CityLife

ABBA are Bjorn again!

BENNY Andersson's biography in the press handout for a certain current hit film informs you that he's a composer and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

It lets you know also that he's a professor, 'leader of the 16-piece Benny Andersson's Orchestra' and even that he's a grandfather of five.

Strangely enough, you'll search in vain for any mention of the not-insignificant fact that he's one of the Bs in ABBA, and thus co-composer of such culturally-ingrained tunes as Dancing Queen, The Winner Takes It All, SOS, Voulez Vous, Mamma Mia!... well, you probably all know the long list of ABBA hits by heart, especially if you've recently visited Mamma Mia! The Movie, adapted from Judy Craymer's world-conquering musical.

Oh yes, Benny and his partner Bjorn Ulvaeus have what might best be described as a complex relationship with the songs that everyone knows them for - not many people would be able to name too many songs from Chess, I'll bet.

"I think we should be forgiven for some of it," says Benny, in all seriousness. "You try your best all the time but sometimes the results are not exactly what you expected, at least when you see it in retrospect. But basically we're very proud of the work we did with Abba and we're very proud to be involved with this movie too."

Bjorn, agrees: "When we split up in 1981 or 82, whenever that was, I thought that was the end of it," admitting that's why the duo agreed to let ABBA songs come out on more than one cheap label compilation.

Uncool

As anyone who was around at the time ought to remember - and Judy Craymer readily acknowledges - it was considered very uncool indeed to like Abba in the late seventies and eighties.

"Something happened towards the end of the eighties," remembers Bjorn. "There were cover bands, like Bjorn Again, which I remember thinking was a very funny name the first time I heard it, and then the record company released Abba Gold. I don't know why."

Benny adds: "Well, small things happened and major things, like the movie Muriel's Wedding in Australia and Erasure recording four songs and having a big hit. So, then we started to think, `Wow, this corpse is alive!' And obviously after that came Mamma Mia, the show."

Bjorn said: "But the revival took me completely by surprise. We thought it was the end when we split up. But all through that time I was still very proud of the stuff. Whenever I hear something on the radio, it still sounds uplifting and fresh. I don't know why."

Famously, it took Judy Craymer many years to persuade them to endorse her idea of a stage show based on their songs.

"Yes, we just didn't see how it could work for a long time and we definitely didn't want it to be 'the Abba Story'," Benny confesses. "But Judy impressed us with her determination and her energy that she could make it work, that this was something new and different. And, as everyone knows, she was right!

Concerned

"After the stage version had become a big hit people obviously started to talk about a movie, so as far as I was concerned it was only a matter of time. It's very hard to say when you should do it and it was about a year and a half ago that we decided. But we were not reluctant this time, no."

"The one thing we said was that anyone who was to appear in the film had to be able to sing, period. So, we saw everybody. We were sent DVDs and our musical director met with Julie Walters and other cast members.

"We'd seen Pierce Brosnan in the Irish film, Evelyn, singing in a pub. And I auditioned Stellan Skarsgard over the phone. So we knew that we were safe. But the major chunk of the music is sung by Donna and Sophie and we met with Meryl Streep and went through all the music."

Over the years, the pair admit that they have fallen in and out of love with their songs. But do they have a personal favourite? "I'm afraid I don't have one. It's really very difficult to say," insists Bjorn. "Also, we tried to emulate what The Beatles had done, which was to develop from album to album, to take another step and be more daring. And that means there are favourites from the early period, favourites from the middle period and favourites from the end. So, that's why it's impossible to pick just one."

Benny concurs: "They're all different. Dancing Queen? Good recording, good song. Thank You For The Music? Good song, bad recording. Knowing Me, Knowing You? Great song, great recording. But they all have a place and it's impossible to choose one. The Winner Takes It All - maybe, but not really."

Mamma Mia! is now on general release.

Bjorn Again perform at Party! At Tatton Park this Sunday with The Music From Dirty Dancing, £20-£29. Gates open at 3pm. Tickets at tattonparkconcerts.com, or ring 0844 847 1554.