Here’s a thing about ABBA.  I loved them when all the others my age were laughing.  In 1979, London, the NME and Melody Maker were setting the trend on what was in or out.  ABBA would have only been mentioned in either of these rags to be ridiculed.

Which brings me to one of the many things I admire so much about them.  They simply weren’t reading it!  Björn and Benny would go off to a remote cabin in Sweden and just write songs.  They were so oblivious, or mature you might say, to what was ‘hip’ that they just couldn’t be bothered.  They were trying to write hit songs.  Their legend has far surpassed that of The Jam, The Sex Pistols, U2 or anyone else those hipster magazines were frothing on about.  I knew it then and it remains true today-  very few of those trendy bands had any songs.

Another thing I admire about this band is how real they are when describing what they did and how they did it.  There’s no hyperbole.  No polished stories that hint a re-telling for the thousandth time.  Watch some of the documentaries out there about them.  You’ll be so pleasantly surprised.

To this day Agnetha has one of the most lovable, kind faces.  She has never tried to act younger than her age.  She’s grown older gracefully, and with nothing but class.

Yes, there’s a lot to be learned from ABBA.  They matter on all dynamics.  The music, the writing and production, the engineering of Michael B. Tretow.  The unwillingness to buy into the emperor’s new clothes of ‘lifestyle’ over plain old good songs.  Their elegance and aging with class.  Their pragmatism and lack of public drama.  Their undying success.

So, to ABBA.  They are in my top 5 of all time… and i’d say high in that top 5.