SIRIUS Satellite Radio announced that Channel 3 for a two week period beginning July 7th, 2008 will be become the ABBA Channel. To tie in with “Mamma Mia! The Movie” being released this month, SIRIUS is getting in the act in making sure you have access to an all ABBA channel to get your fix of ABBA songs as well as songs from both the original cast recording and movie cast recordings of Mamma Mia.

The limited engagement channel will also feature stories and insights from ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus about their many pop classics which have influenced recording artists for over three decades. ABBA Radio will also feature celebrity fans sharing their favorite ABBA music and personal stories, including stars from “Mamma Mia! The Movie” Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Christine Baranski, Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper, Catherine Johnson, film director Phyllida Lloyd and producer Gary Goetzman, as well as Dionne Warwick, Alanis Morissette, songwriter Desmond Child, Joan Rivers, Brooke Shields, Andy Bell from Erasure, Randy Jones from the Village People, the cast of the Tony Award®-winning musical Spring Awakening, ambassador Ulf Hjertonsson, Per Gessle of Roxette, Nancy Sinatra and Martha Stewart. (more…)

Hello Blog Readers,

The Favorite shopping links page has been enhanced with even more great retailers that I use myself. If you’d like to check out where I shop for great deals the whole world over, either click the link in the Pages section of the side bar to the left that says “Favorite Shopping Links” or just click here.

Louise Pitre, who was the original Donna in the original Toronto and Broadway casts of “Mamma Mia!” is back with a new show, this time drawing inspiration from the World War II era. The musical, “Could You Wait?” is a show near and dear to Louise’s heart because it affords her a rare opportunity to work with her husband, Joe Matheson. Together with Diane Leah on piano, the trio have crafted a touching story about finding love and being separated by war and posing the question if the pair could wait for each other.

The show showcases the awkwardness of the initial stages of courtship and how long distance relationships can build via correspondence. Each deals with the awkwardness of what to say and what not to say as each letter exchange occurs before ultimately deciding to wait for each other, despite the concerns of their respective parents. The story gets told through the use of actual World War II era songs along with five songs written especially for the show that fit seamlessly into the show as if they could have been hit songs from the era.

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The International ABBA Fan Club based in the Netherlands has recently posted an edited version of my “Mamma Mia! The Movie” review. It was edited down for space considerations in their printed magazine. The review appears in Issue # 95 originally published in June 2008. If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the issue, they can be ordered directly from the fan club. Go to www.abbafanclub.nl and click on the “About Us” link and select “Back Issues Of The Magazine” in the left column.

I’ve included the review here, it was edited down by Ursula Esser, a friend of mine from the UK, and I think she did a brilliant job condensing the original 5,600+ word review down to an approximate 1,400 word review. If you want to read the original review, click here. Thanks again to Ursula for her wonderful edit job and the ABBA Fan Club for wanting to publish it. (more…)

Between the Australian films, “The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert” and “Muriel’s Wedding” helping to usher in a revival of attention to ABBA and their music, it seems that ABBA’s stage musical, “Mamma Mia!” has helped usher in what has been dubbed the era of the “Pop-sical” a musical based on established Pop music catalogues. While a lot of musicals based on bands and movies have been short lived, some such as “Hairspray” have gone onto success in both stage and movie form. In truth, a stage musical based on “The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert” has more in kin with “Hairspray” than it does with “Mamma Mia!” in that both Priscilla and Hairspray are the musical adaptions of films, it’s that Priscilla’s film actually has several key references to ABBA.

No doubt due to the fact that ABBA’s catalogue has now been transformed into a successful musical in it’s own right, the powers that be didn’t want to dilute that success by allowing the makers of “Priscilla” the opportunity to use ABBA songs once again in it’s new stage version. In a way it’s kind of sad, but as they say, challenges tend to be the mother of creativity and not to be deterred, the stage musical has adapted in a way to weed out the ABBA references and incorporate a lot of other music not originally tied to the film. (more…)

One of the movies I was most looking forward to seeing this year was the return of Indiana Jones. Its been nearly twenty years since Indiana Jones’ last adventure where we joined the character on his search for the Holy Grail. Well what adventure would be exciting enough to bring the character back for yet another adventure, and it seems that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg felt that the “Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull” should be that adventure that ushers in a revisit to the world of Indiana Jones. Sadly, I found the adventure to feel like it was blazed on a path already well paved by other movies. While I don’t regret going to see the new Indiana Jones film, it just felt like a big let down for the type of adventure you come to expect from Indiana Jones.

I personally quite enjoyed seeing Harrison Ford embark on another adventure as Indiana Jones. His acting was great. I did like touches that throw back to the earlier films such as a nod to the Ark from Raiders, the convention of flight with the animated flight path on maps, and even nods to characters from previous films not featured here, as well as about the only true genuine laugh I got from the film involving Indy’s dislike of snakes, however, the plot just really failed to serve the sense of adventure I was expecting from a character like Indiana Jones. In fact, I’m almost sure that had the lead character been something new instead of Indiana Jones, I’d have felt less disappointed and might actually feel it was a better movie than I think it is. (more…)

Joining the already existing official cast versions in English, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Swedish, Universal Korea has put out a cast album of the Korean language version. Like the Dutch and German cast recordings, this is taken from a live performance as opposed to a proper studio recording. I always find it interesting to get cast albums in other languages and this one has proven to be no exception. It’s yet another language to hear ABBA songs translated into.

Getting a copy of this recording has proven to be a little bit of a challenge, but some perseverance has paid off and not only have I found a retailer that will ship it internationally, they also have a very reasonable price for it. In fact, they didn’t even have it listed until I contacted them to see if they could get it. Once they checked with their suppliers to confirm they could get it, YesAsia.com listed it and they have it available for $15.99 US with all sales in US Dollars (which is so low these days it’s great for others around the world to buy in US dollars.) (more…)

Because I buy a lot of music and movies from other countries, I often get asked where I like to buy the CDs and DVDs that I add to my collection. I’ve added a page with some of my favorite retailers. You can find it in the sidebar listed as “Favorite Shopping Links” or click here. I will add more as I get time, but these are places to start. I have bought from each and every one of these retailers and I recommend their services.

I just got in from seeing a test screening of Mamma Mia! The Movie. It was absolutely fantastic!! We are definitely in for a treat come July when the movie gets a proper release. Here’s my review. Don’t worry for those not wanting spoilers, I have a warning in place before I discuss the movie so it’ll be safe to stop reading at that point.

Thanks to information posted to ABBAMAIL by Ian Cole about the test screening in San Diego, I managed to get to the screening. I got to the theater with plenty of time to spare, I was early for the recommended arrival time and I saw a few other people with printed out invitations so I followed them in to the waiting area outside the individual theater where the screening would take place.

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During the week of March 11-18th, iTunes USA was offering Mercy by Duffy as it’s “Single Of The Week” as a free download. While I’ve not been very impressed by the other free songs of the week I’ve downloaded in the past, this one just knocked my socks off. Comes to find out this song has been a chart topper in the UK which is probably why I liked it so much. My musical tastes have always been more in line with European musical tastes than American.

I thought this song has a great retro-feel with its beat feeling very 60’s-ish. Duffy’s voice sounds a bit of a cross between Dusty Springfield and Tina Turner to me. (I think the song has a big “River Deep, Mountain High” sound to it. I’ve heard others compare Duffy’s voice to Amy Winehouse (I don’t agree because I can’t stand Amy Winehouse), and Dolly Parton (I love Dolly but don’t really hear that comparison.) The video can be seen at Amazon’s UK site and it’s well worth the look.

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