‘Ring Ring’ symbol the long-awaited phone call from the loved one. And this is the song with which, after unsuccessful attempts, Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid, discovered this music could be more than a hobby. They wrote it to represent Sweden in the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest, but they only got third place. It was a heartbreaking result. They firmly believed in the subject. However, when it went on sale in March 1983, the public responded to their ‘Ring Ring’ and for the first time they reached the top of the charts. It filled them with confidence. They had stopped playing – just – on transistor radios in Swedish kitchens. Already under the name ABBA, the quartet began preparing for the Eurovision Song Contest the following year, when ‘Waterloo’ led them to embrace glory.
When ABBA was just a hobby
ABBA’s beginnings were rather discreet. Nothing to do with the marketing strategies used by the big pop groups. His journey to international stardom has been long and complex. Benny and Björn had worked together since the early 1970s. They released records, wrote songs for films, and were employed as producers for the Polar Music label, owned by (his mentor and later manager) Stig Anderson. They had been trying unsuccessfully for some time to cross the borders of Sweden. They made “schlager” music, or what amounts to the same thing, songs easy to listen to on the transistor radios in the kitchens of Swedish houses.
The change came when for the first time, they used the vocal talents of their sentimental partners Agnetha and Frid to try to achieve a greater effect. The first song the four recorded was People need love. The result convinced them and they saw the potential that both couples could have. They even considered recording an LP. It was in March 1972. At that time, the four of them saw the group as “a hobby”.
The “Song of the Bell”
However, They performed at least once in public. In November 1972, they were invited to participate in the “Yamaha World Popular Song Contest” in Tokyo. AND The four went, but they didn’t receive any prizes. While they were still there, it was announced in their country that the team of songwriters Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus had been chosen to submit a song in the selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 1973. This Christmas, Björn and Benny they returned home to the island of Viggsöin the Stockholm archipelago to “cook” the winning theme. And after hours and days of hard work, they came up with a rhythmic song, a song that seemed to capture the spirit of 60s pop music. They put the working title of Klocklat (in English Bell Song).
Stig was given the task of writing the lyrics: “We wanted to do something ‘popero’something that would reflect the popular tastes of people at the time,” he recalls. “We wanted to get rid of all the ‘splendor and circumstance’ that surrounds the Eurovision Song Contest: the tuxedo and the formal wear.”
The translation of Neil Sedaka and the influence of Phil Spector
When the letter is finished, changed title to Ring Ring. To make sure it sounded good for an international audience, heWe asked Neil Sedaka to adapt the lyrics from the English version. And he did, along with his writing partner Phil Cody. In the magazine ‘Record World’, it is claimed that the letter co-written by the author of Oh! Carol “talks about a cold relationship and a silent phone”.
Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson in the recording studio / Getty Images/Leif Skoogfors
On January 10, 1973, the song was recorded at Metronome Studio in the Swedish capital. Sound engineer Michael B. Tretow, a valuable collaborator over the years, handled the recording and made an important contribution. I had just read a book about the American producer Phil Spector, in which all the secrets of his famous ‘sound barrier’. Excited, he realized that it would probably be too expensive for most record companies in the country. found a solution to increase the effect of great soundwhich also excited the group. No one was disappointed with the result. Ring Ring was unlike anything done before in a Swedish recording studio. It was the winning song.
Something more than a hobby
But the joy soon faded. On February 10, the day the jury selected the theme that would represent Sweden in the European competition, Björn and Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid, only got third place.They wouldn’t go to the Eurovision Song Contest that year. The result was discouraging For a song in which they believed and for which they had bet so much. Fortunately, the balance soon turned to the opposite extreme, when Ring Ring has been published – in English and Swedish – and he became the quartet’s first number 1 in his country.
Ring Ring (“Bara Du Slog En Signal” in Swedish) ensured the band great success in various European countries such as Denmark, Norway, Austria and Belgium. Also the group’s first album, also called Ring Ring, was a great success. They weren’t called ABBA yet. Her stage name was then Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida.
The group ABBA after winning the Eurovision Song Contest / Getty Images/Steve Wood
The phone call had been answered. The song with which his ambitions had been thwarted, it was actually the pop triumph of the year. and marked a turning point when the four finally they realized their band could be remembered as more than a hobby, something that would transcend the kitchens of Swedish homes. The future was looking good… they should keep working together. Their success came to fruition in the summer of 1973, when they decided to visit Sweden’s “folkparks” (public recreation areas).. When the tour ended, they started thinking about recording a new album and They prepared for the Eurovision Song Contest the following year…