Abba: Thank You For the Music
A 90 minute documentary special for ITV1 - 2006

View this clip on the DCD Media Showreel

2007 Worldfest Houston - Special Jury Remi Award

This programme takes a close look at the ABBA story, from the very early days before the band was formed, through their huge success as a pop group in the 1970’s, right up to the present day with a look at Benny and Bjorn’s new musical hit Kristina and the remarkably successful Mamma Mia! We look in particular at Benny and Bjorn’s evolution from creators of some of the best pop music of all time, to writers of smash hit musicals.

Many of ABBA’s songs contain strong narratives - for example The Day Before You Came,The Winner Takes It All and the four songs from the mini-musical The Girl With The Golden Hair. In this programme, as well as showcasing most of their greatest hits, we will take a closer look at songs such as these; songs which show that Benny and Bjorn were always pushing the creative limits of the ‘pop song’, and were seeking to express stories through their music, an impulse which was to come more fully to fruition with the creation of Chess.

This chronological look at the ABBA story is told through interviews with all the members of ABBA (paying special attention to Bjorn and Benny), pop stars of past and present, songwriters and icons of musical theatre. To bring the story up to date we include very recent interviews with Bjorn Ulvaeus Pete Waterman, Richard O’Brien, Barbara Dickson, Paul Gambaccini and Louis Walsh, plus Swedish musicians Anders Eljas and Janne Schaffer who have worked closely with ABBA over the years.

Thank You For The Music makes the case that far from saying ‘thank you and goodbye’ to their fans when ABBA split in the early 80’s, Benny and Bjorn were simply starting a new musical journey, the genesis of which can be seen in the songs they were writing several years earlier.