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The book of ABBA : melancholy undercover

Gradvall, Jan, 1963-2024
Books, Manuscripts
Over half a century after their songs were recorded, ABBA's songs still make people the world over dance and sing every day, and their ability to evoke every emotion has made them the ultimate soundtrack to major life events, from birthday parties and weddings to heartbreaks and memorials. Since interviewing the four members of ABBA for an article in 2013 - at which time the band had not been interviewed for 30 years - a relationship was sparked between writer Jan Gradvall and the band, and he was granted unique access for the next decade. He has interviewed each of them exclusively for Melancholy Undercover, and they share their thoughts and opinions with him here more openly than ever before. Gradvall places ABBA at the centre of the musical universe, and alongside his fascinating interviews, he gives readers the socio-cultural context of how the band's sound was formed - including the melancholic hints of Swedish folk music and the dansband culture of their formative years - and shows how the story of ABBA is also the story of Sweden and the internationalisation of pop culture. With around 2 million tickets sold to the ABBA Voyage experience in London since it opened in May 2023, it is undeniable that, in the history of pop culture and music, there has never been a group like ABBA. This remarkably intimate, approved biography brings readers a few steps closer to one of the world's most famously private bands.
Main title:
The book of ABBA : melancholy undercover / by Jan Gradvall ; translated by Sarah Clyne Sundberg.
Imprint:
London : Faber & Faber Ltd, 2024.©2024.
Collation:
x, 324 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour) ; 24 cm.
Notes:
"Featuring exclusive interviews with the band"--Cover.Translation of: Vemod undercover: Boken om Abba.Includes bibliographical references (pages 317-321, 323-324) and index.In English, translated from the Swedish.
ISBN:
9780571390991 (paperback)
Dewey class:
782.4216
Language:
EnglishSwedish
BRN:
510405
LocationCollectionCall numberStatus/Desc
PenrithNonfiction782.4216 ABBOnloan - Due: 19 Dec 2024
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