On October 7, 1976, three members arrived in Poland, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Agnetha Fältskog arrived in Poland a day earlier. She and Björn had agreed years ago that they would never get on a plane together. She didn’t want their daughter to lose both parents in a potential plane crash. The musicians were picked up by a plane chartered from LOT with the logo of the band and Studio 2. Crowds of fans greeted them at the Okęcie airport. Abba was escorted to the Forum Hotel on the corner of Marszałkowska Street and Aleje Jerozolimskie (today’s Novotel Hotel) by police guards. Thus began a visit that has gone down in history.
ABBA concert in Poland. During the broadcast, “the streets were supposedly empty”
The short visit had one purpose: recording in Studio 2. It was the band’s only performance in Poland. Only a handful of people saw it live. The audience at Studio 2 in Woronicza Street was mainly staffed by employees and their families.
About 100 people listened to the concert in the studio, the viewers could see the effect only a month later, on November 13
– Maciej Orański in the book “ABBA in Poland”. As he noted, “the streets were supposedly deserted at that time.”
“Dancing Queen” on the steep stairs and singing with playback. This concert has gone down in history
To this day, the huge stairs covered with silvery foil are mentioned. The steep six-metre construction caused a lot of emotions for the team. There were no barriers or protections, so the musicians were afraid to go down them. After much persuasion, they finally gathered courage, thanks to which they managed to record the iconic sequence for “Dancing Queen”. During the concert, the band presented their greatest hits, although malicious people may accuse that they sang from playback.
ABBA in Poland. The team was unimpressed with the country. “But the people here are incredibly nice”
The concert recorded at Woronicza was combined with the world premiere of the album containing such hits as the already mentioned “Dancing Queen”, “Money, Money, Money” or “Knowing Me, Knowing You”. – Let’s imagine that Michael Jackson would come to Poland to promote the album “Thriller”. It was such an event – emphasized Maciej Orański on the air Although the performance of the legendary band made a great impression in Poland, the same cannot be said about Abba. The team found the country in crisis. Store shelves were empty, and getting their latest album was a miracle. However, the stars appreciated the Poles. – I knew that Poland was a poor country, but I didn’t know that it was so bad here. But the people here are incredibly nice and they seem to have a rather cheap life – later Agnetha Fältskog, who during her visit to Poland tried to go shopping at Dom Centrum. They also enjoyed Polish vodka, which the band members enjoyed during the press conference.
We paid for Abby’s concert with “wagons of green peas”. did it pay off?
The way Poland paid for Abba’s concert was also interesting and quite unusual.
In settlements with the Swedes, the Polish side, due to the lack of hard currency, ‘paid’ with wagons of green peas
– wrote in Jacek Szczerba. However, the visit to Poland did not turn out to be a loss for the team. He received the rights to sell the recording from TVP in the West. Fragments of the performance can still be seen, e.g. on Youtube.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
