LOS ANGELES (Hip-O/UMe) - When ABBA embarked on its 1979 concert tour of North
America and Europe, the group was both at the height of its popularity - it was the most commercially successful pop group of the '70s (more than 100 million records sold worldwide) - and near the end of its run (with only one more Top 10 to come).
Those two elements alone make the DVD debut of
ABBA In Concert (Hip-O/UMe), released June 8, 2004, so very special.
Originally broadcast on worldwide television in 1980 and subsequently issued on VHS, ABBA In Concert has been digitally remastered for this DVD edition in vision and sound (DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound as well as Dolby Digital Stereo are available). The home video has also been expanded with three bonus performances from the tour that were not included in the original film: "The Way Old Friends Do" (a version previously unreleased on video), "I Have A Dream" (the complete, unedited version) and "Thank You For The Music" (a new edited version never broadcast or released on video).
Added for the DVD as well are the "Mamma Mia!" 5th Anniversary trailer, a picture gallery of the original tour program and new interviews filmed with two key people behind the scenes - director Urban Lasson and ABBA's promoter and tour producer Thomas Johansson.
In addition, the package includes a 28-page booklet with numerous photos and an essay by ABBA guru Carl Magnus Palm.
ABBA In Concert vividly captures ABBA's triumphant journey across two continents, only the second major tour by the group. In intimate backstage scenes the group confronts the American touring circuit - traveling, rehearsing, relaxing, and preparing for their show. The film then moves to London and an unforgettable concert at Wembley Arena, where ABBA delivers hit after hit, including "Waterloo," "Take A Chance On Me," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "Chiquitita" and "Dancing Queen." The quartet also performs "Eagle," "Voulez-Vous," "I Have A Dream," "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)," "Summer Night City," "Does Your Mother Know" and "Hole In Your Soul."
In 1973, Agnetha Faltskog, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Ani-Frid Lyngstad won the Eurovision competition with "Waterloo," a Top 20 U.S. hit. But ABBA truly arrived with 1976's 'Arrival' and its disco era gold-certified anthem "Dancing Queen," the group's only No 1 hit, and the Top 20 "Knowing Me, Knowing You."
1977's 'The Album' featured the No 3 gold "Take A Chance On Me."
'Voulez-Vous' followed in 1979 with the Top 40 "Chiquitita."
Married couples Agnetha and Bjorn, Benny and Ani-Frid then divorced and ABBA officially disbanded in 1982. Today, more than two decades later, the ABBA phenomenon doesn't merely endure but, with such successes as the musical "Mamma Mia!," continues to grow.
