Thursday 4 November 2010

Bravo, December 1980: Anni-Frid, Benny, Agnetha and Björn drew pictures for you: who wants a ‘real ABBA’?

What springs to mind on the subject matter Christmas? ABBA hesitated for a while when we asked them this question. For one whole day, Bravo had the group in front of its camera in a Stockholm photographic studio – a world exclusive. Meanwhile, Bravo reader Manfred Weichel had his dream encounter: he presented the four Swedes with the silver Bravo Otto ’79.
During a break in the photo shoot, the idea came into being: we are going to draw something Christmassy for the Bravo readers! Björn, Agnetha, Benny and Anni-Frid got down to business with felt-tip pens.
Soon it turned out that the girls may have the better voices, but the boys know better how to handle the drawing pencil. It’s unforgettable for Björn that Santa Claus always paid him a visit at Christmas when he was a little boy. That’s why he drew a somewhat stern looking Father Christmas and wrote – since he knows how to speak German – ‘Fröhliche Weihnachten’ to go with it.
Agnetha settled for a needle-free Christmas tree, on which two lonely candles were burning. Agnetha: “I’m all for an economical Christmas, without too much presents, because I think that Christmas should be more about love than about presents.”
Why she wrote the wish ‘Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year’ in French? Anni-Frid is learning to speak French at the moment. And that’s why the girls looked up the translation together in the dictionary.
Benny rather gets something convivial than reflective out of Christmas; that’s why he drew a jolly little man with a sailor balloon. “At Christmas, I’m already looking forward to New Year’s Eve,” he smirked.
Anni-Frid makes no secret of where she would love to spend the Christmas days most of all: in the hot south where people are lying under palmtrees at Christmas time.
Each one of these drawings is obviously a valuable souvenir for ABBA fans (of course they are autographed as well). After all, you won’t be able to get a ‘real ABBA’ for your wall every day...

No comments: