Pop
ABBA, the Swedish quartet of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, is one of the best-selling pop groups in history. Its story crossed the Vaud Alps and the Casino de Montreux.
ABBA in the land of Vaud
1979: “ABBA in Switzerland”
In February 1979, at the height of their fame, ABBA set down their bags in Leysin, in the Vaud Alps, to film “ABBA in Switzerland”, their first European television special shot on location. Amid snow and peaks, they sang their hits, surrounded by prestigious guests: Kate Bush and Roxy Music.
Co-produced with Swiss television, the show had several regional versions; in the Swiss one, skater Denise Biellmann glided to “Money, Money, Money”. Broadcast from April 1979, it lastingly inscribed the group in the Vaud landscape.
1985: Agnetha at the Golden Rose
When the ABBA adventure paused, the story with the Riviera continued. On 10 May 1985, Agnetha Fältskog sang “One Way Love” at the Golden Rose Festival, on the stage of the Casino de Montreux, backed by ABBA musicians. The same gathering that year welcomed Sting.
So, from the special shot in the Vaud Alps to the lights of the Casino, Sweden’s most pop saga also left its trace by Lake Geneva.
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