ABBA blog

[Updated 5 July 2024]

Fate conspired to bring out my book ABBA On Record – Packaged Promoted Reviewed (abbaonrecord.com) just weeks before the 50th anniversary of ABBA's Eurovision Song Contest victory with Waterloo. All this means that 2024 sees quite a few Carl Magnus Palm appearances in the media or in public, in relation to the book or in celebration of the anniversary – or both. On this page I've listed it all in chronological order. The page will be updated as more news is confirmed.

1 DECEMBER 2023
ABBA On Record excerpt, about ABBA being signed to Atlantic Records in the United States, published in the Official International Fan Club magazine.

28 DECEMBER 2023
ABBA On Record excerpt, about ABBA's UK career in 1982, published in Record Collector magazine.

16 FEBRUARY 2024
Steve Blame's POP the History Makers: YouTube interview about five significant ABBA songs.

23 FEBRUARY 2024
DNA Magazine (Australia): Interview with me on ABBA On Record and ABBA in general in issue #290.

28 FEBRUARY 2024
BBC Radio Manchester: Joe McGrath talks to me about ABBA On Record and ABBA in general, part 1 (interview starts circa 02:28:00).

29 FEBRUARY 2024
BBC Radio Manchester: Joe McGrath talks to me about ABBA On Record and ABBA in general, part 2 (interview starts circa 02:38:20).

1 MARCH 2024
ABBA Intermezzo International Fan Club magazine: ABBA On Record excerpt about the sequence of events leading to the release of the 1975–1976 albums entitled The Best Of ABBA or Greatest Hits – ABBA's first internationally successful albums.

23 MARCH 2024
ABBA: Against The Odds. This 90-minute documentary, produced in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest victory, is the largest ever collaboration of EBU (European Broadcasting Union) members on a documentary production. According to the EBU, "The documentary will premiere at CPH:DOX [a documentary festival in Denmark] on March 23rd and will be broadcast in more than 15 countries throughout Europe ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö in May." SVT in Sweden is making it a two-parter, under the title Sagan om ABBA, which will be made available on SVT Play on 6 APRIL (the 50th anniversary of ABBA's victory); part one will then be broadcast on 9 APRIL at 9pm, followed by part two on 16 APRIL.

Courtesy of Ian Cole of ABBA Omnibus, here's a list of other available broadcast dates for ABBA: Against The Odds:

28 April: ABBA: Against The Odds – part 1 – VRT Belgium at 21:40 CEST

1 May: ABBA. Vastu kõiki ootusi – ETV+, Estonia at 18:30 EEST

1 May: Sagan om ABBA – YLE, Finland at 12:00 CEST

2 May: ABBA – Die ganze Geschichte – ARD media library (Mediathek)

4 May: ABBA: Against The Odds – BBC iPlayer, UK

4 May: ABBA – imod alle odds – DRTV, Denmark at 21:00 CEST

5 May: ABBA: Against The Odds – NPO3, 2DOCNL, NPA Start, Netherlands at 20:15 CEST

5 May: ABBA: Against The Odds part 2 – VRTBelgium at 21:40 CEST

8 May: ABBA: úspěch navzdory – CT2, Czechia at 20:00 CEST

8 May: Abba les coulisses derrière la légende on RTS1, Switzerland at 21:15 CEST

8 May: ABBA: Against The Odds – BBC One, England at 22:40 BST, Scotland and Wales at 23:10, Northern Ireland at 23:40 (iPlayerfrom 4 May)

9 May: Eventyret Abba – NRK, Norway at 19:40 CEST

9 May: ABBA – Die ganze Geschichte – ARD 1 Das Erste, Germany at 22:50

10 May: ABBA: Í blíðu og stríðu – RÚV, Iceland at 21:05 UTC

10 May: Abba les coulisses derrière la légende on FRANCE 3, France at 23:05 CEST

11 May: ABBA: Against the Odds – The CW, USA at 20:00 EDT (check for local times)

12 May: ABBA: úspěch navzdory – CT2, Czechia at 12:00 CEST (repeat)

9 June: ABBA: Against the Odds – ABC, Australia at 8.30 pm

3 APRIL 2024
Front Row, BBC Radio 4's live magazine programme on the worlds of arts, literature, film, media and music, had a segment on the 50th anniversary of ABBA's Eurovision victory, in which I appeared. ABBA segment starts at circa 01:20.

4 APRIL 2024
Swedish news agency TT interviewed me for a story about ABBA's 50th anniversary. It was published in several newspapers, for example Aftonbladet.

Karlavagnen on Swedish radio's P4 channel had a "My ABBA memory" theme, and talked to me about the group. My segment starts at about 17:50 in the "listen without music" option.

5 APRIL 2024
Overnights on ABC Radio in Australia. I chatted to host Rod Quinn about ABBA for almost an hour. We also talked a bit about a couple of ABBA songs that I have selected – and not the most obvious ones.

Today on BBC Radio 4. Along with ABBA bassist Mike Watson, I was interviewed on the subject of ABBA's longevity and their relationship with the UK. ABBA segment starts at 2:20:50.

Eras: ABBA is a BBC Radio 2 production: a four-part series exploring ABBA's career, following on from similar series on Kylie Minogue and The Beatles. Available now on BBC Sounds, the first two episodes will be broadcast on 7 April, with the final two on 14 April. From the BBC: "Contributors include Kylie, Rylan, Dermot O’Leary, Elaine Paige, Paul Gambaccini, Olly Alexander, Mark Gatiss, ABBA historian Carl Magnus Palm, session musician Janne Schaffer, Rod Stephen - creator of Björn Again, and ABBA Voyage producers, Ludvig Andersson and Svana Gisla."

EFE News Agency, "the world largest newswire for the Spanish speaking countries", interviewed me for a story published 5 April.

Daily Express in the UK published an ABBA story in their print edition, featuring an interview with me. It's now available online as well.

6 APRIL 2024
Sagan om ABBA, the two-part version of ABBA: Against The Odds (see above), made available on SVT Play.

Newshour on BBC World Service. A chat about ABBA on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision victory.

ABBA: Inside the Music is a one-hour programme on BBC Radio 4, which I was interviewed for. "On the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s Eurovision win with Waterloo," write the BBC, "this programme explores the group’s music from the inside out - their phenomenal song-writing skill, approach to melody and vocal lines, the structure of their songs, and their mixing and recording, both in the studio and translated for the stadium."

When ABBA Came To Britain is a television programme on BBC Two, which I was interviewed for. It explores ABBA's history with the UK, from the 1960s to the present day (similar programmes have been made about Blondie, Tina Turner and Bob Marley). It was broadcast as part of an ABBA night on BBC Two. Here's a PDF about the documentary and the ABBA night.

ABBA Maraton. Radio Z in Norway had a 24-hour marathon broadcast in conjunction with the Waterloo/Eurovision anniversary. I was interviewed for this; the conversation revolved mostly around the Voyage album. The Facebook link has a description of the broadcast in English if you scroll down after the Norwegian text.

7 APRIL 2024
Talking History is a series produced by the Irish radio station Newstalk. I'm taking part in their panel discussion about ABBA. The other panellists are Abba Museum Curator and Creative Director, Ingmarie Halling; Hedley Swain, CEO of Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust (who are currently staging an ABBA exhibition in Brighton); and Dr Dónal Mulligan from Dublin City University who reflects on the Eurovision aspect. Dr Patrick Geoghegan presents the programme.

Times Radio has a Culture Hour on Sundays between 6pm and 7pm, as part of the Ayesha Hazarika show, on which I appeared to talk about ABBA. The ABBA segment starts at 02:05:50.

8 APRIL
Radio Sweden interviewed me about ABBA, mainly focusing on the resistance towards the group in their home country back in the day.

Classic Pop published a five-star review of ABBA On Record. Wow!

9 APRIL
Steve Blame's POP the History Makers has started a video podcast series about the Eurovision Song Contest anniversary; for example, I believe Steve will feature an interview with guitarist Janne Schaffer further down the line. This is the interview he did with me.

13 APRIL
ABBA: How They Won Eurovision is a television programme broadcast on the UK's Channel 5. Using 2019 interviews with me, Janne Schaffer, Claes af Geijerstam and others, combining it with newly made comments from Bucks Fizz member Cheryl Baker, the conductor of the UK's 1974 entry and other names, this programme tells the story of ABBA's path to the Eurovision victory. Repeated 19 and 20 April.

3 MAY
Klassekampen, a Norwegian newspaper, has published a story about ABBA in anticipation of Eurovision week. I was interviewed for it, but it's behind a paywall.

5 MAY
BBC Radio Somerset: Andy Bennett interviewed me about ABBA On Record and ABBA in general on his Sunday show. The ABBA segment starts at circa 02:34:30.

JT de 13h: This television news show on France 2 had a news item about the Swedes' love for the Eurovision Song Contest, in which I make a brief appearance

10 MAY
The Washington Post has used Eurovision as an excuse to write a story about ABBA's legacy, for which I was interviewed.

14 MAY
Record Collector published a four-star review of ABBA On Record. Great!

5 JULY
Retropopic Radio: ABBA On Record interview, part 01.