The sound of the marimba resounds, accompanied by each syllable: “Mamma Mia! Here I go Again” – Mamma Mia! I’m here again.
The opening verse of the hit song released in the fall of 1975 now has a new life, not least because this August the second part of the movie Mamma Mia! will continue, but also because of ABBA’s sudden statement:
“The four of us felt that, after 50 years, it would be fun to get together and go to the studio. And we did. It was as if time stood still and we had just gone on a short vacation. (…) We may have known, but this song is completely new.”
The four people who were quickly reminded were Ulvaeus, Agnetha, Benny and Anni-Frid. Together, they have created their own music empire, with hundreds of millions of records sold worldwide.
ABBA reached its peak of fame in the second half of the 1970s. When ABBA appeared, people were still reeling from the glam rock of David Bowie’s money, immersed in Elton John’s enchanting ballads or loyal to the uncompromising minor music of The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.
Therefore, with those great symbols, people consider ABBA’s catchy disco songs as cute chocolate for housewives. For a long time, no one considered ABBA clearly a true artist.
“Many people believe that we do all this for money, but it’s not. It’s for fun – and money comes with that joy” – Benny Andersson, ABBA’s main writer, clarified in a 1977 article published in Rolling Stone magazine – a kind of bible for rock music enthusiasts.
But despite all the strong criticism of the time, ABBA remained incredibly successful.