Tapescript 20.

Their story

I Who wrote Abba's songs?

J Well, Benny and Bjorn wrote the music together, Benny on the piano and Bjorn with his guitar. StigAndersson, who was their manager, usually thought of the titles, for example, SOS or Fernando and then it was Bjorn who wrote the lyrics for that title. At first, it was very hard for Bjorn to write lyrics in English - it's easy to forget that he was writing in a foreign language - but by their third album, his English had improved, because he was reading a lot and travelling, and he started to feel much more confident.

I Why didn't they do many tours?

J There are several reasons. For one thing they didn't really need to - Abba's records were always number one in the charts without them going anywhere. But perhaps the main reason was that after Agnetha and Bj urn's children were born, Agnetha wanted to spend more time with them -she hated leaving them. And she also developed a bit of a phobia about flying. She became less and less enthusiastic about appearing in public, especially abroad.

I Did they have a lot of problems with the media?

J Well, I suppose like with so many famous people, the press were always making up stories about them - for example, when they arrived in Sydney at the beginning of their Australian tour the tabloids said that they were just actors who'd come over, not the real singers. There was also a story that they'd made a deal with a Russian record company to get paid in potatoes, because they didn't think the rouble was a stable currency! And then of course the press were always intruding in their private lives.

I Who was this most difficult for?

J Well, Anni-Frid had a hard time about her father. She thought her father had died when she was a baby, but then a German journalist claimed that he was in fact alive and living in Germany -which turned out to be true! But I'd say that Bjorn and Agnetha suffered most, particularly at the time of their divorce. They tried to make things easier for themselves by telling journalists that it was 'a happy divorce', but as Agnetha says in her autobiography, 'we all know there are no such things as happy divorces.'

I Why did Agnetha become a recluse? J I think probably she had got tired of all the media attention and wanted to be left alone. And also she was really shocked by a serious car crash she had in the 80s. Nowadays she spends most of her time alone, especially now that her children have grown up. She lives on an island in Sweden, and there's a big 'Keep Out' sign outside her house.

I Do the members of the group still keep in touch?

J To a certain extent. Benny and Bjorn still work together so they see each other a lot, but they don't see the two girls very often. Bjorn and Agnetha have two children, so they meet occasionally but not very often. Anni-Frid lives abroad but she visits Sweden from time to time and says hello to the boys.

I Do you think Abba will ever play together again?

J No, I don't think they will play again. There was a time once when it seemed possible - they came together once in 1986 to be interviewed on a TV programme, and there was talk of another Abba album, but it never happened. Bjorn said recently that for Abba to play again it would have to be something 'absolutely extraordinary' - and I can't think what that could be.