 weeks peaking at #12.

1984

Thank You For The Music - the single in Holland

Even in Holland the record company "Polydor" tried to keep ABBA alive on the charts at the beginning of 1984. The idea was about the same as in Great Britain the year before, a kind of "final" single. The Dutch single release contained "Thank You For The Music" b/w Medley: Pick a Bale of Cotton... The single entered the Dutch hit chart on May 27th, 1984 and stayed there for 4 weeks peaking #23.

From ABBA with love - the album in Holland

This compilation released by Polydor in Holland was one of the most interesting ABBA compilations available in the early 80s. It was released as LP, MC and CD and it contained some rare (by that time) remixes of well-known ABBA hits. The album featured 14 songs. Among remixed rarities there was a short version of Eagle (4.21) which appeared on CD for the first time. Even two single B-sides: Cassandra and Elaine had their CD debut here. Frida's hit from "Something's Going On" - "To Turn the Stone" appeared in a shortened version of 3.24 and Agnetha's "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" was cut down to 3.50. Even "The Day Before You Came" was slightly shortened to 5.44 (the full length was 5.50). The CD was digitally remastered. The release of the album was promoted by Dutch TV.

The album entered the Dutch chart on April 21st, 1984 and stayed there for 11 weeks peaking at #6.

TV promotion

More Abbacadabra

The Abbacadabra gang came back in 1984 with the newly recorded cover of ABBA's "Lay All Your Love On Me" which was not included on the album "Abbacadabra" in 1983. The song was entitled in French "La Planete Amour". Both this song and the French version of "Waterloo" were released on the 1984 cassette release of  "Abbacadabra" as bonus tracks.

ABBA International - West Germany

One more interesting compilation entitled "ABBA International" was released in the mid 1980s as MC and CD. Among the tracks there were German version of "Ring Ring" and "Another Town Another Train" (Wer im Wartesaal der Liebe steht), French version of "Waterloo", live versions of "Take A Chance On Me" and "I Wonder" previously released only as single B-sides. Even Spanish version of "Chiquitita" was added as well as edited version of "Eagle" (4.23) and "Happy Hawaii" (B-side of the single "Knowing Me Knowing You").

The Best of ABBA - USA

Warner Music in USA released a 16-track-compilation entitled simply "The Best of ABBA". The album contained ABBA's two last US singles "When All Is Said and Done" and "On And On And On".  The compilation was manufactured by Warner Special Products for Silver Eagle Records.

ABBA remixed

The 1980s saw a real explosion of remixes and 12" singles on the music market in Europe. All artists who started their career in the early 80s released their singles on both usual 7" singles and 12" maxi singles. ABBA indeed released some maxi singles but the versions released on those singles were neither extended nor remixed. The Polydor/Vogue maxi singles released by ABBA between 1979 and 1982 were: Chiquitita, Voulez-Vous, I Have a Dream, The Day Before You Came and Under Attack.

In 1984 Epic released a compilation album "EnergHighs" which featured two real remixes of ABBA songs: The Visitors and Lay All Your Love On Me. It was the very first ABBA remixes released officially on an album.

Greatest Hits - the CD

"Greatest Hits" saw its release on CD in 1984 in USA. CD releases were still very unusual by that time and this item became one of the biggest rarities in the ABBA world as it was deleted quite quickly and at the beginning of 1990s replaced by all "Gold" and "More Gold" releases.

The Love Songs

The compilation album "The Love Songs" saw its release in West Germany in 1984. The record company Polydor released the LP only as a club edition.

I Love ABBA - USA

The last album in the series "I Love ABBA" was released in USA in 1984. It featured probably the most interesting track listing of them all with songs as: Cassandra, Should I Laugh Or Cry, My Love My Life or I Wonder. Several songs were edited: Eagle (version 3.36), The Name of the Game (3.52) and Chiquitita (4.36). No solo tracks of Agnetha and Frida were included.

The Story of ABBA - Canada

If you do not look carefully you can think that you see the well-known compilation "The Magic of ABBA" released in many countries in both Americas in 1984. But it is not right even if the cover is almost the same. The Canadian LP entitled "The Story of ABBA" was released in 1984 and it contained 16 ABBA hits which had been successful in Canada and USA - from Waterloo to When All Is Said and Done.

1985

The year 1985 was relatively quiet on the ABBA front. No new compilation albums were released and the ABBA time seemed to be definitely over. Björn and Benny enjoyed their success with "I Know Him So Well" on the top of the UK single chart and Agnetha was ready with her new solo album "Eyes of a Woman". Frida decided to leave show business after the flop of her 1984 album "Shine".

But it was not totally quiet that year. Two long-time ABBA admirers from Holland - the singers Bonnie St. Claire and Jose Hoebee released a full-length album filled with ABBA songs in Dutch. Both singers had had recorded ABBA covers in Dutch before. Their first single was "Cassandra" one year before, in June 1984. "Cassandra" entered the Dutch chart on June 30th, 1984 and stayed there for 8 weeks peaking at #19.

In June 1985 the ladies released a single with their Dutch version of ABBA's "The Way Old Friends Do" (in Dutch: Zoals vreinden doen) which entered the chart on July 7th, 1985 and stayed there for 9 weeks reaching #19.

The third single release featured "Move On" entitled in Dutch "Waarom" which entered the chart on December 21st, 1985 and stayed there for 6 weeks peaking at #35. The fourth  single from the album was the title song "Herinnering" originally known as "Andante Andante". "Herinnering" did not appear though on the chart. Even the last single featuring "The Piper" did not enter the chart.

The album entitled "Herinnering" featured 12 ABBA songs performed in Dutch. The songs were: "The Way Old Friends Do", "The Piper", "Move On", "I Let The Music Speak", "Chiquitita", "Why Did It Have To Be Me", "Andante Andante", "Soldiers", "Cassandra", "Lovers", "One Man One Woman" and "Arrival".

Björn on Dutch TV

Björn gave an interview for Dutch TV in connection to the release of the Bonnie & Josié album with ABBA covers.

The Great Songs of ABBA

A note book containing 10 greatest hits of ABBA was issued in the UK and Australia in 1985.

The best of ABBA

A limited edition picture disc entitled "The best of ABBA" saw its release in 1985 in Holland. The disc contained 13 early ABBA hits which originally had been released on the 1975 Greatest Hits album though the track listing was changed.

1986

For Stikkan

The four ABBA members met each other in front of the TV cameras on 16 January 1986. The recording of the folk song "Tivedshambo"  was a surprise  for their manager Stig Anderson. Swedish TV had by that time a TV programme "Här är ditt liv" (Here is your life) which featured the biggest profiles in the industry and culture in Sweden. In January 86 it was time for Stig. The special was aired from Malmö and ABBA participated just with the pre-recorded video clip. The video had been filmed at the Polar Music office in Hamngatan 11 in Stockholm. It was the last recording featuring all four members of ABBA on TV. Björn and Benny were special guests in the show.

ABBA Live

In the spring of 1986 ABBA's engineer Michael B. Tretow was back in the Polar Studios remixing tracks for a new ABBA project.

The ABBA members had never enjoyed live albums and that's why it was strange that Björn and Benny suddenly accepted the idea of releasing a half fake live album. The tracks chosen for this project were taken mostly from the concerts on Wembley in 1979, the TV show "Dick Cavett Meets ABBA" 1981 and the Australian tour in 1977. It is unknown why it was decided to mix together songs from three so very different events on the same album. The track listing was strange as well. The opening track was... "Dancing Queen" which used to be one of the last songs performed by ABBA on their concerts. "Two for the Price Of One" sounded funny among the other hits as the song had never been a hit itself and it was performed in the Dick Cavett show only because it was one of the first songs being ready for the forthcoming album in 1981. It was even funnier that the "phone effect" when Björn sings "Alice Whiting" was taken from the studio recording and mixed into the live one. The tracks were remixed and overdubbed in the studio and it was very hard to know what was the real live sound and what was the studio overdub.

The LP contained 11 tracks and the CD version 14 tracks (the CD bonus tracks were: Money Money Money, The Name of the Game/Eagle mix and On And On And On). The album was released in Sweden was on August 18th, 1986. It entered the Swedish chart first on September 10th where it stayed for one week in #49.

ABBA Live was even released in West Germany but not in the UK.

The Polish release of the album.

Atlantic Canada

CD

MC

The Story of ABBA - the video

The video "The Story of ABBA" was released in the UK in 1986. It contained the original show from the Dutch TV "Veronica" recorded with ABBA in the studio in 1982. An interview with ABBA and Stikkan Anderson was mixed with ABBA videos and 4 pre-ABBA appearances.

Das Portrait

New compilation LP entitled "ABBA Das Portrait" saw its release in Germany in 1986. The album contained 16 hits from the period 1973-1981. It was released as a cooperation of Floraton Musik Gmbh and Polydor.

Doctor and the Medics

The British group Doctor and the Medics made their own version of ABBA's "Waterloo" in 1986. The single entered the UK chart on November 22, 1986 where it stayed for 4 weeks peaking at #45.

1987

The Best of ABBA - Poland

The period 1983-1990 was probably the worst time for ABBA and their fans. The band was almost forgotten and the ABBA compilation releases in the world were extremely occasional. A very odd release in Poland came out in 1987 - a double LP "The Best of ABBA" which was nothing but the Polish version of "The Singles the first ten years" originally issued in late 1982. The cover was slightly changed but the same photo as on the original issue was used here as well. Both LPs had the same track listing as well.

The Hits - UK

A budget priced album "The Hits" was released on vinyl and cassette in March 1987 in the UK. The album contained 12 songs - mostly single hits but even "The Visitors" which never appeared on a hit chart as it was only B-side of the single "Head over Heels" in 1982. The album sold well in the UK which made that the record company Pickwick would release this album on CD in December 1987.

The cassette

The Hits on CD

The budget-priced CD version of the album "The Hits" saw its release in the UK in September 1987 (six months after the LP release). The very first pressing of the CD had been done in France in 1986 and it was released in the UK under the number PCD 866. It was the first ABBA album released on CD at budget price in the UK.

The later re-releases of the CD were re-numbered to PWKS 593

The Collection - UK

The double album "ABBA The Collection" was released in December 1987 in Great Britain and France by the record company Castle Communications in the series "The collector series". Two LPs contained totally 24 tracks and the CD 18 tracks.

The songs omitted on CD were: "Gimme Gimme Gimme", "The Day Before You Came", "Under Attack", "The Visitors", "The Winner Takes it All" and "Eagle" - all of them from the more mature repertoire of ABBA.

The double play cassette featured all 24 tracks as released on the double LP which meant about 96 minutes of music.

1988

The best of ABBA in Holland

The compilation "The Best of ABBA" was released in the series "25 Jaar Pop Muziek" in Holland. Both the LP and the CD contained 13 songs including "The Day Before You Came" which did not appear very often on compilation albums.

LP

CD

The Hits 2 & 3

The year 1988 saw two new album releases in England - "The Hits 2" and "The Hits 3" which were continuation in the series released by the low-budget record company "Hallmark". Both albums were released both as LP, CD and MC. "The Hits 2" contained edited version of "The Name of The Game" (edit 3.55) and 13 other songs featuring mostly ABBA's hit singles but even some odd selections as "Andante Andante", "Arrival" or "Kisses of Fire". One of the biggest ABBA hits "The Winner Takes It All" appeared first on "The Hits 3"

The Hits Box

All three CDs were collected in a box.

Massive MC release in Sweden

The year 1988 saw a massive release of music cassettes with ABBA songs in Sweden. The record company TMC AB released totally 9 cassettes partly with the same track listings but with different covers. The record company TMC AB was a short lived daughter company to Sonet Records originally a Danish record company which today belongs to Universal Music. The track listings were quite odd at that time when the ABBA popularity in the world was on its lowest level and nobody thought that any ABBA release would sell good.

The first series

The first series was made up of 5 cassettes:

1. Showtime - ABBA - which featured well-known hits in its original versions as well as the Swedish version of "Ring Ring".

2. Money Money Money - which was a repackaged version of the above mentioned release with exactly the same track listing.

3. Dancing Queen - another compilation featuring all the biggest hits as well as some no single hits as "When I Kissed the Teacher" or "Tiger".

4. ABBA - included 14 songs from the period 1977 - 1979 (mainly from ABBA The Album and Voulez-Vous).

5. The Winner Takes It All - featured 14 songs from the period 1980 - 1982. This tape contained an alternative remixed dead-end version of "Under Attack" STILL NOT AVAILABLE ON ANY OTHER ABBA RELEASE.

Guld Hits

The second series of the ABBA cassettes released by TMC got the common title "Guld Hits" (Golden Hits).

1. Guld Hits Vol. 1 contained 14 early songs of ABBA taken from the albums Ring Ring and Waterloo.

2. Guld Hits Vol. 2 had the same track listing as "Dancing Queen" (see above).

3. Guld Hits Vol. 3 = MC "ABBA" (see above) with the songs 1977- 1979.

4. Guld Hits Vol. 4 = MC "The Winner Takes It All" - even here with the remixed version of "Under Attack".

CD releases in Sweden

The first three ABBA albums ("Ring Ring", "Waterloo" and "ABBA") saw their CD release in Sweden in 1988. This low budget release covers were scanned from the original LP with some parts of the text covered with yellow strips. Nowadays hard to find rarities.

The Collection Vol. 2 - UK

The follow-up to the 1987 "ABBA The Collection" was "The Collection Vol. 2" released in England in 1988. It was a very strange compilation album which in fact contained two ABBA records mixed with each other - never released in England LP "Ring Ring" and "ABBA Live".

CD

Absolute ABBA - UK

One more double LP compilation saw its release in England in 1988. The album entitled "Absolute ABBA" featured 24 greatest UK chart hits of ABBA and a very nice gatefold cover with nice pictures of various ABBA memorabilia, album and single covers, puzzles. The album was even released as a double CD. "Absolute ABBA" entered the British album chart on November 19, 1988 and stayed there for 7 weeks reaching #70.

Some of the tracks appeared in edited version as for instance: "The Name Of The Game" 3.21

CD

An ABBA The Golden Box was released in Sweden in 1988 and it contained all ABBA studio albums except "Ring Ring" Even the double LP "ABBA The Singles The First Ten Years" was included in this package. The cover pictures were taken from the "Voulez-Vous" photo session. The albums were listed in slightly different order than their original release years. The first LP was "ABBA" referred to the years 1974-75, the second LP was "Waterloo" surprisingly referred to the year 1976 as well as "Arrival". The only explanation can be that the LP "Waterloo" included in the box was the 1976 re-release of the original album. The box was issued by book company "Bokorama" and it was only a club release not a commercial one. It can explain why this box is extremely rare and hard to find.

Os grandes sucessos

The year 1988 was very exciting for all ABBA fans who enjoy compilation album. In Brazil it was released a new ABBA compilation entitled "Os grandes sucessos". The album featured 14 songs and among them an unique extended version of "I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do" which had never appeared on any other album with ABBA songs. The extended version was 4 minutes and 20 seconds long and it is not known who is standing behind this remix. "Fernando" was shortened from 4'15 to 3'30 and "Chiquitita" appeared here in its remixed version 3'32.

LP

CD

The Christmas compilation

Stikkan Anderson was executive producer for a new Christmas compilation that was sponsored by Swedish furniture company "Polarator". The album released on red vinyl was entitled "Polarator Jul" (Polarator Christmas) and contained Christmas carrols performed by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad as well as ABBA's "Happy New Year".

1989

Love Songs

In October 1989 the Dutch record company "Dino" released a new ABBA compilation entitled "Love Songs" in 1989. The album and MC contained 14 songs and the CD edition additionally 4 bonus tracks. The album entered the Dutch album chart on October 28, 1989 where it stayed for 11 weeks peaking at #38.

CD

MC

Edelweiss

The Austrian male/female group "Edelweiss" reached a Europe-wide #1 position with their hit "Bring me Edelweiss", supposedly by following the instructions given in The KLF's book The Manual. Borrowing large parts of its melody from ABBA's " SOS" and Indeep's "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life", the song humorously targeted Austrian ski resorts and yodeling and sold five million copies worldwide. In the UK with the single entered the chart on April 29, 1989 where it stayed for 10 weeks peaking at #5.

The album which was released in Austria in 1988 contained two different mixes of "Bring me Edelweiss".

Love Songs in the UK

After the ABBA Hits 1, 2 and 3 series Pickwick came up with a follow-up entitled "Love Songs" in December 1989. The album contained only two single hits from ABBA's career: "Under Attack" and "So Long" and the other 12 songs were chosen from different albums. Even two songs previously released only as B-sides of ABBA singles - "Should I Laugh or Cry" and "Lovelight" were included on the compilation. This release remains as a kind of odd song collection.

ABBA not forgotten in South Africa

A double compilation album entitled "Unforgettable ABBA" saw its release in South Africa in 1989. The two records contained 27 songs.

The Very Best of...

Reader's Digest in the UK released a limited edition compilation album "The Very Best Of ABBA" featuring 14 hits from the period 1974 - 1980.

1991

ABBA Story

Polydor released a new compilation 2CD box/double LP/MC in 1991. The compilation featured 25 ABBA songs.