ABBA Annual 1980

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January:

1980-01-07 Tape to tape copying and recording Spanish vocals for songs used for 'Gracias Por La Musica'.

1980-01-08 Tape to tape copying and recording Spanish vocals for songs used for 'Gracias Por La Musica'.

1980-01-22 Bjorn and Benny on Barbados during a part of January. Meeting with John Cleese

Björn and Benny already had met John Cleese on Barbados in January 1980 and had dinner with him. According Carl Magnus Palm's book the 'Complete Recording Sessions', Björn and Benny had a vague idea for a musical set on a New Year's Eve. "A few people in a room, looking back on what has been, thinking about the future, that sort of thing", remembers Benny. They wanted John to write the story for it, but Cleese wasn't too keen about it

A quote from the book 'Cleese Encounters' (Dutch translation) about ABBA and this idea:

...Meanwhile, the quest for a plot for the movie "The Meaning Of Live" continued. It definitely didn't come in July 1980, when ABBA, the Swedish supergroup, was in London to promote The Winner Takes It All, and hinted that they wished to work with Cleese. "We absolutely want to work with John....he is the funniest man in the world" ...... Cleese wasn't too keen on this idea and left for Los Angeles.

February:

1980-02-07 .ABBA at a reception to receive the Olympic album 'Guldskivan' with ABBA's 'Chiquitita' in Spanish.

Agnetha and Frida with Swedish Skiiing-champion Ingemar Stenmark

1980-02-04 Backing track of 'Hold Me Close', a working title of 'Andante, Andante'.

1980-02-05 Backing track of 'Elaine'.

1980-02-06 Backing track of 'Ten Tin Soldiers', a working title of 'Sherwood'. a working title of 'Äntligen Krig', a working title of 'The Piper'.

1980-02-07 Continue working on the backing track of 'The Piper'.

1980-02-08 Mandolin overdubs for 'Hold Me Close', a working title of 'Andante, Andante'.

1980-02-11 Backing track of 'Daddy Don't Get Drunk On Christmas Day', a working title of 'Happy New Year'.

1980-02-12 Backing track of 'Esses Vad Det Svänger När Spelar Jazz', a working title of 'Till The Night Is Gone, a working title of 'On And On And On' .

1980-02-28 Rehearsals for the upcoming Japan tour.

March

1980-03 Recording 'I Have A Dream' (Japanese version).

1980-03-01 Rehearsals for Japan tour start today.

1980-03-08 Departure from Stockholm via London, Anchorage to Japan. ABBA fan Jun Honda had an encounter with the group on the plane:

Meeting ABBA at Heathrow airport in 1980

There was a Swedish pop group that had hits all around the world with "Dancing Queen", "Fernando", etc. from the mid-70s until the early 80s. ABBA were 2 couples, and the name comes from the first letter of each of their names put together. You don't hear much about them lately, so I wonder what they are doing.

In March 1980, my family and I were on our way home from London to Tokyo via Alaska on JAL. We got on a crowded shuttle bus at Heathrow Airport to board the plane. The man sitting in front of my mother and I got up. "Would you like to sit down?" he said, motioning for my mother to take his seat. Mum accepted his kind offer. I thought he was very kind to offer his seat, and glanced at his face. I saw a monkey face (sorry for being blunt), that I had seen somewhere before. I of course realised it was Bjorn from ABBA straight away, but nobody around us was making a fuss and there were no guards either. Even though it was a bit rude, I looked at his face a couple of times to confirm that it really was him. As soon as we got off the bus, I turned to my mother and said, "Mum, that was Björn from ABBA!", but she simply answered "Oh, really?", and didn't seem to care like everyone else. I quickly got a pen and paper out of my bag and managed to get his autograph on top of the ramp, just before going into the plane. Even then, he gave me a warm friendly smile and signed his autograph.

picture by Geaorge Bourdaniotis

After that, we had to stop in Anchorage to refuel, and spent a couple of hours in the airport, along with the ABBA entourage. It was probably the members with their band, staff and others, but they were all huge. All the members, including the women were about 180 cm, and the largest band member was extremely fat and would have been at least about 190 cm. I was really surprised. It was the first time that I realised, "Swedes are huge."

As I was wandering around, I saw that another member, Benny, was also taking a leisurely stroll around the airport, so of course I got his autograph as well. We had time for a brief conversation.

"Are you going to Japan for a concert tour?"

"Yes"

"Good luck."

"Thanks"

He was an easy person to talk to.

When we got to Narita Airport, it took a bit longer than usual to get off the plane. The pilot made an announcement that there has been a delay due to ABBA being on the same flight. They seemed to have alighted before us. After a thorough customs check, we had cleared customs before they did. The moment we walked through into the arrival lounge, I was overwhelmed by the press who had come to cover ABBA's arrival. It's not often you have the experience of having all cameras and lights pointing in your direction. We walked past them and then I got my camera out and joined the media to get a photo of ABBA (top).

I did wonder if all stars get on crowded shuttle buses, with the other passengers to board planes. But of course on board, they were on First Class. Even so, despite the fact that he's a star, Björn is a gentleman!@

Copyright(c)Jun Honda

by George Bourdaniotis

1980-03-09 Arrival at Tokyo airport.

ABBA at airportArrival in Japan

1980-03-10 In Japan meeting the press

1980-03-11 In Japan.

1980-03-12 Concert in Tokyo, Budokan 'I Have A Dream' was sung in Japanese during this tour.

1980-03-13 Concert in Tokyo, Budokan.

Voulez Vous by Agnetha

1980-03-14 Concert in Koriyama

1980-03-17 Concert in Tokyo, Budokan.

1980-03-18 Concert in Tokyo, Budokan.

1980-03-20 Concert in Fukuoka (Japan).

1980-03-21 Concert in Osaka (Japan).

1980-03-22 Concert in Osaka (Japan).

1980-03-24 Concert in Nagoya (Japan).

1980-03-26 Concert in Tokyo, Budokan (Japan).

1980-03-27 Concert in Tokyo, Budokan (Japan).

1980-03-28 Back to Europe.

April:

1981-04-07
1980-04-09 Vocals for 'Andante Andante', 'The Piper', 'Til The Night Is Gone', 'Happy New Year'..

1980-04-11 Mixing 'Andante, Andante'.

1980-04-17 Flute overdub for 'The Piper' and sax overdubs for ''Till The Night Is Gone, a working title of 'On And On And On'.

1980-04-21 Drum overdubs for 'Elaine'.

1980-04-23 Mixing 'Till The Night Is Gone, a working title of 'On And On And On'.

1980-04-24 Mixing 'The Piper' and 'Till The Night Is Gone', a working title of 'On And On And On'.

1980-04-25 Mixing 'The Piper' and 'Happy New Year'.

1980-04-29 Mixing 'Elaine'.

May:

1980-05-08 Recording 'Lookin' For A Good Time' for Tomas Ledin with backing vocals by the girls.

1980-05 A Spanish television crew comes to Stockholm to film the show 'Aplauso'. ABBA perform 'Conociéndome, Conociéndote', 'Gracias Por La Musica' and 'Dame!Dame! Dame!'

1980-05-29 Recording 'Lookin' For A Good Time' for Tomas Ledin with backing vocals by the girls.

June:

1980-06-02 Backing track of 'The Story Of My Life', a working title of 'The Winner Takes It All'.

1980-06-03 Backing track of 'Burning My Bridges'.

1980-06-04 Backing track of 'Our Last Summer'.

1981-06-05 Guitar overdubs for 'Our Last Summer'

1980-06-06 2nd backing track of 'The Story Of My Life II/III, a working title of 'The Winner Takes It All'.

ABBA with Hitkrant trofee

1980-06-12 Guitar overdubs for 'Our Last Summer'.

1980-06-16 String overdubs for 'The Winner Takes It All'.

1980-06-18 Mixing 'The Winner Takes It All'.

1980-06-19 Mixing 'Our Last Summer'.

1980-06-23 Release LP 'Gracias Por LaMusica'.

July:

1980-07 ABBA on vacation in July.

1980-07-12 Making of video 'The WinnerTakes It All'. 50 km north of Gothenburg.

1980-07-21 Release single 'The Winner Takes It All' - 'Elaine

August:

1980-08 ..New writing sessions of Benny and Bjorn.

1980-08-08 Björn, Benny and Frida fly to London for three days. Agnetha stays in Stockholm. This evening they visit Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' concert.

1980-08-09 The three ABBA members meet the head of record-label Epic and several people from the press.

1980-08-10 Back to Stockholm.

1980-08-23 Björn runs the Stockholm marathan in 3 hours and 22 minutes and 54 seconds.

September:

1980-09-08 Backing track of 'Jackass', a working title of 'Piccolino', a working title of 'Me And I'.

1980-09-09 Backing tracks of 'Yarrafat', a working title of 'Lay All Your Love On Me' and 'Spansk II, a working title of 'Pig Party On Mallorca, a working title of 'Padre', a working title of 'Put On Your White Sombrero'.

1980-09-25 Mixing 'Me And I'.

1980-09 Agnetha and Frida talk about the Dutch 'Focus' project. They also receive an award.

October:

1980-10-01 Benny and Bjorn in studio working on album 'Super Trouper'.

1980-10-03 Backing track of 'Blinka Lilla Stjärna', a working title of 'Super Trouper'' plus shooting of the crowd scenes of the video (as the track itself wasn't finished yet) and LP and single covers 'Super Trouper' plus shots for the 'Happy New Year' video .

1980-10-06 Mixing of 'The Piper'.

1980-10-07 Mixing of 'The Piper' and 'Our Last Summer'.

1980-10-08 Overdubs for 'The Way Old Friends Do' and mixing of 'Our Last Summer'.

1980-10-09 Mixing 'Lay All Your Love On Me'.

1980-10-10 Mixing 'Lay All Your Love On Me' and 'The Way Old Friends Do'.

1980-10-11 Mixing 'The Way Old Friends Do'. Björn, Benny and Frida attend the Rod Stewart concert in Stockholm tonight.

1980-10 Recording Spanish vocals for 'Andante, Andante'.

1980-10-12 Mixing 'Andante, Andante'.

1980-10-14 Percussion overdubs for 'Super Trouper'.

1980-10-21 ABBA in Paris for two days. They perform 'The Winner Takes It All' and 'Super Trouper' on tv-show 'Stars 80'.

November:

1980-11-03 Release LP 'Super Trouper'

1980-11-04 Recording tracks for Agnetha and Linda's Christmas album.

1980-11-08 Filming the singing scenes of the 'Happy New Year' and 'Felicidad' promotion clips at Lasse Hallström's apartment.

1980-11-17 Björn and Frida on Swedish tv-show Mandagsbörsen for interview.

1980-11mid? Björn appears in a Spanish tv-interview in Madrid talking about the 'Super Trouper' LP.

1980-11-18 Fhoto session with 'Bravo' photographer Wolfgang Heilemann in Stockholm.

1980-11 ABBA on 'Words and Music' (A special about 'Super Trouper').

1980-11-26 Shooting the 'Show Express' special for German television in Stockholm with The Winner Takes It All', 'Super Trouper' On and On and On' and 'Happy New Year' by the piano. ABBA arrived at 3 pm at the studios and started rehearsals. At 8.40 pm Björn was interviewed in German by tv-host Michael Schanze, followed by performing the three songs.