ABBA blog

Thoughts and observations on the Swedish foursome

Forty-seven years ago today, Janne Schaffer added guitar to ABBA's Rock'n Roll Band - wow!

It's the 47th anniversary of ... Janne Schaffer adding electric guitar to Rock'n Roll Band!

published September 26, 2019

Today, 26 September 2019, marks the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles' Abbey Road album. But while the rest of the world celebrates that milestone, ABBA fans can focus on the 47th anniversary of Janne Schaffer doing an electric guitar overdub onto the Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida track 'Rock'n Roll Band'! Not quite as monumental, I hear you say, but I don't care.

I've been thinking a bit about 'Rock'n Roll Band' lately, as this was the third and final ABBA single A-side released by Playboy Records in the United States. I'm writing about it in my forthcoming book ABBA On Record (abbaonrecord.com) and speculating about the reasons for choosing this, one of the weakest tracks on the Ring Ring album, for single release. My thoughts on this will be available in the book, along with other interesting facts and stories about the singles in ABBA's official Polar Music catalogue, many of which will be unfamilar to most readers.

Learn more about ABBA On Record and pre-order your copy here: abbaonrecord.com