ABBA's enduring popularity stems from their exceptional musical composition and harmonious delivery. They consistently produced timeless tunes that resonate across generations, showcasing strong melodies and intricate chord progressions. While their vocal performances were solid, the songwriting quality is paramount, as evidenced by comparisons to The Beatles, who had both strong compositions and standout solo careers. The discussion highlights the significance of musical composition as the primary factor in creating classic hits, with delivery serving as a secondary but still important element.
PREREQUISITESMusic enthusiasts, songwriters, and anyone interested in understanding the elements that contribute to the lasting appeal of iconic bands like ABBA and The Beatles.
Very funny!Hornbein said:
I had Korg synths early on, but I never quite liked them, compared to Roland.pinball1970 said:
... Riders on the storm.pinball1970 said:
No, I meant your three keyboards.Hornbein said:
Oh why not. Yamaha PSR 373 (unused) and 473, Roland go:keys 3 (sounds great for some things but user interface so terrible it's an insult. I can't wait to get rid of it.). I don't like expensive electronic keyboards because they are mostly about duplicating obsolete keyboards of the past, which I don't do. That's the market.DennisN said:No, I meant your three keyboards.
Yep, that's exactly how it goes.pinball1970 said:
jack action said:
That is very funny but you can hear the background keys when he is feigning being bored.Hornbein said:
ABBA are not disco, they just used it like Blondie and Kiss.rcgldr said:
I'm not anti-ABBA, I had just never heard of them, even before discos (1975). The first time I heard of them was some TV show (PBS?) that played a video of Dancing Queen almost 20 years later around 1996, which ironically is too slow of a tempo for dancing. As I commented before, due to my history, a wider spectrum than most: classic and modern rock, disco (funk and non-funk (Cerrone, Voyage, ...)), funk, swing, some dance|pop songs, some motown, some country. It's what I hear played by cover bands at the venues my wife and I go to. Dancing Queen was 1976, when Billboard top 100 was dominated by disco except for Fleetwood Mac Rumours.pinball1970 said:
Don't know why this has to be their defining song. I agree, it's too slow.rcgldr said:
Back to the original post, why is ABBA so popular, I would ask where and when they were|are popular and how popular compared to other bands.DaveC426913 said:
Europe in the mid 1970s. Huge.rcgldr said:
Dancing Queen was their only number one hit in the US, and it was actually inspired by US disco; "Andersson and Ulvaeus have cited George McCrae's "Rock Your Baby" as a source of inspiration for the style of the song." (quote from Wikipedia).DaveC426913 said:
DennisN said:
DennisN said:
). ). It's a wonderful composition, majestic and with Swedish folk music as a foundation. When I hear it I sometimes think of Irish or Scottish folk music; I think it could be well done with Irish/Scottish folk music sound too, e.g. bagpipes (I am serious )., but I'll narrow it down to a couple of lines...
) which is a key ingredient of Scandinavia, but it's dressed up as a cool, danceable tune. One good analysis of the song here.I wasn't considering only bands from non-English speaking countries singing in English. Also from Wiki, world wide sales, I'm not sure about the difference between claimed sales and certified | reputed sales. ABBA is around #33 on claimed sales:pinball1970 said:
). And she's got a ridiculous amount of cymbals of all sizes and types .Yes (to me) that is a lot. I use hi hats, ride and one crash. Bass drum, snare, bass drum tom and floor tom that's it.DennisN said:Sidenote for music nerds: She seems to have a quite impressive drum set; I count four toms and two smaller drums which I think are timbales (I personally love timbales) (and @pinball1970 may correct me if I'm wrong
One crash? Very minimalisticpinball1970 said:
. Ringo Starr would have been impressed, I think. Ok,from the Title it is my job and other ABBAphiles to guide you to what we think are tracks that make them special.rcgldr said:
Reminded me of:pinball1970 said:
Wow, that really brought back memories for me, not heard it for decades possibly.rcgldr said:
I like seeing the image of the video. It's just another click to get to ytrcgldr said:
This is one of my favourite songs by themrcgldr said:
They had only has four hits in the US and did one tour in 1979.rcgldr said:
I get it now, popular in the UK. On somewhat of a twist, the Beatles Revolver didn't initially do that well in the US, took a while for it to catch on. Now many consider it their best album, but due to the studio effect,they could not do live performances of most of those songs until years later with sampling keyboards.pinball1970 said: