FROM THE EDITOR

“Oh, Abba,” I thought to myself as I re-watched the first MammaMia! movie this week. Faced with an entire lounge worth of flat pack furniture to assemble with just an Allen key and a glass of wine, I decided a good dose of Meryl Streep in dungarees would be a fab antidote to the inevitable frustration that would come from trying to coerce reluctant wooden planks and stubborn screws together.

As shelves started to form and draws slid into place, the words of some of Abba’s greatest hits escaped my lips, almost subconsciously.

“The winner takes it all,” I warbled as I put the finishing touches on the coffee table. “I have a dream,” I bellowed as I looked for a crucial missing nail. “Money money money,” I lamented as I found the receipt for all the furniture at the bottom of a box.

I think everyone has been touched by an Abba song somehow in their past, whether it was hearing it on vinyl for the first time as new hits, singing them in a karaoke bar with your girlfriends – my friend Whitney is famous for her rendition of Chiquitita − or, like me, you performed a dance routine to Waterloo in a Whitcoulls talent show when you were

10. (I didn’t win, in case you were wondering!)

With all the hype around MammaMia’s very muchanticipated sequel, the magical Meryl was the obvious choice for our cover this week – but it has led to much singing of Abba’s back catalogue in our office. Maybe a Weekly karaoke night is in order! I’m sure I can remember some of the Waterloo dance steps…

Have a great week!