Agnetha: ABBA and After

Hello, I'm Agnetha. I know it's very hard for you to pronounce,

but you can say Agn-etha, or you can say Anna.

ABBA's Agnetha Faltskog is back,

after years out of the public eye, with a new album.

# Sense of expectation hanging in the air... #

This is her first new material in 25 years.

# Everything I ever had

# I let it slip away... #

It was great to hear that she was emerging from exile.

But where has she been and why is she back now?

It's good for her. It's good for us all.

Agnetha's extraordinary singing career began

when she was just 15 years old.

Just an ordinary sweet girl, who happens to have this talent.

She can write music, and she can sing.

Within two years, she was a singing sensation,

at the top of the charts in Sweden.

Then along came Bjorn and ABBA...

# Anybody could be that guy... #

..the phenomenal group and living soap opera

that has sold 375 million albums globally.

# Let me tell you now My love is strong enough... #

She had the voice...

That's the sound of ABBA.

I mean, that's it. Her voice is IT.

..and the looks...

# I'm sexy and I know it... #

As far as I know, she was never really trying to be sexy.

She was just sexy.

# So when you're near me

# Darling, can't you hear me? SOS... #

..but what was life like in ABBA

for the girl thrust from rural Sweden to worldwide fame

and a very public divorce?

That was some hard times, really.

She went solo in the '80s,

but retreated from view in the '90s, exhausted by stardom.

It's always like a shock when you see your name in the tabloids.

Yet now this most private of singers is back,

and on the new album is a duet with Take That frontman Gary Barlow.

In this film, we have exclusive access to their very first meeting.

I would love, love the opportunity

-to try and do this track live somewhere.

-Oh!

This is the complete story of one of pop's brightest, most loved,

but reluctant of stars.

# ..I missed you for a long while. #

Agnetha was born on the 5th of April 1950,

the first of two daughters

to power company administrator Ingvar

and his wife, Birgit,

who were both amateur musicians.

I was born in Jonkoping, a little town in Sweden,

at a lake called Vattern,

and I lived there for 18 years.

My parents were very musical.

My father was a showman,

my mother could sing as well,

so they often sat together

and played and sang, so I got a lot from them and they bought me a piano.

So I can remember, I was around five years old

when I realised that I could compose.

Agnetha decided at an early age she was going to be a singer-songwriter.

That was my highest dream. And I listened a lot to music.

To singers like Connie Francis,

all these singers that were during the '60s.

# Don't break the heart that loves you

# Handle it with care... #

It was like hurt in her voice and she was singing with harmonies,

so she doubled her own voice, and I really liked that,

and I knew that I could do that as well.

# You know I'm jealous of you... #

So I sat in front of the mirror and I mimed to her songs,

and that went on for many years.

The years of mirror-miming paid off when, in 1965,

Agnetha quit school, got herself an office job

and led a double life as a singer at night

in the Bernt Enghardt Dance Band, aged just 15.

# La-la-la-la-la

# La-la-la-la-la-la... #

When Agnetha collapsed from exhaustion at work one day,

her mother gave her an ultimatum.

Either you go on working in the office, or you choose the music.

And that was not a difficult choice for me to do, so I chose the music.

The dance band was hugely popular and was playing every night.

The next step was to get themselves a record deal.

One member in the Dance Orchestra

knew a rock legend in Sweden called Little Gerhard.

ROCK 'N' ROLL MUSIC

Little Gerhard was a rock 'n' roll singer in the '50s,

often called the Swedish Elvis. In the '60s,

he was working as a talent scout for Cupol records in Stockholm.

In 1967, the band had sent him a demo tape,

including a ballad written and sung by Agnetha.

BALLAD IN SWEDISH

And then he called back and said, "Who is the singer?"

And that was when it all started.

"Agnetha...

"I have a tape of you here and I like it very much."

I said to the producer, "Have you heard something like that before?"

She said, "No, she has a clear voice. A sad voice."

I call her up and say, "Can you come to Stockholm?"

She said, "Do I have to?" "Yes, you must come to Stockholm."

So we went up to Stockholm by train

and I held my father's hand, and I felt secure.

Gerhard had already recorded orchestral backing tracks

of two of Agnetha's songs, ready to add her vocals.

We went out to the studio and when they played the background for her,

she said, "Oh, my God! Have I done that?"

I said, "Yes, it's your tune."

We went down the stairs and I could hear my own song,

and with the strings on... That was a great moment for me.

BALLAD IN SWEDISH

They asked me, "Can you do a harmony on that melody?"

And that was really no problem for me,

I knew already how it was going to be.

BALLAD CONTINUES

I remember when they played it first on the radio,

and that was such a fantastic moment,

because I was still living in that little town.

I remember hearing Agnetha's first single, on the radio.

She did a couple back-to-back, good songs. She wrote some good stuff.

Singing in harmony with herself.

There was something so special about that voice,

and the fact that she had written that song herself, it was magic.

The song went to number three in the Swedish charts

and Agnetha released more singles and an album in quick succession.

At one point, she even knocked the Beatles off the top of the charts,

just as the British invasion was gathering speed in Europe.

SHE SINGS IN SWEDISH

By 1968, she was a regular sight on Swedish TV

and looked set for a long career in music.

I composed a lot of songs then

and it was always fantastic when it climbed in the charts.

So at 18, Agnetha moved to Stockholm

and was a young adult in a society that, to Britain,

was a free-thinking world of wonder.

'These are the richest people in the world,

'where everything and everyone works.

'The only country in the world

'where seven-year-olds attend lessons on sex.

'This could only be Sweden.'

It was also a time when the political

and musical landscape was changing.

As the young protested about war, much of the music scene

joined in and rebelled against commercial pop,

embracing so-called progressive folk, with a socialist message.

But Bjorn Ulvaeus and his band, The Hootenanny Singers,

remained firmly in the pop mainstream. They did catchy ballads

in Swedish and English,

influenced by American pop-folk acts of the mid '60s.

The band had a huge following across Scandinavia.

# ..Baby, those are the rules

# Baby, those are the rules... #

In the close-knit world of Swedish music,

it was inevitable that Bjorn and Agnetha would meet.

We did a TV show together and we had a duet together.

THEY SING IN SWEDISH

We sat and talked, and, er, then we could both feel something.

So that was, that was, you know, a magical moment.

And then the next day, when we shot a film, it was very cold outside,

like it is in Sweden most of the time, and he said,

"I can warm you up."

"Yes, please," I said. So that is how it all started.

That evening, I think, is when it actually happened.

We fell in love. And then shortly after that, we were a couple.

And in 1971, they were married.

With both Agnetha and Bjorn

already pop royalty in Sweden, the wedding was a public event.

We did not get married here in Stockholm,

it was down in the south of Sweden,

we chose the place, so it was crowded, really. So that was a fantastic moment.

Bjorn's best friend and songwriting partner Benny Andersson

played the organ at the wedding. Since 1965,

he'd been a teen idol as the keyboard player

in the pop band Hep Stars.

UPBEAT MUSIC

Benny's fiancee, Anni-Frid, was also a singer.

Anni-Frid Lyngstad!

She'd won a national talent competition in 1967,

which led to this early TV appearance.

SHE SINGS IN SWEDISH

The two couples, now seasoned pop professionals,

would often go on holidays together and inevitably sing a few songs,

but only for fun.

There we were, the four of us,

and not having a single thought about starting a group together.

No, that was far from our minds!

But the four did eventually hook up to combine their talents on,

of all things, a cabaret tour.

We had this terrible experience.

We did a show together, the four of us.

Absolutely the most stupidest idea ever.

We did a show in Gothenburg and then we were called Fest-Folket.

Fest-Folket, or Party People,

with dull jokes and other people's songs,

was an inauspicious beginning for the foursome.

UPBEAT SINGING

It was dreadful. Absolutely dreadful.

But we had a little piece in the middle of that show

where we played songs that we wrote.

Benny and I had recorded a single together

where the girls sang in the choruses.

They sort of took over, because it sounded much better with them.

And that hit, while we were on that tour with the cabaret act,

that hit suddenly struck and we had a number one with that.

If you listen to that, you would not hear the ABBA of the future.

But despite this success, they all decided to continue to focus on

their existing careers and Agnetha recorded her fourth solo album.

Also, I did other things as well.

I played, for example, Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar.

# Vart skall min karlek fora?

# Sag, vad kan jag val gora? #

But she made a record. She came out with a single

of I Don't Know How To Love Him in Swedish.

That was very good.

You could tell from that record what a great singer she was.

After Agnetha's four successful months in Jesus Christ Superstar,

in the summer of '72, Bjorn and Benny had an audacious plan

to leap from the backwater that was Scandinavia

to the vast ocean of pop.

Why don't we do a single in English? A pop song.

That's what we should do.

Why don't we do what we really like? Try to write pop songs.

Maybe we should ask Frida and Agnetha to sing them.

So that's what we did,

with a song called People Need Love.

# People need hope

# People need loving

# People need trust from a fellow man

# People need love to make a good living

# People need faith in a helping hand. #

That became a hit, here.

A little in Holland, a little in Germany,

so we felt we were on the right track.

Fest-Folket was no more - the group had now changed its name

to the somewhat less catchy Bjorn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid.

We had a big hit in Sweden and some other countries with Ring Ring.

# I was sitting by the phone

# I was waiting all alone. #

After these home-grown hits,

the group's manager Stig Anderson decided the way to get them noticed

outside of Sweden was Eurovision,

and Ring Ring was entered into the preliminary selection rounds.

That's why we entered Eurovision.

To make people outside Sweden aware there was a band from Sweden

who could record some decent music.

But then I was highly pregnant.

# And I don't know what to do... #

'73, so we got our daughter then.

Linda was born that February,

just when her parents' group were on the brink of success.

So everything happened for me between 20 and 30 years.

But luckily for young mother Agnetha,

the song didn't get selected and she had a well-earned rest.

Meanwhile, the boys plotted the group's entry

for the following year's Eurovision.

Rechristened ABBA, they had a killer look and killer material.

We had a song that wasn't the usual Eurovision stuff.

Waterloo by ABBA for Sweden. Watch this one.

After years of hard graft in the school of pop,

ABBA were about to graduate.

# My, my

# At Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender... #

From a show that's always been not really taken seriously,

when that song came on, I think it took the whole show

and the expectation of the songs in the show,

to a whole new level.

# Waterloo, I was defeated You won the war

# Waterloo, promised to love you for evermore... #

I had a funny star-shaped guitar. People would remember us, I thought.

They dressed up in their funny outfits,

but in 1974 they didn't seem quite so funny as they might now.

No, but they were tight. They were really tight!

I don't think any one of us thought that we would win the competition.

Well, I bet 100 quid on it.

I did. I think I had like 12 times the money or something.

Of course I thought maybe we were going to be number three.

APPLAUSE

How about that for an onstage performance?

Sweden, they've never won it, but they've surely got to be amongst the reckoning with that one.

But of course they DID win and our love affair with them began.

That was a great moment, really.

I think it was pretty obvious it was the best song and the best performance.

I think we reacted quite well to it.

They came out and performed the song on Top Of The Pops

and I think we really warmed to them

and took them to our hearts, really.

We took them to our hearts because ABBA fitted exactly into

what was going on in Britain at the time.

MUSIC: "20th Century Boy" by T Rex

The Sweet, T-Rex, sequins and sex. In other words, ABBA was glam.

They're ABBA, and their song that everyone wants to hear at the moment

is at number one.

# If you change your mind

# I'm the first in line

# Honey, I'm still free

# Take a chance on me... #

ABBA were an instant hit in the UK, but not everyone loved them.

It's a bit like The Bee Gees, who were also brilliant.

The intellectual side of the pop business took quite a while to accept them.

# I've been cheated by you

# Since I don't know when... #

It was almost like Benny and Bjorn,

the hook could never be big enough. Just as we've got it enormous,

let's add another level.

It's like they were never satisfied with how big this thing could be.

# Knowing me, knowing you

# A-ha

# There is nothing we can do

# Knowing me, knowing you

# A-ha... #

Knowing me, Knowing You was the first of

what would become ABBA's trademark, the break-up song,

wrapped in glossy production with videos that presented the group

as an unfolding drama.

Even when the lyrics are negative, it's actually a very positive sound.

Pop music really at its best.

# Knowing me, knowing you

# A-ha

# There is nothing we can do

# Knowing me, knowing you... #

Despite her early success with her own songs,

Agnetha left the songwriting duties in ABBA to Bjorn and Benny.

All through our time with ABBA, Benny and I wanted Agnetha

to write much more than she did.

Like the first two albums, she wrote a song for each album.

I did one song. It's called Disillusion.

# Changing, moving

# In a circle... #

She has written so many fantastic songs

and we wanted her, "Please, why don't you come up with a couple of songs for this album?"

Maybe she felt intimidated by us.

There was a time when I felt, "How can I compose with these guys,"

so I felt I had to take a step back.

But they were always wanting me to compose,

but I felt that they are not good enough, you know?

Benny and Bjorn may have written the hits, but it was Agnetha's

delivery of them that made her contribution to ABBA clear.

# Cos you know I've got so much that I wanna do

# When I dream I'm alone with you

# It's magic! #

It's really all about the lead vocal

You can put great drums, guitarists, whatever,

but if that lead vocal isn't amazing,

it just doesn't connect with people.

So that sound that I've heard all my life,

that we've heard on the radio all our lives,

the sound of three or four generations, really,

that's how important her voice was to those records.

# Where are those happy days, they seem so hard to find? #

Very emotional. She's amazing in interpreting emotions.

# Whatever happened to our love?

# I wish I understood

# It used to be so nice

# It used to be so good... #

It's like a film role. It's just that.

At the moment you sing, it's nothing else.

It's just like being in a bubble.

# When you're gone

# How can I even try to go on? #

I'm a very much feeling person,

so I try to put everything in the song at the time.

The lead vocal duties were split pretty evenly between Agnetha

and Frida, but each had their own unique style.

Mine maybe stood out as well because I had the highest.

There might have been songs that we had

one of them in mind when writing it.

That was the boys' choice.

So they really knew that before,

that this is a song for you and this is a song for Frida.

But mostly, it was a matter of, you know,

"Agnetha has got two songs now. It's my turn, isn't it?"

# Can you hear the drums, Fernando?

# I remember long ago another starry night like this... #

It has been so much written that we were not friends

and of course there were a lot of irritations,

because we were tired, but we also helped each other.

The good thing is when they were singing together.

# Voulez-vous

# Take it now or leave it

# Now is all we get

# Nothing promised, no regrets. #

When you put these two voices together, you reach a lot.

# Voulez-vous! #

They were great singing together, but they were also

contrasting voices and contrasting images.

That's so much part of the secret.

Why ABBA is still here today. Why I am being interviewed by you today.

When we recorded Dancing Queen,

both Frida and I could feel something very, very special,

because we had the goosebumps, and we said, "This is strong."

# Baby, baby, you're out of sight

# Hey, you're looking all right tonight

# When you come to the party

# Listen to the guys

# They got the look in their eyes. #

What I'd like you to do really is just ask you

to publicly tell us your favourite ABBA tunes.

I would like to choose Dancing Queen.

I remember recording that backing track.

I really felt something very strongly for it.

We just pushed everything the best we could.

I think that we got a lot of energy from each other.

We had a funny time there, really building it all up.

I really enjoy being in the studio so for me, there was...

There was not working, just fun, I think.

We all started to know where are the limits, how far can we go,

how high can you sing, how low can you sing?

Where can we put this so it sounds at its best.

# See that girl

# Watch that scene

# Digging the dancing queen. #

It sounds effortless when you listen to a piece of ABBA's music,

but actually it's very complex what's going on in there.

As a singer, I particularly always avoid ABBA songs,

because they're actually so hard to sing.

With Dancing Queen, ABBA surfed the wave of disco fever

that would soon engulf the world in the late '70s.

It was number one in nine countries in 1976

and the album Arrival saw them reach their peak of commercial success.

They produced hit after hit after hit.

# Money, money, money... #

By the next year it seemed the whole world had gone ABBA mad,

particularly in Australia where they seemed to mirror what the country

thought of itself - optimistic, beautiful, yet conservative.

They've always dressed nicely.

I like the clean-cut beat of the music.

The ABBAmania storm was gathering

and Agnetha was caught in the middle of it.

You didn't expect that we were that big

and so many people should be there.

It was a big "What?" when we came there.

It affects you when it gets too much.

I could feel that when we were in Australia sometimes.

It was really a fever.

And going into the concerts when we drove other cars,

people were just throwing themselves on the car

and there were small kids being there.

We were so scared that one car would drive over someone.

There was tense moments.

So many people aiming at you, focusing on you,

what you say, where you go.

The crowds may have been scary,

but it was the stage itself that frightened Agnetha the most.

More at home in the studio, she was never a natural performer.

Frida was more at home on stage than Agnetha was.

She wasn't quite relaxed. She was kind of frightened

to go on stage every now and then.

I had some difficulties going on stage

because I think you're very focused, very nervous.

I wasn't too keen on being on stage myself,

so I completely understand her.

The time before, it's a bit scary, I think.

I can remember the feeling of the crowd shouting

and the girls going on stage in their gold capes.

If she might have been frightened going on stage,

once she was there, there was all this warmth,

all this fantastic response coming from the audience.

That makes you forget.

# The city is a nightmare A horrible dream. #

I enjoyed it, being on the stage, after,

maybe, half an hour or something like that.

# And try not to scream. #

'She's very good at understatement, which is something'

that I always like in an artist. She doesn't, sort of, go berserk.

So, a little movement from Agnetha is often worth a bigger gesture

from another sort of artist.

# I could never let you go. #

I was perfectly happy sitting by the piano just playing along

and letting the women do the work, which they actually did.

# You are the dancing queen

# Young and sweet, only 17. #

'They were the face.'

We were just... We were just there playing along, Bjorn and I.

It was never obvious to the audience what a reluctant star

Agnetha was, but she often got more attention for her looks.

# I'm sexy and I know it. #

I think Agnetha was always thought of as a sex symbol

by, certainly, all ABBA fans.

# I'm sexy and I know it. #

She was the main eye candy of the band.

# Girl, look at the body # Girl, look at the body. #

In Sweden, all the men thought she was a very sexy girl.

I think a lot of men dreamt about her.

The world was thinking it,

but it took the brash Australians to come out with it.

I read somewhere that you are the proud owner of an award

which declares you as the lady with the most sexiest bottom.

LAUGHTER

Is that true?

How can I answer to that?! I don't know! I haven't seen it.

LAUGHTER

# I'm sexy and I know it. #

To start with, I wasn't so much aware of it,

but then, when the papers said something, we joked about it a lot.

-"Agnetha's Bottom Tops Show".

-Oh, my God.

Don't they have bottoms in Australia?

At least I did something for the show, didn't I?

And then I thought, maybe I can take advantage of this

and just play a little, you know!

# Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle Wiggle, wiggle, yeah

# Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle Wiggle, wiggle, yeah. #

As far as I know, she was never really trying to be sexy.

She was just sexy.

But offstage, the relentless touring schedule

was taking its toll on Agnetha and when new baby Christian arrived,

she wanted to start spending more time at home.

I had my little daughter at home and then my two children,

so I felt often that I want to spend my life with them.

# The feeling that I'm losing her... #

At the time, you know, I might have...been irritated sometimes,

if we could do more things than we actually did.

# Slip though my fingers all the time... #

To be together with your child, compare that to doing promotion

in Stuttgart. Ugh! In retrospect, what is the best?

It's easy, isn't it?

In October 1978, Benny and Frida were finally married,

nearly ten years after they first met.

But a few months later, it was announced

that Agnetha and Bjorn would be ending their ten-year marriage.

That was some hard times, really.

There was endless speculation in the press, as to what caused the split.

The fact that we were separating was ever so much worse

than what the press wrote... you know?

That's the way we saw it.

But there are always some kind of rumours and things going on

that it doesn't feel so good.

Despite the rift between the couple,

it was decided that ABBA should continue,

as they were just hitting it big in America.

I've waited my entire life to see this group.

The day I heard Waterloo, I totally flipped out.

# Voulez-vous Take it now or leave it

# Now is all we get

# Nothing promised, no regrets. #

But the huge 1979 world tour

proved to be a miserable one for Agnetha, who had to hide the pain

in her personal life and keep smiling on stage.

They grabbed something from the backbone to use and to make it

a professional performance, anyway.

One bright spot on the tour was when Agnetha and Bjorn's

then six-year-old daughter Linda joined them on stage in Las Vegas

for her singing debut.

# I believe in angels

# When I know the time is right for me.

The next year, Bjorn presented a song to the group that everyone

assumes was about their divorce.

The break-up song, that ABBA had long made their own, had come true

and life had become art. Or was it vice versa?

I presented the lyric and everyone was, sort of,

slightly teary-eyed.

It was very moving.

It was a challenge for me, at the same time, to do this,

because it was so real.

And then she started singing and, my God, that was magic.

So fantastic.

# I don't wanna talk

# About things we've gone through

# Though it's hurting me

# Now, it's history

# I've played all my cards

# And that's what you've done, too

# Nothing more to say

# No more ace to play

# The winner takes it all

# The loser standing small. #

'It's not like the winner takes it all.'

That's not how it happens.

In a situation like that, I think everyone's a loser.

There was not one winner, in the case of us.

So, it's...pure fiction.

You don't know what he was writing about.

WHO was he writing about?

It could be 50% from him and 50% from me, the lyrics,

I mean, what it's all about.

-# The winner takes it all

-Takes it all

-# The loser has to fall

-Has to fall

# It's simple and it's plain Why should I complain? #

But going through a divorce is difficult,

as anyone would know, who has done it.

And...it makes you think about... It's like a failure.

It's... Yeah, it's difficult

and...maybe that was one way of getting it out of my system.

It was like, you know, to write a lyric like that

and have her sing it, it was like, you know, cleansing in a way.

We got it out, in a big way!

# I don't wanna talk

# If it makes you feel sad

# And I understand

# You've come to shake my hand

# I apologise

# If it makes you feel bad

# Seeing me so tense

# No self-confidence

# But you see

# The winner takes it all. #

It was powerful, you know.

It's a good song. One of our best, I think.

Sometimes, it happens, when I have bad self-confidence

that I put on The Winner Takes It All

or something else that we are very proud of.

And I can think that, "This is really something.

"I did this, at least!"

In 1981, Benny and Frida were divorced, too,

after just two and a half years of marriage,

but again, the group continued

and were determined not to let the cracks show in public.

That's the way it is.

But when Abba went into the studio to record what would be

their last album, The Visitors,

everyone felt that the spark had gone.

It suddenly had got a bit heavy.

Too... It was not so fun any more to record

and there was something in the atmosphere that didn't feel good.

Rumours started to circulate in the press that ABBA were about

to call it a day, but the group were saying nothing.

The papers recently have been full of stories that you're going

-to split eventually.

-We're not.

-You're not?

-No.

They're obviously relieved to hear it.

I was going to ask you who would make the decision?

-Would it be a joint decision?

-It would, yes.

It was gradual.

And it began that year, '82.

We felt that we're not having as much fun any more.

-ABBA!

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Just a month later, ABBA were back on Noel's Late Late Breakfast Show,

performing on what would be their last-ever TV appearance.

# Don't know how to take it Don't know where to go. #

There was never any formal announcement of a split.

Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Frida

just quietly went their separate ways.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

So, it just stopped very natural.

Fantastic, the way we organically, sort of, came together

gradually and then it happened. And then, it stopped.

Just the way it should be.

We were very, very tired after the ABBA years.

And we just felt, I think, all of us, but at least Frida and me,

was just...we didn't want to hear the music no more.

In 1983, Agnetha started considering her post-ABBA career.

Once you are in the music business, it's hard to get away from it,

because it's so fun when you record, I think.

So, I started to aim for doing another record by myself.

# Temperature is rising to fever pitch

# Sun is getting closer We all get to reach

-# Cos the heat is on

-The heat is on

# The heat is on. #

Agnetha Faltskog, a quarter of ABBA, The Heat Is On.

-Welcome to Britain.

-Thank you very much.

You're here to promote the record and there's an album coming out

-later in the month, called...?

-The album comes the last of May

-and it's called Wrap Your Arms Around Me.

-I might!

The album was a hit in Europe, selling over two million copies

and the single, The Heat Is On, made the Top 40 in Britain.

Agnetha did two more solo albums in English

but neither made an impact in the UK.

# If it's the last time Let me wrap my love around you. #

It may be a naive question, but with all the success,

the enormous money that ABBA made and all the rest of it,

one would have imagined that you would have bought yourself

-the little house on the fjord and...

-Well, I have.

-You have?

Yeah. But anyway, it hasn't got to do with the money,

because if you have something inside, it, well, it's there and it's nice

to do something. And when a challenge comes up,

it's nice to do it.

Despite her pre-ABBA success as a songwriter,

Agnetha only wrote two songs over these three albums.

You get spoiled having good songs to sing. All of a sudden,

you have almost good songs to sing.

There are some songs here and there that I can think,

"Why did we do this one?"

But you don't think that way when you're in it.

Even though the albums had been hits in Sweden

and elsewhere in Europe, after 20 years in the limelight,

Agnetha decided to retreat to her island home

just outside of Stockholm.

I thought I have to have a little break now.

I had done so much. I want to be with my children

and in my home and with the horses and with my dogs.

So, there was some years I didn't do so much.

For an artist, particularly those who have been

in an incredible spotlight, they have a moment when they want

to get away and just don't want to do anything. I can fully sympathise.

She had had enough and she wanted a normal life.

But the media weren't content to let Agnetha have her privacy

and, in the absence of any news about her, they simply made it up.

I have read so many things about myself that really are not true.

It makes you sad. It's hard to take.

They need to write about people.

The more you are not seen,

the more you get away,

the more interesting, maybe, you are.

But that was never my meaning of this,

so it just worked that way for me.

The media has tried to create something about Agnetha,

sort of, being a Greta Garbo-type of person,

hiding away from everything, which is totally bullshit.

One time, she couldn't go out and the media made her Greta Garbo,

but she's not. She just wanted to be alone.

# So, when you're near me, darling

# Can't you hear me SOS? #

Agnetha's self-imposed period of exile

in the '90s coincided with a resurgence of interest

in ABBA's music.

'I was very glad in the '90s when it suddenly became cool to like ABBA

'and all those people cottoned on to it and jumped on the bandwagon.'

I always liked them!

The real revival, in a way, came with Mamma Mia!

Which brought their music to a huge new level.

But when Agnetha failed to attend

the London premiere of Mamma Mia! in 1999,

the press again labelled her a recluse.

If Benny doesn't want to go to something he says,

"No, thank you," and don't.

But as soon as she doesn't, it's a big rumble.

I lost my parents as well,

so I got into...erm...

a little sort of, say, deep period.

Around this vulnerable time

an obsessive Dutch fan found his way into Agnetha's life,

stirring the tabloids into a frenzy of speculation.

It makes you sad

and it's hard to take.

It's always, like, a shock,

when you see your name in the tabloids

with dark letters, big.

In reflective mood in 2003, Agnetha recorded My Colouring Book,

a collection of melancholy cover songs

remembered from her adolescence.

# I would bring you flowers in the morning

# Wild roses when the sun begins to shine... #

'After a while I felt, maybe after some years,'

that this is maybe a little heavy, in a way.

But maybe that was the way I felt.

But I still think it's a very good album.

Although the record was critically acclaimed,

Agnetha effectively retired from music

and didn't intend to record again.

Then the years moved on.

But, I mean, it's happening so much in your private life sometimes,

so then I'm not thinking of working.

# Crazy! #

Then the man who wrote this...

# You drive me crazy... #

..and the man who arranged this...

# Y hoy que ya no estas aqui

# Que se lo mucho que perdi... #

..were looking for a new project to work on together in 2011.

We actually had the same dream - to work with Agnetha.

Agnetha Faltskog, yeah. We've got to do that.

And at the same time I felt, "Oh, no, that's mission impossible."

A friend of ours called me and she said that these guys,

which I'd heard of,

want to meet you and play you some songs.

And I thought, well... I'll give it a listen,

because I haven't closed any doors.

And she got back, and, yeah, she's open for it

and I think maybe she's interested in doing something again.

But you can't see her now because she just bought a dog, a puppy.

And this was May, like two years ago,

so we had to wait, like, three months to see her.

When Jorgen and Peter finally did

get to talk about their project with Agnetha,

they came well prepared.

We really wanted to get to know her.

We talked a lot about music, but, you know, life in general and stuff.

And then she suddenly said, you know,

"Well, aren't we going to hear some music?"

And then I sort of just, "Well, I've got the CD here, so..."

They played me three songs

and after that I felt that I can't say no to this, I have to do this.

The sessions began at Jorgen's home studio towards the end of 2011,

but as Agnetha hadn't sung for nearly a decade

nobody was sure how she'd sound.

If my voice sounds old, I don't want to do it.

And of course we said, "You know, if you don't have it

"and your voice sounds old, we don't want to do it either!"

Because we felt that

we don't want to make an album with Agnetha Faltskog

only because she's Agnetha Faltskog.

THEY SPEAK IN SWEDISH

# Everything I ever had

# I let it slip away... #

Agnetha said, you know, she came out in the kitchen

and my wife asked her, "So, how did it go?" "It was terrible!"

And then I came in. "It was great!"

So we were quite far away from each other,

but I just knew it was going to be fantastic.

A bit tense.

But also very, very nice to sing again.

THEY SPEAK IN SWEDISH

She needed a little work, along the way,

sort of to get her muscles going

and we helped her a bit with that as well.

So that's why I decided I have to take some singing lessons just to...

To remind myself how I'm going to do this.

I asked her to pick the song you gravitate most towards

and let's try that one.

# Everything I ever had

# I let it slip away

# Every dream I ever dreamed

# Was lost until today

# For I have seen tomorrow

# Where my future lies

# I see it every time

# When I look into your beautiful eyes... #

I think the voice is nearly the same. Strange.

I think it has fallen down maybe one tone, but also got wider.

It's slightly lower now, but it's got a lot of feeling and expression.

So, yes, it's as good, but in a different way.

# Love, don't let me go

# Love, please let me show

# How much I want to

# Be the one who loves you now. #

And I think they've dealt with that really well on this record.

That she is... Her voice is more mature

and she's not up there, you know,

sort of as far as you can go, all the time, like she was with ABBA.

# Be the one who loves you now. #

Good, guys! LAUGHTER.

That was really good.

As I learned... Getting to know her...

I got more information,

I kind of figured out who she was

and what she would like to sing about now,

finding the right lyrics

that could suit a very mature woman, you know.

Rather than a young girl.

# In this bubble made for two

# The tears inside your eyes

# Multiply... #

Now that I know her, it looks like she is in a bubble.

You know, in a way.

Sometimes she'll let myself and Jorgen

and other people into that bubble.

She's stretching it a bit on that song,

she's, you know, trying a different territory, a bit more jazz,

it's a darker thing, you know, she hasn't done before.

# Forget the world Let's stay inside

# I know the perfect place to hide... #

And I could feel that this suits me very well,

I feel very comfortable with singing this.

# In this bubble made for two. #

We wanted to have a duet on this record,

so we started early on to talk about, you know, possible partners.

Many names came up, actually,

and she was very clear of what she liked and didn't like.

During this process

I had one name in the back of my mind all the time,

and it's Gary Barlow.

Gary and Jorgen had written songs together before

and had been friends for years.

When he called me about 18 months ago

and asked would I work on something with him.

Instantly - "Definitely, whatever it is, I'll be there."

And then he told me what it was.

It was so quick, I couldn't even, you know, ask the question

until he said yes. It was like a nanosecond.

But I thought, "What fun." To work with such an incredible legend

and work with my friend Jorgen.

What a horrible way of spending a day.

Gary came out to Stockholm to write the song with Jorgen,

but Agnetha was unexpectedly away for the recording.

I sang on it and I left Stockholm that night

not knowing if Agnetha was going to like it,

he was going to play it to her the next day.

When I come back I heard his voice

and I thought, "How am I going to match this?"

# I can't believe it's really you

# You still look the way you used to... #

I really love this voice,

so I think it's fantastic to sing with him.

# Dance floor dust never quite settles

# Busy feet remember still

# The way we moved so close in the darkness

# All the music The magic, the thrill... #

Jorgen flew to London and he played me the finished result.

I was absolutely thrilled.

# Oooh

# Followed you home. #

APPLAUSE

I hope I have the chance to meet him now when I get to London.

Given that the song is about friends reuniting,

it was fitting that when Agnetha came to London to promote the album

the two finally did meet.

OK. I'm not really happy you're here filming this.

I actually wanted this to be something I did on my own,

but you're here anyway, so do you want to come in?

This is it - the big meet.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Hello.

-Hello, Gary!

-How are you? Nice to meet you.

-At last.

-I know, at last! How are you?

-I'm so pleased to meet you.

It was very chilling for me

when I first heard our duet and your voice was singing my song.

After all the years I'd studied ABBA's music,

so it's really special.

I think that was a perfect match,

I think that the song,

these two together, it's brilliant actually, it's fantastic.

One thing I'm really intrigued with

is that how - HOW - from today, can I talk you into...

This may be a long thing, this may not be decided today,

-maybe over the next few months.

-Oh?

I would love, LOVE the opportunity

to try and do this track live somewhere.

SHE LAUGHS

-Was that the surprise of the day?

-No! Nobody knew.

-But now the whole world knows!

-Listen, I'm prepared for no,

I'm prepared for no,

but I would love you just to keep the door open to maybe...

-Can I think it over?

-Think it over, absolutely.

But I think it would be unbelievable. I really do.

I mean, I think it would be unbelievable

-to see you sing live by yourself.

-Oh, yeah, that's...

But I can take the credit with you.

I'm happy... No, no, I'm happy to do that.

-You know, that's not my strong point.

-The live? Really?

-No.

For her to go on stage today,

I don't know if she would ever do that.

I don't think she feels like she has to, you know?

I think she's super happy in the studio.

-Think it over.

-During the day.

-Just today?!

No, take a week. Take a month!

-I think there's a lot of people who'd love it.

-I think so too.

But consider it. And take a week.

-No, take six months!

-OK!

But, you know, you should never say never.

Who thought that Agnetha Faltskog ever would record again?

Not many, actually.

This album is beyond doubt going to reach a lot of people,

not just old ABBA fans.

# When you love someone

# When you love someone... #

I think doing this record gave her a lot of good vibes

and good feelings for the future.

It's great that also she's kind of...

not opened up, but kind of shown the world, actually,

maybe a bit more who she is,

and not only a person that's sort of hiding.

CHEERING

Peter and I, we were always sort of, "OK, Agnetha,

"when are we starting the next one?"

Because we obviously want to make more music with her

because it's been so much fun.

# Gotta break loose Have some fun... #

Right now I'm just so focused and proud of this record,

so I want to stay with that feeling for the moment.

# When you love someone

# When you love someone... #

The response is amazing.

I think people are behind her,

and, yeah, we just all want to hear her sing.

# When you really loved someone. #