I am going to have to go by the release of their singles because working off of mvdbase or IMVDb is causing me to jump over videos. This one fits in between Waterloo and Bang-A-Boomerang. For me, this is right on the borderline between saying it is a music video and that it was possibly a live broadcast. I didn’t realize it would be this tough to do a simple retrospective of ABBA music videos, but it is. The real issue is the drastic difference in quality between the music videos on their official channel and the few that you find elsewhere.
I have discovered a couple of things about the band that are kind of relevant going forward. Reportedly there is going to be some sort of virtual reunion of the band in the coming year. Basically it would entail having them each sing from the comfort of their own home, and have it pieced together digitally. Why not? How many Let’s Plays have you watched where the people doing it aren’t in the same room together. I’ve made a few myself where I was the one at the computer and I shared my screen with the other person. It works fine.
I’ve also found out what I kind of suspected already. Frida & Benny and Agnetha & Björn were couples during most of the bands’ run. It doesn’t really have any bearing on the music videos themselves, but I did stumble upon it while digging through all the videos on YouTube.
Finally, it seems that the primary focus was frequently on Agnetha. There’s a big surprise for you if you watch their videos. I would have never guessed after watching Take A Chance On Me and SOS.
Getting to this video. There are definitely multiple sets. There are definitely edits. There are video effects at play. The thing that bothers me is that there is nothing that says the parts with the rocking chairs couldn’t have been pieced together with parts that were shot at another time. Perhaps they aired a version to the TV audience that is in this video, but you would only see them in the chairs if you were in the studio audience? But, those change out later too. As a result, I’m calling it as a music video.
I find it interesting how they move from Old Hollywood, where these couples have to be in their own beds, to sharing bunks. I know it ties in with the tents, but they do the same with the chairs as well by taking them from rocking chairs to very 1970s ones. You also see them climb a set of stairs to reach a top before descending. It’s not that they’ve come full circle so much as it is that they have moved ahead, but in that future they are just in a modern and less fancy form of separate beds (bunks). That’s all I find particularly interesting other than that it is in black and white. That’s the last reason why it was difficult to call it definitively as a music video.
Enjoy!
ABBA retrospective:
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do by ABBA (1975, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do by ABBA (1975, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: SOS by ABBA (1975, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Mamma Mia by ABBA (1975, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Knowing Me, Knowing You by ABBA (1976, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Bald Headed Woman by The Hep Stars (1966, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Tangokavaljeren by Björn (1969, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Vårkänslor (ja, de’ ä våren) by Agnetha & Björn (1969, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Titta in i men lilla kajuta by Björn (1969, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Att Älska I Vårens Tid by Frida (1970, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Nu Ska Vi Vara Snälla by Björn & Agnetha (1969, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Finns Det Flickor by Björn & Sten Nilsson (1969, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Min Soldat by Frida (1970, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Söderhavets Sång by Frida (1970, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Nu Ska Vi Opp, Opp, Opp by Agnetha (1969, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Det Kommer En Vår by Agnetha (1969, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Beate-Christine by Björn (1969, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: En Stilla Flirt by Agnetha & ??? (1969, dir. ???) + 8 Hootenanny Singers Videos From 1966 | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Tropical Loveland by ABBA (1976, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: When I Kissed The Teacher by ABBA (1976, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Tiger by ABBA (1976, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Money, Money, Money by ABBA (1976, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Money, Money, Money by ABBA (1976, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Fernando by ABBA (1976, dir. Lasse Hallström) + Spanish Version | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Dancing Queen by ABBA (1976, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: That’s Me by ABBA (1977, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Knowing Me, Knowing You by ABBA (1977, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: The Name Of The Game by ABBA (1977, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Thank You For The Music/Gracias Por La Música by ABBA (1977/1978, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: One Man, One Woman by ABBA (1978, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Take A Chance On Me by ABBA (1978, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Eagle by ABBA (1978, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Summer Night City by ABBA (1978, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Estoy Soñando by ABBA (1979, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Chiquitia by ABBA (1979, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Does Your Mother Know by ABBA (1979, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Voulez-Vous by ABBA (1979, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Honey Honey by ABBA (1974, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! (A Man After Midnight) by ABBA (1979, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: My Love, My Life by ABBA (1976, dir. Per Falkman) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Conociéndome, Conociéndote by ABBA (1980, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: I Have A Dream by ABBA (1980, dir. Urban Lasson) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: The Winner Takes It All by ABBA (1980, dir. Lasse Hallström) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: On And On And On by ABBA (1980, dir. Anders Hanser) | Through the Shattered Lens
Pingback: Music Video of the Day: Hovas Vittne by ABBA (1981, dir. ???) | Through the Shattered Lens