Vladimir Putin revealed as secret Abba fan

Daily Telegraph ^ | Feb 6, 2009 | Anita Singh

[propertius]

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been unmasked as a secret Abba fan - so much so that he summoned the tribute band Bjorn Again to his homeland for a private concert.

Only nine people were at the gig, an operation so cloak and dagger that net curtains were erected between the stage and the seating to protect the privacy of Mr Putin and a female companion. In what could deal a fatal blow to his hardman image, the politician belted out the lyrics to Honey Honey and danced with Kremlin officials to Super Trouper, as Kalashnikov-wielding guards patrolled the building. Details emerged for the first time yesterday about the show which took place in the snowbound resort of Lake Valdai, nine hours outside Moscow, on January 22. Bjorn Again's founder, Rod Stephens, recalled: "I got a phone call before Christmas. The voice on the end of the phone said, 'Kremlin... Russia... Moscow... we want your band'. I could tell that he was translating someone else's words. I thought it was someone in the band winding me up and told them to send me an email."

[propertius]

hysterical

[I see my hands]

Who isn't a secret Abba Fan?

[TheMole]

This is a black op by the Mossad!

[period end of story]

I’m guessing— half of ABBA: especially the brunette.

[Mogwai]

Abba’s a guilty pleasure for me but the only really great song any of them gave rise to, so far as I’m concerned, is “One Night in Bangkok.” BTW, Propertius, did you and Cynthia patch things up? ;-)

[Ramius]

A few shots of vodka and suddenly we find out that he’s a whole lotta fun at parties. Who’d have thunk it?

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Not ABBA, stupids. It was Abbas Mahmoud, the leader of Fatah. He did a belly dance and something with a camel.

ABBA, the biggest export industry Sweden had since supplies to the Germans.

[OrangeHoof]

If he was singing and dancing to “Chiquitita”, I’d be a little worried.

[VanDeKoik]

To me ABBA is always just Anni-Frid Lyngstad, with a bunch of backup singers.

[Gene Eric]

>> ABBA, the biggest export industry Sweden had since supplies to the Germans.

So those lyrics are really one-write ciphers.

[wideminded]

When Andropov was in charge we heard that he was a big jazz fan, but this info turned out to originate with the KGB.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Re Andropov and jazz and the KGB. He thought it was UB40 or U2 (the plane), not jazz. When he learned that it was only music, he had a heart attack and died. Win one for the good guys.

I think they played the “St. Petersberg Blues” when they buried him.

[Nextrush]

Putin and I have something in common......That’s scary.

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

Putin and G. Gordon Liddy should get together on this one, Liddy is diehard ABBA

[marsh2]

So, is his theme song - Mama Mia, there I go again...?

[dennisw]

LOL!!!
If you can’t conquer Sweden the next best thing is to dig their Muzak

[dennisw]

To me ABBA is always just Anni-Frid Lyngstad, with a bunch of backup singers.

Did you ever hear her record "Something Going on" Holy cow!! And she was real foxy back then

In 1982, during ABBA's last year as a working band, Frida recorded and released her first post Abba solo album. This was also her first solo album in English. The Phil Collins-produced album was called Something's Going On, and became a big success for Frida worldwide

[Proud_USA_Republican]

I like Abba. From all the live performance videos I’ve seen of them, they were great live. They had a great band backing up all their amazing vocals and nothing was lipsync’d.
We all have our guilty pleasures. I wonder if this is really about Putin, or he was just trying to impress his current mistress.

[SamAdams76]

Well in all seriousness, it is as impossible to dislike the music of Abba as it is to dislike the music of Mozart. While neither Abba or Mozart broke much new ground music-wise, they both were masters of the "pop hook" and expertly crafted music that appeals to all - whether they care to admit it or not.

I do not go out of my way to hear Abba but virtually always, when one of there songs comes on the radio, I will not be able to get it out of my head for hours. Same with Mozart by the way. In fact the opening bars of "Night Music" by Mozart was running through my head all day yesterday. Many other days, I'd have Abba songs like "Waterloo" and "S.O.S" running through my head.

It is said that even dogs find the music of Mozart irresistible and if you play Mozart music in the house, your dog will likely come into the room where the music is playing and lie there with its head on its paws. However, it is not know whether cats also fall under the spell, because cats tend to go out of their way to appear nonchalant about everything.