Benny's attitude

Re: Benny's attitude

abbangelears - 29.10.2006, 11:33
Benny's attitude
Some people (Abba fans) criticise Benny because he seems to be far from Abba these days. As for me I love that attitude. Benny is a great creator and creators always look ahead. Besides Benny is a hard working guy and it's impossible to work if you spend your life looking back. He worked very hard in Abba days and now it's obvious that he is proud of that, but life goes on. A lot of great artists from th sixties, seventies and eighties nowadays live in the past wandering around and singing the songs that made them successful in their young days, or repeating themselves once and again. I find that atttitude pathetic because they look caricatures of themselves. I praise Benny for not wallowing in the mud of the past. I've got the feeling that some Abba fans think Benny should behave as if he was an ordinary fan and that's impossible, because he was a part of it and that's like living in a storm; if you want to keep your brain sane you need to maintain a certain distance. Thank-you Benny for keeping your head up!

Re: Benny's attitude

kristinafan - 29.10.2006, 13:13

Yes, you both are so right.

I love Benny for everything he has done, especially ABBA, Chess and Kristina.

Re: Benny's attitude

Anonymous - 29.10.2006, 17:45

"Do we look like transvestites or something?" His way of saying some things may not always sound very convincing, more like irritated. There are some comments that sound arrogant, when taken out of context.


Anne

Re: Benny's attitude

Anonymous - 29.10.2006, 20:05

Benny, and I suppose all ABBA members should not forget one thing: they would not be world famous without ABBA. They are known as ABBA members the rest of their lives. Now live with that fact and be happy that it has given you a possiblity to do something that is close to your heart.

Anne

Re: Benny's attitude

Maxi-saxi - 30.10.2006, 05:25

Well said people,

Benny always acknowelge's ABBA fans and any other fan, He like the other 4 former members are very proud ( and they should be ) of what they have acheived. :lol:
Benny has done so much since the 60's, then with ABBA and once again his music is still going strong :wink:

Maxi-saxi

Re: Benny's attitude

Gniblett - 31.10.2006, 09:53

>> "Do we look like transvestites or something?" His way of saying some things may not always sound very convincing, more like irritated. There are some comments that sound arrogant, when taken out of context. <<

Hi Sinikka ~ I agree with re taking comments out of context. The press love to do this to sensationalize their story.

ABBA members have been interveiwed many times and some people asked the strangest questions and when you think that Benny (and the others) had faced this sort of thing repeatedly you can understand how he would become irritated. Can you blame him? :wink:

It is good to hear now how Benny is looking back to the ABBA years with fondness. It is a tremendous achievement to have written some of the most timeless pop music and he should feel justly proud that ABBA are are still so popular around the world today.

Re: Benny's attitude

Anonymous - 11.11.2006, 15:09
benny
For me, Benny is a genious, one of the best musician and composer in the world. He always write great mélodies and his inspiration is very various, pop, jazz, classical, popular, "fanfare" etc. He can write in all style beautiful mélodies, before, when and after abba. For me, "stockolm by night" is an incredible piece.
respect and admiration.

Re: Benny's attitude

drimnagh - 13.11.2006, 18:30

Some great comments and I agree with the initiator of the thread- Benny's looking forward not back. I think he has a dry sense of humour which may be mis-read. He was undoubtedly the 'musical motor' of ABBA and he is still hugely creative today. LOVE 'November 1989'! :love4:

Re: Benny's attitude

MarryMeAgnetha - 19.11.2006, 05:21

No doubt about it, Benny is a musical genius.

As for his attitude, he has stated very clearly (I'm paraphrasing) that ABBA was a part of life for ten years, but that he's worked every day since then. He's proud of what he did back in the day, and quite justifiably so. But he's an artist. He's looking forward to his next challenge.

Yes, I've restated the same thing just about everyone else wrote!

--Daniel

Re: Benny's attitude

jacko10 - 11.12.2006, 21:39

the fan base is very different we all except we adore Abba, and we all except also that each of us might also follow different girls, and even the boys in some cases with the fans

we have comments on here about virtually everything.

I would say start a comment, let others hear what you have to say.

yours Jack

Re: Benny's attitude

sickandtiredofeverything - 12.12.2006, 18:31

johnny59 wrote: Hi and welcome to abbasite4ever, sickandtiredofeverything. (What a pathetic nick, LOL)


Thanks. And agreed on the handle - a moment of madness!

johnny59 wrote: Statistically you may be right but as far as I'm concerned I never can get sickandtiredofthegirls :lol:, even if they not were the composing forces. I think their voices were another sort of musical force, how you express it, but likely important. And easier to look at. ROTFL!

Just my two cents . . .

I didn't mean to offend anyone... just thought it odd that after rediscovering my love of one of the greatest bands ever for the first time since my original late 70s schooldays, I find that a fan forum seems to be significantly more interested in George & Ringo!

Re: Benny's attitude

sickandtiredofeverything - 13.12.2006, 01:02

abbangelears wrote: Well, you know what things are like in this world, Mr Sickandtiredofeverything; apart from being great and beautiful singers the girls were (and are) more glamorous than the boys and there was a sort of confessed (or unconfessed) competition between them; that probably makes them more interesting to talk about. It's obvious that, from the musical point of view, the base of Abba were the boys (the fact that Agnetha and I are virtually engaged doesn't change my opinion about it) and just listen to Kristina fram Duvemala and any other post-Abba material pales. Nowadays, in the outforum world, the boys are more acknowledged than the girls, especially since Mamma mia is on stage, so maybe it's fair this forum reverses that trend, just to compensate. As for myself I can't conceive Abba without any of its members,so basically I'm not interested in the debates about who is the most important of the four, or stuff like that.
Regards, Ángel

I just thought the subject is of interest, and I can see that this little observation might annoy a few folk (especially as I'm a newbie) - so accept this apology upfront for this entire diversion to the topic.

There seems to be two general camps in the non-Abbafanatic world about the success and (continued) adoration of Abba. 1/ It is the result of golorious songwriting/production/studio performance and 2/ the result of sexy looks, campness, big daft costumes (with a few catchy party anthems thrown in). And, just from a personal perspective, the place I expected to be met with a majority of '1', I actually meet an ovewhelming '2'.

The interest in Abba fandom, if this is anything to go by, has us believe that Baby & Sporty are more popular than the boys by almost 10:1. Just an interesting little fact, that's all. And we can't put it down to Benny's attitude (to Abba or anything else) as he's a sure enough saint compared to post-Abba Agnetha.

Than again, I enjoyed looking at the Agnetha pics on the relevant thread in her forum and can't imagine enjoying the same thing here.

Re: Benny's attitude

johnny59 - 13.12.2006, 10:35

That's quite true, Angel. And because nobody slobbers over their bottoms, they hardly get any threads in their own forum.

:rotfl:

Re: Benny's attitude

sickandtiredofeverything - 13.12.2006, 14:27

My reply? Probably more of the same as you'd expect - I'm going to become very unpopular here in record time if I'm not careful! :wink: . I don't think comparing them to George & Ringo is altogether unfair, except to George, and not only because he's the only one of the four no longer with us. His contribution to The Beatles, and popular music in general, far eclipses (for me, this is all just my opinion you understand) anything by Agnetha or Frida. And another thing to remember is that George was younger when he quit The Beatles than all but Agnetha were when they started with Abba!

There's a Lennon quote which goes something like this: 'Perhaps myself and Paul could have done the same thing with two other musicians. It's safe to say George & Ringo couldn't. But maybe without them it wouldn't have worked, who knows.' You can substitute this for Abba.

Yes, the girls were great singers and great to look at. Could two other singers have replaced them? Certainly. Would it have been the same? Obviously not. Would it have been as popular? Probably not. Would it have been as great? Who knows. And although I credit both girls with great singing talent, I'm sure the most of it was made by the boys who chose when (and how) the girls would harmonise and tailored some songs to the singers.

I just feel that the boys' contribution was far greater. My favourite song of all time is 'Love.. Thy Will Be Done.' But when anyone asks me that question I'm loathe to credit the song to Martika, since it was Prince who wrote, produced, performed and sang backing vocals on it, even demoing it in a Martika impression for her to copy to the note. For me it's a Prince track, end of story.

So... the question is, I think, why have the boys not been overly succesful since? Not sure. Still, they've had two hits which the public are aware of, which is infinitely more than the girls. Albeit, both of these (from Chess) were immediately after Abba.

Maybe their real interests, after world domination, were never in overly commercial music.

Then again, I feel frustrated at how Abba are judged by chart placings. Even by Bjorn himself, who says (in 'The Documentary', Abba Gold DVD) that if The Day Before You Came had done better in the charts they would have continued. I was aghast - who cares how well it did? They were hardly looking at the poor house! And great music is great music, whether it reaches number 1 or number 30. And that track is a masterpiece.

Benny seems less concerned with this sort of thing, chart placings, Mamma Mia, all that stuff. For him it seems solely about the music, and that's why he's my favourite Abba member, then and now.

Even if I would rather spend the night with Agnetha!

Re: Benny's attitude

skm - 13.12.2006, 18:01

Sickandtiredofeverything, I can understand your thoughts and perhaps frustration here. However, you can't fail to note that Bjorn and Benny command great respect here, perhaps indirectly. We constantly rave about their great music from ABBA to Kristina. However, the 2 ladies do get more postings as they are the ones who stir more passion in the fans.

Could ABBA have been just as successful with 2 other singers? I believe that a great part of the attraction of ABBA is the fact that they comprised of 2 real-life couples. We bought their music and love story all bundled together in a neat package. Hence, when Agnetha and Bjorn divorced, it seemed to be the start of the unravelling of the group that we used to know.

Re: Benny's attitude

sickandtiredofeverything - 13.12.2006, 21:46

That last comparison is fine with me - although it's unfair to compare the lasting work of Mozart and Katerina Cavalieri, that's because his manuscripts survived and her voice did not. Agnetha & Frida wont have that problem.

Incidentally, a scientific study about the success of The Beatles from about 15 years ago put it all at Ringo's door. Apparently - according to these crackpots - his drumming was just behind the beat, leading to a relaxed heart rate in the listener which in turn lead to increased enjoyment. If you believe that...

Then again, there is also the phenomenon that Ringo got more fanmail - and would probably have had a bigger fanforum if these things were around in those days - than the rest of the Fab Four combined!

And I'm not sure we can 100% conceed that the songs would exist anyway without Frida & Agnetha. The boys were obviously chasing continued success and if they didn't have the world there for the taking might have adopted a different approach. No more Dancing Queen or Fernando, not to mention obvious omissions (at least lyrically) like The Winner Takes It All.

SATOE

Re: Benny's attitude

MarryMeAgnetha - 14.12.2006, 02:23

Impressive and apt analogies, Angel.

--Daniel