Some corrections & questions: - Boney M. did *not* record at Hansa Studios. I mixed it up with the fact that they released their album on Hansa International Record. "Nightflight to Venus" was recorded at Europasound Studio in Offenbach and Union Studios in Munich (thank you, clout74). - Agnetha's final two German singles were recorded in Frankfurt/M. (thank you, Gogo Bre). I was also wondering if someone (from Berlin?) knows what happened to the iconic doorways of the Cheetah club? They were there until at least 2010 (as we see in the photograph from then). Finally: any thoughts about that special recording of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in my video, starting at 5:42? Many thanks!!
I have been in this discotheque a lot, but much later in the 80s after it had been reopened by a new owner and has been called Sektor. The inside and the entrance area pretty much looked the same, but they had closed one of those pipes. A very cool location by the way. It used to have seral disc shaped plateaus with seats all connected with stairs. I remember three or four bar areas in there. I used to have friends during the 80s, living in Nr. 17. I've tried to figure out, where she used to live, but not a chance. None of her early photo background giving a clue. Whenever you have the chance to meet her in person for an interview, please don't forget to ask her.
@@roxylindholm5179 Thanks Roxy, for the amazing anecdotes and stories. Whenever I'll meet Agnetha, lol, let alone *interview* her...one can dream. But this is sure a very good question indeed! Thank you!
Wow, that Cheetah nightclub! Doesn't it look amazing? When you mentioned the tunnel entrance I couldn't help think of the ABBA Arena. The photo's and single sleeves are very cool. It's often mentioned that at 17, Agnetha went from her small town in Sweden to the 'big city' of Stockholm. Berlin isn't mentioned that much - it must have been such an exciting experience, and she was still a teenager.
Hello BB, I will tell you an interesting fact about the ABBA team's stay in Warsaw, Agnetha and her father flew to Warsaw the day before on October 6, 1976, the rest of the team arrived on October 7, ABBA was brought to Poland by a young architect, Michał Borowski, who met Stig Anderson in Stockholm. On October 6, when Agnetha flew to Warsaw, Michał Borowski invited her to the cafe and imagine that they were there for over 2 hours and no one recognized Agnetha amazing. After recording the ABBA program in studio 2, the band went for a walk around Warsaw and in the evening they went to a nightclub where Bjorn and Benny had trouble getting into the club because they were not dressed properly, they finally entered. Another interesting fact is the plane in which three members of the team and the rest of the team with journalists flew to Warsaw without Agnetha, the plane was covered with ABBA stickers where they all fell off after their arrival in Warsaw, and new ones were already attached to the program at the airport in Warsaw. The most interesting thing is that the TU 134 SP-LHB No 3351809 plane, with which ABBA flew to Poland, exists to this day and is located in the aviation museum in Krakow.
@@alexioverdo5225 You ask about the sale of ABBA's albums in Poland, we are talking about the seventies and the times when ABBA came to Poland. At that time, ABBA's albums were not on store shelves, and when they were, they were simply missing and there were not enough of them. ABBA was and is very popular in Poland in those years, in one of the music weeklies, the address of the band's office was given. Since then, ABBA received bags of letters and postcards from Poland, as far as I know, there were not so many of them from other countries. Stig Anderson wanted to promote the team in communist countries and an opportunity for this was given by a young architect in Stockholm, a Pole, Michał Borowski, who was commissioned by Stig Anderson, and thanks to Borowski, contact with Polish television was established and Abba was brought to Poland. Here is also an interesting fact about this contract with the team, some say that Abbie was paid with a few cars of canned peas, which were sold in Sweden, but there is another version that says that ABBA did not take a cent for coming to Poland but wanted the program ABBA in studio 2 was promoted in other countries, especially communist. ABBA stayed in Warsaw in the 33-story Forum hotel, today the Novotel, not far from this hotel were the Centrum Department Stores where Agnetha went shopping, where after visiting the stores she said: I knew Poland was a poor country, but I didn't know it was so bad here. But the people here are incredibly nice and they seem to have a rather cheap life. Maybe she exaggerated a bit with this statement because maybe she had different criteria for assessing the situation. On the day ABBA appeared on Polish television, almost all television employees appeared to see Abba in studio 2, where the program was recorded, only television employees and their children were the viewers. The recording of the program went smoothly, the members of the team did not fuss and did the directors' orders there was a small problem in studio 2 it was over 6 meters long stairs without barriers which Agnetha and Frida were afraid to go down, after Bjorn and Benny encouraged them to go down
@@takaprawda6049 I know most of the things you stated in your generous and precious comment except of also Agnetha's observations on the way she knew and felt on people's difficult everyday life in the '70s there due to some kind of financial poverty.Agnetha was still in proccess of 'developing' her English in about 1976, something that even Aussie tv presenter Molly Meldrum confirmed in a later Abba documentary.So some words of hers might have been missunderstood.She always had a well intented aproach to people,never being offensive.And undoubtfully Polish people have a good taste in music.I once met a group of Polish fans in France while i was attenting a Kim Wilde gig together with my company.They were very vivid and joyful guys!I had read Abba albums were very popular in Poland in the '70s after that historic tv show.I still remember a charachteristic Frida movement from that show(during the filming of i think 'When i kissed the teacher'/not so sure about the song)where she briefly touched and slightly sqeezed in charm a young male cheerleader's chicks lol!So spontateously!) But anyway real amounts of records in Poland(as well as in the USSR and Yugoslavia) were kept in statistics and 'books' that Stig Anderson had in his Polar office closets since he was closely informed/ watched and got aware of everything concerning Abba sales.Who knows where all these archives are now!If walls had eyes and voice to tell us ...Thank you very much again for your 'bothering' to respond to my hungry curiousity.Hugs.
Thank you for your interesting contribution and the intensive research on Agnetha and Bowie. When one thinks of ABBA and Berlin, one should not forget their famous performance on September 2nd, 1974 in East Berlin in the old (no longer existing) Friedrichstadtpalast. The four stayed at the (also defunct) hotel "Unter den Linden", gave an interview in German to a single journalist after the rehearsals the day before and all ate pork knuckle with sauerkraut.
Hey Hey Bobby, Agnetha was so very young ,beautiful and talented, surprising her albums weren’t popular with the Germans. Having never been to Germany this was indeed an interesting aspect to ABBAs concerts. I enjoyed the visit and seeing the Cheetah club. The doorway should have been saved, an iconic piece of architecture for the time. And thank you for the tour of David Bowie home and studio. He too, an amazing talented man. Till next time.🇺🇸
Hej Fritzie! Considering the fact that they plan to open an art gallery in the Cheetah facilities soon, those doorways would have been just phenomenal, if you ask me. I wonder what happened to them? Glad I got to show you some parts of undiscovered land for you. Until then!
Thank you for this video, BB! As a German, it was fascinating for me to see the different locations in our capital, connected to ABBA! I am actually going to Berlin soon, so maybe I can look out for some of those! Yes, I knew about Agnetha's brief German career before. I actually discovered her German songs pretty soon after becoming an ABBA fan, and I have to say, it was always really lovely to hear her sing in my native language! As she does in all her songs, she puts so much feeling into each of them. I can't say I have any particular favorite, I just think they are all lovely to listen to. And now that you have told us, I am very intrigued to know about the recording of her live performance in Berlin - let's hope it gets a release one day! Of course, it must have been painful for her when her engagement to Dieter Zimmermann ended, but then again, if it hadn't, she would have never met and fallen in love with Björn and then, ABBA probably never would have happened... Can you imagine? See you all next time! Until then, Hejdå!
Thank you for the video BB. I had been to "Neue Welt" many times and also know the house. I didn't know the connection with Agnetha. You did a great job in my hometown
Hej BB Thankyou for your unique little vids appreciate ❤ I love some of these early German recordings from Agnetha 😊 I have been to Berlin many times and recently 😉 I’ve seen most of these places within Berlin but didn’t know about the studio that Bowie Boney M and Agnetha recorded there songs So insightful 🙌😅
It's refreshing to know that someone else appreciates visiting the locations of things that may not interest most people, but I believe that's what makes it most special. Thank you for sharing!!! I do love ABBA!! 😁
I remember reading an interview with Björn after the opening of Mamma Mia! The Party in Stockholm in 2016, and the journalist asked Björn about David Bowie’s passing and the effect of Bowie on ABBA. Björn said that he had never met David Bowie but he was certainly a very large influence on ABBA’s sound and of course their image! Can you imagine if we had seen a collaboration between ABBA and David Bowie, I can only think that it would be the most mind-blowing song of all time! It was fascinating to see these locations, thank you! 😊
In Januar 2016, I personally felt that Bowie's untimely death could have been influential for ABBA (instigated by Agnetha & Frida) to finally show themselves together again, when they were at the opening of "Mamma Mia! The Party". That happened just 10 days after Bowie had passed away. These things can be invigorating for those who are left alive. I'm not saying this as a fact, but it was a feeling of mine.
@@bobbysbrother137 Wow, I had never thought of that before, but it makes perfect sense! Especially since Blackstar was released only two days before his death, perhaps it encouraged them to give a final gift from ABBA! That’s a lovely thought! :)
ABBA must have met Queen at some point. I've seen a Stage photo of Agnetha and Frida, performing in front of Roger Taylor's Drum Kit. Going by the Bass Drum design, it must been around 1975, which makes sense. Queen has been big with Bohemian Rhapsody and Abba with Dancing Queen.
@@roxylindholm5179 i recall something i spotted recently that Queen were aware of what Abba 'were into' at those times when both groups were releasing music and coexisted in the charts.Queen's Bryan May had also done a cover of BAO(Benny's Anderson band) 'Story of a heart' in a solo project he released some years ago.
Hey BB, I'm a big fan of your channel. Thank you for the detailed and excellently presented ABBA stories. I've been an ABBA fan since I was 10, that's 45 years now. In your report about ABBA in Berlin, the band's trip to East Berlin is missing. On November 2, 1974 they had a performance in the "Friedrichstadt-Palast". In a show called "Ein Kessel Buntes". You can watch recordings on You Tube. They stayed at the hotel "Unter den Linden" Yesterday I had a chance meeting with Wolfgang Martin a music reporter and radio DJ from the GDR, he did an exclusive interview with the band. Details about his meeting can be found in his book "Wie die West-musik ins Ostradio kam". Absolutely fantastic to talk to someone who has met ABBA so personally. I hope you enjoy this little episode in the career of these 4 amazing Swedes. so long, Frankee (English translated by google ;)
Oh, thank you Francesco for your very kind comment. I've been an ABBA fan since I was 11, so we've got that in common (although that's not quite 45 years ago now in my case!). Thanks for giving more context to their unique appearance in East Berlin. Someone else mentioned it, too, in this comments section. And thanks for mentioning the book. Have a nice week!
I have been in this discotheque a lot, but much later in the 80s after it had been reopened by a new owner and has been called Sektor. The inside and the entrance area pretty much looked the same, but they had closed one of those pipes.
It is interesting to see the places ABBA were during the 70s. I read about the German recordings Agnetha did and they are hard to find for reasonable price these days.
When I moved to Berlin in 1981, I lived right around the corner from the disco, which by then was no longer called Cheetah but Sector. The late 60's furniture no longer existed, but otherwise the disco looked very similar. Later, a gay sauna was to be built there, but it was never opened. An art dealer bought the rooms a few years ago. A gallery will open there soon.
That's some fascinating anecdotes and history for me. Thank you, Dirk. I read about the art gallery. I'm very curious about that, and I'm sure I'll be re-visiting it once it'll happen. Does that mean the restaurant will be gone?
@@bobbysbrother137 I dont know. The art gallery should open this year. But people change their plans or go broke. I've moved now and rarely drive by there.
Thank you, it's been very interesting again. I love Berlin! There I bought a Voulez-Vous T-shirt for my niece. I agree that Nightflight To Venus is a superb album in pop history.
Nice memories! clout74 now pointed out that Boney M. did not record at Hansa, but released their albums on Hansa International Record. Still, I‘m glad I sneaked that superb album into the video!
Hey Bobby's Brother this is,another fine example of your dedication to duty of what you are very very good at.it comes across how much passion you have for your 'hobby' & i for one find that really good 👍 I think a lot of ABBA fans have Learnt a lot over the the last couple of years from you & that should be a fine testament to your knowledge & desire of the group 😀 👌
I enjoyed your video of Germany and hearing about ABBA and David Bowie. Its always fun to learn new information and get to see parts of beautiful Europe through your eyes...THANKS BB !! :D
Another amazing video! How about one of the theatre in London - where Chess ran - and the house that Bjorn owned in London? You could speculate where his car would have been parked (when the tapes were stolen from it) and the places where they would have gone to hang out when working on the musical.
Thank you BB - a fascinating and informative video as ever. Although the focus is always on ABBA related topics, I appreciate how you respectfully mention other musical icons in your commentary. It it maybe a year since we heard from your friend Sam. Has he been to the voyage experience yet? Is he a chauffeur?
Sam has been to London to see „Voyage“ a few weeks ago, and he enjoyed it so much that he wants to go again. I‘m glad you appreciate the non-ABBA content. The focus is always on ABBA related topics because we all love it so much, and because that‘s why people subscribed. But would you like to see some other stuff, too, infrequently?
@@79BlackRose I got that reference very well, ha! I'm not entitled to reveal if Sam is a chauffeur or if he isn't. But he's creating music on his own - if you like electronic synth, he is releasing as "Europaweite Aussichten".
Not much is known from Agnetha in that period she’s been living in Berlin. It was 1969…What an exciting time and in a city that Berlin was in particular ! It would be very interesting to hear from her what she experienced. To me it feels like she didn’t really live there permanently in those few months. Berlin had only a professional purpose and she’s been traveling back and forth between Sweden and Germany. When the german singles didn’t made an impact she quickly abandoned the plan and also it seemed her relationship with her fiancé stranded at that time.
Now that I think about it, there definitely are lots of connections between Boney M and ABBA! Love these yours through the ABBA landmarks…and of course, Bowie!
Thanks, Diego! Please note that Boney M. did actually *not* record at Hansa Studios. I mixed it up with the fact that they released their album on Hansa International Record. clout74 made me aware of it in the comments. So they were never there to record. "Nightflight to Venus" was recorded at Europasound Studio in Offenbach and Union Studios in Munich.
Thank You. A little Bowie in the ABBA mix is a good thing. She must have really been driven for fame in the beginning. Kinda tragic how it worked out. Maybe she was just driven to record. Interesting that she was recording in other languages even before ABBA. Anyway Thanks again.
Tragic maybe in a way. On the other hand, she might have never met Björn, and ABBA might have never existed. Intriguing…! Thanks a lot for the feedback, appreciate you liked Bowie!
This was really interesting, some facts unknown to me about Abba and a link to David Bowie both of the artists I’m a huge fan of , so thank you so much for this . 👌😊
Yep but then again this place does not exist anymore. Not a trace. The current Friedrichstadt Palast was built in another place not too far away in the mid eighties. It has its nickname Aserbaidschanischer Bahnhof.
I was actually wondering about that, so thank you for the correction! This ties in with that 2013 interview from Agnetha (welt.de, "Abba ist ein großer Teil von uns allen"), in which she talks about her experience in Berlin, adding that she was also working in Frankfurt am Main (about which she then expands that she was doing some TV productions there, but doesn't remember anything else in detail).
You are AMAZING man.A real 'documentarist.Such a talent.I do remember reading in the early '80s an article in the press(Germany) about Agnetha's pre-Abba recording past activities and especially her German discography as well as a reference to Dieter Z. her then German fiancee.This engangement ended in misery and also Agnetha wasn't happy with what she was doing there,so she left.I even remember a title of a record being noted was 'Geht mit Got" or smthlike that,plus some black n white photos of Agnetha from there (late '60s style),but i never searched to check if such a recording existed.Perhaps my memory is a little 'worn out' on this.Thank you precious BB.
Hej Alexio! Yes, you were absolutely right, as you've already noticed in the comment section. "Geh mit Gott" exists, and it was even written by none other than Ennio Morricone! It's one of my favorites of Agnetha's German songs. At 10.01 in my video, you can see a German advert for the song (which strangely promoted it as her "first German single", although in fact it was one of her last ones, from 1972). Really appreciate your lovely words so much!
@@bobbysbrother137 Thanx!I've been reading the music press since aged 8/9 years old that i had started buying records.So it's encouraging to test and find out my memory still works rather well for recalling things and lil details i had read in the press many decades back even though i'm still learning (from people like you).Cheers.
@@bobbysbrother137 And just after a while i finished watching first time this song 'Geh mit Gott" in a channel named 'twodragons 6488" with a very beautiful fan made video.And my God!How wonderful!At 1972 a 22 years old Agnetha with a crystal clear voice like a bell in such a glorious production and a stunning backing choir supporting her in backing vocals.And of course Ennio's fantastic A class music!And guess what!.It instantly reminded me of something.....Just listen to the winning song of Eurovision 1977!Marie Myriam's 'LOISEAU ET ENFANT'..Does that ring a bell?Conclusions are yours.
I’ve often wondered if the instrumental break in Knowing Me Knowing You is a subtle (or not so subtle?) reference to the chorus of Starman by David Bowie. I assume at least Benny & Frida were fans since Frida covered Life On Mars on her Ensam album.
Thank you very much, very interesting! I was born in Berlin in 1976 and today I live in Hässleholm. I wounder why ABBA did not visit Berlin on their tour in 1979. I think, Agnetha also was in Berlin in 1983 to sing "The head is on" in the TV-show "Wetten dass". But West-Berlin must have been an advantaged destination for Agnetha and I'd like to know if she preferred to fly to between West-Germany and West-Berlin or if she went through the GDR (East Germany). Maybe she traveled directly with the ferry from Sweden.
That's a big story.They wanted to film this in London in Piccadilly square but authorities didn't give permision due to a certain massive attendance of fans that would cause more than a traffic jam.
Boney M. released their Album on Hansa International Record but they didn’t record the Albums at Hansa Studios! Nightflight to Venus was recorded at Europasound Studio in Offenbach and Union Studios in Munic!
When ABBA was in Australia they got to meet the great Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper has always complimented the Bee Gees and ABBA on their music. Wouldn’t have been an exciting collaboration, Alice Cooper and ABBA?
The BeeGees and ABBA are two of my granddaughter’s favorite group. She is 7 years old. Guess who introduced her to their great music. Grandma!! 😹❤️🌹❤️😹
I don’t 😔 that one remained unreleased and is not really in circulation. I only know of a brief snippet. It would be historic if that recording appears to everyone.
Abba predicted the fall of the Berlin wall in happy new year I love the boney m song everybody wants to dance like Josephine baker David Bowie liked abba I think I read somewhere the films wings of desire /far away so close are very good from berlin
Well you know what.My 'twisted' imagination was many times thinking of D.BOWEI's voice doing the narration intro to Abba's MOVE ON instead of Bjorn....And also him doing the lead to ONE NIGHT IN BANGONG instead of Murray Head!Not sure though if David would have accepted.The closest think i know about him on liking pop music stuff is the one he once had said around 1982 that he liked the pop hit single 'The land of make believe' of the Abba reminiscent UK quartet Bucks Fizz( according to a member of the British band ).Btw i know its out of topic but i read in N.Y. VULTURE site some great news on Abba;s VOYAGE SHOW (published 11th October).Ticket sales reached the phenomenal number of 650,000 up to now!So proud!
That was some phenomenal news indeed, about those "Voyage" ticket sales. They literally fill every single show, on every day. What an achievement, right?
So well done as usual, nice to see other icons in the video. "Geh mit Gott" is my favorite song of Agnetha's album from that time, a song by the famous film music composer Ennio Morricone, a song is with a nice Western flavour about it. And a very recent video, about three months ago, a David Bowie cover of The Winner Takes It All: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QkwDxZ23k7U.html
Hi Frank! "Geh mit Gott" is also one of my favorites, and Ennio Morriconne at that!! Also, many thanks for the link. I'm slightly doubtful if this is genuinely Bowie singing "The Winner Takes It All", but if it is, this is absolutely astonishing.
@@bobbysbrother137 Yes, it still hasn't been formally confirmed that it's David Bowie, surely sounds like him. Hopefully a real recording of David Bowie singing this classic song.
WHAAAT?!I really ignored this one!Wow!I believe 99,99 per cent this is D.Bowei!And his delivery is very heartfelt!Let's not forget that FRIDA had aldo done a Bowei a cover for her 'ENSAM' 1975 album.I was also surprised with another video i had spotted months back of DB doing a demo to A'-HA's' The Sun always shines on TV'.He was suggested this Aha track after the band had written it but before the Nordic band released their version and he liked the song so he did that demo..Even though i find Morten Harket's voice and performance irreplaceable i was astonished to find out that a respected artist/music culture persona like David that came from a quite different music genre 'messed' with Abba's and A-ha's mainstream pop at the time.But sometimes such opposites attract.Imagine even BJORK was an ABBA fan.(But a self confessed one,with ARRIVAL being one of her fave albums.)Frank Joi that was a very precious info that link you sent.Thank you.
@@alexioverdo5225About that A-ha Bowei cover... Unfortunately rumour has it that he's a fake D.Bowei,an impersonator that has tricked many listeners.Maybe it's the same person who did 'TWTIA'.Of course he sounds pretty convincing but we should never be certain.
@@bobbysbrother137 Yes, I still enjoyed your video and I think all your videos are great and you should get international TV contracts. By the way, I play piano and one of my videos is the end of Chiquitita if you get a chance to check it out. Thanks.
@@williampaganucci1084 I wouldn't mind getting some international TV contracts, ha. Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I subscribed to your channel awhile ago, and I enjoy your uploads. Thank you!
@@bobbysbrother137 Thanks Bobby's Brother. By the way my brother's name is Bob and so is my father so I guess I'm Bobby's brother too. Speaking of my father, he wrote a song years ago called Montauk. A musician friend from the UK Kevin R Miles covered "Montauk" May 2021. Also, the Montauk Library did an article on my father Bob Paganucci for Throwback Thursday called The Fisherman October 27, 2021.
@@williampaganucci1084 You are Bobby's Brother indeed! I just read the article. I love your father's artwork, it's beautiful and atmospheric. A fine artist with an illustrious career, it seems. I also found out more about the Oceanfront Property at Ditch Plains Beach, which is curated by your brother Frank. What a gorgeous property that is! I'm very intrigued with the historically fascinating village Montauk. Thanks for letting me know!
Unfortunately, there is no mention of the fact that Berlin was divided into East and West Berlin at the time. This also explains why Agnetha had less success in Germany (East) at the time. Abba was, as far as I know, a purely Western product - which was certainly not courted in the former GDR. In my opinion, more work should be done here.
Hi domenico.'Discoteque' actually.Word 'Disco' was far later,used to discribe dance fun clubs and the other half ('-teque') was kinda 'cut' in order to match the increased popularity of that kind of music and also to sound more cool.
Great research you put into these videos.....i loved boney m, even though they were a manufactured band they had some bangers of songs...they were known as the "black abba".....I remember a rumour back in the late 70s that bjorn had an affair with liz,from that group...
"Black ABBA", fascinating. They were "manufactured" indeed, which in itself is so different to ABBA. So I never understood the comparisons. However, manufactured or not, they could sing (including Frank Farian "as Bobby"), and they got some irresistible baselines, drum-work, guitars, their backing tracks are superb and punchy. Also, please note that Boney M. did actually *not* record at Hansa Studios, unlike stated in my video. I mixed it up with the fact that they released their album on Hansa International Record. clout74 made me aware of it in the comments. So they were never there to record. "Nightflight to Venus" was recorded at Europasound Studio in Offenbach and Union Studios in Munich.