One of Us PROMO

Filmed: Monday 23 and Friday 27 November 1981

Location: Lasse Hallstrom's apartment, Karlavägen, (23 November 1981) and Filmbolaget Studios (27 November 1981), Stockholm, Sweden

Release status: Released on The Definitive Collection

Duration: 3:56

Shown in: Worldwide

Additional information

Directed, as usual, by Lasse Hallström.

There were two shocks in store for fans when seeing this PROMO for the first time in late 1981.

  1. Firstly Frida's drastic new 'punky' haircut and
  2. Björn's new beard.

The morning after this PROMO was first shown on Top of the Pops, I was teased mercilessly at school because Frida looked so old!. 

The PROMO was shot in a panic as One of Us was chosen as a single at the last-minute. It was director Lasse Hallström's idea to film the flat-moving in his own Stockholm apartment in Karlavägen, which, incidentally, was the same apartment as the one used for the Happy New Year and Felicidad PROMOs.

An alternate version of the One of Us PROMO - with a couple of slightly different scenes - was shown during the West German broadcast of Dick Cavett Meets ABBA in 1981. The different scenes show:

  1. Agnetha and Björn standing up around 1:30 minutes into the PROMO, after we see Frida and Benny in the same positions
  2. Frida close-up instead of the 3-heads-of-Agnetha over 3-heads-over-Frida formation at this position around 3 mins.

All of ABBA's PROMO clips were produced with 16mm cameras.

At the time of release, this PROMO was offered to TV stations for SEK 1,000.

The 'special effects' in the PROMO are really Lasse Hallström being very creative with a small budget.

  1. This image of Benny was created like this.
  2. This image of Frida was created like this.
  3. This image of Benny and Frida was created like this.

On Friday 28 April 2023, a new lyric video appeared on ABBA's YouTube channel.  This was the last one to be completed.


Release information:
ABBA Gold DVD (which featured a re-mastered version of the PROMO)
The Essential Collection 
The Definitive Collection
Super Trouper Deluxe Edition CD/DVD

  1. The second picture that Agnetha hangs on the wall (large orange butterflies) is the same picture on the wall of the apartment (the one on the top left-hand side above Agnetha's head) in the Happy New Year and Felicidad PROMOs - also filmed at Lasse Hallström's apartment.  It is by an artist called Ardy Strüwer and is entitled “Dreaming Butterfly Man”.
  2. The roll of wallpaper that Agnetha rolls out is the same as that in a picture of ABBA during a break in filming the Knowing Me, Knowing You PROMO although Agnetha hangs it upside down.
  3. Agnetha lip moment

Thanks to Harry Ehler, Adam Dawson, Rudolf Ondrich, Chris Williams, Alexandre Carvalho and and Julian Djuric.
Thanks to Claire-Louise Emmerson for identifying the artist and painting.
YouTube links c/o AbbaVEVO and ABBA

Got any information to add?
Spotted a mistake?
Contact me at abbaontv@yahoo.co.uk