I think the big thing here is that the current major ABBA Gold version, from 2002, was not released as widely as it should have been — mainly in Europe, I hear. The current version of ABBA Gold here in Canada is the lackluster 1999 version, and for Pete’s sake, the only one available in the USA is the original 1992 version. Neither of them have particularly good sound quality or packaging, and still have the incorrect ABBA logo.

It’s also nice to see the renewed push on More ABBA Gold. It was always neglected by Universal — tragically so, since it has the songs that more self-professed “ABBA fans” should know.

Which leaves the old friend Thank You For the Music. Call me crazy, but I think it’ll be nice to have it in a corrected and more accessible version, as a nice middle-of-the-road between the selective The Definitive Collection and the expensive CSR box.

Too bad average consumers won’t care much for any of this, though.

Wait a minute, please!? Elvis may not have left the ‘ABBA building’ just as yet…There may be a connection between the music of Elvis Presley and ABBA after all.

Elvis Presley’s song “Shake That Tambourine” may have inspired ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”.

ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” did come to look for a King, and was it Elvis Frida and Agnetha were both referring to as the King in the song? (Samuel’s note: O.K. this sentence is just a little joke from me.)

In Elvis Presley’s nineteenth movie (Harum Scarum, aka Harem Holiday – MGM 1965) he performed/sang a song called “Shake That Tambourine”.

The lyrics to “Shake That Tambourine” may have inspired Stig Anderson to write the lyrics to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”. Both songs have the rhyming of (dancing) queen and tambourine as well as some other similarities as I’ve listed bellow.

Elvis Presley’s “Shake That Tambourine” = ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”

They keep the beat = Feel the beat from the tambourine
They make music, wherever they go = Where they play the right music / Looking out for a place to go
Kings may bow before them = You come to look for a king
Every night they’re dancin’, on those marble floors = Friday night and the lights are low

The full lyrics to the Elvis Presley song:

Elvis Presley – “SHAKE THAT TAMBOURINE” (Words & Music by Giant - Baum - Kaye)

Shake… the little tambourine
Shake a-ring a jing -jing a-ling
Shake, shake my little dancin’ queen
Shake that tambourine, that tambourine

I can hear them dancing, in the marketplace
Swishin’ and a-swirlin’, in their silks and lace
Bracelets keep a-clinking, on their tiny feet
And with their tambourines they keep the beat

Rings on their fingers, bells on their toes
They make music, wherever they go
Pound that little drum now, tap on it with your thumb

Shake, shake the little tambourine
Shake a-ring a-jing-a-ling-a-ling
Shake, shake my little dancin’’ queen
That tambourine, that tambourine

I heard their talent, open palace doors
Every night they’re dancin’, on those marble floors
Kings may bow before them, but they’ll be my own
Then they’ll shake their thing for me alone

Rings on their fingers, bells on their toes
They make music, wherever they go
Pound that little drum now, tap on it with your thumb

Shake, shake the little tambourine
Shake a-ring a-jing-a-ling-a-ling
Shake, shake my little dancin’ queen
That tambourine, that tambourine

For further information in regards to this particular Elvis Presley movie, its soundtrack and listen to “Shake That Tambourine” on Youtube etc. use the links bellow:

http://www.elvispresley.com.au/elvis/presley/harum_scarum.shtml

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xTzAmTms-A&feature=related

Kind Regards

Samuel Inglles

I recently read an interview with Dave Grohl who was the famous drummer of Nirvana, a band whose lead singer was Kurt Cobain who was also an ABBA fan and used Björn Again as their concert tour supporting act during the 1990’s. Dave Grohl answered the importance of his role as the drummer of Nirvana which created the band’s unique and special drum-playing sound.

Obviously Ola Brunkert was indeed as unique and special to ABBA’s music as far as the creativity and originality of the drum playing as Dave Grohl was to Nirvana’s music.

In ABBA Benny Andersson created the special keyboards/synthesizers sound to ABBA’s music; Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad created the trademark vocals sound to ABBA’s music; and of course Ola Brunkert created the many great drums sound to ABBA’s music!

All of us ABBA fans worldwide would like to thank Ola Brunkert for his gifted talent as a creative musician and drummer to one of the world’s greatest musical groups ever and we send our sincerest condolences to his family for their great loss which is a great loss to the music world as well!

Ola Brunkert’s drumming will always live through the music of ABBA and whenever we play the majority of their songs we will always be listening to the gift of Ola Brunkert’s great musicianship!

Bellow is part of the article in which Dave Grohl answers the question to the significance of his input as a drummer to Nirvana’s songs!

Kind Regards

Samuel Inglles

The Rolling Stone Rock & Roll YearBook 2007 Issue 675. By Gavin Martin

Question: So were Nirvana three guys who changed the world, or a maverick genius with two guys along for the ride? It’s a question Grohl has face a lot in the years since Cobain’s death, but it’s also one that he has a very clear perspective on.

Dave Grohl Answers: “We were just three guys trying to make our way playing music,” he begins. “I think the effect the band had was more to do with everyone else than the band, y’know. When the three of us went to a rehearsal space in Tacoma, Washington to write music, there wasn’t a whole lot of world domination in mind. We’d begin every practice with an impromptu freeform noise jam and a lot of songs came of that – from “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to “Come As You Are”. All those quiet-loud dynamic songs came out of jams, we were just trying to make music that would make us proud because it was badass.

“I was Nirvana’s fifth drummer, and if you listen to the recordings with the other drummers you will notice it sounds different. The fact that the three of us together made this specific sound had something to do with our chemistry. Kris and I have been called sidemen for years – that lawsuit is done with, y’know? We’ve been called hired guns and I just laughed. Anyone who has ever been in a band, hell anyone who has ever listened to a band, understands what happens when one of those elements is removed from the combination. The whole thing falls apart.”

Sister site After Ellen also has a review, How can I resist it? New “Mamma Mia!” trailer

I imagine that after what you saw in the preview, the screen fades to black for the rest of the end credits. The Overture or Entr’acte (or something similar) playing underneath makes sense for a part of the film that most cinema goers won’t see, having left their seats as soon as the credits roll.

Aside from a couple songs being shuffled to different places (Our Last Summer & Take A Chance On Me being the most notable of the songs in the stage show in new locations in the film version), and others no longer sung but used as incidental music (Under Attack, and Knowing Me, Knowing You) the movie follows the stage show fairly closely.

The only real mystery left is that the test screening did not feature the complete end credits for the movie. All that was shown of the end credits is what was credited while the mini-concert segment that concludes the stage show is shown on screen. It will be interesting to see what they will play to close out the remaining credits. Perhaps a variation or hybrid of the “Overture” or “Entr’acte” since those did not appear in any capacity in the film. Perhaps they’ll even use a real ABBA song, since there was no where else in the film where they seemed to be able to inject the real ABBA vocals as they appear in the “Entr’acte” in the stage show. I just hope it’s not “Thank You For The Music” coming in to close out this film like it does “ABBA: The Movie” That would be just too much of a cliche.