Blogcritics Comments on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Comment by Paul on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Mon, 7 May 2007 17:39:42 EDT

Here's something of a somewhat different style

Comment by Paul on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Mon, 7 May 2007 16:49:26 EDT

Ah, technology! Try this!

Comment by Glen Boyd on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Sun, 8 Apr 2007 19:48:46 EDT

In order to look at the video you mention, I would of course need to actually HAVE the URL. Thanx! -Glen

Comment by Paul on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Sun, 8 Apr 2007 19:45:46 EDT

I like a lot of 70s music - there was certainly variety. Chicks didn't come much hotter than blonde Agnetha, though, like when performing Honey Honey in 1976: Look at my URL video. Watch out especially around 1:01!

Comment by mikory on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Fri, 9 Mar 2007 19:42:04 EST

Find out the latest of what is happening with the four former members of ABBA - they are still alive and kicking (sort of). :)

Comment by GL Hauptfleisch on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 15:06:52 EST

Glen--to answer your #13 question: I don't necessarily prefer "GL"--I had to make a change because for some reason I was unable to continue to leave comments under my tried-and-true name, and there didn't seem to be a way to fix it. --call me Gordon

Comment by Bill Sherman on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:41:26 EST

No shame in luvin' all parts of Abba, think I. Heck, this pop-rock fan still holds a big ol' crush on Frida's solo album . . .

Comment by Glen Boyd on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 11:34:51 EST

Hey guys -- Thanks for all the great replies and comments. I was actually in the middle of typing out one of my typically long-winded replies to this late last night when my computer more or less died on me. Not sure what the problem is, but it was pretty scary. This means I could be offline for a few days depending on the results of a diagnostic I plan on getting later tonite. Typing from work right now which means I have to be somewhat brief, but again I've really enjoyed the responses (even yours Daryl D --- LOL). Hope to be back among the living in a day or so... Thanx! -Glen

Comment by Peter on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 08:38:59 EST

I'll bite. Well done, funny article... like the Frida bit at the end especially. And I would be the last to call your interest in Marillion a "flaw." PC

Comment by Christopher Rose on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 07:31:48 EST

I've had several musical secret lives, starting with loving The Beatles (Pop), The Rolling Stones (Rock) and Tamla Motown/Stax (Soul) all at once. This in a time when those three underground tribes (Pop fans, Rockers and Mods) were all literally fighting each other over dress codes and social or cultural values. Subsequently, whilst almost always being part of an alternative or underground scene, I've always loved out and out pop too. I actually can't understand how people who only like one genre of music like, say, rock fans, don't get terminally bored.

Comment by Mark Saleski on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:52:24 EST

disco anecdote alert! i've written before about how i was a sort of closet disco fan...actually disliked most of it with a few exceptions: "Knock On Wood", "Bad Girls", "Love To Love You Baby". so usually we had rock bands playing at dances, but every so often they'd have a dj...and me and the boys just hated it when the disco tunes came out. so all of us would yell "FUCK OFF!" over the top of the "Freak Out"'s on that Chic record. (right, only a 16 yr old can think that that's being clever). the irony of course is that i love that song now. that funk guitar riff is, as mr. bueller would say, so choice.

Comment by daryl d on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:08:40 EST

but I think the Hustle came out in either 76 or 77....

Comment by daryl d on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:04:43 EST

I meant disco (not dico)..lol. Typing on my new sony micro pc thumb pad can make you form words you never meant to. I was only 8 at the time of Disco Demolition. But I do remember signs up around that period that said "Disco sucks," and "Fags Like Disco." I was young, but do remember the negative gay-disco association. It happened more in 78-79. I do remember doing "the hustle" was cool to everyone, even str8 people.

Comment by Mark Saleski on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:57:07 EST

that's interesting, i don't really recall all that much anti-gay sentiment. heck, even a group like the Village People were mere cartoons, where people just disliked the music as being weak (catchy obviosly, but week). i do remember that disco demolition stunt...and at the time, as much as i didn't care for disco, thought it was kinda stupid.

Comment by STM on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:54:43 EST

Glen wrote: "Now I do know that Abba did have gay fans. What 70's disco fixture didn't? And so what?" Having said that, I must say the ABBA girls - Anni-Frid and Agnetha? - DID provide some *cough* fertile ground for this young teenage imagination in the Australia of the early '70s, when they became the most popular pop band since the Beatleas for a short time. The hot pants and figure-hugging outfits, along with the leather bodysuits worn by Emma Peel of the British TV series The Avengers, gave me an instant appreciation for older women. Or possibly ALL women.

Comment by zingzing on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:47:50 EST

"But I bet you if you mention the word "dico" to them, they'll cringe." i'll assume you meant "disco," (even if it makes your sentence much more funny,) but i'll have to disagree. lcd soundsystem, who is pretty much the dfa by another name, has a song called "disco infiltrator" and it's pretty obvious from the sound (and interviews) of the disco-inspired punk stuff (new and old) that they had a genuine love of the stuff and were/are not afraid to share it. of course there are people that will always connect disco, and hating disco, to homosexuality... of course, those same people were probably dancing with roller skates on in 1977... but those aren't the people one should listen to in order to decide what is "cool" or "uncool" (not that anyone need listen to anyone else on that front). in england, disco never took the wholesale punishment that disco took in late-70s america. but even in america, disco was back by 1981, just under another name. and chicago was (with nyc) the center of that comeback.

Comment by daryl d on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:31:47 EST

yes, zingzing. A lot of acts use disco. But I bet you if you mention the word "dico" to them, they'll cringe. I think it is hypocritical. Disco lived on, it just changed it's form. I was at Disco Demolition Night in Chicago and have very vivid, strong memories of that. I was a little kid at the time and was scared to death. But even I kept asking my dad, for weeks after, why people hate "disco" so much and why would they get so angry over it. He said, nicely, that it was a way to protest homosexuals. I still believe him.

Comment by zingzing on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:22:25 EST

"But, lets face it, if you are a fan of a disco act, like Abba, Donna Summer, Madonna, Village People, etc....., you are considered uncool." actually, disco is getting reappraised quite a bit these days. the fact is that if you enjoy dance music, you're just listening to disco as it has become. out of all the acts you mention, donna summer (or more to the point, georgio moroder,) is well respected these days for pretty much inventing the 12" single format, which created the potential for the elongated remix (although her use of it, at first, was to create 20-minute long songs), as well as the use of the sequencer and electronic (as in synths) instruments. more and more obscure disco of the time, like arthur russell productions, early electro stuff, italo disco, etc, is being unearthed and recognized for the creative stuff that it is. out of all the mainstream disco acts of the day, i'd say chic is the best, as they are up there with the who and the band for tightness and synergy. even post-punk acts of the time started incorporating disco into their work. see gang of four, new order and public image for some late-70's/early 80's disco-punk. even today, incredibly hip bands like liars, daft punk and the rapture have used disco as a rhythmic base. shit, probably the most hipster-cred group in america right now is the dfa, and they are pretty much straight-up disco most of the time.

Comment by daryl d on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:03:42 EST

No, I'm not saying you're article was suggesting homophobia...lol! But, lets face it, if you are a fan of a disco act, like Abba, Donna Summer, Madonna, Village People, etc....., you are considered uncool. Therefore, it is a guilty pleasure. And the reason disco acts are not respected has a lot to do with their association with the gay community. Yes, a whole article can be written on this, I suppose. I didn't become an Abba fan until a couple years back. When I played one of their cds, someone in the office asked, "are you gay?" I know I'm going all over the place here, but Abba should NOT be considered a guilty pleasure. They should be considered a pleasure, period. But I think you say "guilty pleasure" cause you know it's not "cool" to like them. That's ok, I do the same. But we should questions ourselves why.

Comment by Glen Boyd on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:28:33 EST

"...you're a doggone beast" mind-boggling. Exactly Mark. Not much room for misinterpetation there in my view. Particularly sung by a female within the context of a song whose other lyrics include "Im gonna stick to you, you'll never get rid of me." Now I do know that Abba did have gay fans. What 70's disco fixture didn't? And so what? My article wasn't about that, and nothing I wrote suggests it. I suppose an interesting article about that subject could be written if someone wanted to persue it. Perhaps the next assignment for comment #17? -Glen

Comment by Mark Saleski on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:16:55 EST

"...you're a doggone beast" mind-boggling.

Comment by zingzing on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:13:05 EST

gayness? they were all straight, yeah? i think it's the level of cheese, the pure euro-pop and the 1970s that keeps them in the "guilty pleasure" zone. disco as a whole was seen as rather gay, although the reality of the situation is that the stuff that was played at gay discos was far, far better than the stuff being played at straight discos.

Comment by Glen Boyd on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:11:45 EST

Why should Abba have to be a "guilty pleasure." Is it because they are associated with gayness? Now where in the hell did that come from? Can somebody tell me please? -Glen

Comment by daryl d on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 13:07:51 EST

Why should Abba have to be a "guilty pleasure." Is it because they are associated with gayness? Their music is great and really stands the test of time.

Comment by Glen Boyd on The Rockologist: Embracing ABBA And Other Guilty Pleasures

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:50:00 EST

Thanx Michael and Kanaoshi. I don't know about the "chessy" tag -- to me they were just great pop songs. I guess they were a little squeaky clean, although again I direct your attention to the breathy whispers of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and "Honey, Honey." Pure sex guys. No way around it. Thanx for the comments. -Glen