ABBA have marked the 50th anniversary of their Eurovision win in the UK with Waterloo.
As well as activity around the anniversary, ABBA have launched a reissue campaign this weekend and started releasing their catalogue in Dolby Atmos.
Waterloo triumphed at the 1974 ceremony, which took place on April 6 at The Dome in Brighton. It went on to spend two weeks at No.1 in the UK.
The 50th anniversary is being celebrated around the world on the weekend (April 6).
With the ‘Piano Moment’, Benny Andersson pre-recorded a short piano piece to be experienced as if he were there and playing live. In London, Berlin, Warsaw and Stockholm, all the pianos were linked together simultaneously to play the piece every hour during the anniversary day on April 6. In the UK, the piano was placed at Waterloo Station in London.
The Mark De-Lisser Singers, a 20-person flash mob choir, performed renditions of Waterloo at the London station. Waterloo station also had an ABBA makeover with bespoke outdoor advertising across its main concourse and ABBA Voyage branding along the travelators.
The BBC is also marking ABBA's 1974 victory with special programming.
As well as releasing a new album, Voyage, in 2021, and launching their ABBA Voyage avatar concert experience, the Swedish stars have become one of the most successful catalogue acts. ABBA, Universal Music Recordings and Polar Music triumphed in the Catalogue Marketing category at the Music Week Awards last year.
We can celebrate the 50th anniversary of that event in the knowledge that our songs still resonate around the world
ABBA
“It’s slightly dizzying and deeply humbling to think that millions of you who saw us for the first time in the Eurovision final 1974 have passed our music on not only to one generation, but to several,” said ABBA in a statement. “We see evidence of that every time one of us visits ABBA Voyage in London and it’s because of this we can celebrate the 50th Anniversary of that event in the knowledge that our songs still resonate around the world.”
To further commemorate the moment in music history, ABBA’s catalogue is now being released in Dolby Atmos. Waterloo is the first track to become available in the format.
Waterloo, ABBA’s second album, has just been reissued as a half-speed mastered 45rpm 2LP vinyl edition, along with a limited edition box set of the three vinyl singles originally released by Polar in 1974. The singles are also available as separate picture discs.
There is also a 10-inch vinyl disc featuring Waterloo in four different languages, as well as a new line of anniversary apparel inspired by the 1970s outfits.
ABBA’s Gold collection was No.8 overall in the first quarter of 2024 with 68,347 units of chart consumption over the three months. Click here for the quarterly analysis.
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