1. Waterloo - the Swedish outtake - February
2. Waterloo - the single & the album
5. Promoting Waterloo - April-May
After the failure in 1973 with "Ring Ring" the group would participate in the Swedish outtake to Eurovision Song Contest again hoping that they would win this time. They decided to perform "Waterloo" even if "Hasta Mañana" had been taken in consideration as a very good song for ESC. The only "problem" with "Hasta Manana" was that the song featured Agnetha singing lead vocal and it was important to present both girls as equally important singers in the group.
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On 9 February 1974 ABBA won in the Swedish outtake to the Eurovision Song Contest and it was of course celebrated by the ABBA team in Stikkans house in Nacka outside Stockholm. A big promotional campaign had been started by Stikkan Anderson who went on a promotional trip around Europe and paid visit at record companies which could be possible cooperation partners in the future.
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The "Waterloo" sessions
The "Waterloo" photo sessions were taken one month before the release of the album at the Gripsholm castle in Mariefred (near Stockholm). (go.to/ABBA related places)
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The table session
Shot from this photo session was used by Polydor in 1975 & 1976 as a cover photo for the album "The Best of ABBA". So far there are two known alternative shots available from this session.
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Can you hear the drums... session
The alternative photo sessions featuring ABBA with drums were not used in a bigger scale by mass media in the world. One picture appeared in the official ABBA calendar 1984, an alternative shots could be seen in some newspapers in Holland and a rare shot taken in the yard outside the castle was used on the back cover of the Swedish mini book "Mera pop" written in 1974 by Christer Borg - the same author who would write the first Swedish ABBA biography "Fenomenet ABBA" two years later.
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Recording sessions at the Glenstudio
ABBA recorded songs for a new album between September 73 and March 74 in various studios. Some songs were recorded at Bruno Glenmark's studio, "Glenstudio", situated in Stocksund outside Stockholm.
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Waterloo - the single (in Sweden)
Two alternative singles with "Waterloo" were released in Sweden, the Swedish language version with "Honey Honey" (in Swedish) on the side B and the English language version with "Watch Out" on the B-side. Both singles were very successful in ABBA's native country reaching Top 3 on Topplistan.
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Waterloo (Swedish version)/Honey Honey (Swedish version) | ||
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Waterloo (English version)/Watch Out |
In Denmark the single "Waterloo"/"Watch Out" was released in a picture sleeve.
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The photo session
This photo session was taken by photographer Torbjörn Calvero on 25 February 1974 outside the Polar Music office in Nybrogatan in Stockholm.
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Early photo sessions
Two early photo sessions from 1974. The photos were published all over the world as well as they appeared on several record covers as for instance the German SP "Honey Honey".
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The palm tree session
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Waterloo - the album
The album "Waterloo" was released in Sweden on March 4th, 1974. It contained 12 songs featuring both Swedish and English versions of "Waterloo". The bonus track on the Epic and Polydor versions of the album was the 1973 hit "Ring Ring".
ABBA recorded their songs in English from the very beginning and the only exceptions were the songs "Waterloo", "Åh vilka tider" and "Honey Honey" which had been even recorded in Swedish. Frida's and Agnetha's vocals dominated on this album even if Björn still had leads on some tracks. Even Benny contributed with lead vocal on "Suzy Hang Around".
The cover picture was the same in all countries where album was released and only the design varied from country to country. Even Agnetha's name was changed to Anna in certain territories.
"Waterloo" entered the Swedish LP chart on March 12, 1974 where it stayed for 27 weeks peaking at #1.
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In West Germany "Waterloo" entered the chart on June 15th, 1974 and stayed there for 32 weeks reaching #6.
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In the Netherlands the album "Waterloo" did not enjoy any bigger success and the LP did not appeared on the charts at all..
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In Great Britain the LP "Waterloo" was released in May 74 and it entered the album chart on June 8th, 1974 where it stayed for only 2 weeks reaching #28.
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The album "Waterloo" saw its release in Spain at the beginning of May 1974. Under the title of the album there was even a plain information that the group had won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. The Spanish album cover had different design comparing to the other releases but the same cover photo. The track listing was slightly different to the original Swedish release as it was Ring Ring that opened side B and not Honey Honey. The album was released by the Spanish record company "Carnaby".
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The US record company Atlantic released "Waterloo" in July 1974. The album spent 8 weeks in Top 200 reaching #142. The Atlantic release of the album featured the US sax remix of "Ring Ring".
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"Waterloo" saw its LP release in Australia on 1 July 1974. The album stayed on the Australian chart for 8 weeks reaching #67.
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"Waterloo" was even released in South Africa in January 1975 where it peaked at #1 on the South African chart.
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Waterloo - the album - more releases
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The Polish issue of the album. (released in 1976) |
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In Czechoslovakia the "Waterloo" cover was used for a compilation release called simply "ABBA". It contained 12 selections from the group's albums "Waterloo" and "Ring Ring". |
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The East German release of "Waterloo" featured a completely different cover with a picture taken from ABBA only appearance on DDR TV in November 1974. This album was released in 1975. |
The Waterloo note book
The note book contained all songs from the album "Waterloo" with lyrics. Even Swedish lyrics to "Honey Honey" and "Hasta Mañana" were added. The interesting fact is that "Hasta Mañana" has never been recorded by ABBA in Swedish. The Swedish version of the song was released by the Polar singer Lena Andersson.
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ABBA in Swedish press - March
In March 1974 Swedish weekly "Veckorevyn" met ABBA in private and made an extended interview with the group. Lots of photos were taken in the area of Vallentuna where both couples lived by that time. The ABBA article in "Veckorevyn" was published at the beginning of April.
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ABBA arrived in Brighton on April 3 and started rehearsals and promotional work. The competition was held on Saturday 6 April 1974 in the Brighton Dome. ABBA and Stikkan stayed at the Grand Hotel (see: ABBA related places). Nobody believed that ABBA would win. The competition was very hard. One of the competitors was Olivia Newton-John who was already a big name in the show business. But ABBA won with 24 points and it would become the real start for the group as pop stars.
See ABBA related places in Brighton - here.
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Rehearsals
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The show
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The day after the victory ABBA met the press and the photographers.
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ABBA in London
ABBA arrived in London two days after the contest and stayed at the hotel Grosvenor House. The group posed for photographers on the Waterloo station, Hyde Park and other locations in London.
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For the first time ABBA appeared on the British TV show Top Of The Pops on 11 April where they performed "Waterloo" live. The pressure was very hard. TOTP was one of the most important TV shows in Great Britain. The girls sang wrong in the second part of the song but the performance was good anyway.
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German TV April 1974
ABBA came to Germany directly from London for some TV performances. One of them was in "Die aktuelle Schaubude".
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Waterloo - the single release in Europe & USA
West Germany
The single "Waterloo"/"Watch Out" entered the German chart on 29 April 1974 where it reached the top on 10 June staying there for 4 weeks. Totally "Waterloo" spent 25 weeks on the German chart. In USA the single was released on 3 May 1974 and it entered the single chart on 1 June where it stayed for 12 weeks reaching #6.
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Holland, England & Italy
In Holland "Waterloo" reached #2 and in Italy #14. The Italian single featured "Honey Honey" on the side B. In the UK "Waterloo" entered the chart on 20 April and two weeks later it reached the top.
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Austria & Spain
In Austria the single "Waterloo" reached #2 and in Spain #3.
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France & Belgium
Even in France the single was very successful reching #3, in Belgium #1. An alternative single release in France featured a French language version of "Waterloo" b/w "Gonna Sing You My Lovesong".
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Spain
The single "Waterloo" b/w "Watch Out" was released in Spain in April 1974. The cover featured a wider shot from the "Gripsholms"-session (see ABBA related places) and it had especially designed lay-out. The single was very successful on the Spanish single chart where it stayed for 15 weeks reaching #3.
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Holland, April 1974
In Holland ABBA promoted "Waterloo" in two TV shows: "The Eddy Becker Show" and "Top Pop" at the end of April.
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Honey Honey - the single
A new single "Honey Honey"/"King Kong Song" was released in April in Scandinavia. In Europe the release came some months later. In USA in August 74 (chart entry on September 14, 10 weeks #27), Australia in October 74 (chart entry November 4, 19 weeks, #30).
Stikkan announced on 16 April that ABBA folkpark's tour 74 in Sweden was cancelled because of the lack of time. It caused strong reactions in the Swedish press.
Denmark
On April 24th, ABBA had a press meeting at the disco Bonaparte in Copenhagen (Denmark). Even an extended photo session was arranged in the park "Rosenborg Slotshave".
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West Germany
ABBA came to West Germany at the beginning of May. They performed "Waterloo" in the TV show "James Last".
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Waterloo (German version)
ABBA recorded the German version of "Waterloo" on March 15, 1974 for the future promotion in Germany, one of the most important countries for the group. A single containing the German version was released in Germany later in 1974 and the video for German TV was recorded during their visit there.
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The session
One of the 1974 photo sessions.
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Top of the Pops
The group was back in the BBC show "Top of the Pops" and performed "Waterloo". The show was recorded on 30 April and aired on 2 May 1974.
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Belgium - 17 May 1974
In the middle of May during their promotional trip through Europe the group paid visit in Waterloo & Brussels in Belgium.
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Performance on Belgian TV RTB.
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Spain
On 20 May ABBA paid a short promotional visit in Madrid where a TV special was made.
Bravo in Stockholm
Wolfgang Heilemann met ABBA in Holland and took several pictures for "Bravo". The pictures became famous all over the world. More sessions with ABBA for "Bravo" were taken in Stockholm later the same year.
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"Ring Ring" - the UK single
The British record company Epic decided to release "Ring Ring" as the second single after "Waterloo". It is hard to understand why Epic was so bullet-headed with releasing "Ring Ring" once again after the total flop in 1973. Even if the 1974 version was partly re-recorded and re-arranged but still it was the same song which was more than 1 year old. Probably "Honey Honey" which was chosen for the second single in 1974 in many other countries would have been a better choice even in Great Britain.
The single "Ring Ring" b/w "Rock'n'Roll Band" entered the UK single chart on 13 July 1974 where it stayed for 5 weeks reaching #32.
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In Great Britain
In June 1974 ABBA promoted "Ring Ring" in the Tommy Cooper show on BBC
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Gold records
ABBA and Hootenanny Singers with Björn Ulvaeus were awarded with Gold records for their sales in 1974. Björn had his favorite pullover with dogs on. The same pullover can be seen on several photo sessions both in 1974 and 1975.
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The blue green session
This session is probable best-known from the cover of the rare Australian "The best of... " album released by RCA two years later.
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ABBA filmed their first videos ("Waterloo" and "Ring Ring") at the beginning of July. The videos were directed by Lasse Hallström and featured the group standing in the studio with the white background and miming to the songs. ABBA was the first pop group making videos to their songs. When the first ABBA video Waterloo had been made nobody knew that 10 years later this way of promotion would be the most usual in the pop world.
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Honey Honey - the single in Belgium
The Vogue single in Belgium featuring "Honey Honey" with "King Kong Song" on the B-side was released in July 1974. The cover photo shot was taken from the group's performance on French TV in April 74 in the show "Domino".
BRAVO photo sessions in Stockholm
Wolfgang Heilemann took new pictures of the group in the summer of 1974 in Stockholm.
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More photo sessions were taken in Vallentuna outside Stockholm where the ABBA members lived at that time. It was one of the unique possibilities to see Björn & Agnetha, Benny & Frida in private. (see even ABBA-related places)
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"Ring Ring"/"Honey Honey" - the single
The second single from LP "Waterloo" released in Germany was "Ring Ring"/"Honey Honey" in the remixed sax version. The single was presumably thought as a single with two A sides even if it is stated on the record that "Honey Honey" is on the side B. It was though "Honey Honey" which became hit in Germany. The single entered the German chart on 8 July 1974 and reached no 2.
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Honey Honey in Disco
ABBA went to West Germany in September and performed in the TV special "Disco" which was aired on September 28, 1974. ABBA performed "Honey Honey" even in "Die Aktuelle Schaubude" on German TV.
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Summer in Sweden
The group members spent the 1974 summer time partly on their island Viggsö and partly in the studio recording solo projects. Frida together with Benny worked on her solo album which would be released at the end of 1975. Even Agnetha worked on her new solo project. Björn, Benny and Hootenanny Singers finished their new album "Evert Taube på vårt sätt" (Singing Evert Taube in our way). Recording sessions for a new ABBA album started in autumn.
The summer photos from Viggsö
...the summer air was soft and warm, the feeling right, the Viggsö night did its best to please us...
Enjoy this almost complete collection of photos from various European papers.
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 thanks
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More summer photos
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ABBA in USA
At the end of September ABBA traveled to USA for their first promotional trip in this country. They stayed in New York where they met journalists and appeared on TV in Mike Douglas Show.
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Waterloo EP in Australia
In October 1974 RCA Victor released an EP containing 4 songs in Australia. The songs were: Waterloo/Watch Out/Ring Ring/Rock'n'Roll Band. Probably the most odd release in ABBA's history with a very ugly cover.
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So Long in France
France was one of the first European countries that released the single "So Long" b/w "I've Been Waiting For You" from the forthcoming album. The single saw its French release in October 1974 and it appeared shortly on the French chart reaching #64.
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On Austrian TV - November
At the beginning of November ABBA recorded a TV show in Austria. The group performed "Honey Honey" and "So Long".
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The recording sessions for a new album started already in September 1974. The first single "So Long"/"I've been Waiting for You" was released in Great Britain on 18 November 1974. Maybe the choice of "So Long" on the A-side was not the right decision? Maybe "I've Been Waiting For You" would have a bigger chance to bring ABBA to the UK Top Ten already then? Anyway "So Long" was not good enough for the British music market and it sounded too much as "Waterloo". It did not enter the British chart even if ABBA performed the song in Top of The Pops in December 1974.
In West Germany it entered the chart on 16 December 1974 and reached no 11. "So Long" entered the Swedish "Topplistan" in January 1975 and it peaked on #7. In Belgium on #29 and in Austria on #5.
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Björn on Finnish TV
At the beginning of November Björn gave an interview for Finnish TV where he answered the questions concerning the forthcoming tour in Europe. He confirmed that Finland was included during the second leg of ABBA's tour - the Scandinavian part of the tour. ABBA would perform live in Helsinki/Finland on January 20th, 1975.
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East Germany
On November 7, 1974 ABBA performed for the first time in Eastern Europe - in DDR (East Germany). It was the first of totally two ABBA appearances in front of East European TV cameras. In the TV show "Ein Kessel Buntes" they performed their latest single hit "So Long" as well as "Honey Honey" and "Waterloo".
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The first international tour ABBA started in Copenhagen on 17 November 1974 at the Falkonerteatret. The first leg of the tour went to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. But ABBA were not big enough to sell out all concert halls particularly in Austria and Germany. This part of the tour took about 2 weeks and as Frida remembers they did not see anything of Europe because they were all the time on the road...
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The tour schedule:
November:
17 - Copenhagen, 18 - Hannover, 19 - Munich, 21 - Frankfurt, 22 - Berlin, 23 - Nürnberg, 24 - Wien, 25 - Innsbruck, 28 - Düsseldorf (cancelled - Frida sick), 29 - Bremen, 30 - Hamburg + Zürich (Switzerland) (cancelled).
ABBA in West Germany
The tour in West Germany, Switzerland and Austria received very poor critics and nobody thought that ABBA would become very soon the most popular pop group in the world. The concert scheduled for 28 November in Düsseldorf was cancelled because of Frida's flu. The day they played though in Bremen. The Germany weekly covered ABBA's tour and the photographer Bubbi Heilemann took an extended photo session with the group. ABBA did even some promotion for their new single "So Long".
Danke Birthe
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 Frida
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The photo session
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Honey Honey - the LP
ABBA became very quickly very popular in West Germany. At the end of 1974 the German record company "Karusell" released the LP "Honey Honey", entitled after the group's latest single hit in Germany. The LP contained songs previously available only in Scandinavia on ABBA's first LP "Ring Ring". The track "I Saw It In The Mirror" was not included on this release and instead there was "She's My Kind of Girl" an early Björn & Benny recording without any participation of Agnetha and Frida. The title track opened the side 2 of the LP and it was the only song taken from the LP "Waterloo". The LP "Honey Honey" would be re-released by Polydor in January 1979 with different cover but the same track listing. At the beginning of 1990s the album was even released on CD. Both the first LP release and the CD release are practically impossible to find nowadays.
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In Top of the Pops
For the third time in 1974 ABBA performed "Waterloo" in "Top of the Pops" in Great Britain.
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Honey Honey - the SP in Holland
The second single from the album "Waterloo" in Holland was "Honey Honey" b/w "Hasta Mañana" and it saw its release first in December 1974. The gap between the two single releases in Holland was about 8 months. "Honey Honey" was not so successful as "Waterloo" and it reached #16 on the Dutch single chart where it stayed for 6 weeks.
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