https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7VI-Ox1P9M

It had to happen eventually, and don’t say I didn’t warn you in advance when I started this retrospective. I discovered an earlier video that I didn’t do in sequential order. Love Isn’t Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough) was the last single released off of their first album after Ring, Ring in 1973. That means this video was most likely made to promote that single at the same time.

There is very little to bring up here. It’s an early example that they were taking advantage of the fact that the group was made up of two women and two men in order to act out the songs that had to do with love. That’s something you’ll see them capitalize on in their future videos.

I also like how casual it is. It feels very improvised. That’s nice. It brings down to Earth these musicians that otherwise only appear very polished when you watch the endless numbers of live performances on YouTube.

On a related note, it highlights that the group has a sense of humor. You pick that up in some of their other videos, but this is a good early example. Whether I feature it as a music video or decide that it is only a unique live performance, I intend to include a certain live performance of Mamma Mia. In it, the girls sing the song from the beginning of the performance, but the two guys spend about half the song talking to deliverymen trying to get their instruments taken out of boxes, put in place, and signing off on delivery slips while the music they are supposed to be playing is still playing regardless, because it is pre-recorded.

Their sense of humor would come out big time in 2004’s The Last Video, but I am getting way ahead of myself. Enjoy!

ABBA retrospective:

1. Ring, Ring by ABBA (1973, dir. Lasse Hallström)
2. Ring, Ring by ABBA (1973, dir. ???)
3. Waterloo by ABBA (1974, dir. Lasse Hallström)
4. Bang-A-Boomerang by ABBA (1975, dir. Lasse Hallström)