Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
11 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: abba, carson mckee, josh tuirner, jush turner guitar, mamma mia
“I dunno, it’s just kind of a good song” he says, sounding almost apologetic in the video description.
No, Josh. It’s a great song, as so many of Benny and Björn’s are. And a great song not only lends itself to diverse arrangements and interpretations–as Josh and Carson demonstrate with their superlative acoustic version–but can shine anew in a different light.
Well done, guys. You have talent and good taste.
04 Jul 2022 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: abba, andy gibb, olivia newton-john
It’s hard to imagine a better 20-minute compilation of 1978 pop than the Olivia! ABC-TV special. No stupid skits. No useless banter. Just one uninterrupted medley of the hits that made Olivia Newton-John, Andy Gibb and ABBA three of the era’s juggernaut pop acts.
The sound guy’s notes, reproduced below, are instructive, explaining as they do how rare it is to have a surviving stereo document sourced from a TV special of that era, given that most TV was mono until the mid-1980’s
Also, the version that aired began at exactly 3:01 of this feed, which explains the slight slowing of the audio at that point. And the final song, “Thank You For the Music”, played as the end credits ran, so the video also extends a little beyond what was aired.
Needless to say, nothing is dubbed here. The singing, the orchestra, even Andy Gibb missing a cue at the beginning of a song–it’s all as real as it gets.
And if I may say so as a fan of all these artists, it’s enthralling to see them all accompany and seemingly enjoy one another.
~ ~ ~
ONE OF A KIND – FIRST GENERATION AUDIO. This is the concert segment IN TRUE STEREO from the 1978 special “Olivia!” Just prior to shooting this segment with a live orchestra, the audio guy asked if I would like a stereo feed of the sound. Of course I said yes and fed two three-quarter inch VCRs with the special feed. Stereo TV was not available widely until the mid-1980s. After completion of the special, I manually synced the 2″ master of the show to my ¾” master and, viola, a stereo version of the concert with Andy Gibb, ABBA, and Olivia! Shot just days before it aired, the ABC-TV special “Olivia!” was the marathon of all television specials I edited while in Hollywood. For 36 nonstop hours, director Steve Binder (my all time favorite) and the post-production crew dashed toward an unbelievable deadline and beat it. This is the entire concert segment. The air version begins at 3:01 and ends prior to “Thank you for the Music” (which was used for closing credits). Please select 480p and full screen (and don’t forget headphones!); the quality is matchless!
12 Nov 2021 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: abba, just a notion
ABBA: “Just a Notion” (2021)
ABBA are back with their first studio album in 40 years.
“Just a Notion” features vocals originally recorded in 1978 with a new backing track, drums and guitars.
Co-writer Björn Ulvaeus, who couldn’t recall why the tune was originally left off the band’s Voulez-Vous LP, says ‘Just a Notion’ is a ridiculously happy song and hopefully, it will cheer you up in these dark times!”
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/05/01/songs-you-may-have-missed-94/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2020/10/28/songs-you-may-have-missed-670/
01 Apr 2021 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: abba
17 Jan 2021 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: abba, the last video
28 Oct 2020 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: abba, slipping through my fingers
Abba: “Slipping Through My Fingers” (1981)
When we last featured Abba in this series of posts, we were wiping a tear away as we listened to the tale of marital disintegration “My Love, My Life” from their aptly-named 1977 stateside breakthrough album Arrival.
Despite the bright, poppy, polyester image these Swedes are sadly saddled with, they could serve up heartache like few bands of any era, perhaps because too often the heartache in the writing was of the autobiographical sort.
So here’s a fresh serving of musical misery–a tune about a mother’s regret in watching her daughter grow up too soon, inspired by band members Bjorn and Agnetha’s (at the time) seven-year-old daughter Linda Ulvaeus.
Vocalists Agnetha and Frida’s ability to render a sad song as if they’d written it themselves is key to the listener’s buy-in on songs like “SOS”, “The Winner Takes it All” and “Knowing Me, Knowing You”, as well as “My Love, My Life” and her performance is devastating here.
The song was released as a single only in Japan, as a promo single for the Coca-Cola company. The Visitors, from which it came, was their eighth and–unbeknownst to them at the time–final album.
Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that I’m losing her forever
And without really entering her world
I’m glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl
Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what’s in her mind
Each time I think I’m close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Sleep in our eyes
Her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake, I let precious time go by
Then when she’s gone
There’s that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt I can’t deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
(Slipping through my fingers all the time)
Well, some of that we did but most we didn’t
And why, I just don’t know
Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what’s in her mind
Each time I think I’m close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Schoolbag in hand she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/05/01/songs-you-may-have-missed-94/
See Also: https://edcyphers.com/2021/11/12/songs-you-may-have-missed-717/
Every Moment Has A Song 