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Results: ABBAgain and Again (and Again)

Published on 01/24/2019
By: jlrake
2428
Music
Tribute bands recreating the work of successful, long gone acts are plentful, but ABBA seem special among such groups' inspiration. The co-ed Swedish quartet have inspired at least three combos who have recorded releases of their own which have been well-received by various audiences throughout the world.
1.
1.
England's Abbacadabra were assembled in the early 1990's to reimagine their namesake's occasionally disco-friendly work into a catalog of hi-NRG, the sleek, speedy, synthesizer-driven dance music subgenre probably most heavily favored in clubs catering to homosexuasl men. Though Abbacadabra have become known around the globe, they don't seem to have ever botherd to have made any music videos and what of their live performance clips I've found onilne show them performing like a traditional tribute band, playing their muses' music closer to the songs' original renditions. Based on their first single heard in the video below, a remake of the originally mid-tempo "Knowing Me, Knowing You," (vocals come in around 1:49) or whatever else you've heard by them, do you enjoy their NRGized take on Agnetha's, Benny's, Bjorn's and Anni-frid's tunes?
Uniequivocally yes!
10%
254 votes
Unequivocally no!
9%
212 votes
Liked what I've heard above, but I'd want to hear more before making a definitive call.
16%
381 votes
Didn't enjoy what I've heard above, but I'm open to hearing more before making a definitive call.
7%
171 votes
Heard other work of their's I've liked, but not this. .
4%
103 votes
I neither ilstened to the above song nor have any interest in hearing anything else by Abbacadabra.
40%
962 votes
Other response
14%
345 votes
2.
2.
Australia's Bjorn Again were already an established ABBA tribute troupe in the early '90's when English synth pop duo Erasure had an international smash with their four-song homage to the same Swedes, ABBA-esque. Striking while the commercial iron was hot, Bjorn Again issued an EP of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell remakes, Erasure-ish. From that release is "A Little Respect," the promo clip itself being a pastiche of ABBA's video-making aesthetic, down to the tight shots of a piano being played that figured into multiple ABBA vid's. It all works for me, but how about you?
Yes
18%
427 votes
No
21%
511 votes
Meh
17%
408 votes
I like other Erasure-ish material more and/orother Bjorn Again non-ABBA remake(s), such as their rendition of Irene Cara's "Flashdabnce (Oh What a Feeling)."
5%
127 votes
Didn't and/or couldn't listen.
39%
955 votes
3.
3.
To my reckonning, the least noteworthy bunch of ABBA disciples were maybe also the youngest and possibly most prosperous. A*Teens were Swedish-you guessed?-teenagers recruited by producers in the late '90's to sing ABBA songs in such a way as to appeal to the tween demographic being wooed by Radio Disney, Nickelodeon and similar outlets. After their first album, they went on to record originals and other people's hits, but they did enough damage by denuding "Dancing Queen" of its essential sadness and directing "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" to a wholly inappropriate pubescent listenership, among other artistic malfeasances. Here's their non-starter of a run through "Mama Mia." You should be able to guess I've no use for their music, but do (or did) you enjoy it?
Yes
23%
555 votes
No
27%
649 votes
Never heard and don't care to hear them.
50%
1224 votes
4.
4.
As a palate cleanser after the banality of A*Teens, let's end with proof of ABBA's wide appeal and adaptability of Benny Andersson's and Bjorn Ulvaeus' songcraft. In 2001 was released an album innocuously entitled A Tribute To ABBA. But its Japanese pressing's title gives a clearer clue as to its contents: Metal ABBA. From this project, here's Swedish metalheads Nation's rendition of "Waterloo." Whether you've heard this or anything else from the album, do you think hard rock and metal are appropriate genres in which to reinterpret ABBA's songs?
Yes, why not?!
15%
375 votes
In some cases, perhaps, but not others
20%
475 votes
No!
29%
710 votes
I don't listen to ABBA, hard rock nor metal, so I've no informed opinion on the matter.
36%
868 votes
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