Abba - So Long

[lolololo004]

This is the best music is not it striking today

[Netro85]

Agneta's playback is better than Frida's playback !

[Netro85]

I'm sure, if ABBA participed int the Eurovision 2012, they would win again !!! :D

[thenutbar44]

This is a Gem, thanks for posting

[thenutbar44]

I think this is the hottest performance I remember seeing from them. I wish I were in the front row !

[MrPekisha]

1:24-1:30 Look at that women with that nice jumper :DDDDDD

[flamingcrystal05]

gotta love Frida's little dance 0:54 to 0:59 sooo cute! :))

[B52sguy]

Can anyone even imagine how much audience adoration ABBA would recieve in today's world? I've followed them for (gasp) 40 years and still do not understand how anyone could not like or love them.

Joseph F

Portland, OR USA

[oliebbommel59]

Hot

[70Kenny]

What I wouldn't give to attend a reunion concert of these marvelous singing Swedes! Their sound is so addicting!

[TheSpiritofAbbaPart3]

If you watch closely, the girls give some of their best eye communication and facial expressions in this performance of any Abba song or performance; watch Aggies piercing eye stare and biting mouth at 0.05-0:15, and Frida's sultry eye and submissive mouth swoon at 1:42-1:46, both directed at the mythical boyfriend in this song. The 2 complement each other so perfectly, along with their different dance styles.

[mrsrichardpeck]

Love it!

[vintagerosenz]

dont they also sing a version of this song and Frida flashes non-stop? haha :)

omg 0.54-0.59 LOL!

[Girl14rockful]

love it

[ABBAmadeinsweden]

Thanks for the video. Frida looks great in that skirt !

[abbafanglosuk]

Cheers Tiberius - yeah their outfits were often very eye catching. Their costume designer Owe Sandstrom deserves the thanks of all us fans for his creative role in their entertaining perfiormances!

[moonflower0924]

Frida had a hand on those outfits too! Fashion guru that she is. <3

[Grandpaw2511]

Howdy John, Agnetha in tight white and Frida's belly button what's not to love especially the dance number at the end.

[abbafanglosuk]

Hiya Lenny - yep they knew how to dress eye catchingly without overdoing it and their dancing was as good and original as their singing thanks to their regular choreography lessons !

[abbafanglosuk]

Thanks Jim, I had some time off to recover from the Beta channel change and this was a good one to come back with as there was plenty to write about and its a great upbeat number! Pittsburgh sounds a great place to live!

[songsungu]

thanks for this one and especially the liner notes. as Abba's geatest fan i soak up all info about them. I am deeply interested in the early years as i eas with my cousins in Germany at the time and ABBA hit me between the eyes. I was amazed upon returning to the states to find out that outside of dancing queen they were mostly unheard. thanks

[abbafanglosuk]

That is a feature of my videos Christian, to put all I can about the song and performance to make the video more complete for the viewers - then I feel I've done a good job! The early years were a struggle to breakthrough, even after the success of Eurovision as the failure of this excellent song meant it was 14 months after Wayerloo before they returned to our charts with SOS. It was even harder for them to break through in USA being a group from unfashionable Sweden, as you found out yourself!

[BlueKyne]

That was absolutly fantastic! And ooooh, that Aggy! Wow! She pulls off sexy so well, without looking trashy, she is a class act in my eyes! (^_^)

Anyway, it's great to find an ABBA song and video I haven't seen yet!

[abbafanglosuk]

Hi Max - yes this is terrific, especially if you play it a few times as you can't help tapping your feet along to the beat! Its an amazing skin-tight outfit that Agnetha is wearing, and was especially made for her by Abba's costume designer Owe Sandstrom - a task that anyone would love! This song suffered the curse of the Eurovision one hit wonders, which severely limited its chances of success. But its a great song that soon grows on you, and the performance contains the unique So Long dance!

[BlueKyne]

Indeed, the song has great beat and energy to it and it's a shame it suffered the Eurovision curse. This song might do well if they played it on the radio, as a surprise of sorts here in the US since they only play one ABBA song over and over.

I'd say Owe Sandstrom really knocked it out of the ball park on Aggy's outfit! Done with the utmost care, craftsmanship and loving attention to her beauitful curves!

[abbafanglosuk]

Go on, you'll have to say now which song that is - though I would have thought it must be Dancing Queen which is easily my best viewed video!

[BlueKyne]

Well, yes, it's Dancing Queen and its only ever played on the "light FM" stations, again and again. It would just be nice if these local stations would take a risk and play something good and rare but when it comes to music radio, at least here in the US, it's about the adverts, not the music. So, we get the standard 30+ year hits and thats it with lots of radio ads. (-_-)

[SADL00KINM00N]

I love watching this highly energetic performance, they all rock the stage!

They should had done more rock music!!:)

great post John!

[abbafanglosuk]

Thanks Elin - they did get into a dilemma about how to proceed musically at the time, as Britain was at the height of the glam rock era with groups like Sweet, Mud, T-Rex and Slade - who appeared earlier in this Disco show singing their excellent "Far, Far Away". I suspect the failure of this one to chart influenced their decision to diversify, but they could still turn out rocking numbers later on whenever they wanted to. The underlying backing chorus adds that extra bit of rockability here!

[abbafanglosuk]

Honours for this video (1)

#51 - Most Discussed (Today) - Music

[goskinsgoo]

Awesome!

[abbafanglosuk]

Yes its a great performance - and this is for one of their lesser known songs!

[TheMauvetys]

I love this performance: Agnetha had a splendid white costume (hpe i can see it in the museum of Abba), Benny is living his music, and Frida is jiving. The movie maker seems to focused on her stomach :)

[abbafanglosuk]

Agnetha liked that costume a lot Marie and wore it on their Nov 74 - Jan 75 tour of North Europe with some ostrich feathers added to the sleeves. She said "We think the costumes are really important. If we don't feel that we're looking our best, we don't perform as well as we can!". They had 2 to 4 samples of each costume for tours, so there should be a good chance of at least one of this costume appearing in the museum. Yes Frida draws the attention with her energetic dancing and short skirt!

[AbbaFanSouth]

the Skirt and that Jumpsuit..and a little dancing mistake..

Oh Yeah..the video that I cant only watch once..

if there is a 'Sexiness' factor that you could use on a ABBA video/Performance..

This one would top the list..

its only rivaled by the 'Made in Sweden' performance of the same song..

(Fridas foot up on the piano..)

You know..being the 'Frida' camera guy wasnt a bad job..anyway..

My hats off to Owe and the design people..

I like the girls in white..they wear it so well

Thanks

[abbafanglosuk]

Cheers Bill, yes there was always a uniqueness about Abba in everything they did. No other group would wear such risque outfits or put so much thought into their performances - and there is plenty to admire here so you can't help replaying it. This was the song that battled the curse of the Eurovision one-hit wonders. Their resurgence was delayed as a result, but they sent out an SOS soon after and never looked back!

[caquerio]

There's no doubt: Frida is really nice, a great singer and, as Mr. Tainton said, an extremely talented dancer. The only thing I can say about Agnetha watching this video is: WOW!!!

Cheers John

[abbafanglosuk]

Thanks Francisco, yes Frida's energetic dancing has enhanced many performances and her love of it increased over the years. I read in an article from Oct 1978 that she was still doing jazz dances 5 times per week, with Graham and at the Balettakademin ballet studio. Then she would often go to discos for more dancing several nights a week. Agnetha's outfit looks skin tight and shows off her long legs. She looks great when she swishes her long hair at the end, even if it hits Frida in the face!

[Izadeparis]

HI John .

THanks for all those information about this TV prestation .

I love this dynamic song and about the little mlistake of Agnetha choregraphie , it makes the show unique .

Thanks

[abbafanglosuk]

Yes its fast paced and full of energy and soon grows on you Isabelle. Fortunately the dancing mistake does not affect their balance, and they just carried on! They did a dress rehearsal earlier the same day in a daily program called "Drehscheibe" in the same studio with no audience, so it was a tricky dance to get right!

[nanarjain74]

Nice upload John, it is lovely to see the girls like this, dancing around!

[abbafanglosuk]

Yes - the So Long dance is unique to this song Marie and is fantastic! Both girls look delighted to perform it, like its their new routine that they want to show off! They always put as much effort into their dancing as their singing to put on an entertaining performance for the viewers, taking regular lessons from a professional choteographer.

[ABBAInMyHeart]

What's up with filming Frida's belly all the time... ? 0:54 , 1:58 x ]

Anyway, love this vid and the info on the side!

[abbafanglosuk]

Gosh you're right - I was distracted looking at Agnetha's unique skin-tight outfit! But they both dance great throughout, thanks to their choreography lessons from Graham Tainton!

[soloABBA2]

Hi John, thanks for sharing it with me, love all this great information you put as a complement for your videos.

[abbafanglosuk]

Thanks Jesus, I guess that's my style - and now I could not do a video without the info to go with it! The viewers get the story behind the song as well as seeing Abba perform it, so I feel that I've done all I can to make the video complete. It takes plenty of time to get all this info together, but I feel its worth it. The viewers are educated on the lesser known details of their career and it shows that all was not always plain sailing for Abba!

[qualqui]

Hey John boy, another AWESOME vid with ABBA and singin' 'So Long',....i find it very hard to believe that this song wasn't the hit they expected it to be,....cause i just can't think of one crappy ABBA song, they're all so AWESOME!!! 5 stars for ya ol' buddy, many thanx for the info at right and take care mon, hope ya have a great week! = )

[abbafanglosuk]

Cheers Jose, the curse of the Eurovision one hit wonders hit this song with a vengeance and it received no airplay so had little chance of success - but fortunately for us it was not 'So Long' from them! Have a good week too - its back to work for us, but half term for the kids!

[bruno270787]

Hi, Very Good Song, ABBA It's The Number 1

[abbafanglosuk]

Many thanks Bruno, even their lesser songs like this were great - and there's an excellent unique dance from the girls at the end!

[retrosilk]

Oh well I would've made this a number one hit, I always loved this track, a great party dance song, lots of fun, thanks for putting this up!! From Shelley xxx

[abbafanglosuk]

Cheers Shelley, seems it was just a case of bad timing with this song as most fans reckon its very good too and the So Long dance is great!. No-one was allowed to succeed with their next song after winning Eurovision, that was the rules in the 70's - which I can confirm from memory! The radio guys had decided we shouldn't even hear it - and we didn't, so it didn't have much chance of being a hit!

[retrosilk]

Yes, it annoying how the DJ's can dictate what we listen to sometimes!!

[abbafanglosuk]

Yes indeed, this is probably their only single still not played on our Oldies channels today due to its lack of impact when released!

[2Shaymcn]

Not many survived that curse John but nothing could stop the ABBA tornado!

Love the girls here

Thanks for all the background info!!

[abbafanglosuk]

Cheers Shay, there was a major problem for European acts to break through at that time - but Abba were good enough to do it with their irresistable quality! This is a unique dance by the girls, they were inventive in that field as well!