Abba: Behind The Music Videos

For ABBA music videos were an integral part of how they managed their career from the moment they achieved their international breakthrough. Starting with ’Waterloo’, they made promo clips for almost every single they released – plus some tracks that never were singles at all. The reason for this working method? Partly, it was that the group wanted to travel as little as possible, doing only a few major tours during their years together. They had also found that television was the best and most efficient way for them to reach their audience.

Most of the videos were directed by Lasse Hallström. They would be an important marketing tool for ABBA. This didn’t mean that the films were produced with any kind of lavish budget, however, nor was much time set aside for the filming: sometimes two clips would be completed in one day. Lasse Hallström knew how to overcome those obstacles, and usually managed to create something that was simple, yet caught viewers’ attention.

As a budding movie director and storyteller, Lasse Hallström would often find that the best approach was to give ABBA’s songs a visual framework that matched the songs quite closely. Where there was a dance beat, as in songs like ’Dancing Queen’ and ’Voulez-Vous’, the group would be filmed in a discotheque environment. When the lyrical theme was loneliness and heartbreak, as in ’The Winner Takes It All’ and ’When All Is Said And Done’, Agnetha or Frida would act the part of the solitary woman, whether standing all alone gazing out over a wide ocean, or being the odd one out in a group of friends.

However, not all the videos were directed by Lasse. ABBA’s two final clips in 1982, ’The Day Before You Came’ and ’Under Attack’, were created by the team of Kjell Sundvall and Kjell-Åke Andersson. Almost 40 years later, on their return to music, two new music videos were made to promote their new album, 'Voyage'. The music video for 'I Still Have Faith In You' was directed by Shynola and featured the ABBAtars for the first time. Regarding the video for 'Little Things', it was directed by Mike Anderson.

The Music Videos:

1974: Ring Ring - Waterloo
1975: Mamma Mia - I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do - S.O.S. - Bang-A-Boomerang
1976: Dancing Queen - Fernando - Money, Money, Money
1977: Knowing Me, Knowing You - That's Me - The Name Of The Game
1978: Take A Chance On Me - Eagle - Thank You For The Music - One Man, One Woman - Summer Night City
1979: Chiquitita - Voulez-Vous - Does Your Mother Know - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! - Estoy Soñando - On And On And On
1980: Gracias Por La Música - Conociéndote, Conociéndome - The Winner Takes It All - Super Trouper - Happy New Year / Felicidad
1981: Lay All Your Love On Me - When All Is Said And Done - One Of Us - No Hay A Quién Culpar
1982: Head Over Heels - The Day Before You Came - Under Attack
2021: I Still Have Faith In You - Little Things