ABBA w Studio 2 = ABBA in Studio 2

Studio 2 was not a place as thought, but a periodical program series run on Polish TV (TVP1) between 1974-1983 on every third Saturday.

ABBA arrived in Warsaw to promote the forthcoming album Arrival which would released on 11 October 1976. The TVP team made a short documentary about the trip including a short interview with mainly Benny, Björn and Stig which was done by journalists during the flight.

In this show ABBA performed almost all new songs from the new album and the already well-known world hit Fernando twice. The show also known as ABBA in Poland. 

ABBA performed (all to playback):-

1. Arrival (only about 1.5 minutes of it)
2. Waterloo (over footage of preparations for, and ABBA's arrival at the airport)
3. SOS (separate footage of Agnetha on her own in Poland and Benny, Björn and Frida on the aeroplane)
4. Nina Pretty Ballerina (over footage of them on the steps of the plane and arriving at their hotel)
5. Dancing Queen
6. My Love My Life
7. When I Kissed The Teacher
8. Knowing Me Knowing You
9. Fernando
10. Tiger
11. Money, Money, Money
12. Fernando

Agnetha had travelled ahead with her father the day before and then met Benny, Frida and Björn off the plane. She had filmed SOS the day before and it was interspersed with a rather embarrassed looking Benny, Frida & Björn "singing" on the plane!

Apparently the performance of Knowing Me, Knowing You was used extensively on video jukeboxes in the 1990s and 2000s.

In Instagram post on ABBA's site on 13 January 2022 stated that "in 1976, Poland spent its entire allocated budget for western pop music on ABBA, which was still insufficient to cope with demand. It was during this time that they recorded the tv-concert 'ABBA w Studio 2'."


Broadcast information
Saturday 13 November 1976, 20:40-21:20, TVP1, Poland
Saturday 29 April 1978, 18:30-19:30, on channel WIN-4, Australia *
Saturday 10 June 1978, 23:00, Soviet Union **
Friday 24 November 1978, 23:05, Soviet Union **
Saturday 23 February 1980, 19:35, Channel 10, Adelaide, Australia
Repeated 23 and 25 February 2008 on channel Kultura, Poland
Knowing Me, Knowing Me was broadcast on the Rage programme in Australia on 3 November 2012 proving it's available for licence and broadcast.

Click here for a TV listing from Dziennik Polski - 12-13-14 December 1976
Click here for a TV listing from The Canberra Times - 28 April 1978, p.18 *
Click here for a TV listing from Adelaide - 23 February 1980

** TV program Melodies and Rhythms screened different versions of the Polish broadcast. It was shorter than 46 minutes. There was no screensaver with the ABBA logo to the music of Arrival. Also, the finale with this screensaver was cut off. There was no interview on the plane - only the songs in the studio.  The first frames of the programme on Soviet television were Agnetha's face on a white background (the video for SOS).  Total time 37 or 38 minutes.

1. Ingvar Fältskog (Agnetha's father) getting out of the car (Nina Pretty Ballerina)
2. Agnetha getting ratty with her father! (Nina Pretty Ballerina)
3. In My Love My Life there could be two versions of this filmed, with one shot of Agnetha on her own interspersed with the footage of her and Frida together (or do you think it's just camera angles?)
4. Also My Love My Life - it ends rather abruptly with a sudden burst of audience applause. The reason for this is because there's a 2-second long picture and sound error on the master tape. Thankfully it's right at the end of the song.
5. Frida playing air guitar at the end of Knowing Me Knowing You.
6. Agnetha and Frida nearly losing control in a fit of giggles just before the start of the second verse of Fernando
7. In the reprise of Fernando, in one shot Frida has lost her hair band yet seconds later it reappears!

Arrival

Waterloo

The Polish TV Studio 2 special flight on Polish Airlines is ready for boarding.  The special flight expects the special guests - the pop music group ABBA.  Anni-Frid, Benny, Agnetha and Björn - take places please.

What does the word "ABBA" mean?
Frida: It's very simple. ABBA is the initials of our first name. And my name is Anni-Frid.
Benny: I am B - Benny.
Björn: And I am the other B - Björn. And my wife is Agnetha. She is actually in Warsaw already. See, when we fly, because we have a daughter of 31/2 years old, we try to fly separately when we can.

SOS

Why do you have one of the Bs inverted in such a shape?
Benny: Well I don't know. It's an idea from our layout man.  It's two guys and two girls, two pairs and turned to each other.

Which one B is inverted?
Björn: Well I don't know. I guess it's me!

And your opinion?
Benny: Well yes, he is a bit backwards all the time, yeah!

Mr Anderson, as a manager of ABBA and also as an author of the words of some songs of this group, would you please tell us something about money?
Stig Anderson: About what?!

About money!
Stig: Well, to start with we have so many fans here in Poland which we know of, so we thought we would like to go down once and do this television programme and we don't take any money for it.

(Audience in the studio applaud)

Do you want a big crowd at your performance in Poland?
Frida: No we don't want any audience in the studio.

(Audience is shown again in the studio with shouts of disapproval).

I have the connection with the TV studio in Warsaw crowded with people waiting for ABBA - they are very surprised that you don't want audience during the show.
Benny: Of course naturally we want an audience. It's much more fun to play in front of an audience.

(Audience in the studio applaud again)

(Björn, Benny, Frida and Stig are served drinks on the plane)

Björn: Nastwowje!  Thank you. We are very happy to be in Poland.
Stig: Skål!

Nina Pretty Ballerina
(Benny, Björn and Frida are reunited with Agnetha as they pose on the steps of the aircraft and then get ready to travel onwards by car).

Dancing Queen (in kimonos)
My Love, My Life (in kimonos)

When I Kissed The Teacher (in white Arrival jumpsuits)
Knowing Me, Knowing You (in white Arrival jumpsuits)
Fernando (in white Arrival jumpsuits)
Tiger (in white Arrival jumpsuits)

Money, Money, Money (in 20s flapper outfits)

Björn: Thank you very much everybody. Finally, we'd just like to say that it's been a tremendous expeierience for Benny to come here to Poland - and for the rest of us.
Frida: Yes, we really have been enjoying this. And I must tell you that you have been a wonderful audience. And we really love you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Björn: OK, OK. Just to show you that we realloy mean what we say, we're gonna do Fernando one more time for you.

Fernando (in 20s flapper outfits)

Arrival

Lyrics available on the Official ABBA site Discography (scroll down for single release or album track and click on lyrics)

ABBA w Studio 2, 1976;
Camerata, 1976; 

Thanks to Gabriel Zubowski, David McHarcourt, Jun Seo, Petr Mlejnek, Jozsef, Philippe Dupont, Philip Muytjens, Erik Leibstaedter, Steve Layton, Dmitry Shipov, Sam Shervz, Petri Kaasalainen and Alex Jones and thanks to Intermezzo Magazine for the transcription. Thanks also to Anthony Harrison c/o ABBAtalk.
YouTube links c/o ABBFridalicious