ABBA documentary lifts lid on iconic Glasgow lyric
A NEW documentary about ABBA reveals the famous line about Glasgow in the song Super Trouper was actually dreamt up on stage in the Apollo.
The legendary city music venue was also the only stop on the worldwide tour where the group had to have an intermission so the bar could open.
In When ABBA Came to Britain, which marks 50 years of the Swedish supergroup’s links with the UK, singer- songwriter Björn Ulvaeus reveals the line “I was sick and tired of everything, when I called you last night from Glasgow” just “came naturally” to him at the Apollo.
He adds: “The song is about waiting for my new girlfriend, and I was thinking about that while up on stage.”
Super Trouper was the title of track of the band’s next album, released in November 1980.
Thomas Johansson, who produced all of the ABBA tours in Britain, says he remembers the Apollo date in particular.
“We had to have an intermission in Glasgow so they could have the bar open,” he recalls with a smile. “It was the only place we had an intermission.”
Broadcaster and author Stuart Marconie says the Glasgow gig, which was the last time ABBA played in Britain, was the “end of an era”.
He adds: “[ The city] became immortalised when Björn wrote that line, ‘ I was sick and tired of everything, when I called you last night from Glasgow’, and then ‘ wishing every show was the last show’ in terms of the UK, it was the last show.”
The 1979 tour, which also visited North America, Europe and Asia, was the first time ABBA had been on the road for almost three years.
They were still the “biggestselling group in the history of recorded music”, according to their label, however, and Glasgow went wild for the satin- clad foursome – Björn, Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson and Anni- Frid, or Frida, Lyngstad.
The Apollo concert, on November 13, 1979, included a performance by children from Hillhead High School. As it was the International Year of the Child, the group had choirs of young people sing with them on I Have A Dream at each concert.
A total of 25 Hillhead pupils rehearsed for four weeks, at lunchtimes and after school, in preparation for the show.
According to our newspaper’s then pop writer, later features editor Russell Kyle, the concert, in front of 3500 fans, got off to a slow start because of problems with the acoustics, but once the problems had been ironed out, the band really hit their stride.
Backed by a nine- piece band, they ran through all of their hits and introduced a sprinkling of newer songs.
He added that the biggest cheer of the night was reserved for Frida, who appeared in a Scotland football top.
“It was three years since ABBA’s last show,” he wrote, “but the group seem to have lost none of their appeal.”
Ever since they were introduced on stage at the Brighton Dome, resplendent in unforgettable platform heels and satin, ABBA have held an enduring place in Britain’s hearts and in British pop culture.
The new documentary features previously untransmitted interviews with ABBA, and takes an affectionate look at the band and its fascination with British music, including The Beatles in the 1960s.
After winning the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo in 1974, the band would eventually find global stardom, but their relationship with the UK remains unique.
When Abba Came to Britain will be broadcast on April 6 as part of a dedicated Saturday night of ABBA specials on BBC Two.