ABBA 1974: Waterloo and Eurovision victory
 Benny Andersson was, from the age of 18, a member of The Hep Stars, a popular Swedish pop-rock group that mostly performed covers of international hits. Their live shows were often accompanied by mob scenes. Andersson played keyboards and eventually started writing original compositions for his band, many of which became major hits including No Response (#3 in 1965), Sunny Girl, Wedding, Consolation (all of which hit #1 in 1966), and Speleman.
Bj?rn Ulvaeus from the age of 18 fronted The Hootenanny Singers, a popular Swedish folk-skiffle group. Ulvaeus started writing material for his band, and also attempted a brief solo career alongside it.
His band and the Hep Stars sometimes crossed paths while touring, and on such an occasion in June 1966 Ulvaeus and Andersson decided to write a song together. This, their first attempt, was Isn't It Easy to Say, later recorded by The Hep Stars. Stig Anderson, manager of the Hep Stars and founder of the Polar Music label, saw much potential in the collaboration, and encouraged them to compose more.
Both also began occasionally playing with the other's band on stage and on record, although it wasn't until 1969 that the pair wrote and produced some of their first real hits together: Ljuva Sextiotal ('Merry Sixties'), recorded by Brita Borg and The Hep Stars' 1969 hit Speleman.
Andersson also had a fruitful songwriting collaboration with Lasse Berghagen, with whom he wrote and submitted the song Hej, Clown for the 1969 Melodifestivalen, the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest finals. The song tied for first, but re-voting relegated Andersson's song to #2.
As their bands began to break up, Andersson and Ulvaeus teamed up and eventually recorded their first album together in 1970, called Lycka (Happiness in Swedish), which comprised original compositions sung by the two men. Ulvaeus still occasionally recorded and performed with the Hootenanny Singers until the summer of 1974, alongside ABBA.
Agnetha F?ltskog had a #1 record in Sweden when she was only 17 and was soon noted by the critics and songwriters as a talented composer, most of her songs being in the schlager style. F?ltskog's main inspiration in her early years was singers in the style of Connie Francis. Along with her own compositions, she also recorded covers of foreign hits and performed them on tours in Swedish folkparks. She even submitted a self-written song for Melodifestivalen when only 17 (F?rsonade), which was rejected. Agnetha had briefly met Anni-Frid Lyngstad for the first time during a TV show in early 1968, and Bj?rn Ulvaeus at a concert venue a few months later. During filming of a Swedish TV special in March 1969, she met Ulvaeus again, and they eventually became a couple and married in 1971. In 1973, F?ltskog starred as Mary Magdalene in the original Swedish production of Jesus Christ Superstar and attracted favourable reviews. Between 1967 and 1975, F?ltskog released five studio albums.
Anni-Frid Frida Lyngstad sang from the age of 13 with various dance bands and worked mainly in a jazz-oriented cabaret style. She also formed her own band named Anni-Frid Four. In the summer of 1967, she won a national talent competition with the song En Ledig Dag. (included in double EMI CD Frida 1967-1972). The first prize was to perform live on the most popular TV show in Sweden. This show was broadcast on the same day Sweden went from driving on the left side to the right, so it was a very special day and almost the whole population saw Frida sing. This first and unique performance can be seen in Frida the DVD. Also included in the price was a recording contract with EMI. Lyngstad released several singles on EMI and had many hits in the Swedish charts. When Benny Andersson started to produce her recordings in 1971, she got her first number 1 single. On that single, Min Egen Stad (My Own Town), all 4 Abba members are singing the backup vocals. Frida toured and performed regularly in the folkpark circuit and made appearances on radio and TV. She had met Bj?rn Ulvaeus briefly in 1963 during a talent contest, and Agnetha F?ltskog during a TV show in early 1968. She finally linked up with her future colleagues in 1969. On May 1, 1969, she participated in the Melodifestivalen, where she met Andersson for the first time. A few weeks later they met again during a concert tour in southern Sweden and they soon became a couple. Andersson also invited Lyngstad to sing backup vocals with F?ltskog on the Bj?rn & Benny debut album, Lycka (October 1970), and during this time he also started producing Lyngstad's debut album, Frida, which was released in March 1971 and praised by critics. Lyngstad also played in several revues and cabaret shows in Stockholm between 1969 and 1973. After ABBA formed, she recorded another successful album in 1975, Frida Ensam, which included the original Swedish rendition of Fernando, which became a huge hit in Scandinavia before the English version was recorded.
First performance as foursome - and Festfolk
An attempt at combining their talents started in April 1970 when the two couples went on holiday together to the island of Cyprus. What started as singing for fun on the beach ended up as an improvised live performance in front of the United Nations soldiers stationed on the island -- the future ABBA stars' first ever performance. Bj?rn & Benny were at this time recording their first album together, Lycka ('Happiness'), which was to be released in September 1970. Their girlfriends added backing vocals on several tracks, and the idea of them all working together saw them launch their own stage act, Festfolk (meaning in Swedish both 'Party People' and 'Engaged Couple') on November 1, 1970 in Gothenburg. The cabaret show attracted good reviews. Among the odd numbers, the foursome performed the B&B hit Hej, Gamle Man and solo numbers from respective albums, but the foursome didn't feel like working together, and soon concentrated on individual projects again.
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