It happened in December 1972 - 82

IT HAPPENED IN DECEMBER 1972-82

1972
The first ABBA single, People Need Love, which has been released in Sweden earlier in the year, is issued in West Germany. The following month Björn, Benny and Frida travel to West Germany to perform the song on television. Agnetha, who is pregnant, stays at home and is replaced by Frida’s friend Inger Brundin.

1973
ABBA commence the final recording sessions for their upcoming album. Among the new tracks is a song entitled Waterloo. A few weeks later Björn, Benny and manager Stig Anderson decide that this will be the group’s contribution to the Swedish selection for the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

1974
ABBA travel to London to appear on the important television show Top Of The Pops. They perform their new single, So Long. But things are not going well for the group in Great Britain at the moment, and the song doesn’t even enter the singles chart.

1975
On December 4, ABBA travel to West Germany to perform I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do and SOS on television. Even since their breakthrough, West Germany has been one of the group’s most loyal strongholds.

1976
Rehearsals for the following year’s tour of Europe and Australia begin. Björn and Benny have written new material for the tour, and they perform a bit of Thank You For The Music for the very first time in the Swedish news show Rapport.

1977
On December 12, ABBA – The Album is released in Scandinavia and South Africa. Recording sessions, which have been conducted under great stress, had concluded just a few weeks earlier, so most countries wait a couple of months before they release the album.

1978
On December 4, ABBA start recording sessions for their next single, Chiquitita, which is originally entitled “In The Arms Of Rosalita”. The single is released in January 1979, at which time it is also performed at a UNICEF gala in New York City.

1979
I Have A Dream is released as ABBA’s final single of the year. The song features a children’s choir, and during ABBA’s autumn tour a local children’s choir in each town have appeared on stage with the group to perform I Have A Dream.

1980
French singer Mireille Mathieu arrives in Stockholm to record Bravo Tu As Gagné, her version of ABBA’s The Winner Takes It All. Björn and Benny produce the recording, and together with Frida they also provide backing vocals.

1981
Frida spends Christmas in Austria, where she selects songs for a solo album to be recorded early the following year. Although ABBA remains a functioning group, Frida still wants to step out as a solo artist for the first time in seven years.

1982
On December 11 ABBA do their very last performance as a group. They appear in a live broadcast via satellite in the British television programme The Late Late Breakfast Show, where they perform I Have A Dream and also their final single, Under Attack.