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Money, money, money
“I work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to pay, ain’t it sad
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me, that’s too bad”ABBA, 1976
Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid grafted for decades before they made it. Their break came in 1974 at the Eurovision Song Contest. They never looked back. ABBA went on to be one of the most commercially successful bands in pop, selling over 150 million records across the globe.
But the path to success is strewn with boulders. Their original name was unimaginative and unwieldy. Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid didn’t exactly trip off the tongue. That and singing in Swedish guaranteed relegation to a cold, frosty corner called Scandinavian pop. They had privately used a shorthand for themselves — their four initials. But it took years before they wondered whether ABBA might be a better name. It’s funny how we can’t see what’s in front of us.
Even then they weren’t destined for greatness. ABBA was also the name of a Swedish fish canning company. After long negotiations, ABBA (the fish people) agreed to share their name with ABBA (the band), “as long as you don’t make us feel ashamed about what you’re doing.” Most likely they expected the band to be a flash…
