Live on TV
ABBA performing live on TV
Because clips on video sites often disappear or alternative versions get uploaded these links most often aren’t included here, you will find most of them there though. Please note that some people replace the original TV sound with the stereo album versions without giving detailed information about this major and in my opinion silly alteration.
Usually ABBA performances on TV were lip-synched. However, there also are several special and interesting ones. ABBA pre-recorded several special arrangements with or without new vocal tracks for their TV performances and then mimed to them at the actual show, sometimes they also really sung live on stage. Therefore it’s not always easy to tell how much ‘live’ these performances really were.
Performances just mimed to the studio tracks are not included here. On video platforms people often label mimed performances on TV shows as “live” though, but that’s not what I consider ‘live’, there must be some live aspect regarding the music, not just people appearing at a show.
For an overview about all TV appearances please visit ABBA on TV.
dates are given as dd/mm/yyyy
- 1972-1973
- World Popular Song Festival
17/11/1972
A-B-B-A performed Santa Rosa at Tokyo, Budokan
show band: Swing Beavers and Toshiyuki Miyama, Mitsuru Ono, New Music Association
begin of the qualifying show was at 18:30 (until 21:30), the song didn't make it to the final round;
the shows were broadcast on radio, it’s not clear, if it was also shown on TV – listen on Youtube
- Melodifestivalen
10/02/1973
Ring Ring (Bara du slog en Signal), audio available as bootleg, video is believed to be lost – listen on Youtube
- 1974
- Melodifestivalen
09/02/1974
Waterloo (Swedish version), two performances, both released on Waterloo Deluxe
- Eurovision Song Contest
06/04/1974
Waterloo, two performances, both released on Waterloo Deluxe
- Top of the Pops
10/04/1974
Waterloo, released on Waterloo Deluxe
- Domino
17-18/04/1974
Waterloo
- Top of the Pops
30/04/1974
Waterloo, released on Waterloo Deluxe
- The Tommy Cooper Hour
13-14/04/1974
Ring Ring, released on The Tommy Cooper Hour (DVD box set)
- 45 Rock On (with Kid Jensen)
25/11/1974 (?)
So Long (as indicated by pictures, a ‘live’ version as the following performance on TOTP?)
- Top of the Pops
04/12/1974
So Long, clip available as fan tape, apparently the BBC does not have a copy anymore – watch it on Youtube
- Top of the Pops
19/12/1974
Waterloo, released on Waterloo Deluxe
- 1975
- Omkring et flygel
27/05/1975
Alley Cat (really live?)
- Seaside Special
16/08/1975
Waterloo (pre-recorded), SOS – SOS released on ABBA Deluxe
- Musikladen
20/08/1975
SOS
- Top Of The Pops
30/09-02/10/1975
SOS, audio available as fan tape only, video is believed to be lost
- NBC’s Saturday Night
15/11/1975
SOS, released on The Complete First Season 1975-1976 of Saturday Night Live
The most striking thing about this episode is the treatment of its musical guests, ABBA. [...] I don’t know anyone who has ever looked to SNL specifically for the integrity of the selection of its musical guests, but apparently Michaels got a huge bug up his ass about having the biggest-selling act in the world forced down his throat by the network. The official story is that lip-syncing was the issue: ABBA sang S.O.S. along to a pre-recorded backing track, and later in the show lip-synced to Waterloo€ and this is said to have enraged Michaels, because nobody ever got to lip-sync when they were a musical guest on Saturday Night Live. (It goes without saying that the earliest versions of this story predate Ashlee Simpson’s appearance on the show in 2004.)
The show’s way of dealing with this was to turn ABBA’s appearance into a joke: The band is cast as the entertainment on the ”Titanic” and during the songs, the camera keeps cutting away to Klein, who mugs ferociously as the ship’s captain, reacting to the water that’s leaking on board. Furthermore, during the second number, the words ”Right now, ABBA is lip-synching. It’s not their fault. The tracks didn’t arrive from Sweden” appear on the screen. The whole thing backfires: You don’t have to like the music to find the show’s clumsy attempt to undercut its own guests infantile and ungracious, especially since Klein’s antics make you want to strangle him. By contrast, Benny, Björn, Agnetha, and Anni-Frid come across as hard-working, eager to please, and just hoping to make it through the evening.
- 1976
- Top Of The Pops
14/01/1976
Mamma Mia, Caj Högberg on bass, released on ABBA Deluxe
- Top Of The Pops
06-07/04/1976
Fernando, released on Arrival Deluxe
- Abbadabbadoo
29/09/1976
Why Did It Have To Be Me – Dum Dum Diddle, released on Arrival Deluxe
- Midnight Special
11/10/1976
Fernando, Mamma Mia, SOS
- 1977-1978
- 1979-1980
- 1981-1986
08/05/1978
05/1980
06/11/1982
