Once known for successful pop records and a wardrobe of polyester jump suits, this is a reassessment of a band now enjoying a revival. Abba were once reviled by most critics, but now bands like Bjorn Again and Erasure keep the phenomenon thriving. This is their background story. The biography features the early years when as engaged couples as they then styled themselves, they failed to make it as Sweden's entrant for Eurovision with a song called "Waterloo". It caused a national outcry. It is a history of worldwide hit records, infighting, partner swapping, and financial disaster - they do not get one kroner in royalties for many of their songs, and bitterness. But it is also a story of triumph. A book that is written with the co-operation of the members of the band.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't believe a word...,
By o.witt.fm.@ndr.de (germany) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Abba: The Name of the Game (Paperback)
Dear Mr Oldham,your book is so full of mistakes that it makes the average ABBA-fan scream for justice. Here are just a few of your inaccuaracies: You write: "No more carefree laughter..Agnetha sings mournfully on Knowing Me Knowing You"...well, it was Frida who sang lead on this one- a fact that was even mentioned in the liner notes on the "Arrival"-album. You write:"At the end of their 1979 tour ABBA knew they would never tour again...well, Mr Oldham, tell me then, who toured Japan in spring the following year- impersonaters??? You write: Opus 10 died of boredom before delivery- but the one track they recorded for that album- I Am The City shows that ABBA had lost none of their vitality...well Opus 10 was never recorded because such a project didn't exist and I Am The City was recorded way back in 1982- and not in 1986. Dear Mr Oldham, you don't even know the bare facts that one can look up in any "Gold" compilation inner sleeve. A man who doesn't even know who sang lead on the worldwide hit Knowing Me Knowing You is surely not the right person to write an in-depth biography. Save time and effort next time !
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Rumours and gossips,
By Nadya (Moscow, Russia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Abba: The Name of the Game (Paperback)
I don't like this book at all! First of all, I don't think that interfering of the authors of the book into private lives of Agnetha, Frida, Benny and Bjorn was very nice of them. And then I don't think that these people really can know what they are talking about. I mean, it can be interesting to read about the behind-the scene lives of ABBA members but how can these people write what Agnetha was thinking about sitting alone in her hotel room? No one but Agnetha can know it , and I don't think it was she who told Andrew Oldham about her feelings. I suppose that the authors really did a big research before writing this book but there things they just couldn't know about. They give their idea of private lives of Frida, Agnetha, Bjorn and Benny, told some gossips and rumours but most of those things can't be proved. You may think that I think so `cause I'm ABBA fan and I just don't like reading some rather unpleasant things about the members of the group. It isn't so. Being ABBA fan I'm interested in knowing as much as possible about their lives, even if sometimes I don't like what I hear. But it should be facts, not rumours! Though I have to admit that this book can give you a lot of fun if you don't take it seriously! I gave it 2 stars only because of the pics. Some of them are really cute!
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Name of the Game: Take a Chance on It,
By A Customer
This review is from: Abba: The Name of the Game (Hardcover)
To this day, the original Swedish Fab Four -ABBA- remain one of Europe's most popular music groups. Not bad for a group that hasn't recorded together in over 15 years. Their albums continue to sell well, especially in the UK, where their ABBA Gold/More ABBA Gold albums have remained in the top 40 album charts for close to 5 years! And with the success of the smash London musical Mamma Mia!, co-produced by Bjorn Ulvaeus and chock full of ABBA's greatest hits, which has played to sold-out performances since its debut in April 1999, ABBA's popularity is nowhere near ending. The book, ABBA: The Name of the Game, provides the ABBA fan with a great detail of the behind- the-scene lives of Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Anni- Frid, some of which could be debatable as painstakingly honest or tabloid trash. Obviously written as an unauthorized biography, the book places a great deal of emphasis on the "feud" that seemed to exist between Agnetha and Frida, a far cry from the happy smiles and wholesomeness you'd see in their videos. (Agnetha Faltskog went so far as to write a book of her own in 1997, "As I Am", to deny those allegations.) While praising most of ABBA's songs, the authors' criticisms of the few songs "they" didn't like was the equivalence of catty office gossip. At times, the book can be factually informative, but a good deal of it looks like it was written with a poisoned pen.
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