Heading out Thornton-le-Dale way today, just to get a “feel” of the place, I heard something on the radio that struck me as the perfect blog piece with which to follow up the numerous Dawkins posts of the past few days. A subject both bright and breezy, perfect for a summer’s afternoon — and not in the least bit controversial. Something guaranteed not to offend anyone (!)
So, the topic for today: Abba — a popular music highpoint, or complete and utter shite?
My position is a fairly straightforward one. I consider their music to be disposable pop that somebody forgot to throw away. The meme-like quality of their music does, occasionally, get me humming — this is true — and as a child, back in the seventies, I briefly thought that they were quite, well, you know, okay, principally because everyone around me liked them (or so it seemed!) Back in my drinking days I even quite liked Erasure’s cover version EP. But today, being a fully-fledged adult with something that passes for good-ish taste, I cannot abide them. In the seventies, they sort of worked. The anthemic, Coca-Cola advert-ness of their songs (Thank You for the Music, for example) fit right in with the very odd feeling of the day. This was a time, one has to remember, when the Eurovision Song Contest was considered a musical highpoint rather than a running joke.
So, no, I won’t be going to see Mamma Mia! — the movie or the musical. Without wishing to overstate the point, I’d rather stick pins in my eyes while having matchsticks jammed under my toenails.
But what about you? Am I alone in my dislike of Super Trouper? Will I be Under Attack for sharing this information, or will you be willing to Take a Chance on Me? Should I sing out an SOS and admit that this is possibly going to be my Waterloo?
Or will you just do the charitable thing and Lay All Your Love On Me? (Maybe not!)
Gary William Murning Online 
You are obviously NOT alone in this, believe me!
As a professional musician and writer, I enjoy all kinds of music including ABBA. Transforming it into a “theatre” production or movie is simply a nightmare. It seems to kill the elite and culturally rich feel that theatre should have IMHO. If I want to watch a movie, I’d like to see great acting rather than a lot of prancing around to good music.
As much as I enjoy their music, I will definitely not be lining up to see either ‘production.’ I’m thinking Sweeney Todd is looking good though…
Thanks for allowing my 2 cents!
Angie
Baba: so you don’t dance to Abba out there in the jungle, then? 😉
Angie: I must admit, I too have a very varied taste in music. I was very deliberately quite provocative with this piece — I like to stir things up a bit, sometimes 😉 — but whilst I’m definitely not all that partial to Abba, I probably don’t detest them quite as much as I made out 🙂 I think they have their place, but I wholeheartedly agree; that place is not in the theatre or cinema.
Sweeney Todd? The Johnny Depp movie version, you mean?
Thanks for sharing your two cents! Drop by any time.
Just because we share the 4 letter-hood in our names, even though it’s not at exact spelling, that doesn’t mean I’m fond of the band — as simple as that. Yep, I don’t do ABBA dance, instead, I do mine! 😀
^the chim is now jumping, rolling, and clapping like crazy^
LOL Baba/Abba — very good, mate. That never even occurred to me! 😀
incidentally, Baba, you seem to be accessing my site via Oslo today! How on earth are you managing that?
Heh, it’s a (^ahem) technical bug thingy. See, as I’ve told you (several times I believe), I blog via cell phone using operamini 4.1 browser free edition which runs on javaME2 platform system instead of the more complex Java Virtual Machine integrally planted on PC’s like that one you’re now using, I consequently must deal with IP address locking issue since the opera software is being developed there — Oslo, Norway.
Uhm … don’t get yourself fooled, mate. Even though I’m a rock-solid methapysical muser AND worshipper of meta-science, that doesn’t always mean I have THAT strong supernatural ability to mess around with ‘the worm hole’ theory. LOL.
Stay sharp, mate!
And I’d rather shave my head with a rusty cheese grater while chewing aluminum foil.
So, no – you are not alone.
Baba: ah, I see. I thought it might have something to do with your blogging via cellphone. I’m not all that familiar with how cellphones use IP addresses, however, so couldn’t be sure. One learns something new every day!
Still disappointing to hear that wormholes don’t figure in your explanation. That would have been an achievement worth blogging about! LOL
Lottie: I’ve never had grated rusty cheese. What’s it like? 🙂
I agree – always have – absolute shite! This is despite enjoying almost all music – except for cRap rubbish
Very much the same here, Archie. Rap just doesn’t do it for me — but then, I don’t suppose it’s meant to. I’m just too old and not black enough *sigh*
Not too bad. Picking out all the hair shavings is the only real problem. 😛