In a 1982 article, eight young Swedish composers questioned the appropriateness
of giving a prestigious musical award to ABBA, "a group that makes
a fortune by manipulating our teenagers' financial strength." The
tone of this article was typical of the critique of ABBA following
their breakthrough in 1974. The group was of as much interest to intellectuals
as it was to pop and disco fans. Among critics, ABBA represented a
trivial
Americanization of Sweden's musical life and their positive, dance-friendly
tunes stood in contrast to the Swedish Music Movement, a politicized
and anti-commercial musical culture that had grown out of the 1968-movement.
Departing from archival studies at the The National Archive of Recorded
Sound and Moving Images and The Royal Library, writings by theorists
including Simon Frith and Richard Middleton, as well as interviews
with ABBA member Benny Andersson, I propose alternative approaches
to understanding
the "ABBA success story" by positioning ABBA's reception during
the 1970s within an ideological framework. Not only were ABBA seen as
a reactionary vehicle for the recording industry and their success as
a threat to domestic vernacular music, there were musical reasons for
the rejection as well. ABBA performed pop, whereas the Music Movement
favored rock-a style that, in contrast to pop, "carries intimations
of sincerity, authenticity, art?" (Frith). Moreover, gender issues
came into play. ABBA's family friendly stage shows, focussing on the
women in the group, conflicted with the Music Movement's male dominated
revolutionary agenda.
Biography