Abba - The Band and The Music

The four Abba group members had all had previous music experience and had sung togther informally on occasion. However their first "real" joint project came in 1972. People Need Love was a big hit in the band's native country, Sweden. The four decided to work together on a permament basis and ABBA was formed.

Further hits in Sweden followed and in 1973 Ring, Ring reached third place in the Eurovision Song Contest. Although this was the first time most people outside of Sweden had heard of Abba they made little impact - Ring, Ring reached number one in Germany but went almost unnoticed in Britain.

The real breakthrough came a year later. In 1974 Abba famously won the Contest with Waterloo, still one of their most popular songs. The classic Abba wall of sound swept through Europe and the song even reached number 6 in the US Hot 100.

The rest, as they say, is history with a torrent of hits over the next few years. To date Abba are estimated to have sold some over 370 million records and in 2005 Waterloo was voted the best Eurovision song ever. In 2009 an Abba Museum is due to open in Stockholm.

- Anni-Frid Lyngstad is the only non-Swedish member of the group. She was born in Norway

- Abba Gold has sold more than 22 million copies worldwide

- A re-release of Waterloo in the UK reached number 20 in 2004 - 30 years after its original success!

- "Knowing Me, Knowing You - Aha" was adopted as a catchphrase by fictional radio and TV presenter Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan)

- Abba's only US Hot100 #1 was Dancing Queen

- Australian tribute band Bjorn Again have been working longer than the originals!

The most famous Abba tribute band is Bjorn Again, a pun on Björn Ulvaeusm.

It's actually wrong to describe Bjorn Again as a tribute band - there are several of them! It's a reflection of the eternal popularity of Abba that there are as many as five Bjorn Agains working at any one time in different countries.

The band's shows are far from serious, being something of a send-up of the band and their times. However this is in many ways in keeping with the fun I always associate with Abba and their music.