Zoe Ball interviews Agnetha Fältskog and Jörgen Elofsson on Thursday 31st August 2023
Zoe :
Our guest this morning is a quarter of one of the most iconic pop bands of all time.
She is bringing us new music.
It is a true thrill to welcome a real hero to the show this morning.
Good morning Agnetha Fältskog , how are you darling ?
Agnetha :
Good morning Zoe. I'm fine thank you and it's nice to be with you
Zoe :
It's so wonderful to have you on the show. How have you been keeping ?
And how has your summer been ? How is summer in Sweden ?
Agnetha :
Thank you. It has been very fine. June was fantastic with a lot of sunshine and not so much rain.
But really lovely. So I took a bath ... yeah several times.
Zoe :
Oh, It's wonderful yeah, June was really good here.
It was very similar and the rest of the summer has been interesting but it's what we're used to.
It's wonderful to have you on the show with such great news as well.
What can you tell us about the new album ?
A reimagined version of your 2013 album 'A plus' ?
Agnetha :
Yeah that's right, it came as an idea,suddenly. I talked with Jörgen who is with me here, Jörgen Elofsson.
Zoe :
Hello Jorgen and welcome to the breakfast show
Jörgen :
Thank you
Agnetha :
He will help me with my English if I drop.
Jörgen :
I don't think you need any help
Agnetha :
Well, the idea came up and we had a little conversation about it
and we said that maybe we should do something else about this album to make it ...
it was ten years ago I did it and we're gonna make a new remix of it and make it sound totally new.
New sound, but the same songs and at the same time he had been writing a new song
and that's the one that is the single now.
For me it felt like, well, shall I do another one ? And I did it.
We didn't know about the voice. As usual if it was there but it was.
Zoe :
It's amazing to hear you say, you know, you worry about your voice and whether it's still going to be there and
having listened; you know, a little peek, early listen and you sound as young as ever, you know
Agnetha :
giggles
Zoe :
It's such a gift, your voice
Agnetha :
Thank you very much
Zoe :
I guess you worry about it if you're not singing for a while and you're not doing that, you know
Agnetha :
ofcourse it's the same with talking English actually, because I talk Swedish all the time at home
and nowadays it is not so common that I speak English, so I feel a little rustier right now.
Zoe :
You sound perfect to us, I have to say , I mean if you asked us to speak any Swedish , can you even imagine what would happen ?
Agnetha :
laughs
Zoe :
How is it for you, Agnetha, whe you hear your music on the radio, do you still have a little moment of Oh gosh
that's me, that's us, that's something special ?
Agnetha :
Yeah, that's always nice, it's always nice, but erm, I love music, music is in my heart and in my brain all the time (laughs)
I live and I sleep with music you can say
Zoe :
Yeah absolutely, what might you listen to, what sort of thing ?
Agnetha :
Well I listen to everything I would say, erm but I have erm, I must tell you one funny thing, it's ...
I came into this old singer from England (what's he called) P.j. Proby
Zoe :
Oh yes
Agnetha :
(laughs) Do you remember ?
Zoe :
Yeah, so ... brilliant
Agnetha :
Right now I listen a lot to him, all the songs from sixties and seventies, that was my childhood.
I listened a lot to all these singers like Sandy Shaw, Dusty Springfield, I really love them and they're still in my heart.
Zoe :
Amazing ladies, I've never doubted, all the incredible performances of the ladies you mentioned there.
So tell us a bit about the single that we're about to play, this is a brand new song, no one's heard it before.
It's called 'Where do we go from here', what was the sentiment behind the lyrics in this song and the feeling in this song ?
Agnetha :
Mmmmm, it was a good feeling, but erm (laughs), maybe you should ask Jörgen what (laughs) what this is all about.
Zoe :
Queue Jörgen,(laughs) what can you tell us darling
Jörgen :
It was actually not us writing it, it was basically a gift, we felt it jus sort of came through us and it
kept going on in my mind all the time and as we worked on - you know - reworking, reimagining your music,
Agnetha's music, right, this song was constantly there as well, as like a little companion saying 'I want to be part of this too', you know it's like ....
so I sort of got a bit brave and I asked you
Agnetha :
Mmmmm
Jörgen :
and I gave you the song and you said 'Yeah, I'll do it', I love the song so ...
Agnetha :
yeah I heard the ...
Jörgen :
So that's really the story of ... , ofcourse you said 'Oh I'm not sure I can sing it' but I always say 'Yes you can'
Agnetha :
(laughs) yeah, I always say that
Jörgen :
you can sing anything
Agnetha :
But I heard the demo first and it was a girl singing it, the demo, and I thought I would never do it (laughs) like she did .. and then I said, okay I try it and it came out very very well and now I'm very proud of it.
Jörgen :
Fantastic
Zoe :
Okay we'll play it now on radio 2
Agnetha :
okay
Zoe :
Here is Agnetha with 'Where do we go from here'. (song starts)
Zoe :
We are already singing all the words, it's in our hearts, you can see why Jörgen was saying that he had that song and it becomes a gift.
That was a world exclusive, Agnetha,beautiful, how does it feel to hear it on the radio for you ?
Agnetha :
It feels good , yeah (laughs) , you never get tired of it, to hear yourself on the radio that's really a ... that's really something.
It's always a tensed feeling you can say about what are the people going to think about this, but as long as you have your heart in it and you have done the best you can erm because I'm not so young anymore and erm ...
Jörgen :
laughs
Agnetha :
and I'm very grateful that I still have my voice and a good composer beside me
Zoe :
yeah, precisely
Jörgen :
thank you
Zoe :
Oh I know you're an amazing, dynamic duo, the two of you together, you really really are
Agnetha :
Thank you
Zoe :
Oh, we all need a Jörgen I think in our lives
Agnetha :
laughs
Zoe :
Yes, it's so fabulous, I have to say I have been really blessed on the breakfast show that Annifrid was on the show,
I got to talk to Benny and Björn so it really was a dream Agnetha, to have you on the show.
Abba have been quite a phenomenon , the band really feels very much like a force of it's own at the moment with Abba voyage.
Which people, you know, are still ... I know people who have seen it six or seven times, while the people are still finding it and loving it,
and Mamma mia ofcourse, the musical and the films.
When you anounced, you know, the new records that you did a couple of years ago it was a top news story on every channel.
Pretty much around the world, how did that feel for you ?
Agnetha :
It feels very good and this with voyage it's an amazing show, it's doing so well and we don't even know how they did it, even if we worked with it a lot.
Zoe :
It's so clever, it's so clever
Agnetha :
Yes it is
Zoe :
It really is,... Jörgen have you seen it ? Have you seen the show ?
Jörgen :
No, actually I haven't, I've been too busy working here with Agnetha's music
Agnetha an Zoe both laugh
Jörgen :
But I am definitely gonna get up there and check it out
Agnetha :
you have more time now
Zoe :
When you come over, give us a ring and we'll all come with you
Agnetha :
I would love to come over often if it was not so far away
Zoe :
I know, it's so so good
We had Annifrid on the show, back last year and she was talking about how special it is when you're all together
Annifrid recording :
It's always magical to stay together with Agnetha, because we have something special as you know, not only voyage wise but also as friends and it's like meeting up with your sis, you know and once we close the door behind us in the studio, we felt at home, both of us.
Agnetha :
Oh my dear friend, yeah we have been going through a lot in our lives and the time with Abba was, you know, it was ten, twelve years that we travelled together, we did everything together and I would like to take this opportunity to send my greetings to the other three and I want to thank all wonderful fans who has been with us during all years and for all fantastic people who has told us which impact our music has had in their lives. Both in sorrow and happiness.
It really warms my heart.
Zoe :
Oh, you know you're so right their songs have been with us through all the adventures in our lives,
like you say, the highs and the lows.
Next year it's 50 years since Eurovision, since you guys won. It's gonna be in Sweden.
I mean it's written in the stars, if you're not there then erm, well, you know,what can we do ? (laughs).
Any plans to do anything, you think ?
Agnetha :
You never know anything about Abba,(all laugh) so... well, I, I don't say anything about that, so
Zoe :
yeah, okay
Agnetha :
I'd rather be quiet
Zoe :
Yes, I know, that's beautifully handled there, okay,fingers crossed for all of us.
You wrote your first song when you were 6 years old, what do you think that little girl would think if she could see the success, the influence that you would go on to have in the incredible career ?
Agnetha :
Mmmm, I had no idea, at that time I just felt that I had so much music in me and it developed and when I was 7 , no 15, I started, you know, with this dance group and toured around Sweden so I have been touring a lot before we started Abba.
Music has been my life
Zoe : Y
eah absolutely, and what do your grandchildren think of your incredible career or are they a bit like the kids in our family
where that it's like something 'yeah yeah,that's quite impressive' and they get on with their own lives ?
Agnetha :
I think they're really now starting to understand; some of them were with us in the opening night in London and they were crying..
Zoe :
really ?
Agnetha :
Yeah, oh grandma (laughing) , .... yeah , so they had no idea, I think, what I have been doing
Zoe :
it must be mindblowing for them to be able to ... and thank goodness there's all the old footage that we can revisit as well, it's so good.
Agnetha, thank you so much ... for the music, thank you for talking to us. So much love from all your fans over here ...
Agnetha :
Thank you and I would like to send it back and thank you for having us with you.
(The winner takes it all starting to play)
Zoe :
Thank you so much and Jörgen, you're an absolute superstar,
Jörgen :
oh, thank you
Zoe :
and let us know when you come over for the show
Agnetha :
laughing
Jörgen :
Thank you so much
Agnetha :
many thanks
BBC site
BBC site interview (audio) start around 2:06
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