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Do you take Abba's music seriously?


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Old 29-01-2015, 21:05
djfunnyman
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Am I the only one who doesn't take Abba's music seriously? Since the ridiculous film Mamma Mia, I just find myself unable to take Abba's music seriously

I think Knowing Me Knowing You and Fernando are genuinely good songs but I always laugh when hearing those songs because of their use in Alan Partridge
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Old 29-01-2015, 21:09
Derek Faye
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It's very of it's time and that god awful film did not help people's impressions (particularly the younger generation), though I don't doubt the actual show is brilliant. It's just all so frickin' random in my opinion (the thought of Meryl Streep breaking into song whilst jumping on a bed is certainly not making me want to rush to hmv for an abba CD).
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Old 29-01-2015, 21:14
my name is joe
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it'd be strange not to take such well crafted and executed music seriously.

Iv'e never seen the film as i'm allergic to musicals on celluloid or stage but i fail to see what difference that could make to appreciating the original stuff.
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Old 29-01-2015, 22:07
vauxhall1964
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I'm struggling to understand the OP's point. Queen's music was used in a naff musical, Bohemian Rhapsody has been parodied, Mercury and pals made a few dodgy videos and wore some daft costumes... none of which has any impact on how 'serious' the band's musicianship is taken. Ditto ABBA. They were inducted into the Rock'nRoll Hall of Fame 5 years ago so even the Yanks take them seriously.
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Old 29-01-2015, 22:08
Doghouse Riley
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Never really fond of "Eurovision pop."
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Old 29-01-2015, 22:13
vauxhall1964
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Never really fond of "Eurovision pop."
you'll need better bait than that.
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Old 29-01-2015, 22:25
djfunnyman
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I'm struggling to understand the OP's point. Queen's music was used in a naff musical, Bohemian Rhapsody has been parodied, Mercury and pals made a few dodgy videos and wore some daft costumes... none of which has any impact on how 'serious' the band's musicianship is taken. Ditto ABBA. They were inducted into the Rock'nRoll Hall of Fame 5 years ago so even the Yanks take them seriously.
I've not seen We Will Rock You and there is no ludicrous film version with the awful vocals of Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan
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Old 29-01-2015, 22:28
Blondie X
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Can't stand them. Just don't get their appeal at all. I know each to their own but it's really not my sort of thing at all.
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Old 29-01-2015, 22:32
AdamDowds
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The Day Before You Came

I must have lit my seventh cigarette at half past 2. And at the time I never even noticed I was blue. I must have kept on dragging through the business of the day. Without really knowing anything I hid a part of me away.
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Old 29-01-2015, 22:36
Chris1964
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it'd be strange not to take such well crafted and executed music seriously.

Iv'e never seen the film as i'm allergic to musicals on celluloid or stage but i fail to see what difference that could make to appreciating the original stuff.
Bjorn and Benny are up their with the greatest in song writing terms imo. Its hard to think of any songs in the vast ABBA back catalogue that wouldn't have been suitable for release as a single, and that's an astonishing performance.
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Old 29-01-2015, 22:37
dee123
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Never really fond of "Eurovision pop."
2/10. Try harder next time.
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Old 29-01-2015, 22:37
mal2pool
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Mamma mia film and stage show completely spoiled it for them.
Such brilliant voices, can't fault the girls vocal ranges, beautifully sung songs. Excellent production. No other band could match the production back then.
Some great songs, especially the heartfelt ballads like Knowing me/Winner takes it all/SOS/Day before you came.
Granted their lyrics were silly a lot of the time. Dum dum diddle supertrouper sort of things but some were good pop stuff.
Mamma mia/Dancing Queen/Gimme Gimme/Money Money Money/Waterloo/Fernando/Take a chance on me/ the list just goes on.
The voices were just pure honey to listen too. No combination could make that sound. I love their music.
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Old 29-01-2015, 22:40
soulboy77
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Am I the only one who doesn't take Abba's music seriously? Since the ridiculous film Mamma Mia, I just find myself unable to take Abba's music seriously...
Not my taste either but you can't be ignorant to how brilliantly crafted Abba pop songs are.
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Old 30-01-2015, 00:02
Doghouse Riley
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2/10. Try harder next time.
Sorry, I get 10/10 as that's my opinion.

If you like them, award yourself 10/!0 too, I don't mind.


you'll need better bait than that.
Eh?

It's not bait it's an opinion. I've lost count of the times I've said on here anyone can have an opinion on anything.

I mean, what difference can it make to me?
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Old 30-01-2015, 09:43
Glawster2002
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Sorry, I get 10/10 as that's my opinion.

If you like them, award yourself 10/!0 too, I don't mind.




Eh?

It's not bait it's an opinion. I've lost count of the times I've said on here anyone can have an opinion on anything.

I mean, what difference can it make to me?
Of course you are entitled to your opinion but, in my opinion, your comment is ridiculous.

Like others who have already posted I am not a fan of their music but there is no doubt as a writing team Bjorn and Benny are very talented and as a vocal group the four of them complemented each other perfectly.

Yes, the won Eurovision but it is disingenuous to write off their subsequent career because of that.
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Old 30-01-2015, 10:42
warszawa
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It was seriously good pop music, so in that sense why not?
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Old 30-01-2015, 10:56
Doghouse Riley
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Of course you are entitled to your opinion but, in my opinion, your comment is ridiculous.

Like others who have already posted I am not a fan of their music but there is no doubt as a writing team Bjorn and Benny are very talented and as a vocal group the four of them complemented each other perfectly.

Yes, the won Eurovision but it is disingenuous to write off their subsequent career because of that.
As I said, people are entitled to an opinion.

I said I wasn't fond of "Eurovision pop" it would be ridiculous for you to try to change my mind.

I've not "written off their career," to suggest I have, would really be ridiculous.
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Old 30-01-2015, 10:56
dee123
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Sorry, I get 10/10 as that's my opinion.

If you like them, award yourself 10/!0 too, I don't mind.




Eh?

It's not bait it's an opinion. I've lost count of the times I've said on here anyone can have an opinion on anything.

I mean, what difference can it make to me?
LOL. So invested.
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Old 30-01-2015, 11:07
Doghouse Riley
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LOL. So invested.
Thanks for that.

People have different tastes.

I like this.

Few I guess on DS will. But a few thousand did at a concert in Paris more than twenty years ago.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4e...erformanc_news

Some on here will think it's terrible. I think it's fantastic.
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Old 30-01-2015, 11:15
Asarualim
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Abba were undoubtably great at crafting good pop songs and performing them adequately. It was just pop music though. Is that really meant to be taken seriously? I'm not sure outside of the pop world, they ever really had any kind of credibility the way bands from the same era had and still have. I lived through the 70s and even at the time I always thought of them as a kind of novelty act.
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Old 30-01-2015, 11:39
my name is joe
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Abba were undoubtably great at crafting good pop songs and performing them adequately. It was just pop music though. Is that really meant to be taken seriously? I'm not sure outside of the pop world, they ever really had any kind of credibility the way bands from the same era had and still have. I lived through the 70s and even at the time I always thought of them as a kind of novelty act.
what does that mean though in the context of it being well crafted and sung. Most pop music isn't taken seriously cos most of it is throwaway crap, but if it's good it's good, it doesn't hurt us to discriminate within the genre. Motown is good pop music, early Beatles is good pop music, The smiths even. Good pop music is better than poor rock music.

Abba existed in the punk era and held their own when lambasted for being pop...or even worse, disco. Many punk and new wave acts have since admitted they were a guilty pleasure. Quality can never be denied.
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Old 30-01-2015, 12:31
Asarualim
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what does that mean though in the context of it being well crafted and sung. Most pop music isn't taken seriously cos most of it is throwaway crap, but if it's good it's good, it doesn't hurt us to discriminate within the genre. Motown is good pop music, early Beatles is good pop music, The smiths even. Good pop music is better than poor rock music.

Abba existed in the punk era and held their own when lambasted for being pop...or even worse, disco. Many punk and new wave acts have since admitted they were a guilty pleasure. Quality can never be denied.
I'm not denying their quality, I acknowledged as much. It's just the genre they worked in, pop, is considered throwaway, temporary, transient to a large degree. The others you mention fit into other genres - Motown = Soul, Beatles = Rock&Roll, The Smiths = Indie. That is why I think they still have credibility where Abba generally do not.
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Old 30-01-2015, 12:38
my name is joe
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I'm not denying their quality, I acknowledged as much. It's just the genre they worked in, pop, is considered throwaway, temporary, transient to a large degree. The others you mention fit into other genres - Motown = Soul, Beatles = Rock&Roll, The Smiths = Indie. That is why I think they still have credibility where Abba generally do not.
those boundaries are nebulous...it's all pop really. I agree most pop is garbage and disappears almost as soon as it arrives (that Meghan thing being the latest case). 40 years later and still popular isn't really a great definition of transient though
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Old 30-01-2015, 12:51
Asarualim
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those boundaries are nebulous...it's all pop really. I agree most pop is garbage and disappears almost as soon as it arrives (that Meghan thing being the latest case). 40 years later and still popular isn't really a great definition of transient though
Popular, but not actively making studio albums since 1981, so they lasted less than 10 years, which is good in pop terms, but still transient. Would you consider them as credible as some of the other acts you listed?
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Old 30-01-2015, 12:59
johnF1971
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I'm not denying their quality, I acknowledged as much. It's just the genre they worked in, pop, is considered throwaway, temporary, transient to a large degree. The others you mention fit into other genres - Motown = Soul, Beatles = Rock&Roll, The Smiths = Indie. That is why I think they still have credibility where Abba generally do not.
The Beatles would certainly be considered "pop" in their day. "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah" doesn't exactly sound like hard core rock to me. If One Direction released that today it would probably be dismissed it as worthless pop drivel.

If a song or tune is good, its good regardless of what "genre" teenagers and pretentious music types decide it belongs in. The fact that Abba songs are stil played regularly almost 40 years later says something.

Only problem I have with Abba is that whenever I hear KMKY these days I think of Alan Partridge. Aha!
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