A Matter of “What was” or “What could have been”?
Thoughts About the Post-ABBA Career
En sĂĄng och en saga A song and a fairy tale
Ă„r hela vĂĄrt liv. Our whole life is.
En sĂĄng och en saga A song and a fairy tale
Ett kort tidsfördriv. A short pastime.
(Album: „Som jag är“)
Of course, all die-hard fans were true to Agnetha, followed her career, appreciated her solo albums after ABBA, and were totally excited when “My Colouring Book” hit the shelves in 2004 after a 17-yr. absence from the music scene. But even though she still has many fans it doesn’t change the fact that her success as a solo artist never came close to the hype of the ABBA times. In the music scene, you may read devastating comments by some critics, regarding the latest release. There were even voices who called it a “flop”. Although, according to my sources, approximately half a million copies have been sold worldwide. At present, about 260,000 of those in Sweden alone.
While she is a celebrity in Sweden, no doubt, in other countries you generally will find her in apostrophes. “ABBA-Agnetha” or “Ex-ABBA-Star Agnetha Fältskog”. The “general audience” around the world mainly remembers her as “the blonde girl from ABBA”. (“Oooh, yes! That cute bombshell! What was her name? Anna? Anita?”)
For fans it is clear that this is a rather unfair adjudication, but for judging the popularity of her post-ABBA solo work outside Sweden it has to be taken into account
that she herself has chosen to keep it "limited". (Her Swedish pre-ABBA career has stayed internationally unnoticed outside her “circle of fans” for apparent reasons.) After the exhausting ABBA years she
personally thought that the limelight bears more downsides than upsides and decided to set other priorities in her life. Already during her solo career in the eighties producers went nuts because she simply refused to go out
and aggressively promote the albums to push sales, wanting instead to keep her young children in the top-priority position. No live-concerts and only a few interviews and TV-appearances. She said "I don`t care, I won`t let
myself be forced into something I don`t want and if sales numbers stay lower than they could, so what?"
I honestly respect this. This is a very deliberate behaviour. She apparently doesn`t need
"fame" to serve her self-confidence, much different from some “dinosaurs” in the showbiz. Some of them are addicted to the limelight and one day they will be carried off the stage in a coffin. Madonna and Elton
John, just to mention two examples. I`m a big fan of the latter, but haven`t purchased his recent albums. I think that some day he should retire in honour. And perhaps even good old Björn Ulvaeus, though he chose another
option and prefers to act off-stage nowadays, selling the refurbished ABBA songs in “Mamma Mia” wrapping. I never will follow down that path, though. I believe the songs belong to Agnetha and Frida for eternity. I just
would miss the girls too much. Sorry, Sir!
Not Agnetha. She decided herself for another life-style. And that’s what’s so incredibly wonderful about “My Colouring Book”. Despite this decision she WANTED to do it.
Not for the sake of the limelight, she took this as a negative side-effect. She wanted it for herself - and she gave it as a present to her true fans. She has told us and I wish so much I could give her a hug and a kiss just
for saying this. For such a heartfelt present. Not really caring how many she would sell, what the cretins (critics) would say, but knowing that those who would buy it would treasure it as a precious gift. Setting this
aim it was impossible that it could be a "flop". Even if she had sold only a few thousand copies, making some people happy, she would have judged it as a success for herself. I guess that the question if and how
"popular" she is, isn’t a question that bothers her very much. She`s a very genuine and down-to-earth lady, indeed.
“I’m the world’s most down-to-earth person.” (Agnetha, 1983)
Nevertheless, I sometimes try to imagine what would have happened if Agnetha would have made different
decisions for her life. If she had decided to become one of those dinosaurs, married to the limelight. If she, after
ABBA, had continued with solo live-concerts, published a new album every two years, always present in TV-shows.
In other words, if she would have decided to stay a superstar and continue to live the life of a superstar. Where would she be now?
For me it is no doubt that she would have had the potential of staying at the top. That the whole world, the "general
audience", which today still calls her “ABBA-Agnetha” would celebrate her as one of the greatest sirens ever. It`s
nice to imagine to be able to visit her concerts to this very day, as a hard-core fan. Perhaps, even snatch a ticket for
the backstage party once in a lifetime. Have a whole shelf-full of records with this miracle on them which is her voice.
But is this really a worthwhile dream? It wouldn’t be the same Agnetha who would do this, not the Agnetha we all love.
It would have to be a different person who would do all this. Would this person have the soul to lend its magic to the
voice? Would this person have a heart with the power to make the voice strike a chord in ours? The masses would
admire her, but would we? Or would we perhaps stop buying the latest records and secretly think: "It’s time for her to retire in honour"?
Think about it and make a decision. I’ve made mine.
(Thanks to the friends on www.abbasite.com forum for the lively discussions that were the inspiration for this article. Thanks to LĂĽtfi Altinel and his website where I took the wonderful portrait photo from.)
 |