In 1976--the bicentennial year of the United States--America and the world were rockin'! Alex Haley's book, Roots, was riveting the nation. A one-term governor from the south, Jimmy Carter, defeated Gerald Ford in the presidential election. On Tuesday nights, families gathered around the TV set to watch America's favorite show, Happy Days.
And a pop/rock group from Sweden, ABBA, was topping the charts.
It was a heady time. ABBA, who would go on to sell almost 400 million records, was a worldwide phenomenon. In the wake of hits like "Waterloo," "Mamma Mia" and "Fernando," the photogenic foursome were poised to release their first #1 single in the U.S.--the amazing "Dancing Queen."
Like their previous hits, "Dancing Queen" was impossibly hooky and altogether infectious, and it did indeed hit the top of the charts in the States. This week, we've decided to feature the video here in Framed, and--in what we can only describe as an amazing journalistic coup--have actually solicited comments from the ABBA of the past for your edification. At first confused to be talking with someone 31 years in their future, the Swedish superstars quickly caught on and agreed to become part of the Framed experience. We salute them and their decade of excellence!
1 - "See, kids of 2007? We were so big that our names spontaneously appeared in the air whenever we performed!"
2 - "And don't forget, Agnetha, that I actually introduced umlauts to rock! Rama lama!"
3 - "As you can see, our fans, who included your parents, were stunningly hip and sexually attractive!"
4 - "You people of the future look funny!"
5 - "I would go on to appear on a hugely popular TV show with Tim Allen."
6 - "Whereas I occasionally wonder what the legacy of rockers like me and Jimmy Page is in your time, readers."
7 - "Wait a minute... am I Betty, or am I Veronica?"
8 - "So often I yearned to know Frida better in our adventurous, consequence-free time."
9 - "We won't kid you. We used to record these songs in, like, 10 minutes."
10 - "Yes, readers, it was good for both of us!"
11 - "Buy...ABBA...records...buy...ABBA...records."
12 - "You see, here was our problem: what if she could dance, but not jive? Or--worse yet!--jive, but not dance?"
13 - "And by 1976, we had learned how to record on several different tracks! Technology was over!"