![<-- Three of the original four members of the Swedish pop group Abba, (L-R) Benny Anderson, Anne Frida Lynustad and Bjorn Ulvaeus are seen in London, April 6, 2004. The latest ABBA compilation to hit the record stores will be its final record release, a former member of the Swedish group predicted, but fans' dream of seeing the pop quartet reform would never come true.]( "<-- Three of the original four members of the Swedish pop group Abba, (L-R) Benny Anderson, Anne Frida Lynustad and Bjorn Ulvaeus are seen in London, April 6, 2004. The latest ABBA compilation to hit the record stores will be its final record release, a former member of the Swedish group predicted, but fans' dream of seeing the pop quartet reform would never come true.")
<-- Three of the original four members of the Swedish pop group Abba, (L-R) Benny Anderson, Anne Frida Lynustad and Bjorn Ulvaeus are seen in London, April 6, 2004. The latest ABBA compilation to hit the record stores will be its final record release, a former member of the Swedish group predicted, but fans' dream of seeing the pop quartet reform would never come true.
ABBA release may be the last, members eye Broadway
LONDON (Reuters) - The latest ABBA compilation to hit the record stores will be its final record release, a former member of the Swedish group predicted, but fans' dream of seeing the pop quartet reform would never come true.
Bjorn Ulvaeus said on Monday that ABBA had no intention of following in the footsteps of other famous bands that have regrouped in recent years.
"We believe that what we did then was pretty good," he told Reuters in a telephone interview during a trip to England.
"But after, we felt that the energy was running out toward the end of the 1970s, we decided, why should we do a Rolling Stones or a Queen?" he said.
"ABBA was the highlight of mine and (fellow ABBA member) Benny Andersson's creativity, and most groups actually only have seven or 10 years of creativity. Some of them go on anyway."
Asked whether the new box set of ABBA's complete studio recordings, featuring nine CDs and two DVDs, would be ABBA's last commercial offering, he replied: "Absolutely ... If you ask me, yes."
He said that the collection had primarily been the idea of record company Universal Music rather than the group, but it was what the fans wanted.
"I like the fact that everything is now out there and released, because we haven't been able to do much for the fans over the last few years," he said.
The creators of classic tracks like "Super Trouper," "The Winner Takes It All" and "Waterloo" have sold in excess of 100 million albums worldwide, many of them compilations released after the band split in the early 1980s.
BROADWAY AMBITION
Ulvaeus and Andersson are attempting to transfer their Swedish show "Kristina" to Broadway, and have been working with Herbert Kretzmer, responsible for the lyrics of hit musical "Les Miserables," on translating the work.
"It is very difficult to go from something so Swedish to America, but on the other hand it's a subject that everyone knows and especially in America - about emigrants and immigrants," Ulvaeus said.
He plans to hold workshops in New York next spring before deciding whether to launch the show there.
Ulvaeus said the music industry had only come to appreciate ABBA in recent years, and that during its heyday, the best selling pop act was widely derided.
"In the 1980s we were so distinctly uncool, it was incredible. But still we had been working so hard and putting our lives into every track, and people didn't appreciate that.
"The fans did of course, and the public who bought the records, but critics, no way."
Yet today, none other than Madonna is borrowing from ABBA hit "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" on her chart-topping 2005 dance single "Hung Up."
"I see that as a tribute," said Ulvaeus.
"We almost always say no to these things," he added.
"Madonna's assistant came over to Sweden and played the track, and it was so catchy that Benny and I immediately said 'Yes'. We have loads of offers like that but we never say yes, but in this case it was so cleverly done."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051205/music_nm/abba_dc;_ylt=AnJYf_Impp7_tOqqUNt8D56VEhkF;...
