Then the reason for that might just be ab ha ha, ha, good. I love but brilliant, both of 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 alba and 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 vans stand today after their reunion in south 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 abba 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, was dempsey jeep and dancing with each generation . Spawns new abbey fans. So whats behind the band and during 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 youre a vision winner, a fashion designer, song writers, composers and producers. All of them know have a personally and live in stock or a 2 couples behind about benny and any freed, anita, 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 obamas and no gold. Ah, you should definitely not listen to our by. I shouldnt praise them. They were always neglected by the media. While the media tree them, i would say in the beginning, especially very badly, ah, because they were so commercial and there it says they wanted to be. They want it to be world famous politics and anti war. And, you know, youre not supposed to make money and, ah, you know, 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 ly, they were in there, they were in their writing 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 avalanche is. I think they all had little bit too much actually. But it was not sexy and it was not cool. It was from ah, this is so crazy. Yeah, its i corner while 19 seventies rockstar is gained in for me 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, abba songs, apparently had something that appealed to their Hipaa Rockstar colleagues. Ah no one really saw what happened back at Wembley Stadium in london, 97th 8th. At backstage was jo strohmer from backlash, who was a big abad myra and a Bruce Springsteen was also a big fan of alba. Lots of people understood very like. But this is like mos diesel, poke music. Do you have people like Elvis Costello and other pop writers going like weve always respected apple we couldnt say so when they were 20 when they were 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 thats no longer a problem. Even dave grow has described his band to fighters as a cross between a punk rock band and they love. 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. Ah ah, with where most loyal fan base is the gazing definitely and i think thats the way abbas craig. Them you cbc. Typical happy, sad is something that he said park of like gay contouring in, in the longer the perspective and of course, all that kitchen and costumes. So, so im guessing, he said, extremely empower important for the life of now. But just as important was the film muriels wedding, also from 1994 and also from australia. The country with the most loyal ab fans next to germany. Here to the band itself never appears dancing to a sound track of the still an cool music of alba, a pair of social outcasts turned out to be the true winning. Ah ah criticised for became reasons to love them. But none of that would have been possible without their pop perfection. Abba did nothing by haps, 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. Abby didnt invent it, but they did make it their own. You listen to those production ideas and color i as everything so clear, even though i know that, you know, there are 2 or 3 different keyboards and theres a miranda and theres a big piano underneath. And theres this wall of fried and agony at us 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 is always an introduction reverse. Then the our story is different. Ah. Because does the middle 8 . Theres the extra rush. You sing a chorus and into the little extra thing on to it. This. Ah, typical things are now both wrong is usually for me. Its the melancholy its, its, theyre both sad and happy at the same time. I 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, are 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 Classical Music from beginning with sleeping through my fingers thought, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, sleeping through my finger. Ah, it could be it tried to call 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 hear 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 bands private lives, with parents lyrics reflecting what was happening in the 2 couples marriages. They were very swedish in away the songs where about their life and we follow 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. Every now and then in the history of music, voices meet up and i think in the upper context, you know, something magical happened if i remember correctly. And they also used, you know, they speed it up a tape recorder. So things like that when they recorded their voices on the and and slow them down again and thats sort of created. And that the aba sound, they found in a 3rd voice. I mean, it is very high. As she still is a, its so fragile. But still very, very powerful and i think thats, thats her secret, unassailable use the alto and shes even deeper now. Her voice. C c 6 c c i mean, the 3rd voice is agnes and unofficial combined. Together those voices singing those songs. They helped make the swedish music scene. World famous sweden is one of our most successful ad pop exporting. Countries in, behold, wipe, werent. And abner was definitely the ones who kicked it all off. When maria had their big breakthrough, 1974 at the eurovision, which followed the whim rock set than their ace of base and the cardigans and their mandojano. But im almost 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 theater, 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 other 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 on her friend ingo. 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 19 seventys, 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, ah, with they wanted to be stars. And they are, they really, you know, try to project, you know, the music and this start amendment, the clothes and they took pictures, lots of pictures, so many pictures. If you look at the album 0, mean victor, i mean, i cant believe it. How many pictures i 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 british pop dual eraser released an album of avar covers. And it was clear about was essential for any party with but buran and benny since there was more to be gained. Now things started to happen in the ninetys. The word changed its 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 in benny had been successful with other musicals, it was a no brainer. To create mama mia the musical. Ah. The production premiered 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 i can we . And i think they made more money from my mommy or the music golden they have from the, from, from the record saves old 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, ab songs carried the stars, the fellow 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 at the film or 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 fans. Tourists now come from around the world to visit the museum. There been very thinking about it in the business manner. I think mostly yawn is a very business minded man. Benny is more of 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. 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, we, we cant be more productive than that actually. Part of that is the development of Virtual Reality patterns, using motion capture recordings of singing and dancing stand ins as well as the original band members. The digital dapple gainers are 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 coo, there are tech no artists 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 sensationally. A voyage because its been a voyage in children. 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, about 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 sherry and i never had such a good time as im happy now. And i think im a happier man now than i was in the seventys. Ah, whether its song writing, marketing, or crafting their image. It all seems to have come easy for ever yet. Theyve always stayed grounded in the end. Abby 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 that i was so unafraid when i was young, you know, real was pick one of the girls and i was, i was honestly, im originally from uganda, between 71 to 79. Uganda was in a very odd thomas state. If theres anything that i can remember, alba was always in the airways. I dont think theres any other group that we played shall, 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 co and see mama me on. I dont, i dont feel 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 alba all everybody would now not the seventys of course because it wasnt cool. May 1 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. Oh. Where the play the ride music in the sway you come to look for king do do, do you . Oh yes sir. Oh oh. But beyond himself says it best in the story about these poor people who came together by chance 2 beautiful women with untasted voices should meet and fall in love with 2 guys who happened to be so bright and that they should fall mcgrue. And that their music would lay long. I mean, what are the odds against that . Thats a wonderful story. Ah, ah, ah washer. I see. Mm hm. Mm. With. Mm. Ah ah, ah, with who who they use us, who, joy, shame, anger, politicians, social media corporation. All of them seek to manipulate of feeling. The winner is simply the one who has the best mastery of human psychology. The science of emotion. In 15 minutes on d w, the addition of the 77 percent. Well, this week we want to have a conversation around teenage pregnancy and ill be married. We hear stories of women, young goes who believe them themselves almost today weve bought a few emotionally craft topics to toppling today. Shell but will speak out against gender inequality just 7 per cent in 90 minutes on d. W ah. Interest the global economy, our portfolio, d w. Business. Beyond here, the closer look at the project. Our mission. To analyze the fight for market dominance is to this is wes, get us to that head with the w business beyond the or eternal political dynamite . And the pillar of stick in society, a symbol of arbitrary rule crucial tool in the struggle for justice. Taxes the right to levy taxes and the obligation to pay them both inherent in the sovereignty of nation states and their citizens. But what happens when the power of taxation is undermined with wont pay tax session. So its up to the 21st on the w. Ah. Ah, fly from berlin, this is d w. News. A deadly panic had an indonesian football match. More than a 170. 00 spectators die after losing fan storm, the pitch and Police Respond with here, guess also coming up ukraine, liberates another