Björn Again
{{Short description|Australian pop musical group}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| image = BA glitz logo - maybe try this one for no background.jpg
| image_size = 200
| landscape = yes
| origin = Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| years_active = 1988–present
| label =
| website = {{URL|bjornagain.com}}
}}
Björn Again is an ABBA-inspired tribute band from Australia, consisting of performers from various countries. The name is a reference to ABBA guitarist and vocalist Björn Ulvaeus.{{Cite web |title=Bjorn Again - songtitels - Muziekweb |url=https://www.muziekweb.nl/Link/M00000068566/POPULAR/Bjorn-Again |access-date=2023-05-27 |website=www.muziekweb.nl |language=nl}} The band has performed worldwide since it was formed in 1988.
Character of the show
Björn Again parodies Swedish pop group ABBA, using a mix of English and Swedish language known as "Swenglish"{{cite news|publisher=BBC South Yorkshire|title=Bjorn Again interview|date=18 November 2004|last=Clifton|first=Bernie|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/content/articles/2004/11/17/bjorn_again_interview_feature.shtml}} or pidgin Swedish. The performers use the stage names Agnetha Falstart, Benny Anderwear, Frida Longstokin and Björn Volvo-us{{cite news |last=Chamberlain |first=Darryl |title=Tribute bands: The next best thing |date=29 February 2000 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/entertainment/2000/brit_awards/657042.stm}} in homage to the original ABBA members, plus bassist Rutger Sonofagunn and drummer Ola Drumkitt, based on Rutger Gunnarsson and Ola Brunkert.{{cite news|publisher=BBC Cambridgeshire|title=Home Swede Home!|date=November 2004|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2004/11/16/bjorn_again_event_feature.shtml}} The show features choreographed acts with unique costumes and song arrangements that differ from ABBA's original performances.
History
File:Bjorn Again original logo.png
Björn Again was founded in 1988 in Melbourne, Australia, by Rod Stephen and John Tyrrell. The style is a light-hearted parody of ABBA performed in pidgin Swedish or 'Swenglish.' Original band members included Rod Stephen, Peter Ryan, John Tyrrell, Dorina Morelli, Kathy Riseborough, Gavin Charles, and later Janette Stuart. Since the band's debut in 1989, Björn Again has performed approximately 5,500 shows in 72 countries over 34 years. By 1997, the band had three touring lineups. John Tyrrell has been the band's manager since the outset. Rod Stephen manages the UK/Europe lineup and John Tyrrell manages the Australasian lineup.{{cite web|title=About - Björn Again|url=https://www.bjornagain.com.au/about/|publisher=Björn Again|access-date=19 March 2023}}
The band has recorded and performed live a total of 133 songs, including 55 ABBA songs, seven originals, and 62 covers by other artists. They released an EP of covers of Erasure songs performed in the style of ABBA, called Erasure-ish,{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=135}} which included the songs "Stop!" and "A Little Respect" that reached Number 25 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1992.
Björn Again has performed at events worldwide, ranging from large rock festivals, including Reading and Glastonbury,{{cite web|url=http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/glastonbury/1999/review-bjornagain1.shtml|title=Bjorn Again – review|year=1999|publisher=eFestivals|first=Mark|last=Champken}} to private performances for celebrities, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, comedian Rowan Atkinson,{{cite news |last=Viner |first=Brian |date=18 December 2000 |title=Brentwood, vould you like to dance? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/brentwood-vould-you-like-to-dance-629668.html |work=The Independent |location=London}}{{Dead link|date=July 2020}} actor Russell Crowe,{{cite news|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=Almost Abba|date=26 June 2004|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/25/1088144973288.html}} and Russian president Vladimir Putin.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/4526496/Vladimir-Putin-revealed-as-secret-Abba-fan.html|title=Vladamir Putin revealed as secret ABBA fan|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | location=London | first=Anita | last=Singh | date=6 February 2009}}{{cite news|work=The Times|title=Vladamir Putin flies in Bjorn Again for Abba tribute concert|last=Halpin|first=Tony|date=6 February 2009|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5671675.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107015353/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5671675.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 January 2010 | location=London}}
In 1999, the UK Bjorn Again took part in a documentary for Channel 5 entitled "ABBA: Bjorn Again!", which featured the band on tour. Throughout the program the band members spoke in "Swenglish" accents. Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson have both praised Björn Again. After ABBA's former members said they were not going to perform together again, Andersson was quoted as saying in 1999, "Bjorn Again are the closest you can get to seeing ABBA."{{cite web |url=http://bjornagain.com/quotes.htm |title=Quotes-From ABBA |author1=Björn Again |author2=Benny Andersson |date=22 September 2011 |publisher=Björn Again |access-date=22 September 2011 |archive-date=13 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070113011050/http://www.bjornagain.com/quotes.htm |url-status=dead }}
The band attended a celebrity gala in costume at the London Savoy and received an award on behalf of ABBA from the Radio Times, to commemorate the 30 years since their Eurovision Song Contest win with "Waterloo" in Brighton on 6 April 1974.
In 2009 the band performed Metallica's "Enter Sandman", with an additional drummer, to a Sonisphere Festival crowd at Knebworth, as a nod to the headlining act.[http://www.easier.com/view/Lifestyle/Entertainment/Going_Out/article-263079.html Success for Sonisphere Festival Knebworth]. Easier.com, (3 August 2009). Retrieved on 3 May 2012. They were the opening act on the Pyramid stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 1999, 2009, and 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.nme.com/festivals/glastonbury/bjorn-again-abba-tribute-2518200 |title=What more wholesome start could you have to Glastonbury than ABBA cover band Björn Again? |author1=Hannah Mylrea |website=NME |date=28 June 2019 }}
On 17 December 2012, Björn Again performed at the Buckingham Palace Christmas party in London, attended by the Queen and members of the royal family. They also presented a show in honor of Agnetha Fältskog at Stockholm's TV3/TV6 tenth-anniversary party, when Fältskog was quoted saying “It was a great show. I loved the choreography" and "Good luck for the tour.”{{Cite web |title=Björn Again - History |url=https://bjornagain.com/history/}}
Discography
=Albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of albums, with selected chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions |
| scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:85%" | AUS {{cite Ryan|page=31}}{{cite web|url=https://imgur.com/a/31yMYQP| title=Björn Again chart history (albums), received from ARIA in May 2024|publisher=ARIA|via=Imgur.com|access-date=5 July 2024}} N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. |
|---|
| scope="row" | Live Album
|
| 102{{efn|group=upper-alpha|Live Album was re-released in 1995 with Flashback!, where it peaked at number 102.}} |
| scope="row" | Flashback!
|
| 40 |
| scope="row" | Live at the Royal Albert Hall
|
| – |
| scope="row" | 20th Anniversary Concert
|
| – |
=Singles=
Notes
{{Notelist-ua}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{ABBA}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorn Again}}
Category:Musical groups established in 1988
Category:Australian pop music groups