ABBA The Museum pays tribute to the Polar Studios with exclusive POP Talks on May 18.

ABBA is considered as one of the world’s biggest pop group’s with 380 million albums sold. The reason behind the group’s huge popularity is generally contributed to ABBA’s powerful image, well produced music and their unique sound.

At the end of the 70s, ABBA built their own recording studio, Polar Studio, completely in line with their own specifications and a studio modelled after the US-based East Lake Audio. At the Polar Studio, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and sound engineer Michael B Tretow further developed the ABBA sound, inspired partly by Phil Spector. Sunday, May 18, 2014 marks exactly 36 years since the now world famous Polar Studio was inaugurated in Stockholm. To mark this occasion, ABBA The Museum will host the POP Talks event.

Following the opening ceremony in May 1978, the Polar Studio enjoyed international acclaim, with several major international artists and groups such as Led Zepplin and Genesis choosing to record in the studio. Other big names included the Backstreet Boys, Chic, Ramones and Def Leppard. Three of ABBA’s last albums were also recorded at Polar studio, namely Voulez-vous, Super Trouper and The Visitors. ABBA The Museum has reconstructed the Polar studio in an exhibit comprising many of the original objects and instruments from the studio, like the Harrison 40 channel mixing console, Lasse Wellander’s Fender Stratocaster 62 and Rutger Gunnarsson’s three bass guitars; Fender Precision, Fender Jazz and Steinberger.

On Sunday, May 18, it will be 36 years since the Polar Studio opened in Stockholm. ABBA the museum is marking this date by arranging POP talks, with special guest Lennart Östlund. Lennart worked as a music technician for ABBA at Polar Studio, alongside Michael B Tretow, and later became the studio's producer and manager.

In the museum’s Polar Studios’ replica, Lennart Östlund will tell the story of why a world-class recording studio was built in Stockholm in the late 70s. He will also share his memories of what happened when ABBA came to record the now world famous song Chiquitita, which became the first song ever recorded at the Polar Studio. Museum curator Ingmarie Halling says, “The museum enjoys excellent relations with both Michael Tretow and Lennart Östlund, and my wish for a long time has been to create a live situation in the studio, showing our visitors how things work in general in a studio and in the Polar Studio in particular.”

The May 18 POP Talks will be moderated by Ingmarie Halling. Visitors to the museum are welcome to come and listen to Lennart Östlund at 11am and 1pm on Sunday, May 18. Please note that there are a limited number seats, with registration taking place at the box office. The Pop Talks is free of charge together with an entrance ticket valid Sunday 18th of May.

Fast Facts ABBA The Museum

ABBA The Museum and the Swedish Music Hall of Fame are celebrating their first year of operations with top visitor numbers. In just 12 months, the museum has received over 350.000 visitors, the majority of whom come from abroad. During the year, the museum has furthermore been named by the Global TripAdvisor Award as one of the top three destinations in Sweden.

At ABBA The Museum visitors can follow the band’s amazing career from when the members of ABBA met in the late 1960s, through the breakthrough of Waterloo, to major world tours and the pause in 1982. Visitors can sing in the Polar Studios, try their costumes virtually and feel what it’s like to be on stage with the band via a holographic stage solution. Moreover, many of ABBA’s fabulous stage costumes are on display in the Gold Room. Through the museum’s audio guide, Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Frida relate their own personal memories of ABBA period for the first time. The audio guide script was developed by Cathrine Johnson, writer of the Mamma Mia! musical and feature film.

The exhibition Swedish popular music highlights Swedish music from the 20s to the present day. Over 400 Swedish artists are featured, including First Aid Kit, Roxette, Robyn, Entombed and Cornelius Vreeswijk.

ABBA The Museum/Swedish Music Hall of Fame is located on Djurgårdsvägen 68, beside Gröna Lund on the scenic island of Djurgården in Stockholm. The building also houses the Melody Hotel and Restaurant.

Tickets can be booked and bought online at www.abbathemuseum.com.

For hotel and table reservations visit www.melody.se.

Opening hours daily 10.00-20.00

Tickets

Adult: SEK 195


Children under 7 years of age free of charge

Special rates for children from 7-16 years and for families.

Book at www.abbathemuseum.com

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Visiting address

Djurgårdsvägen 68, Djurgården, Stockholm