MEMORY LANE:

Swedish supergroup ABBA tour Australia FEBRUARY 1977

Swedish supergroup ABBA touch down for their Australian Tour in 1977

A t 9.15pm on February 27, 1977, QF 8 touched down at Sydney Airport. On board were Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid (Frida) Lyngstad, and for the next 14 days, Australia was ABBA crazy. We were the first country in the world to embrace the Swedish foursome. Ian ‘Molly’ Meldrum had pushed those early tracks (Ring Ring, Mama Mia, SOS) into a million homes every Sunday through ABC TV’s Countdown. The tour was an immediate sell-out, pulling the biggest crowds the band had seen. They brought a film crew along to make ABBA: The Movie, which captured a nation obsessed. Future MP Tanya Plibersek’s bedroom walls were covered in ABBA posters. Margaret Fulton created ABBA’s favourite recipes for New Idea: Steak with Black Bean Sauce (Agnetha); Gigot d’Agneau a la Bretonne (leg of lamb with white beans and tomato, Björn); Barbecued Spare Ribs (Frida); and Salade Tahitienne (Benny). Among the throng at Sydney airport was crestfallen nine-year-old Nicole Kidman. “They just walked right past,” she told The Baltimore Sun in 2001. “It’s nice to get out and shake people’s hands and sign a few autographs. It doesn’t cost you much.” According to Agnetha, in her memoir As I Am: ABBA Before & Beyond, “The Australian tour was the most incredible of all the things that I experienced with ABBA. There was fever, there was hysteria, there were ovations, there were sweaty, obsessed crowds.” There were also bomb threats in Perth, gigs played in torrential rain (and a nasty fall for Frida), an invitation for an audience with the Queen and huge crowds everywhere – more than 140,000 fans over 11 shows. In Melbourne, Frida “was moved to tears by the fantastic welcome from all the people in the street”. Then on March 13, they were off, never to return. “I’ve always had a soft spot for our fans in Australia,” said Frida. “If people love your music, it travels borders and captures hearts. It has a life of its own. We are immensely grateful.”