September 2nd was a historic day in pop music. On that date, Voyage, ABBA's first new album in 40 years, was announced to be released on November 5th, 2021, along with ABBA Voyage, a residence show starting in May 2022 in a purpose-built venue (the ABBA Arena) in London featuring the motion capture digital avatars of the four band members (dubbed 'ABBAtars') alongside a 10-piece live band. This announcement was made during a YouTube Livestreamfrom the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London.
As a foretaste of the Voyage album, two new singles, "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down", came out and entered respectively last week's Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100 at #9 and #11in the UK. The music video for "I Still Have Faith in You" gained 4.4 million views in the first 24 hours following its release, reaching the top three of YouTube's trending rankings in 12 countries, including the UK. Voyage has received over 80,000 pre-orders in the UK alone since September 3rd, a new record for their long-time label Universal Music. This overtakes the previous record-setters Take That with their albums Progress and III.
ABBA Voyage YouTube Livestream on September 2nd, 2021
Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson discussing their Voyage projects during their interview on September 2nd
Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida),
and Benny Andersson
ABBA as virtual avatars (dubbed 'ABBAtars'), depicting the group's members as they appeared in the late 1970s
The front cover of Voyage. The upcoming ninth studio album by ABBA is scheduled to be released on November 5th, 2021. This opus features 10 songs. It is the group's new material since its disbandment in 1982.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Swedish Fab Four were role models for Luv'.
Photos edited by Co Rnz:
Luv' in 1980 and ABBA in 1978 photographed by Peter 𝙈𝙖𝙯𝙚̀𝙡 (1940-1996)
The two first singles of Luv' ("My Man" and "Dream, Dream"), released in 1977, were very ABBA-esque.
My Man by Luv' on "Musikladen" (August 13th, 1977, Radio Bremen, Germany)
Dream, Dream by Luv' on Dik Voormekaar Show (November 17th, 1977, NCRV, Netherlands)
Luv' producers and songwriters, Hans van Hemert and Piet Souer, used "ABBA" tricks on other songs that came out later ("Money, Honey", "The Show Must Go On", "Some Call It Happiness"...). In 2006, music critic Metal Mike Saunders of American music website "Bubblegum University" considered Holland's greatest girl group as an "Über ABBA" and their second album "Lots of Luv" as the "Holy Grail of ABBA-Sound".
Luv' classic hit "Ooh, Yes I Do" (from November 1979) used a melody inspired by the flute theme of "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)".
Ooh, Yes I Do by Luv' on Disco (February 25th, 1980, ZDF, Germany)
"Ann-Maria" (released in February 1980) used a Latin American orchestration influenced by "Chiquitita" and "Fernando". A children's choir was integrated into this song (like "I Have a Dream").
Ann-Maria on Chansons A La Carte (April 20th, 1980, RTBF, Belgium)
Moreover, when Luv' and their team (Van Hemert, Souer and their manager Pim ter Linde) created a limited company ("InterLUV") to control every aspect of their career in 1979, they followed Stig Anderson's example. Indeed, ABBA's manager had a huge success with his label Polar Music which licensed the group's records to different record companies worldwide.
Article published in Story magazine on May 11th, 1979: Luv' following in the footsteps of ABBA
Article published in Joepie in 1979
Luv' and ABBA performed on the same TV shows in Europe (including "AVRO's TopPop" in Holland, "Top Club" in France, "Aplauso" in Spain, as well as "Musikladen" and "Disco" in Germany). During their heyday, they graced the covers of German, Dutch and Belgian teen magazines (Bravo, Hitkrant, Joepie....). Their hit singles also appeared on the same compilations:
Front cover of German compilation "High Life" released by Polystar in early 1979 (featuring Luv', ABBA, Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta, Village People, and Baccara)
Advertisements for Philips cassette desks (including cassettes by ABBA, Luv', Village People, and The Bee Gees) in 1979
The Who's who of pop music (including Luv' and ABBA) on the cover of the 1980/1981 and 1981/1982 editions of the Rijam school diaries
Front cover of "Hit Come Back • The Original Oldies • Vol. 1 • 16 No. 1 Single Hits 1965 To 1981" - Compilation released in 1987 by Polyphon to celebrate 16 #1 hits on the German singles chart
After Luv's (first) break-up in 1981, José Hoebee recorded uncredited background vocals for the debut album of Doris D. & The Pins at ABBA's Polar Studio in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1984, she teamed up with songstress Bonnie St Claire to record cover versions of ABBA songs in Dutch. Their duets "Cassandra" and "Zoals Vrienden Doen" (The Way Old Friends Do) were Dutch Top 40 hits.
Cassandra by Bonnie & José (1984)
Zoals Vrienden Doen by Bonnie & José (1985)
The ladies even released a full-length LP entitled "Herinnering" in September 1985.
Front cover of "Herinnering" by Bonnie & José (RCA Records, 1985)
To promote this album, Dutch TV channel NCRV aired "Bonnie en José in Zweden", a special taped in Stockholm and the surrounding area. The highlights of this TV program broadcast on May 27th, 1986, were the "Herinnering" video (filmed in the Polar Studios) and the interview of Björn Ulvaeus, who praised the cover versions of the ladies.
Bonnie & José in Zweden
Björn Ulvaeus interviewed on Bonnie & José in Zweden
Before the original release of the Herinnering album, in late 1984, José's husband, Will Hoebee and Joost Timp translated the French musical AbbaCaDaBrain Dutch. This project was based on the songs of the legendary Swedish band. Among the performers were José (Snow White), Marga Scheide (Carabosse), Bonnie St. Claire (Sleeping Beauty), Ron Brandsteder (Werewolf), and Benny Neyman (Prince). Indisc released the AbbaCaDaBra LP in the Netherlands and Belgium. The song Wij Zijn Vrij (taken from the album) came out as a single.
Front and back covers of the Wij Zijn Vrij single (signed by Marga Scheide)
Front and back covers of the ABBAcadabra album
José Hoebee & Marga Scheide at Luv's fan club meeting in Hilversum in May 2015
TROS/Nederland 2 broadcast the AbbaCaDaBra musical on March 16th, 1985, on television. Rien van Wijk directed it and Jef Nassenstein produced it. Willem Duijn (who took part in the album's recording and played the role ofAlladin) did not appear on TV and was replaced by Joost Timp.
The cast of ABBAcadabra (including Marga Scheide, José Hoebee, Bonnie St. Claire, Ron Brandsteder, and Benny Neyman)
ABBAcadabra in 1985
The early 1990s saw a revival of interest in pop music from the 1970s. As a result, ABBA released in 1992 their "Gold" compilation which sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. In 1993, Luv' put out their own "Gold" CD, which peaked at #14 on the LP Top 50 and #9 on the Mega Album Top 100 in the Netherlands.
The Luv' ladies discussed their artistic relationship with ABBA on several occasions in interviews.
The September 15th issue of the ABBA Fan Club Magazine featured José Hoebee's interview with Flemish author Stany van Wijmeersch. The singer talked about the "Herinnering" album with Bonnie St. Claire and the "ABBAcadabra" TV musical.
Interview with José - click on the image to enlarge it:
On May 26th, 2016, the Luv' ladies (José Hoebee, Marga Scheide and Ria Thielsch (who replaced Patty Brard) took part in the release party of Stany van Wijmeersch's book We all love ABBA at the Harbour Club in Amsterdam.
Stany Van Wijmeersch, Matt Pop, Luv' & Co at the release party of "We All Love ABBA"
Front cover of We all love ABBA by Stany van Wijmeersch (2016)
The June 15th, 2016 issue of Dutch celebrity gossip magazine "Privé" featured an article about Luv' and "We All Love ABBA".
Click on the image to enlarge it:
Stany van Wijmeersch's publication and Luv' were also mentioned in the winter 2016/2017 issue of the ABBA Intermezzo Fan Club Magazine.
Click on the images to enlarge them:
In addition to José Hoebee and Marga Scheide, Stany van Wijmeersch interviewed Michiel Gunning (Marga's partner since 2005) for his book. In the 1970s and 1980s, Michiel was active in the music business and the youth press. He told Stany that he hung out with the members of ABBA during their promotional visits to Holland, thanks to his connection with Dutch photographer Peter Mazèl. He clicked particularly with Agnetha Fältskog.
Agnetha (of ABBA) and Michiel Gunning (aka David) - article published in Popfoto in June 1979
Michiel/David interviews ABBA for Popfoto (December 1980)
The Winter 2017/2018 issue of "ABBA Intermezzo Fan Club Magazine" included a behind-the-scenes interview with José Hoebee, Marga Scheide, Michiel Gunning and Stany Van Wijmeersch.
Moreover, Marga Scheide and Michiel Gunning promoted We All Love ABBA on YouTube in 2018.
The editorial of the Spring 2018 issue of the "ABBA Intermezzo Fan Club Magazine" featured a beautiful picture of José Hoebee taken by Marco Rens. The singer posed with the previous issue of the magazine.
On September 23rd, 2018, José Hoebee attended the premiere of Mamma Mia! (the musical based on the songs of ABBA) at the Beatrix Theater in Utrecht, the Netherlands. This third Dutch production of the world-famous music show (supervised by Albert Verlinde) featured Antje Monteiro as Donna, Jolijn Henneman as Sophie (the future bride), and Soy Kroon as Sky (the fiancé). Dieter Troubleyn, Emiel de Jong, and Zjon Smaal were Donna’s ex-partners Sam, Bart, and Harrie. Hilke Bierman and Sophia Wezer were Donna’s friends and were part of the girl group The Dynamos with Donna.
On November 20th, 2020, the independent label CD-Licious reissued Bonnie & José's album Herinnering on CD and DVD thanks to a crowdfunding campaign initiated by Franklin van Liempt. The 2020 edition of this CD included bonus tracks in addition to the original track listing. The DVD contained the "Bonnie en José in Zweden" TV special as well as bonus videos.
Front cover of Herinnering by Bonnie & José (2020 edition)
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire