You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I mentioned on another thread that I don’t like ABBA. It seemed to confuse or shock a couple of people. Don’t get me wrong, they’re good at what they do. I’d just never choose to listen to them. If they cropped up on a playlist I’d skip them.
Basically Rod, Jane and Freddy with an extra member. Quite close to disco music which is what happened when funk music went awry. Big fan of funk (surprisingly). I also had a hideous drunken brawl in my younger years whilst Waterloo was playing in the background. Still have scars from it. So not for me.
Anybody else not a fan? I’m not in to the Beatles either whilst we’re here!
also had a hideous drunken brawl in my younger years whilst Waterloo was playing in the background. Still have scars from it.
Did you try to hold him back, but he was stronger?
Sorry, IGMC.
I wouldn't seek them out to listen but neither would I skip them. Not disco - just pure pop. Really well crafted and catchy pop tunes by an large
Not my thing but a fabulous act, in Sweden they are part of the nations DNA
Heard a couple of plunked up versions of S.O.S brilliant song.
funkmasterp - you weren't nicknamed "Dancing Queen" at school or anything were you?
🙂
There are some banging ABBA songs, so I'd have to disagree, sorry.
No need to apologise martinhutch, well played!
I generally think no matter how bad a band is there is one song by them I like. I'm sure there is one by abba, I just can't think of it.
Not exactly news really, not everyone likes every band.
It would be a f****in boring world if we did.
I wouldn’t seek them out either, but probably wouldn’t skip track either.
I don’t really get the beatles either, mostly because I’m too young.
I don’t like them either. It’s the sort of stuff I remember being played at wedding anniversaries I went to as a kid. Don’t like Kate Tempest either.😁
funkmasterp – you weren’t nicknamed “Dancing Queen” at school or anything were you?
Nope, but that would’ve been a good nickname.
There are some banging ABBA songs, so I’d have to disagree, sorry.
I can’t get the phrase banging song and ABBA to coexist in my mind. ABBA are nice, safe, friendly pop. Banging tune would be reserved for, well, none of that.
I understand why folk like them. Just didn’t think middleclassmiddleagedwhitemantrackworld would have a devout fanbase. Surely I can’t be alone in my position?
Edit - I see there are others! The wedding thing definitely plays a part.
I can't stand the Osmond's, but holy moly that Crazy Horses is proper quality.
I respect them as being really good at their job, craftsmen really (craftspeople?). But I don't own any of their music, and I wouldn't voluntarily listen to it.
As a 13 year old boy, I had a serious crush on Agnetha...
My Mrs will actually get up and leave any room where ABBA is being played instantly, she can't stand it!
I also had a hideous drunken brawl in my younger years whilst Waterloo was playing.....
Shohld have sent out an SOS....
.....sorry.
I appreciate their musical and lyrical talents more as I grow older. MrsMC found a "50 Greatest Abba Moments" show on TV the other night and I started off groaning and ended up singing along
Can’t stand them.
However, they do give me one of my tenuous claims to fame. When I was a tiny nipper my mother was travelling to Sweden with me in a carry cot. As she was getting off the plane and struggling with her bags, a bloke behind her said “Can I help you with your son?” before carrying me down the steps of the plane and into the terminal. The kind chap was Benny from Abba.
Don’t like Abba 🙁 Burn the heretic 😉
“serious crush”
Didn’t we all . . .
Got ABBA'd to within an inch of my life on car journeys as a child. Having revisited as an adult, with the benefit of reasonable audio quality (as opposed to 70's car audio), whilst I wouldn't class myself as a fan, I certainly appreciate the quality of the songs, the arrangements and the production of the recordings. Bass lines are particularly noteworthy IMHO.
My Mrs will actually get up and leave any room where ABBA is being played instantly, she can’t stand it!
Hi five for your Mrs!
Shohld have sent out an SOS….
…..sorry.
That’ll have been the other guy. I genuinely think that song reminds me of a person I don’t like remembering. Nasty little shit 😕
Bass lines are particularly noteworthy IMHO.
Can’t say I’ve ever noticed the bass in their songs. Used to play too and love a good bass line. Then again I’ve got more of an ear for James Brown, Sly Stone and general heavier stuff (Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Clutch) when it comes to bass.
MrsMC found a “50 Greatest Abba Moments” show on TV the other night and I started off groaning and ended up singing along
Isn’t this just the same as with Carry On films? Dreadful films that no-one sits down and watches but they’ve got some fantastic lines/melodies. 😁
Radio 2 were playing Golden Brown (Stranglers) the other day, followed immediately by Waterloo. That’s a very odd shift change and Golden Brown isn’t exactly hardcore.
I’m with you, love funk, can’t stand Abba or The Beatles. Both on a par with Take That.
I generally think no matter how bad a band is there is one song by them I like. I’m sure there is one by abba, I just can’t think of it.
The best ABBA songs can be found on More ABBA Gold, and they all come around the time of their last album or so.
I like all three of these, and Cassandra is one of my all-time favourite songs, irrespective of who wrote and performed it.
can’t stand Abba or The Beatles. Both on a par with Take That.
Rubbish. Pretty much every great musician and songwriter around the world will happily point out just how wrong you are, especially with regards to the Beatles. Take That could never have conceived something like Tomorrow Never Knows or A Day In The Life.
I love a bit of abba. In 1998 the wife (then girlfriend) and I hired a car to drive from Melbourne to Adeleaide and back and decided that Aussie radio was shit at stopped at a services to buy a CD and bought Abba Gold for a laugh. It'll always remind me of great times.
“serious crush”
Didn’t we all .
I saw Abba: The Movie twice at the cinema when I was a kid. I think she gave me my first erection.
The music, it’s like a lot of stuff from that era, just doesn’t interest me as there is so much more to listen to. Imagine how many times you heard an Abba song in the 70s... I’d rather listen to something I haven't heard before. Or some Beatles.
ABBA are a guilty treat of mine, mainly because my mum used to play it all the time when I was a toddler. * fires up Spotify and hits the secret playlist while typing the rest of this*
I used to have a few friends who were really into playing loads of musical instruments, everything from classical to heavy metal on whatever they had to hand - Metallica on a church organ? Rather strange until you recognise it! Anyway, I digress from my point. They also used to disassemble stuff and see what hidden rifts and arrangements were hidden in lots of stuff. They used to easily rip apart the regular chart stuff, alternative stuff and the like. ABBA though was really tough work, the quality of writing underneath the catchy choruses was really impressive to them. Two of them now write stuff for various well-known artists and the other works in a famous recording studio in the UK. I have no musical talent at all but can recognise a good bit of writing hidden in a tune pretty well thanks to them, hence my rather eclectic musical taste.
Apart from the Beatles, they were crap.
* this playlist may also include other embarrassing music but I like it occasionally so I don't care!
Being able to craft a top quality pop song is real talent. Being able to write an upbeat one about depression and anxiety is something else...
I absolutely love this one. Wasn't even good enough to be a single.
The Beatles are a weird one. Again I appreciate their place in music history, but they just kind of passed me by and I’m a really voracious listener. Might have to put them on whilst working from home. From that era I’m more a fan of Jimi, The Doors, Creedence, Zappa and Beefheart. All probably took some influence from the Beatles too.
I also don’t like McCartney and that seeps in when I’m listening. He had that bloody stupid bass. That’s the beauty of music though. Completely subjective and different for each listener.
You know what I always say when people say they don’t like the Beatles...?
.
.
Oh.
Love em, but can fully understand why folk don’t. Particularly those who would have been going through their generational music discovery phase at the time.
RM.
Anybody else not a fan?
I loathe them too. I remember being quite impressed with Waterloo, but everything since then - ugh. Although I had to learn the bass line to mama Mia and that wasn’t too bad. But I’d never choose to listen to them for enjoyment.
I’m not in to the Beatles either whilst we’re here!
Sorry mate, you’re on your own there.
Absolutely abysmal. Their success is baffling. If they ever come on the radio etc, it's turned off or to another station immediately
Absolutely abysmal.
Nice work!
RM.
Never been bothered by Abba, either way. But Jane from Rod, jane & Freddy...
Hubba hubba.
They also used to disassemble stuff and see what hidden rifts and arrangements were hidden in lots of stuff. They used to easily rip apart the regular chart stuff, alternative stuff and the like. ABBA though was really tough work, the quality of writing underneath the catchy choruses was really impressive to them
My lad is a keen musician and says the same.
I’m not in to the Beatles either whilst we’re here!
Sorry mate, you’re on your own there.
I'm not into the Beatles either. It's probably all the shit people espouse about them that does it. Plus it's ****ing dreary. Not a fan of ABBA either.
They also used to disassemble stuff and see what hidden rifts and arrangements were hidden in lots of stuff. They used to easily rip apart the regular chart stuff, alternative stuff and the like. ABBA though was really tough work, the quality of writing underneath the catchy choruses was really impressive to them
Exactly how all music should be judged. In the land of ****.
Nah you're wrong.
Although you also list CCR and they are probably my favourite band (this week anyway)
I am conflicted.
Beatles are great but overplayed and over hyped.
Nah you're wrong.
Although you also list CCR and they are probably my favourite band (this week anyway)
I am conflicted. I have a similar issue with DezB he talks some shite about music then list bands i really like!
I just like music i guess don't think much about who sang it if i like it i like it.
This leads to playlists that have susan boyle the osmonds etc in it.
CCR are great, so many brilliant songs in such a short period of time. Had Willy and the Poor Boys playing this morning. I don’t dislike The Beatles as such, they just never landed on my radar in the way a lot of bands have. Some great songs, but don’t think I’ve listened to an album all the way through. Might rectify that today though.
All the comments about how well crafted ABBA’s songs are are interesting and true, but that could be one of the reasons why they don’t gel with me. It’s music, not a science experiment. Can’t beat music thrown together by a bunch of mates who don’t really know what they’re doing to start with.
The Beatles are a weird one.
From that era I’m more a fan of Jimi, The Doors, Creedence, Zappa and Beefheart. All probably took some influence from the Beatles too.
The Beatles are very much not of the same era as the other bands you quote. They may only have been separated by a few years but music was changing so quickly back then that there’s no comparison.
The 1963 charts list bands like The Beatles (obvs!), Gerry and the Pacemaker, Cliff Richard, The Tremeloes, The Searchers, The Shadows. When you look at that sort of shit-shower you can see why people loved The Beatles.
http://www.uk-charts.top-source.info/top-100-1963.shtml
ABBA were great at what they did.
Not an Abba fan - 'Dancing Queen' should be banned under the Geneva Convention.
DezB he talks some shite about music
Prove it
Beatles are great but overplayed and over hyped.
TBF there was a lot of dross about at the time they got going. Some of the 'music' Brian Matthews used to play if we mistakenly had the radio set to 2 on a Saturday morning was embarrassingly bad, conveyor belt stuff.
The Beatles are very much not of the same era as the other bands you quote. They may only have been separated by a few years but music was changing so quickly back then that there’s no comparison.
If that’s the case why do The Beatles get the credit for innovation when you’ve got Zappa, Jimi etc doing some real forward thinking things. Just a case of media saturation and relative popularity?
Words not required really!
Dancing Queen’ should be banned under the Geneva Convention.