Forget Clinton. Forget Obama. Can we PLEASE put an end to all of the ABBA bashing.

[ContinentalOp]

Come on people, they are one of the greatest pop acts of all time. This is the one thing that McCain is even remotely right about. Let's let him have that.

[Bluzmann57]

1. No

Bubblegum crapola. They were almost as bad as disco.

[ContinentalOp]

29. Disco bashing is also lame and tired.

The people who bash ABBA and disco either:

A: Are under the age of 18.
B: Are over the age of 65
C: Actually liked ABBA and disco in the 70s but think it's a "guilty pleasure" and that bashing them is the cool thing now.
or
D: Are very casual music fans at best and don't really know much about music or what's going on in the world of music.

[progressoid]

50. E: None of the above.

I'm 45, didn't like ABBA back then, and am more than a casual music fan.

There are a handful of disco songs I like but I ABBA doesn't make the cut. They rank right up (er..down) there with likes of Rupert Holmes or Brittney Spears.

[The Doctor.]

52. Why do you hate America and gays?

You'd think the real enemies were Toto and Alphaville.

[NashVegas]

71. Hey, I Liked Alphaville

"Big in Japan" was a great single.

So was "Oops I ...."

That doesn't mean I'd buy their albums.

[Prophet 451]

51. I'll give you ABBA...

...but disco really did suck. With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that ABBA were actually a very good pop act but even with hindsight, disco hasn't improved.

[ContinentalOp]

56. Sorry, but you're stuck in the past.

Sure, middle America's perception of disco (KC & the Sunshine Band?) was pretty bad but there was tons of great disco music and the anti-disco backlash was nothing but a racist, sexist, homophobic reaction that led to decades of rockist music criticism. The critical consensus has since moved on though.

The Bee Gees were another classic pop act up there with the best of them (like ABBA). Then there was Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer, Chic, Sparks's #1 Song in Heaven album, Bohannon, Liquid Liquid, ESG, Arthur Russel, and lots of great Italo disco, just to name a few things off the tip of the iceberg.

Without disco there would be no hip hop or dance music. You probably think those suck though too right?

[Prophet 451]

70. Dance, yes; hip hop, no

I actually quite like some hip hop.

[GoesTo11]

61. Tell me this doesn't get you out of your seat and onto the floor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uecLTzd_Wk&feature=related

[Madam Mossfern]

79. It didn't

sorry.

I'm 59-should be right in there, but disco never did anything for me.

[snake in the grass]

68. I'm 42...

and at the time ABBA was at their zenith I was listening to KISS. To this day I find their first 3 albums to be good rock-n-roll. After KISS I discovered Queen and Led Zeppelin. Brian May and Jimmy Page are simply awesome guitarists. At the end of the 70's I was listening to AC/DC and Pink Floyd. Shortly thereafter I discovered Brian Eno, Van der Graaf Generator, and Joy Division, which is not easy in the deep south, and I departed from mainstream music completely, with the exception of Prince, who to this day is one of the most underestimated guitarists ever and one of my secret pleasures. Sometimes I'll hear a disco hit from back then and get a little nostalgic (Heatwave - The Groove Line or the Bee Gee's with You Should be Dancin')but when I hear ABBA I have to change stations (on the rare occasion that I listen to radio - Cd's saved my musical soul!). I really don't understand ABBA's popularity. Their songs and arrangements were mediocre to suboptimal (Mama Mia or Money, Money, Money are good examples of their worst). Their vocals were enough to wish deafness. I personally get physically ill from them but that's just me. Very strange. I wouldn't really have bashed ABBA had I not seen this post but I respect everyone's right to have a bad taste in music. Never awaken sleeping dogs.... :-)

[NashVegas]

74. It Was Just Good Pop

You know, until FM radio came around and its marketers focused on 18-34 YO males for AOR, no young people were ever encouraged and invited to slam the music enjoyed by other young people.

Think about it.

[ContinentalOp]

77. Hey I love all of those bands too!

Van Der Graaf Generator! :thumbsup: Peter Hammill solo too. And especially Eno, Floyd, Queen, Joy Division. I can understand how a KISS fan of the day would not have any interest in ABBA and no desire to revisit them. Still I think saying that "their songs and arrangements were mediocre to suboptimal" is just objectively wrong. You definitely nailed it picking Mamma Mia and Money, Money, Money as some of their lamest songs though.

[NashVegas]

73. Totally Lame

And the anti-disco movement was the mother of cultural fragmentation among the under 55 crowd.

[Bluzmann57]

84. Bullshit

Not one of your points is valid. I lived through the disco era, have several hundred pices of music and NOT ONE OF THEM IS DISCO OR ABBA. I just don't like that crap. Don't rush to judgement on me.

[ContinentalOp]

34. Oh I just noticed the Chicago icon.

Home of the "disco sucks" record burning hate rally. It all makes sense now. ;)

[VolcanoJen]

41. Word.

:thumbsup:

[panader0]

2. I'm with Bluzman

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Nuh uh.

ABBA blows. Always has.

[greguganus]

4. Mama mia! n/t

[Just-plain-Kathy]

67. I enjoyed Mama Mia! ...And always liked ABBA ....Was a "Dancing Queen" way back when. n/t

[Happyhippychick]

5. I'm sad. I hadn't realized that there was any ABBA bashing going on. And I thought I had found a

home here....;(

[glitch]

11. No worries, there will always be people who must put down other people's taste.

Cheer up, you're still home.

[blondeatlast]

14. Sad but true. I love ABBA. Screw them if they don't like it. nt

[blondeatlast]

6. I like ABBA, I love the Sex Pistols and the band X. No musical fascist I, and I agree with you, CO.

I love The Carpenters too--and I don't ever apologize!

[TexasObserver]

7. I love hard rock and hip hop, but I'm down with ABBA.

Hell, I listen to them interspersed with Lynard Skynard, Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Doors, Billy Joel, Bob Seger, the Beatles, Heart.

And hell yes, I love Dancing Queen, and a bunch of their other tunes.

ABBA was Awesome!!

[blondeatlast]

13. My iPod would give some of my more hard-core friends apoplexy.

It's always on shuffle and it's likely to go through X, the Staple Singers gospel and mainstream stuff, Tower of Power, Tony Bennet, the Cramps, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bob Wills, and The Carpenters within an hour... :rofl:

[TexasObserver]

17. me, too! sometimes I just need to hear Fernando after hearing Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds

Sometimes I need to hear THE END by Doors, and sometimes I need to hear Crazy on You by Heart, and sometimes I need to hear That Smell by Lynard Skynard.

But right now, I think it's going to be ...

Captain Jack by Billy Joel!! (I love the instrumentals in it)

[DevonRex]

19. NOOOOO!!!!! Not Captain Jack. OMG Earworm alert! nt

[TexasObserver]

20. I listen to it once a month, whether I need to or not!

I also like Piano Man, because I'm DOWN with IRONY!

("an old man sittin' next to me, makin' love to his tonic and gin")

Billy Joel never realized he was going to become that old man.

[DevonRex]

23. Did he write any songs about running cars into trees? nt

[TexasObserver]

27. Hahaha! No, but he did write about his Uptown Girl.

I've always been a Billy Joel fan. He wrote most of his best stuff by 1985. Let his brother in law handle his money, and got stolen blind. Had his thing with Christie Brinkley. Who would have thought Billy Joel would turn out to be the BEST husband she ever married?

[DevonRex]

32. LOL! At least he's not the guy who wrote "Havin' My Baby."

I think Christie should stop it with the husbands now. After a while a person has to admit they're no good at picking mates. Hell, some batshit crazy stalker would be better than at least 2 of her husbands. At least they aren't likely to take you back country skiing in a helicopter that crashes.

[TexasObserver]

35. Paul Anka wrote that. He also wrote the Tonight Show theme used by Johnny Carson.

And Anka wrote the lyrics to MY WAY, Sinatra's big hit.

As I recall, Christie and Billy Joel have a daughter, who must be college age by now.

[ContinentalOp]

25. See, this is the thing.

Real music fans know what's up. The bashers are probably the kind of people with 10 cds.

[TexasObserver]

28. I don't generally like C&W, but there are still many C&W tunes I enjoy.

How can anyone who loves music not love "Rainy Nights" by Eddie Rabbit?

Or Sundown, by Gordon Lightfoot (crossover Pop tune).

Or even Honky Tonk Badonk a Donk?

[ContinentalOp]

31. Wait a minute... Gordon Lightfoot?

You're really testing my open-mindedness here. :P

EDIT: Never mind. Just listened to it on Youtube. That is a great song.

[TexasObserver]

37. Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald is a classic!!

here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99rOzMVtcx4

And IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND is a great "I got my heart broke" song.
here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk1md5IikWk&feature=related

[ContinentalOp]

45. This is the stuff my parents listened to when I was a child and it kind of depresses me.

That sad 70s hangover-from-the-summer-of-love downer vibe. But I won't bash it. I see the appeal. I like my gloomy 70s music a little heavier on the saccharine though. Like the carpenters. That's a good combination. Love songs that make you want to end it all.

[DevonRex]

8. I can't live without bashing ABBA. Sorry, but there it is. nt

[TexasObserver]

10. you're going to make ceiling cat cry

[DevonRex]

12. Oh. Well, in that case I'll keep my ABBA bashing to myself. Can't

make ceiling cat cry. Unh uh. Nope. No crying cats here. :)

[TexasObserver]

30. Ceiling cat will sleep better tonight!

She likes to stay up watching Beaches and eating Haagen Daaz, and she's seen Mama Mia 8 times already.

[Ichingcarpenter]

9. ABBA is the greatest pinnacle of mankind's musical achievement

"You're a teaser, you turn 'em on Leave (wife) them (airplanes) burning and then you're gone Looking out for another, anyone will do (Cindy)"

[bronxiteforever]

15. McCain was at Waterloo in 1815 so I think he is biased

[JoFerret]

16. With you there

Don't think they are the greatest but they were damned good.

[ContinentalOp]

26. I said one of the greatest.

They had an amazing string of hits -- brilliant pop songwriting -- great production and arrangements. As far as pop music goes, I think they're up there with Spector, Motown, the Beach Boys, Leiber & Stoller, etc.

[terrya]

18. I'm recommending this.

ABBA is one of the greatest pop acts of all time. And, as the huge success of "Mama Mia!" attests, a lot of people (like myself) love their music. It makes me sick to my stomach to agree with McCain on anything, but he's right on this one.

[gateley]

21. You're asking too much. No can do. nt

[swishyfeet]

22. Why couldn't he have just loved Starship?

This'll break my wife's heart.

Being male however, the ABBA thing is a little creepy to me.

[DevonRex]

24. It would have been Airplane in his time, right? Ugh. Don't want

my Jefferson whatever to be linked for evermore with McAnal.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[ContinentalOp]

36. If McCain were truly a patriot he'd wear something like this:

[DevonRex]

38. My eyes! OMG.

[Faygo Kid]

39. Ah yes, the 70s. How I survived them, I don't know. Skyyyrockets in sight, afternoon delight. . .

Starland Vocal Band, 1976. :puke:

[ContinentalOp]

44. Forget flag pins. The real question is this:

Senator John McCain, where is your red white and blue cape with matching jumpsuit? Why do you hate our super troops?

[Berry Cool]

40. "Waterloo" rocks.

And it just so happens that I had some very big Dem friends and I was at their house once and noted that their music collection consisted of a whole lot of Grateful Dead...bootlegs included...AND ABBA's Greatest Hits.

[davidpdx]

42. No ABBA bashing!!!!

ABBA is cool

*starts singing*

[TexasObserver]

62. a silly song, but a catchy tune!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

43. My husband says that Waterloo is his Jam

[NYC Liberal]

46. Can we please stop insisting that personal taste in music CAN be "wrong"?

This isn't necessarily toward the OP, but I can't stand it when people argue over whether certain music is "good." It's an OPINION. There is no objectivity involved.

[Ichingcarpenter]

47. I think its a light sarcastic thread parody

BTW...... I never watched Melrose Place either

[NYC Liberal]

49. LOL well, I'm young, so I naturally get shit for my musical taste

;)

[ContinentalOp]

58. I couldn't agree more.

Except that you have terrible taste in music. And the stuff you listen to is, in fact, wrong. Sorry, but it has been proven by science.

Seriously though, we're liberals and we're supposed to be open minded right? All of the anti-ABBA and anti-disco shit I see on here sounds like what I would expect from mouth breathing freepers. And most of it stems from homophobia, plain and simple.

[blondeatlast]

82. If we can amanage that, we can start immediately after on world peace. I don't get it myself,

but that's how it seems to be. :shrug:

[jesus_of_suburbia]

48. I freakin' love Abba... I like the Fugees too though!

"The Day Before You Came"

"The Winner Takes It All"

"When All Is Said And Done"




These were all before my time.. but brilliant!


I prefer Lauryn Hill to the Fugees... you can't get much better than "Everything Is Everything" and her bubblegum pop cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You". Bliss when you have a date on the couch.

[Colobo]

53. ABBA has two great tunes: Dancing Queen and Fernando. Nothing else.

[ContinentalOp]

57. Those are a couple of their worst hits! Or at least the most overplayed.

What about Voulez Vous, S.O.S., Take a Chance on Me, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Money, Money, Money, etc?

[Metric System]

54. I have a soft spot for pop music, even bubblegum pop. HOWEVER, ABBA never appealed to me at all.

But I don't bash them or their fans.

[dkf]

55. Saying you love Abba is like saying you love Barry Manilow.

Anyone who admits it is asking for it.

[TexasObserver]

60. Oh, Mandy. You came and you gave without taking ...

...but I sent you away ... oh, Mandy

[blondeatlast]

81. I love ABBA, hate Barry Manilow. I also love the Cramps, The Carpenters,

Siousxie and the Banshees, and Etta James.

Bring it on--my iPod will blow most people's out of the water...

[ContinentalOp]

59. And for those who were wondering, THIS is the greatest ABBA song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4JEmz4FoJE

[Unvanguard]

63. ABBA is awesome. So was "Mamma Mia!". n/t

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

64. ABBA ROCKS!!! What the hell is wrong with you people???!?!?

[Enrique]

65. Obama should take a hard line against ABBA

he's missing an opportunity, he should vow to smoke ABBA out of their caves, obliterate them and send them to the gates of Hell.

[lumberjack_jeff]

66. Leave the dancing queen alone!!!

[shireen]

69. i don't like any music set to words

it takes away from the purity of the musical sound.

I'm a Beethoven girl. Also like far-out new age space music.

:P

[Madam Mossfern]

80. What do you think of Erik Satie?

More modern....well kinda.
Hard to dance to too. ;)

[shireen]

83. never heard of him, but will find him and listen. thanks. nt

[NashVegas]

72. I'm Down With ABBA, But "Mama Mia" Is a REALLY Weak Musical

As are most of them that try to find a plot to go with songs that have already been written long, long ago.

[ContinentalOp]

76. I definitely agree with you there. I hate that trend.

[mvd]

75. Well, I'm used to it

It's music, and unlike in politics, there's no right or wrong here. Abba is one of my favorite groups, and like the other poster, I'd also put them up with pop masters like The Beatles, Beach Boys, Spector, etc.

[DFW]

78. McCain liked ABBA? This is TRAUMATIC!!

My brother-in-law has had a great time as one of the top tech guys that make the
Mamma Mia show run on Broadway. He has had this job for many years now, and as long
as that show runs, he has a job. So, no ABBA bashing from me.

On the other hand, start bashing Billy Joel, Mark Knopfler, Leo Kottke or Bruce Hornsby,
well them's fightin' words!