Abba: Bright Lights Dark Shadows (Paperback)

by Palm (Author), Carl (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Compelling and incredibly detailed...essential reading. MOJOA powerful, moving read. THE TIMES

Product Description
Paperback edition of the first truly thorough and honest 'warts-and-all' ABBA biography, covering all aspects of the members' lives and careers: the period before the group came together, their amazing 70s, their marriages and divorces, their business empire and their careers after the group.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Music Sales; 3rd edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847724191
• ISBN-13: 978-1847724199
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #90,049 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitive bio, October 1, 2008

By	John Bernhardt (Falmouth, Ma United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The authoritive, definitive thorough bio from ABBA historian, C.M.Palm.
Palm covers the entire careers of the four members of ABBA.
Palm discusses all the major issues of their careers, and sheds light on some unfamiliar territory such as the story of Frida's father, and B&B's rift with former manager Stig Anderson. Palm is a dry, but highly factual writer. Because of his association with Universal Music, Palm tends not to dwell on the negative aspects of the four members of ABBA, but neither does he whitewash the ABBA story.
I did find myself disagreeing with some of Palm's assessments of ABBA music. Palm tends to give only fair to bad reviews of much of ABBA's group & solo work. This paperback version of this biography was made available in 2008. The "revision" consists primarily of a new nine-page afterword, giving us a update on what the SAAB four have doing lately.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, December 2, 2008

By	D. lawrence "DistractionbyGames" (Salt Lake City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've always like their music, but back in the 70s you didn't actually see much of them in the US. All I remembered about the people in the group was there looks from a short clip on TV of a Waterloo performance. There were two long-haired guys one of which looked boyish, had really bright platform boots, and a starish-shaped guitar and two good-looking women one of which seemed the American idea of a blonde Swedish bombshell. Their english rendition was so good, it actually drew more attention to the slight Swedish accent. A bit bizzare at the time for me but intriguing.

I accidently came across a few of their music "videos" on the internet and was mesmerized. I looked up what I thought was the best book (this one) but was hesitant to read a book about a rich, good-looking,spoiled pop group, but I was suprised. This not just a book about ABBA, interesting as that part turned out, but also a book about real-life people with real life challenges. The author presents and mixes the two just right so you never quite get too much of a dose of either in any one reading. As far as the 'real story' about the ABBA members' personal lives, it's in there even though sometimes you have to read between the lines. I really enjoyed this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work, May 12, 2009

By	o'neal lane (louisiana, usa) - See all my reviews

This is an excellent work, very detailed. The author is to be congradulated. If you are ABBA fan, or are just interested in the history of music business in Europe during the 60's,70's and 80's this is a good choice. The cast of characters, you will find, display the typical human frailities. We tend to build up entertainers with our own super-human expectations, and are suprised to find out otherwise.