IN SEARCH OF ABBA
Around 7:00 pm, they started what I had been waiting for the most: the ABBA disco, one long night of dancing to just ABBA-related music. Until 11:00 pm, it was non-stop. I was a ball of sweat by the time everyone joined hands for the last song, The Way Old Friends Do.
The one problem though was the song choices. In four hours I heard Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) three times but never heard Does Your Mother Know. The dj played If It Wasn't For The Nights only after I requested it three times; and when the first strains wafted through the speakers, the floor became wall-to-wall people. I heard Voulez Vous four times but never heard Fernando or I've Been Waiting For You. Granted these songs are slow numbers but I did hear Chiquitita. And there were couples who would've danced to these ballads anyway. Hell, I would've danced to these alone. I believe that the crowd there would have danced to anything by ABBA. So why play some (ie: disco ABBA such as The Visitors or Lay All Your Love On Me) songs ad infinitum. I was a disc jockey in a nightclub for over three years and annually held an ABBA night called ABBArama. As part of the evening I played ABBA: The Movie, ABBA videos and a night of ABBA-related music. As this was prior to the resurgence of ABBA in the public eye not more than twenty people ever showed up but, I never repeated a song. Hey Hey Helen was right beside Super Trouper; Bang-A-Boomerang back with The Name Of The Game. There is too much ABBA music to enjoy on a dance floor! So I say to Anita, "Next year, I'll be the dj." Although now I don't know: would I rather dj or dance? AAhhh, I can do both. Just give me a call, Anita.
Forward to In Search Of ABBA Part 8: When All Is Said And Done