In January 1985 Agnetha started recording sessions for her new LP together with a new producer Eric Stewart. Eric brought his own studio musicians and Rutger Gunnarsson playing bass was the only one from the ABBA family.

The "Eyes of a woman" photo sessions

New photo sessions were taken at several spots. One of the spots was the Drottningholm castle outside Stockholm.

Alternative 1

Alternative 2

The I Won't Let You Go session

One of the shots from this session was used as a cover picture for the single "I Won't Let You Go"

Agnetha private

I Won't Let You Go - the single

The first single from the forthcoming album was a real nice surprise for all Agnetha fans. It contained two songs written by Agnetha herself with the help of Eric Stewart. "I Won't Let You Go" was a real big hit with a very strong melody and great vocal. The rarity on the B-side "You're There" was only a SP-track until 2005 when it appeared on the "Eyes of a Woman" remaster CD. The new single released in March 85 was hit in Sweden and Europe but not in Great Britain. In Poland "I Won't Let You Go" entered the chart on March 16th, 1985 and it stayed for 9 weeks reaching #10. Even a maxi version (6.04) of "I Won't Let You Go" was released at the same time.

The video

Eyes of a Woman - the album

Cassettes

The album "Eyes of a Woman" came in April and it entered the British chart on May 4, 1985 where it stayed for 3 weeks reaching no 38. Probably the best songs on this album are the wonderful ballad "The Angels Cry", "I Won't Let You Go" and  "We Should Be Together".  "I Keep Turning Off Lights" is one of the most interesting songs on this album.

The "Eyes of a Woman" recording sessions brought totally 13 new songs for release. The album contained eleven songs and two other were released B-sides of singles.

At home

One of rare photos featuring Agnetha at home composing (?)...

More photo sessions - short cut hair

Agnetha posed for extended photo session in Stockholm in February 1985. She cut her hair short and she kept this image during several months when she promoted her new album in Europe.

International promotion

West Germany

On March 18, 19 and 20, 1985 Agnetha was in Köln In West Germany where she Agnetha stayed at the "Dom-hotel". She appeared in the WDR TV show "Känguru" where she performed "I Won't Let You Go" and "One Way Love". The album "Eyes of a Woman" was released in West Germany the same week. She promoted her new album by meeting fans and press.

Dom-hotel in Köln /Cologne

Känguru - WDR

Belgium

After promotion in West Germany Agnetha went to Belgium where she appeared in the TV special "Mike". She gave an interview and performed her two latest single hits "I Won't Let You Go" & "One Way Love".

"Mike" - TV show

One Way Love - the single

The second single choice from the album was the track "One Way Love" written by the ELO leader Jeff Lynn backed with "Turn The World Around", a very interesting composition by Randy Edelman.  Even this time the B-side was only a single track that did not appeared on CD until August 2005 when it came out on the "Eyes of a Woman" remaster. A remixed 12" version of "One Way Love" was released in USA and became quite big hit on the America's dance floors. After the release of the album Agnetha made some promotional appearances. In Sweden she recorded a TV Special "A For Agnetha" which was filmed in Stockholm. Agnetha performed 5 songs from the album and also talked about her life and music.

Montreux

Agnetha appeared at the Montreux Pop Festival in May 1985 where she performed "One Way Love".

Gäster hos Hagge - Swedish TV

Agnetha participated in the TV special "Gäster hos Hagge" (Hagge's guests). She was interviewed by Hagge Geigert, a famous TV journalist from Gothenburg, she sang a medley of her hits live in the studio as well as she was totally surprised by having her own father as a special guest. They performed together an old hit "En sommar med dig".

After "Eyes of a Woman" it was time to take a break again. Agnetha told to "Expressen" in the interview in June 1985: "... I've done my part for now...". But the musical story of Agnetha was not over... not yet...

Eyes of a Woman in Holland

Different single choices were done by Polydor in Holland and only "I Won't Let You Go" was the same as in other countries. The follow-up singles featured "Just One Heart" b/w "Click Track" and "The Angels Cry" b/w "We Move As One".

1986

The Way You Are - the single

This single recorded by Agnetha & Ola Håkansson (Secret Service) in 1986 promoted Sweden as a candidate for the Olympic Winter Games in Falun in 1992. Falun didn't get it but the song became a big hit in Europe. The single was released on November 10, 1986. The song on the B-side "Fly Like The Eagle" was a duet as well. Both songs were featured in the documentary "It's time for Sweden". "The Way You Are" became a Top Ten hit in Sweden but not in Europe. On the Polish chart "The Way You Are" turned up on December 27th, 1986 and stayed there for 3 weeks reaching #34.

The photo session

The Way You Are - other countries

"The Way You Are" was released internationally in a.o. West Germany, France, UK, Australia, Holland and Belgium.

The Way You Are - maxi singles

The maxi single contained an extended version, the single version and an instrumental version of "The Way You Are". An alternate extended version of the song appeared on the 1987 Secret Service CD "Aux deux Magots".

The Way You Are - the recording + the video

Flyktinggalan, October 4, 1986

Agnetha and Ola participated in the charity show "Flyktinggalan" aired by SVT. They performed both songs from their latest single.

1987

The Way You Are on LP

In 1987 the record company Sonet Grammofon AB in Sweden released a compilation album called "Love Tracks". Both "The Way You Are" and "Fly Like The Eagle" were included on the LP which featured an alternate shot from the photo session on the cover.

På söndag - the single

At the beginning of 1987 Agnetha together with her 10-year-old son Christian started recording sessions for a new album which was recorded at Sonet Studio 2 and Michael Tretow's studio in Stockholm. The album "Kom följ med i vår karusell" was ready in April and contained 16 happy songs for children sung both by Agnetha and Christian. The producers were Agnetha and Mickael B. Tretow. The album was promoted commercially and the first single from it was "På söndag" (On Sunday). The single did not reach Top 10 on Svensktoppen but it became a big hit in Sweden anyway.

Kom följ med i vår karusell - the album

The single release was tightly followed by the album which was available in Sweden in the spring 1987. The photo sessions were taken on Lidingö outside Stockholm.

With Peter Cetera

Agnetha met Peter Cetera for the first time in 1986 during the TV show for Red Cross in Sweden. They talked about a possible cooperation but nobody thought by that time that it would be any cooperation. But Agnetha and Peter were in touch and suddenly they had a couple of ideas for a new album. Cetera came to Stockholm at the beginning of 1987 and together with Agnetha made a song selection.

The album was recorded in the Spring of 1987 at the Chartmaker Studios in California, USA.

 For the first time Agnetha was recording outside Sweden without ABBA musicians. It took 5 weeks to complete the album and it was a real challenge for the singer. She had a lot of ideas but she did not contribute with any own composition to this album.

I Stand Alone - the album

On November 9th, 1987, the Swedish fans could hear the result of the collaboration between Fältskog and Cetera. The album "I Stand Alone" was released in Sweden this day and topped directly the Swedish chart. There were 10 songs on the album, one of them duet with Peter Cetera. The sound was typical late 1980s and in many ways very American. Agnetha covered a Bucks Fizz song from 1986 "Love in The World Gone Mad". The album was not successful in UK where it entered the LP chart on March12, 1988 where it stayed for 1 week on #72.

The I Stand Alone photo sessions

The photo session showed a completely new look which, as she told in the interview with Jacob Dahlin, fits the album very good.

The last time - the video

The video for "The Last Time" was recorded a couple of days before Christmas 87 in Stockholm. The director was Marcello Ansiano and he had 7 assistants. A whole studio number 1 at the Film House in Stockholm was re-built to a room full with furniture. A young blonde guy would play the lover to Agnetha. 

Jacobs Stege - SVT

Agnetha was of course not interested in doing a big PR-tour around the world. She appeared in the Swedish TV show "Jacobs stege" hosted by Jacob Dahlin. 

She performed four songs from the album and gave an interview. When Dahlin told to her: "You have to travel around the world now and do promotion for the album", Agnetha answered smiling: "I do not have to do anything at all".  Bruce Gaitch the co-producer who had been invited to Sweden was special guest on this TV special. Later the same day Agnetha and Bruce were seen together at the restaurant "Cecil" in Stockholm having dinner.

The album "I Stand Alone" topped the Swedish chart and Agnetha was talking about the album on Swedish TV in December. It was probably one of her last TV appearances in Sweden in 1990s.

The Last Time - the single

The first single chosen for release was "The Last Time" b/w "Are you Gonna throw It All Away" - both tracks from the album. The single was released in Europe at the beginning of January 1988 together with the album.  The single reached #49 in West Germany and briefly appeared on the UK chart on #77. In Belgium the single reached #22. "The Last Time" entered the Polish chart on January 16th, 1988 where it stayed for 9 weeks reaching #30.

1988

The Last Time - 12"

The maxi single was released in 1988 and contained an extended version of "The Last Time"(6.52) and the 7" version of the song as well as "Are You Gonna throw it All Away" on the B-side.

London for the last time....

Agnetha did her last up-to-date promotional trip to the capital of UK at the end of January 1988 and stayed there for several days participating in TV shows, giving interviews and doing photo sessions.

The most important appearance was in "Wogan show" where she sang "The Last Time" and a Swedish traditional "Vem kan segla förutom vind" live in studio. She was interviewed by Terry Wogan. One more interview was done for the Breakfast TV (aired in the beginning of February).

Probably the last international interview in the 1980s was done for the Dutch TV at the beginning of 1988.

Lill-Babs 50

Agnetha was one of the guests on the big party arranged for the Swedish pop diva Lill-Babs when she celebrated her 50th birthday in March 1988. She danced with her adviser Staffan Lindé.

I Wasn't The One - the single

The second single from "I Stand Alone" was the Agnetha's duet with Peter Cetera "I Wasn't the One (Who Said Goodbye)". The single was released at the end of 1987 and at the beginning of 1988 it started to climb on the US charts.