ABBA blog

I believe it was Billboard's Fred Bronson who first referred to me as an "ABBA historian". This was in 1999, if I remember correctly. I thought that was a good description of what I do and I adopted it almost immediately. To me, the term "expert" implies that you're someone who already knows it all, whereas "historian" is less set in stone, describing a person whose research is always ongoing, on a quest to learn more. I certainly don't know everything about ABBA, and learning new things is what makes writing a book like ABBA On Record (abbaonrecord.com) exciting.

Some would say that not all of my findings are very important, and, in a sense, they would be right; nevertheless, even minor discoveries are important to me and the readership of a book like ABBA On Record. Take, for instance, the question of why 'Eagle', issued in many European countries, was never released as a single in the UK. It's a country where singles were always regarded as important promotional tools, and in the ABBA catalogue, Waterloo, ABBA - The Album and The Visitors are the only albums from which only two singles were issued in the UK. I may not have found the definitive answer why 'Eagle' wasn't released, but with the aid of available hard facts, and asking for theories from people who worked at ABBA's UK record company at the time, I have come up with a plausible suggestion. Sometimes, you end up with: "I'm not certain, but it was probably because of this". I still feel that's better than settling for "I have no idea", and I think my readers will agree.

Work on ABBA On Record is moving forward, but it continues to be a slow process, for even seemingly minor conundrums such as the 'Eagle' single's non-release in the UK, take a lot of time to piece together. I no longer want to raise false hopes as to the publication date of the book, so for now I will say that I simply must have my work on it completed before the end of the year, but it may be early 2023 before it's actually available as a physical artefact. I am, as always, sorry for the delay, but everyone who pre-ordered a long time ago will get a much better book than the one they originally invested in, and I, as the author, will feel more satisfied with the work. To me, that's a definition of win-win.

This ABBA historian thanks you for reading and for your continued patience. Now: back to researching and writing.

Learn more about ABBA On Record at abbaonrecord.com.