Mark Pentleton » abba

364/365 Songs: Thank you for the music – Abba

admin — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 07:45:21 +0000

I suppose this should really be the final song in my collection, but there’s something typically “Hogmanayish” planned for tomorrow, so I wanted to get the Abba classic Thank you for the music in today. The song was recorded in summer 1977 (I had just turned five at the time!) and was included on The Album, although it wasn’t released as a single until 1983 when it became the final single to be released by the group. Over the past year I’ve played 18 Abba songs and quite a few songs by the members of Abba in the pre- or post-Abba careers. I felt it was appropriate to finish with this song and give my thanks not only for the music which I’ve enjoyed playing this year, but to everyone who has listened each day.

320/365 Songs: Another town, another train

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:54:16 +0000

Today’s song is actually linked to one of my earliest musical memories. I think I would have been about 4 or 5 and I remember listening to this song on my dad’s reel-to-reel tape deck, along with He is your brother on Abba’s Greatest Hits album. It was written in 1973 and was released in Japan as a single and was also recorded in German as Wer im Wartesaal der Liebe steht. I was supposed to be taking an interesting train journey today, hence the song choice, but it looks like it won’t be happening because of the weather!

313/365 Songs: Move on – Abba

admin — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:27:22 +0000

This song was recorded in 1977 and the various working titles for the song included Yippee Yay, Joanne, Love for me is love forever and the rather cryptic Big John. I’m glad it ended up as Move on, not Big John!

305/365 Songs: SOS – Abba

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 06:21:33 +0000

Today’s song – the first song of my penultimate month on 365songs – is Abba’s SOS from the 1975 Abba album. It is one of the group’s best-known songs and reached #6 in the UK charts on its release in September 1975. It was #1 in Australia, Belgium, West Germany, New Zealand and South Africa! SOS was also recorded in Swedish by Agnetha Fältskog and featured on her album Elva Kvinnor i ett Hus along with last month’s Tack för en underbar vanlig dag.

Image courtesy of the Abbaworld blog

The reason I chose to play this song today is that today marks the 40th anniversary of the first live performance by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvæus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson at the Festfolk på Trägård’n in Gothenburg. It was 2 or 3 years before they started calling themselves ABBA, and apparently the performance didn’t go too well, but it was also when the group apparently learned what not to do at a live event. There’s more info here.

300/365 Songs: The Way Old Friends Do – Abba

admin — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 23:03:31 +0000

Having spent much of today in Glasgow at a meeting, returning home to watch The Apprentice and updating the latest episode of News Time Spanish, I had switched off my computer, only to realise that I’d forgotten to upload today’s song. And on this, the 300th day of the year, too! I recorded this song a couple of days ago. It’s taken from the 1980 Abba album Super Trouper and was recorded live in Wembley Arena in November 1979 – that’s 31 years ago! The Way Old Friends Do traditionally was performed with the four group members singing accompanied by Benny on accordion. I hope you like my version.

290/365 Songs: Tack för en underbar vanlig dag – Agnetha Fältskog

admin — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 06:44:22 +0000

This is probably not the best-known song of my 365 collection, but I’ve always liked its simplicity. It was recorded by Abba’s Agnetha Fältskog in 1975 and featured on her album Elva kvinnor i ett hus (Eleven women in one house). The title of the song means “thanks for a wonderful, ordinary day” and in a sense it’s a simple prayer giving thanks for the små under (small miracles) which happen every day, men det är så lätt at ta dom för givna, but it’s so difficult to take them for granted. There’s a version on YouTube which has the full song in Swedish with English subtitles – have a look!

274/365 Songs: Lycka – Anni-Frid Lyngstad

admin — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 16:20:14 +0000

This gorgeous, simple song was first recorded by Benny and Björn in 1970, and then released by Anni-Frid on her solo album in 1971. The title of the song, Lycka, means “happiness” in Swedish and the lyrics tell the story of a couple who spend some time with each other after a busy day. There was a demo recorded in English called To Live With You, but the English lyrics aren’t great. Frida’s version is lovely – have a listen here.

266/365 Songs: Gonna sing you my love song – Abba

admin — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:55:25 +0000

After the ‘guest performance’ I posted earlier today, here is today’s 365song. It’s Abba’s Gonna sing you my love song, an album track from the 1974 album Waterloo. Hope you enjoy it!

258/365 Songs: Dance (while the music still goes on) – Abba

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:00:59 +0000

Today’s song is an album track from Abba’s 1974 Waterloo album. I’ve always really liked this song. Benny and Björn were heavily influenced by Ronnie Spector and this track is an example of this. Without the 12-string guitars my version is a bit different, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. It’s also (I think) the only Abba track with two modulations, though I’d be happy to be corrected on that one!

253/365 Songs: One of us – Abba

admin — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:51:39 +0000

“One of us is crying…” – it’ll be the one who has been to Ikea three times this week! Need I say more?

One of us was one of the last songs recorded for the Visitors album in 1981 and became the first single from this album. Despite its rather melancholy air (I guess Benny and Björn had also been to Ikea when they wrote it!) it was a hit, and was the last number 1 for the group.

203/365 Songs: Fernando – Abba

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:49:38 +0000

We’re returning to the 1970s today with this Abba classic from 1975. This song became Abba’s biggest selling single of all time, selling 6 million copies in 1976 alone and going on to sell 10 million worldwide. It was originally written in Swedish for Frida and featured on her 1975 solo album Frida Ensam but was rewritten in English for a worldwide release by Abba.

196/365 Songs: Andante, Andante – Abba

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:17:45 +0000

Today’s song is the ballad from the 1980 Abba album Super Trouper. It’s always been one of my favourite Abba songs, and I remember playing this often while my wife was expecting our first son. It was released as a single in South America and South Africa, but elsewhere it featured only as an album track.

156/365 Songs: Cassandra – Abba

admin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:08:18 +0000

Today’s song is one of the many underrated Abba songs, Cassandra. It was the b-side to the 1982 single The Day Before You Came, and I think the story related in this song was a precursor of the Björn and Benny’s future musical theatre work (Chess and Kristina från Duvemåla). While the lyrics seem to transpose the song into a contemporary context, it is generally accepted that the song refers to Cassandra in Greek mythology. Cassandra was a cursed prophet who predicted the fall of Troy in vain, because no-one believed her. My performance of the song probably makes it a bit more theatrical than the original, but I hope you like it nonetheless!

153/365 Songs: The Winner takes it all – Abba

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 06:45:46 +0000

Thirty years ago today the recording of this Abba classic (and one of my favourite Abba songs) began in the Polar Music Studios in Stockholm. At this stage it was called The Story of My Life and no particular musical style had been identified during the recording session. Benny and Björn took the recordings home and began to play around with them, and the song took on something of a French chanson style, complete with fake French lyrics. Björn completed the lyrics, apparently under the influence of “a couple of big snifters”, and the new instrumentation of the song was recored on 18 June 1980. For the full story, see abbasite.com. I hope you enjoy my performance!

111/365 Songs: The name of the game – Abba

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:37:37 +0000

We’re going back to Abba for today’s song. The Name of the game was recorded for the Album – the first studio album to be recorded after the band’s 1977 tour of Europe and Australia. The introductory riff was inspired by Stevie Wonder’s I Wish from his album from the previous year, Songs in the Key of Life.

89/365 Songs: I’ve been waiting for you – Abba

admin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:10:41 +0000

Today’s song is one of my favourite Abba songs. It was the b-side on the 1974 single So Long, and was on the Abba album in 1975, but has since appeared in many compilations.

78/365 Songs: I have a dream – Abba

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:51:28 +0000

Thanks for the nice comments this week on the songs I’ve been playing – it’s great to know that people are enjoying my music! Back to Abba today with the song I have a dream. It first appeared on the 1979 Voulez-vous album and is one of the Abba songs which everyone knows. I’ve decided to play this in A flat rather than B flat. I’m not quite sure why – just to be different probably!

65/365 Songs: Slipping through my fingers – Abba

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:50:10 +0000

Today’s song is one of my favourite Abba songs. Written in 1981 for The Visitors album it was inspired by Agnetha and Björn’s daughter Linda who was seven at the time. It was also used in the Mamma Mia musical and film when Donna is helping her daughter prepare for her wedding day. The song was originally recorded in G major, but I always feel G flat major sounds that bit more ‘poignant’ so I’ve played it in G flat. You can let me know if you agree!

This song was requested by listener Mark Kerridge after my previous Abba song, My love my life. All the Abba songs I’ve recorded so far can be found here.

365 Songs: My love, my life – Abba

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:42:15 +0000

This is one of those album songs which never quite got the publicity it deserved, at least at the time of its release. Taken from the 1976 album Arrival, it is thought to be the best example of Agnetha’s voice, according to Björn at least! Agnetha released a compilation of her Swedish and English hits in 1996 and appropriately named it My love, my life. More recently, at last year’s BBC ABBA concert in Hyde Park, Jamie Cullum performed this song in quite a different style. Hope you like my version! Please feel free to comment if you enjoyed it – or indeed if you didn’t!

365 Songs: One man, one woman – Abba

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:04:33 +0000

Back to Abba today and the song One man, one woman from The Album. This song was recorded between July and November 1977 and is said to tell of Björn’s feelings about his marriage at the time. The lyrics appear quite negative in the opening verse: “No smiles, not a single word at the breakfast table…” but the chorus and later verses reflect a more positive, deeper love between a couple: “you smile and I realise that we need a shake-up – our love is a precious thing [...] one man, one woman, two friends and two true lovers, somehow we’ll help each other through the hard times.”

365 Songs – I Wonder (Departure) – Abba

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:22:28 +0000

It had to be Abba today… this evening Frida and Björn will be opening AbbaWorld in London’s Earls Court. There’s been talk of an Abba Museum opening up in Stockholm for years, but the decision was taken to make the museum a touring exhibit and from today Abba fans can visit this “stunning, sequin-spangled” exhibition in London, and perform with 3D holographic images of Abba, remix their songs and see “never-before-displayed memorabilia from the personal collections of the world’s most cherished pop icons”… Book your ticket now

The song I Wonder was first released as the b-side to The Name of the Game in 1977 and was part of the ‘mini-musical’, The Girl with the Golden Hair, appearing on The Album.

365 Songs – When all is said and done – Abba

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:08:39 +0000

This song was first appeared on the Visitors album in 1981 and it is said to tell the story of the separation of Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. It was reworked into a ballad for the Mamma Mia film, this time focusing on two people finding love again. I think it’s one of the best songs from the film. Here’s my interpretation which is more Mamma Mia than the Visitors…

If you’re enjoying my songs, please do consider contributing to the Haiti Earthquake appeal and downloading my From a Distance charity CD album.

365 Songs: Happy New Year – Abba

admin — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:13:49 +0000

Yesterday my new piano arrived – the Roland RD-700GX and I’ve been playing it pretty much non-stop since. As we entered the new year I was thinking back ten years to the Millennium and to the fact that at the time I was playing much more regularly – on New Year’s Day 2000 I was playing in the Marine Highland Hotel in Troon, entertaining the guests at lunchtime.

This year one of my resolutions is to get back into my music and make a bit more time for it, and I’ve decided to challenge myself to posting a song each day of 2010. I’ll just be playing the piano so no need to worry about my singing! I don’t intend these to be perfect performances – I just really want to make a point of recording some stuff because it’s so long since I’ve done so. I’ve no idea if I’ll be able to keep this up to date, but I’ll try my best.

Today I’ve decided to stick to something topical, so here’s a performance of Abba’s Happy New Year. If you’re interested, here’s a bit of history about this song.