Unseen ABBA

Swedish foursome ABBA have released a book of joyful photos from their glorious career, including some even they hadn't seen before.

“Can it be that in 1990, people will remember the ’60s as so sweet? When Stockholm’s inner city was being torn down? When we lived with old-fashioned morality?” The song was Ljuva Sextital (Sweet Sixties), a hit in 1969 for Brita Borg, a Swedish songstress with a deep voice.

Composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, it was their first hit together. The lyrics were written by Stikkan Anderson, a record company boss who had recently become their manager. ‘Sweet Sixties’ was at once happy and sad, lightweight and serious. Andersson/Ulvaeus would write many more complex and multi-layered hits in the coming decade.

The 1960s could be characterised as both fun and laborious for the four ABBA-members-to-be. Each of them slaved away making music, seven days a week, year-round.

The four musicians did not know each other in the first half of the decade, although their paths did cross repeatedly – in folk parks and at roadside hot dog stands. All four toured frequently.

Frida and Agnetha sang with various dance bands before they went solo. Benny and Björn belonged to two of the biggest Swedish bands of the 1960s – the Hep Stars and the Hootenanny Singers respectively. Björn and Benny met for the first time in June 1966. It happened like this: The Hootenanny Singers fleetingly met the Hep Stars on a country road between gigs and, from their moving bus, yelled out an invitation. So after their shows that night, they partied.