Abba - Tivedshambo

Music / Lyrics: Stig Anderson
Tivedshambo was recorded on January 16 1986 in Benny's attic studio at Polar Studios in Stockholm for the appearance of Abba's manager Stig Anderson on the Swedish tv program "Har Ar Ditt Liv" (This Is Your Life) 2 days later on January 18. Tivedshambo was the first song Stig ever wrote, in 1947 aged just 16. This is the only time the group reformed after they retired at the end of 1982 and is Abba's last ever performance. Frida's good friend Daniel Balavoine was killed in a helicopter crash two days previously. Frida arrived just a few hours before the recording and left just one hour after. Guests on the tv show included Stig's wife Gudren, John Spalding, Svenne & Lotta and Lena Anderson. Lill-Babs sent a recorded message. Björn and Benny hastily flew to Malmo to appear in person. Abba had previously recorded an instrumental version of Tivedshambo on January 18 1981 as a tribute for Stig's 50th birthday. This was released as a B side to "Hovas Vittne" in a limited edition of 200 copies on 12 inch red vinyl on 25 January 1981.
Stig Anderson was born January 25 1931 in the small town of Hova, the son of Ester Andersson and a father he never knew. Stig grew up in abject poverty in a shed-like cottage and began taking on various jobs at an early age. "There was plenty of work to be had for anyone who wanted it" he recalled. Stig's mother bought an old gramophone and six 78 rpm records when he was 5 years old. Stig felt an immediate connection to music, and enjoyed singing along to the hits of the day in front of people. When he was in his teens his mother bought him a cheap guitar, and he started performing in local revues. He wrote his first song at 16 after being rejected by a girl he fancied. "I went home and wrote a satirical ballad called Tivedshambo about her. Then I performed it during a meeting with the local temperance society and got a great response. That's when I realised that it's fun to write songs." A folksy number, its colourful depiction of a particularly wild traditional Swedish dance festivity in the woods proved that Stig was already able to tap into the public consciousness. In 1951 it became the first of his songs to be recorded. The song was to become one of his most well known, as well as a Swedish accordion classic. Although making a name for himself as a performer and song writer in the fifties, Stig never quite made it into the big league. In 1955 he married his wife Gudrun and by the end of the decade they had two children: Marie and Lars with a third child Anders born in 1966. To achieve some kind of security Stig found employment as a teacher at an elementary school in 1957. In 1960 Stig founded his own publishing company Sweden Music, and quit his teaching job. Stig imported songs and copyrights to Sweden, writing the Swedish lyrics himself, securing a cover version with a famous artist, and thus gradually built up a music publishing empire. "It was hard work" he recalled of the days when he would churn out lyrics by the dozens. "I had office work to take care of during the day-time, so I had to write the lyrics in the evenings. During the night-time I would handle the correspondence with foreign publishers." In 1963 Stig and Bengt Bernhag founded the record company Polar Music. Their very first signing was a group called the Hootenanny Singers, where one of the members was 18-year-old Björn Ulvaeus. Björn later brought his friend Benny Andersson from The Hep Stars to Polar and Sweden Music and the trio of Stig, Björn and Benny established a collaboration as song writers and in-house producers. As ABBA exploded on the global scene, Stig played an incredibly important part. Not only did he contribute lyrics and song titles that could work on an international level - ' Waterloo' being the prime example - but he put his relentless energy and ambition to good use, as he prepared the launch of ABBA once they had received the all important exposure in the Eurovision Song Contest. As ABBA's international success became a full-time occupation for Stig, his lyric writing wound down. The expansion of Sweden Music into a music publishing empire continued, with the acquisition of many of the major Swedish publishing companies. By the end of the 80's with Abba long over, Stig felt it was time to wind down himself. His publishing empire, including the Polar Music record label, was sold to PolyGram which itself later merged with Universal Music. Part of the money he raised from the sale was invested in the prestigious Polar Music Prize, which was first awarded in 1992. Stig's workaholic lifestyle took its toll on his health. On September 12 1997 he suffered a cardiac arrest and died at 66. His funeral was broadcast live in Sweden, an honour otherwise only reserved for distinguished statesmen or royalty. Bjorn said in his tribute: "Stig Anderson meant a lot to me, both as a human being and as a mentor". Stig had written more than 3,000 songs.

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Music

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[shmuleson48]

The thing that through me for a loop on this video the first time I saw it was that Frida's hair color is platinum blonde and Agnetha's hair is almost reddish brown. Because the resolution is not that sharp, I kept asking myself --- is that really Agnetha and Frida ? Is that really them ? Are they wearing wigs ?

[abbafanglosuk]

Yes its surprising what a difference 4 years away has made since their last appearance together! Frida's good friend Daniel Balavoine was killed in a helicopter crash two days previously, which might explain her sad and pale appearance.

[AnitaDakaj]

Many thanks.I love it.

[abbafanglosuk]

Thanks Anita - this was their last performance together, 4 years after they had retired!

[TheAnniebab]

Hadn't heard this before, very cute & obviously they enjoyed doing it thanks for posting it John .  WHERE on earth do you get your information ???

[abbafanglosuk]

Cheers Annie, I've got 3 books - "Bright Lights, Dark Shadows", "Abba The Book" and "The Inside Story Of Mamma Mia" and I search all over the web for it. Usually I get more info for each video than youtube will allow me to put in, so I have to leave some out! Its a pity that I can't do this for a living - have to get to sleep now as its official work tomorrow!

[TheAnniebab]

@TheAnniebab > Hi John, I have "Bright Lights--------etc" & also "Abba unplugged"

by Karl French. Published in 2004. by Portrait Books.Welcome cool weather today

23 celcius & raining. ----------Cheers Annie.

[lepton421]

@abbafanglosuk This was new for me. I did enjoy it, they look very happy , like they were having a great time. Thanks John.

[Carolarny1]

They sound far more confident singing in Swedish than they did in English. Maybe it's because they have to remember the English lyrics because they can't understand English.

De låter fortfarande säkrare sjunga på svenska än vad de gjorde på engelska. Kanske är det för att de måste komma ihåg det engelska texter eftersom de inte kan förstå engelska.

(Google Translate)

[valsmith706]

@shmuleson48 It seems to me there's no Agnetha. I can't hear her soprano there. As for Frida, she 's certainly in the video.

[Vladimirlena]

Thanks John!

This video is very upbeat and happy. We will always love ABBA and listen to their songs!