Then the reason for that might just be about a good thing. I love, but really about a mom. My moms favorite very, very good. These days eat, you dont find very many who actually dislike about. But you find a lot of people who kind of like a lot of people to really do. Its an amazing phenomenon. Everyone loves abba their music and their style. No one it seems actually hates something a lot of musicians can only dream. So how did the 4 likable swedes do it . Lets find out. With where does the van stand today after their reunion sold out concerts in london . Ah, the social media generation loves about the bands on tick tock channel featuring videos from the past and present has more than 2000000 followers, which isnt bad. But the hash tag about loan has billions of views. And alba is among the bands who songs are most often covered by others. Youtube features countless cover versions of their songs in every genre imaginable. I that oh, once that c g i teach generation spawns new ab fans. So whats behind the benz enduring appeal . The sound, i guess, especially the 2 guys voices and maybe thats what appeals, but its very difficult to say its, its really its for other people to try and explain that challenge accepted young. We spoke to a music journalist, an opera singer, a former euro vision winner, a fashion designer, song writers, composers and producers. All of them know as personally and live in stock, whole. A 2 couples behind about benny and any freed up, nita, and beyond. Were not always as well loved as they are today. In the beginning, a lot of journalists and fellow musicians thought the band was totally uncalled. Back in the seventys, in sweden, our mom was a no go. Ah, you should definitely not listen to our by. I shouldnt praised them, they were always neglected by the media while the media treated them, i will say, in the beginning, especially very badly, ah, because they were so commercial and there since they wanted to be. They want it to be world famous politics and anti war and, you know, youre not supposed to make money with the, the moose, you know, and, and in some farm land, you know, where youre supposed to be genuine and all that stuff. So yeah, so abba, like they were in there, they were in their riding room on their island. Oh, the 2 male members of alba who wrote all the songs were seen as being a bit too business savvy. And then there was there stage where a combination of glam rock, folklore, and disco. You can still buy some of these classic outfits, but only in costume shops, which only goes to prove how recognizable the abba look is. I think they oh little bit too much actually. But it was not sexy and it was not cool. It pushed crowd. Ah, this is so crazy. Yeah, its, i called me while 19 seventys rockstars gained the infamy for trashing hotel rooms in a drunken rampage. The members of alba had a squeaky clean Family Friendly image, married, well behaved, harmless scandals free. But while some mock them for that their concerts like here in london were attended by some very famous fam. Avas songs apparently had something that appealed to their Hipaa Rockstar colleagues. No one really saw what happened back at Wembley Stadium london. 97th 8th at backstage was joe was drummer from backlash, who was a big abad myra. And as Bruce Springsteen was also a big fan of alba, lots of people understood very like. But this is like masterful pop music. Do you have people like Elvis Costello and other pop writers going like weve always respected ab a book we couldnt say so when they were 21 neighbor 22 like Elvis Costello was he couldnt come out in the press and go like yeah, ive been listening to, you know, super trooper like all day you know, that wouldnt really work. But, but they were i with thats no longer a problem. Even dave grow has described his band, foo fighters as a cross between a punk rock band and they the long but actually abs, coolness transformation didnt start until 10 years after they broke up. And it was the gay club scene that celebrated their campy nist and helped usher in a revival of others music in the 1994 australian film, the adventures of priscilla, queen of the desert. Avas joyful kitch is raised to a new level. It becomes a key to personal freedom with where most loyal fan base is, the gazing definitely and i think thats the way i boss. Create that venue cbc. Typical happy, sad is something that he said part of like gay contouring in, in the longer the perspective and of course, all that kitchen and costumes, so, so obligation, he said extremely in par, important for the lie from now. But just as important was the phil muriels wedding, also from 1994 and also from australia, the country with the most loyal how the fans next to germany. Here to the band itself never appears dancing to a soundtrack of the still an cool music of alba, a pair of social outcasts turned out to be the true win. Ah ah ah, criticized for became reasons to love them. But none of that would have been possible without their pop perfection. Abbe did nothing by hats. They worked with only the very best musicians and from the start wanted the fullest sound for guitars instead of 2 to drum kits instead of one more of a small orchestra than just a band. Songs like waterloo and dancing clean wouldnt have been possible without the wall of sound technique. I didnt invent it, but they did make it their own. You listen to those production ideas and go like, why is everything so clear . Even though i know that there are 2 or 3 different keyboards and theres a marine bar and theres this big piano underneath. And theres this wall of frieda anatomy. Like, why does this still sound so clean . You know, as opposed to just being like this mess of glop, even though its like a lots and lots of things. They thought it through. Its always an introduction reverse. Then the other story is different. Ah. Because does the middle 8 there is the extra rush using a chorus and into the little extra thing on to it is ah, typical things for now both wrong is usually for me. Its the melancholy its, its, theyre both sad and happy at the same time. Ah, pretty much all of them. Oh and i think its in the music and its playful. The songs are very playful, and theyre very clear. And if the staccato in the songs are very tucked up, the 3rd earth data, you know, its very alba. You know its sort of classics meat sir, something else. But i think above is inspired by a Classical Music from beginning, ah, slipping through my fingers. Ha no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no partner slipping through my fingers. Ah, the could be called ski. It could be true, but true. Mom could be browse. I mean its, its this wonderful melodies. It makes me cry every time i or theyve sold hundreds of millions of albums and released more than a 100 tracks. A mere fraction of the songs they wrote. Some of them give insight into the bans, private lives, with parents lyrics reflecting what was happening in the 2 couples marriages. They were very swedish in the way the songs whereabouts for life. And we followed them into the success, into their marriages into the divorce and to their sudden end dealing with the end of his marriage and the possible end of his band. Buran poured his sadness and disappointment into lyrics for his ex wife at nita to sing becoming her favorite song. Few songs have taken such a melancholy look at the meaning of relationships. Ah son riding aside abba would be nothing without the voices of the 2 singers. Not only does each have an impressive vocal range, but they also harmonize perfectly. Ah every now and then in the history of music, voices meet up and i think in the arbor context, you know, something magical happened. If i remember correctly, they also used, you know, they speed it up a tape recorder. So things like that. When they recorded their voices and the and, and slow them down again. And that sort of created a, that the arbor sound they found in a 3rd voice. And it has very high as she still is a, its so fragile. But still very, very powerful. And i think thats, thats her secret. Honestly look what is the alto and she is even deeper now her voice. C c c c i mean, the 3rd voice is magnet, an unofficial combined together. Those voices singing those songs. They helped make the swedish music scene. World famous sweden is one of our most successful pop exporting countries in the whole wide world. And abner was definitely the ones who kicked it all off when via had very big breakthrough, 1974 at the eurovision, which followed the will rocks head than the ace of base and the card again, the sender mondo the old. But im, i was the 1st air act for a man, non english country who made it really big beyond and benny setting a tone for writing, whether people wanna acknowledge it or not. It is that its that most out of the song writing here. These that foundation, restoring a theatre is install coleman and the owning damn. And im trying to get kept a music scene alive and, and, and help the Music Industry or musical industry or by doing production, shannon producing things. And i think by keeping their own brand alive, theyre also at the same time working on helping. Yeah. Swedish Music Industry in general. I think of a certainly is very enterprising they may have seemed unassuming, back in 1972 in one of their 1st tv appearances. But behind that wasnt unwavering commitment to market. I went new mother as nato skipped a german t. V. Appearance to stay with her baby, the show had to go off. Her friend ingle rwandan, took her place, hiding behind her hair and looking less uncomfortable. But no one would notice right. But seriously, it was their videos that were truly innovative, especially for the 1970s. Nearly a decade before mtv revolutionized the format these days, some of their videos have been watched hundreds of millions of times on youtube with they wanted to be stars. And they are, they really, you know, try to project in all the music and in this star to minutes the clothes and they took pictures, lots of pictures, so many pictures. If you look at the album 0 maam later, i mean, i cant believe how many pictures they took all the time. I mean, it looks like they didnt do anything else and take pictures. After both couples divorced the band decided to call it quits in 1982. But every few years they managed to land a few koos without ever taking the stage. In 1992 they released a greatest hits album. Alba, gold. With british pop, doyle erasure released an album of avar covers and it was clear, abbot was essential for any party with them. But buran and benny since there was more to be gained. Now things started to happen in the ninetys. The word change dates i larva, and up by themselves, believe that we have so we can, we can go on. So thats very important. What happened when of ira non existing band at the time then since it was all going so well and beerin and benny had been successful with other musicals, it was a no brainer to create. Mamma mia, the musical. Ah, the production premier in london on april 6th, 1999. I think even the critics, most of like the kept so evolving and kept thinking how can we do more of that and can we . And i think they made more money from my mommy or the music golden they have from the, from, from the records theyve sold. Mama, mia was such a success that hollywood came calling. The film version premiered in 2008 and featured meryl streep and pierce brosnan. Singing, ah abba songs carried the stars the film with the light heartedness that enchanted her global audience. The sweetest mentality is really fantastic because we dont care but famous people when they did m. Mamma mia . The film eh, with meryl streep and all these big stars, i realized that mary street was actually more starstruck about themselves. The inevitable sequel followed a decade later, launching out his old hurts, back into the charts. In the meantime, the band had another plan to enshrine their legendary status, a monument to themselves. It kicked off in 2008 with the traveling exhibition, have a world feature memorabilia. And an early version of todays advertise, which fans could join on stage. Then on may 7th 2013. How about the museum . Opened its doors to the public in the swedish Capital Stock horn, and once again the band came new young, found tourists now come from around the world to visit the museum. There been very thinking about it in their business manner. I think mostly yawn is a very business minded man. Benny is moreover, all the music all the time. And he has his own little band replace polk music and, but i mean, hes also part of the big musicals better. But bjorn, i think is the more more business minded guy seeing how bjorn deals with his investments and what he does actually with innovation and with gaming and all that other stuff. Because hes created this world for himself and that be in the movies and everything. I mean this, i cant be more productive than that. Actually. Part of that is the development of Virtual Reality tab at times using motion capture recordings of singing and dancing stand ins as well as the original band members. The digital doppelganger is not just museum ready, but stage ready as well. Have announced the release of 2 new songs and 2018 for concerts to be performed by the avatars. Yet another qu, there are tech no artist in san francisco, building my head as we speak. It all came together in an incredible come back in september 2021. When the band recorded a new studio album together. How about voyage . No one had expected it and the response was suitably sensation with whole course voyage because its been a voyage into joe to turn the pressure was on for the 1st concert in may 2022 in london. If at all failed, the album legend would be tarnished the purpose built venue. Inexpensive flop, and the avatars solis, empty reflections. But once again, other everything, right . Seeing these images who still remembers the early versions of the avatars. Its not a game changer. It will be a milestone, i think, in, in music entertainment. I think, you know, ive never had such a good time as im happy now. But i, i think im a happier man now than i was in the seventys or whether its song writing, marketing, or crafting their image. It all seems to have come easy for ab, yet theyve always stayed grounded. In the end, abba stands for one thing above all, and its perhaps the reason everyone loves them. Its the memory. When people hear abba, they think of their youth. I was unafraid when i was young, maria was pick one of the girls and i was, i was on the fleet. Im originally from uganda, between 71 to 79. Uganda was in a very odd thomas state. If theres anything that i can remember, its alba was always in the airways. I dont think theres any other group that we played so much than about music. And that goes for basically all the sort of top 40 stations and sweden still. And a lot of people to day cohen, c, mommy on i dont, i dont think maybe they dont even know what, i bet its, you know, i think its my mommy, you know. So i think over the generations, if its good enough itll, itll come through if everybody could write a song like alber all, and everybody would now not the seventys, of course, because it wasnt cool. Theyre one of the most covert artist of all time. Just like for beat us friday nights in the latch. Oh, its a lucky twist of fate for ab that their songs have remained so timeless. Where the play the right music in this when you come to look for king, do do, do you agree . Oh, but beyond himself says it best in the story about these 4 people who came together by chance to beautiful women with fantastic voices should meet and fall in love with 2 guys who happened to be so bright and that they should form a group. And that the music would lay long. I mean, what are the odds against that . Thats a wonderful story. Ah, ah, ah, wash that c a with mm ah, ah, with a golf whats going on here with they are good questions. You can find the answers here. All the games, all the goals, the point is they go highlight 3 minutes on d, w. Ico, africa. Droughts are hitting rwanda hard this year. Now the government is taking action by providing free access to ground water and teaching people how to use it sustainably power. Firstly, and everyone is responsible for protecting jeff. Secondly, we have to know how to use the water without wasting it. Africa ah, 90 minutes on d. W. O. A and the pillar of sticks and society. A symbol of arbitrary rule. In the struggle for justice. Taxes the right to levy taxes and the obligation to pay them both inherent in the sovereignty of a nation status and their citizens. But what happens when the power of taxation is undermined . A tax on top of the tax on top of the tax that was due that broke the camels back. Ive been running forever thinking to myself, when is it all going to come crashing down that you pay wont pay. Taxation and politics starts october 21st on d, w. Ah. Ah, this is dw news life from berlin. North korea fires of ballistic may sell over japan. Japan Prime Minister condemns the test, completing an Emergency NationalSecurity Council meeting. South koreas president to saying its a reckless nuclear publication that will be