Nöjesmaskinen = Entertainment Machine

Nöjesmaskinen was a Swedish entertainment programme which was broadcast on Friday nights on TV2 between 1982 and 1984.

ABBA were interviewed by Stina Dabrowski (née Lundberg) and Sven Mellander, sitting in an informal and relaxed circle while video clips were shown and they commented on them.

They performed a short LIVE Thank You For The Music then answered a question each from kind of slot machine. Finally they performed Under Attack (to playback with cold ending).

The other special guest star on the programme was John Denver. I expect ABBA met him backstage - they would have met him at the Music for UNICEF - A Gift of Song Concert in January 1979 in New York.

Broadcast information:
Friday 19 November 1982, LIVE, 21:30-22:30, SVT2, Sweden
Repeated Tuesday 5 January 2010, SVT1, Sweden

Release information:
The performance of Thank You For The Music has been released on Super Troupers - 30 Years of ABBA.
This programme has been officially released on The Visitors Deluxe Edition on 23 April 2012.

Sven Mellander: You're here tonight because you're celebrating your tenth anniversary.

Stina Dabrowski: Didn't you celebrate the 10th anniversary last year?

Björn: Yes, but I don’t think that was right. Maybe the others think differently?

SM: Why not?

Björn: Ring Ring is our first real song when we decided to work together. Benny and I started writing the song ten years ago.

Benny: On the other hand our first single People Need Love came earlier. We had already worked together as “Festfolket” and doing cabaret shows at restaurants and so on.

SM: And you released your single in USA under the name...

Frida: ... "Björn & Benny & Svenska Flicka"

Björn: It was in Japan…

SM: But the name ABBA came with Ring Ring?

Frida: Was it so, really?

Benny: ABBA first came in 1974 with Waterloo.

Frida: Yes, that's right.

Benny: We’ve been working together for 11 - nearly 12 years now.

Frida: : It can be the 10th, 11th or 12th anniversary.

Björn: It's OK to be confused.

Benny: We haven’t celebrated anything anyway.

SM: It is high time you did.

SD: Now can we take a look at the last 10 years? Please start the film so we can see how you looked like ten years ago.

Benny: Just as today.

(Clip of Waterloo at The Eurovision Song Contest in 1974)

Agnetha: Oooh...

SM: Why do you say "oooh", Agnetha?

Frida: Did I have a wig on there?!

(Clip of Mamma Mia from Made in Sweden for Export from 1975)

Benny: That's one of our first videos.

Frida: We did 4 videos...

SM: How does it feel to see these videos?

Agnetha: It feels like 7 years later

(Clip of the video of Dancing Queen from 1976)

Frida: That must be in Australia?

Benny: No, it’s Stockholm – Alexandra Disco.

Frida: Oh yes, that’s right...

Benny: I was more handsome on this video.

(Clip of Chiquitita from ABBA in Concert from 1979)

Benny: That's from our most recent tour..

SM: When you listen to the songs you can say: oh this is this one and this one and all are hits.

Benny: We’ve done quite many songs which are still good.

SM: Can you still the lyrics?

Agnetha: Oh yes, they come directly...

Björn: I don’t remember most of them...

Frida: When you started singing a song so you continue only and the lyrics come automatically...

Björn: The same lyrics all the time... (laugh)

SM: Which is the best ABBA song?

Benny: It is very difficult to say...

Agnetha: We like different songs each of us...

Benny: We have to pick up some of them...

SM: Please, do it.

Agnetha: My favorite is The Winner Takes It All

Benny: I cannot choose one song only – I agree that The Winner Takes It All is very good.

SD: It must have happened a lot of crazy things during this period... Frida...

Frida: Oh, it was a stupid thing that happened on our tour – which year was it?...

Björn: 1977.

Frida: Yes 1977. We did a mini musical which lasted about 20 minutes during the concert. Agnetha and myself had different clothes and blonde wigs. We were of course in a horrible hurry when we changed. When we put the wigs on we had to flatten down the hair and put a stocking on it. Then you have to fasten the wig with needles so it sits securely on your head. But we were in such a hurry that I did not manage to do it... So we had a rockier number and we danced and shook our heads and ... my wig landed on the floor... It was not fun for the audience to see me without hair with the stocking on my head. Then I tried to put the wig on my head but in a hurry I put it back to front... (laugh).

SD: Was it possible to continue after such a funny incident?

Bjorn: We had to. We laughed.

Benny: We wanted to create a special atmosphere with this musical but after this it was impossible.

SM: OK. Now something else. Frida has made her solo project this year and the boys are planning a musical. Tell us about it.

Benny: We’ve been talking about it for many years.

Björn: A journalist said to me some days ago: I found an article from 1970 where you say that you want to write a musical... But now it is for real. We have a contact with Tim Rice. We have met him three times.

SM: Are you not afraid of such a big project.

Benny: No, not at all. I think that we three manage it.

SD: How long time can it take to write a musical.

Björn: We don’t know. It is very difficult to say. We can get a kick and it can go fast. But it can take a long time as well.

Benny: It takes one year to do an ABBA album including holidays and other things. Here is double so much to do...

SM: But there is something else which is hot today. Benny can you start the video?

(The Day Before You Came PROMO)

SM: You don’t like traditional boring questions which are asked several thousands times. So I want to ask another one. When do ABBA split up? (they laugh but nobody answers)

Björn: Well, everybody asks this question all the time.

SD: Ok, what is the most stupid question you’ve been ever asked?

Benny: Well it was at MIDEM in Cannes some years ago. We got two silly questions one after another. The first one was: “Do you like music, yes – no?” (laughs). The second one was: “How do you make a hit?” (laughs).

Frida: I started to laugh and I had to leave the room.

Björn: You got angry.

Frida: Yes, I got angry as well.

SD: Your dreams have probably come true now. You are rich and famous and very successful. But are there still any dreams you have?

Björn: Well, I don’t know.

Benny: There are a lot of ambitions still. But I don’t know if I had so many dreams...

Björn: Sure, you want to do you job better and better. Of course we had dreams about success.

Frida: Maybe not you (to Benny). You were successful from the very beginning with Hep Stars.

SM: But how about the material dreams...

Agnetha: Well, what kind of dreams. When I look back on our 10 years so I can hardly find any glamour in them... It has been extremely hard work all the time.

Frida: Of course when you have money you can buy what you want but you have to learn to live with it. Then you start to think that other things are more important, not money. You start thinking who am I , what do I want? You think about your work, you want to be better and better and that’s the most important thing.

Björn: The best thing I know is the music. It is most important. I can live without limousines but not without music because it’s still a great fun for me. Happiness can be small things as time together with the children and so on.

Agnetha: The most important things when you get older are that you and your children are healthy, that you have nature and fresh air you can breathe...

SM: It has not only been 10 years with ABBA but as well you became 10 years older.

Agnetha: You are not happier of living in a double suite.

Benny: ..neither of getting older...

Agnetha: No, not at all... but wiser. Maybe you get more harmony...

Frida: I don’t think so. It can be up and down anyway... But you start to think about your life in a different way.

Agnetha: And it’s the same thing for all people, not only for us who are successful.

Benny: ... are you sure...

SD: But you are quite special anyway. In one of the interviews with you you were asked how it was to work with ABBA. Björn said that it was very wonderful because we did not have to compromise at work. Agnetha and Frida said that the time with ABBA was wonderful because they had learned a lot.

Björn: I think we are talking about two different things now. I mean, when I played with Hootenanny Singers I had to compromise all the time. We could not play all the show in the evening because there wasn't enough time and we could not do what we wanted musically because of something and so on and so on.

Frida: Well, I can see it in a different way. Myself and Agnetha when we came to the studio as singers we had to compromise when we sang the material written by Björn and Benny because they as composers had a clear picture of the song from the very beginning. So even if you maybe wanted to do something more as a singer you couldn’t and you had to compromise.

Agnetha: On the other hand we could add something to the songs what Björn and Benny had not thought about.

Björn: Absolutely.

oIt has nothing to do with the fact that you are girls?

Agnetha: Absolutely not. Not in this case.

Benny: Not at all. Of course we have a clear picture of what we want to create. Björn and myself start to work with a song long before the girls come to the studio, so it is quite natural that it will be in this way.

Frida: The boys know exactly how they want us to sing a song.

SD: But still we are different men and women. After a divorce it takes 7 years for women to get married again and only 1 year for men.

Björn: Is that true?

Frida: I think that boys are afraid of being alone.

Benny: I think, there are not enough of good boys...

Agnetha: I agree, boys are afraid of living alone.

Björn: I was single one week only... what a horrible week...

SM: Now you can sing little..

Agnetha: Yes, we do!

(ABBA sing Thank You For The Music LIVE in the studio).

SM: You are going to sing one more song Under Attack very soon but before that you have to attack our interview-machine – Benny.

BENNY'S QUESTION: Do you have any complexes?

Benny: Björn has, he can talk about it...

SM: Don’t you have any?

Benny: I don’t think so. Maybe some business affairs... no I don’t know.

SM: It’s OK. Björn now.

BJÖRN'S QUESTION: Who did you want to be when you were a little child?

Frida: Have you ever been little child?

Björn: Oh, yes. I suppose that I wanted to be a pop star very early in my life. I probably had a dream of being train driver or something like that. Is that ok?

SM: OK, Agnetha.

Agnetha: It will be sure very difficult.

SM: No difficult questions here.

AGNETHA'S QUESTION: Who do you most admire?

Agnetha: Now? (thinking; Frida is pointing on herself but Agnetha pretends not to see).

Agnetha: Me!

Frida: Typical Agnetha! (laughs).

FRIDA'S QUESTION: What finds mean most for the human being?

Frida: Telephone, radio, planes, TV, kitchen appliances

SM: It’s enough, thanks.

(ABBA perform Under Attack in the studio (to playback)

Translation from Raffem.com

Lyrics available on the Official ABBA site: Thank You For The Music and Under Attack

Nöjesmaskinen (Agnetha), 1982;
Nöjesmaskinen, 1982;
Nöjesmaskinen (Agnetha), 1983;

Archive data from Swedish Media Database:
SVT2 1982-11-19
Fullständig tablå
22.00 Nöjesmaskinen.
Tablåinnehåll (21.30)
Tablåinnehåll Del 6. Heder och samvete. (-23.20)
Utgivning
År/datum 1982-11-19
Kanal SVT2
Utgivning Stockholm : SVT, TV2
Utgivningsland Sverige
Exemplar
Umatic TV283-1082
Antal enheter 1
Kondition Bild- och ljudstörningar, Delvis migrerad. 15 minuter.
Arkivnummer TV283-1082
MPEG-1 ZS_svt_svt2_1982-11-19
Filbeskrivning 1,5 Mbit/s, MPEG-1 layer 2, 48 kHz, 128 kbit/s
Arkivnummer ZS_svt_svt2_1982-11-19
MPEG-2 YA_TV283-1082
Filbeskrivning programström CBR, 12 Mbit/s, MPEG-1 layer 2, 48 kHz, 160 kbit/s
Kondition Bild- och ljudstörningar, Delvis migrerad. 15 minuter.
Arkivnummer YA_TV283-1082

Thanks to Robin Andersson, Jozsef, Jun Seo, Raffem.com, Jan Bach, Steve Layton and Lendy.
YouTube link c/o Steve Layton