Of course there are! This is turning into the ABBA hole.
Since I do plan on including Frida’s and Agnetha’s post-ABBA music videos leading up to, and following 2004’s The Last Video (ABBA), it means I need to do any pre-ABBA music videos as well. Go figure that a band that would become well-known for their videos would have members that made music videos prior to its creation.
In the 1960s, Benny was in a band called The Hep Stars. That’s him on keyboards. You can read about them on Wikipedia.
The only thing that has me a little worried is that many of the videos after this for the members of ABBA, before ABBA, were part of TV specials as opposed to standing on their own. However, they seem to just be music videos that were shot and aired in a row for varying reasons. They aren’t A Hard Days Night (1964). Besides, there’s no way I’m not including the one where Björn does the tango.
No, this is not the good version of Knowing Me, Knowing You that I have mentioned on numerous occasions. Frequently there is a clash between the dates on the YouTube posts and when the video was actually released. They often put a copyright date in the description for the video. I’ve found that date refers to the release of the song. This song did come out in 1976, which the copyright date indicates, but mvdbase says the “snow” version came out in 1977, while this “sailboat” version came out in 1976. I’m going with mvdbase on this one.
This is the eleventh ABBA music video I have done so far. I would call this one of their vacation/casual music videos like the one for Love Isn’t Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough) or Bang-A-Boomerang. The thing that makes this video standout is that it puts the spotlight on Frida. Here’s an easy way to tell.
Snow Version
Sailboat Version
Those are at the same point in the song. One has Frida in the background, and the other solely onscreen. Agnetha and the rest of the band are just kinda there. I’m not saying that wouldn’t become common place in music videos later on. Look at any video from one of your favorite bands, not a solo artist. You’ll notice that the main focus is frequently placed on the lead singer. However, it feels odd for an ensemble group like ABBA. That’s even if the group did kind of frame Agnetha like Hall, to Frida’s Oates.
Oh, and there’s this.
Rio by Duran Duran
I have no doubt that Russell Mulcahy was at least aware of this video. How am I so sure? ABBA did another video like this in Australia, which is where he is from. In fact, if IMVDb is to be believed, then Mulcahy directed the live performance AC/DC did for Baby, Please Don’t Go the same year as this, and the other video.
Baby, Please Don’t Go by AC/DC
I wonder if that was meant to parody ABBA. It wouldn’t surprise me.
It’s funny that the song probably most closely identified with ABBA has such an unremarkable video. I only have two things to add that we haven’t already seen in previous videos.
This time around we get super close-up shots that are just the lips and nose. The guys get the same shots. Usually it is just Agnetha and Frida. In general, there seems to be an increase in the presence of the guys and Frida.
Also, take notice that there is a strict division between the girls and the guys. They never interact in any way. The quick cuts to match the quick parts of the song make them face themselves, not each other. With the exception of a couple of far shots, they even play and sing in their own section of the white dimension that could have been recorded on completely different days.
That’s it! The rest is stuff we have seen before in earlier videos. I am going to make a judgement call here and go ahead and add the following as a live performance of this song. They did it for the show, Made In Sweden For Export.
Unlike Hasta Mañana, there are no cuts. This may have been filmed prior to airing as the YouTube video suggests, but it looks enough like a live performance for me–unlike the one they did for I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do that also aired on the same show. Note that for the majority of the performance, the guys aren’t playing even though the music is. I also love that while Agnetha and Frida are in standard ABBA performance mode, you have Benny and Björn trying to get to their instruments through red tape. It’s all a nice joke about the title of the show and why exactly we have so many ABBA music videos from a period when that wasn’t exactly standard practice. It wasn’t unheard of, but there is pretty much a canned ABBA music video for all of their major hits.
This also means I can include the version of So Long that they did for the same show.
Here is the full show edited just for the ABBA portions:
Yay! A good ABBA song, with a good music video to go with it! I forgot these existed after the last few that I did.
The music video starts off and immediately introduces us to one of the running things in this video. That’s the use of different techniques to obfuscate or generally distance things from each other. In this case, it’s that funhouse mirror effect that distorts what you are seeing without necessarily destroying it beyond recognition.
We then cut to Agnetha for a long take where she even reaches out to us like the song says. I love this shot not only because of its apparent isolation, but because we will see a tiny detail added to this later on in the video that is the reason I used the word “apparent”.
Then we see this kaleidoscope effect. This time around it spins before settling on one of the guys. In some cases, it will keep spinning without stopping. Sometimes it acts as a transition, and other times it reinforces the lyrics.
Then we get the shot that is easily the most iconic for the video. The band on what looks like a rocky beach looking upward almost as if they are asking for divine intervention.
There are some close-up shots and a repeat of the kaleidoscope effect before we settle on Agnetha again. Look over her left shoulder. It is what appears to be Benny and Björn walking into frame. They are in the background and out of focus, but are still just a little ways behind her like the lyrics she is singing say: “You seem so far away, though you are standing near.”
Then we get this shot where they do the outside shot, but from what looks like the set of the video from Mamma Mia. It may be the same set, but they are wearing different costumes. My best guess is contrast. The outside where they look sad with a shot from the typical set of one of their videos where they look happy.
Another time we get a short shot of them lying on grass. Maybe contrast again since it does cutaway from that back to the straight-up shot quickly.
As the song comes to a close, the video whips out all the distortion effects. This one, to the point where you know it is Agnetha, but you can’t even see her face anymore. It’s interesting to note that these distortions are used to either merge someone’s face or pull it in two–both of which are still a distorted view. The wheel can give a clear shot or something that is a swirling blur–its all or nothing. I have no doubt that this is another one of the many ways in which Hallström created visual contrast to go with the song. He also increased the frequency of the distortions at the right time as the video works towards the separation shot below.
Before we return to the piano, we get another straight-down shot, except this time the two guys are looking down while the two girls look upwards. I know I will mention it in the future, but I really like how Hallström made use of the fact that he had two straight married couples. If even one of those things was changed, then I’m sure the videos would look different or wouldn’t be as effective. It allowed him to do Busby-Berkeley-like things by taking advantage of their inherent contrast, sexual attraction, and real world connections beyond just friendship–working and otherwise.
All these things stitched together, and you get a visual representation of a relationship that is falling apart without ever having to show them walking away from each other. I will sing the praises of the video for Knowing Me, Knowing You till the day I die. However, that used them actually walking away. Sure, it did other clever things such as visually representing fluid relationships within the band and regret for failed relationships, but I still find it impressive that this video didn’t make use of two people walking away from each other. That would have been so easy, but it does just the opposite. The group is shown together again and again. We can see from their perspective and the inner turmoil within them, but there isn’t any literal distance. Even one of Agnetha’s solo shots has the guys pop-up in the background to remind us she isn’t really alone.
One last thing I want to mention is that the working title for this song was Turn Me On. That is a bit more literal and helps me grasp the song better, but I like the desperation SOS conveys.
This is a music video of this song that exists. It was done for a special show called Made In Sweden For Export. It seems to have been a special program that was made to feature Swedish artists. Of course that would mean ABBA. It appears they gave two live performances and one video for it. The live performance for Mamma Mia is particularly funny. This is the one video they did.
There are only three interesting things I can see in this video. The first is that you get to see Benny and Björn beat up at the beginning of the video after they try to get Frida and Agnetha for themselves. They succeed, but they get flipped over in the process. The second thing is that after they zoom in on the band, the saxophone players in the background duck behind the grass. I also love the little look Agnetha gets on her face after they are done singing. I’m not sure whether that’s relief that it is over, or an acknowledgment that this video was pretty stupid. I like these little humorous touches.
You can basically just enjoy this one. They started changing up the background, introduced instruments you didn’t normally hear in their music, made heavy use of fades, and only the two guys ever appeared to be in the same place and time during the entire video. That last one is kind of interesting for a song whose title is automatically associated with love and marriage. The lovers they are standing in for aren’t physically together with each other in the video. Oh, and they actually have ending credits. You don’t see that everyday.
That’s all I have to say about this one. It’s not one of my favorites of there’s in both song and video.
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.
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!
They finally escaped the white dimension! Too bad it was for a lousy song and video.
Okay, there are a few things of note here.
First is the obvious. They are on location rather than in a studio. However, they don’t really make use of it. It feels like it was out of necessity or they felt it was humanizing instead of having them all dolled up as usual. They would make better use of location shooting in their later videos such as Knowing Me, Knowing You.
We get the first video that implies a relationship between band members beyond the band. This is something that would be crucial to Knowing Me, Knowing You. I don’t know if any of them ever paired off like Fleetwood Mac was famous for doing, and it doesn’t matter to me either.
This is also the first video that has a title on it. We’ll see that on I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do and Mamma Mia as well.
This is also the first video where we not only see to people go face-to-face, but they do it to the point where they look like they are either about to make-out or head-butt each other.
We get our usual use of profile shots, but there’s also something you didn’t really see in Waterloo and Ring, Ring. We’ve seen the camera pan and around band. However, this is the first video where we move from a head shot of one member to another without an edit. It really only serves to match the pace of the video with the song in the same way as the quick face-to-face and comic book inserts do, but we’ll see it used to great effect in Knowing Me, Knowing You. Still, like this; Waterloo; and Ring, Ring, this moving around means that the performance the band is giving is still going on even if the camera is somewhere else. It makes me wonder how scripted a lot of these early videos were, and how much was Hallström telling them to get up there and recreate one of their live performances while he built a video around it on-the-fly.
I guess you could call this music video a dry-run for Knowing Me, Knowing You.
I’m glad I am doing this as a retrospective. That way I can build upon their previous videos. What do we add this time?
We get the quick zooms at the beginning that people who grew up during the 1990s probably remember from the music video for the Rock Version of Ready To Go by Republica. Also, I know I will say it again when I get to a music video directed by Michael Bay, but one of the most important reasons that music videos are not to be ignored in the history of cinema is because they changed the way editing was done. This video is a good early example. Elected by Alice Cooper from 1972 and Stayin’ Alive by The Bee Gees from 1977 are better examples, but it’s still worth mentioning with Waterloo because it will become more noticeable when we get to videos like Take A Chance On Me and SOS. As you watch any of those videos, notice how it isn’t just a song played over a film, but a film and a song transformed into an integrated whole. That’s a big change from many films that came before music videos that used music in service of the film rather than it being a two-way street.
Also, while the phones were kind of stupid in that alternate version of Ring, Ring; the Napoleon bust nicely ties the band, song, and their costumes together with him to immediately set the theme and speed of the song.
There’s something subtle in this music video that is easy to miss. You still have the profile shots where they aren’t looking at the camera. You still have the shot through the girls to Benny on the piano. You have the addition of the girls looking at each other to sing. The thing that is subtle and easy to miss is that during the low angles, the band is all looking straightforward whereas they do look up when the camera shoots them from a high angle. You’ll see that featured prominently in SOS, as if they are looking up to you for help. Here it looks like they refuse to look down, but only straightforward and upward towards their future. The crane shots are also more impressive in this one, than Ring, Ring.
One of my favorite things about the video is the ending. Ring, Ring ended on a cheesy freeze-frame. This one has the camera move further and further between Frida and Agnetha until you are left with a blank white shot that it lingers on even after the song has stopped. It is a nice way to visually match the vocals drifting off because the camera is also drifting off of the subjects (the band). It also visually matches the song coming to an end.
One negative thing I can say is that an edit was left in at about one minute-and-five-seconds that feels like it is there to cover up a goof.
Through the Shattered Lens 