Three popular bands took the world by storm from the mid to the late 1970s, including Pakistan. They were Abba, Bee Gees and Boney M. Such was their popularity that there was hardly a household which was not listening to all three via LPs, singles and audio cassettes (videos and CDs were unheard of then). Besides, Radio Pakistan too used to play their hits during its half-hour slot of western music in the late afternoon. Few bands, if any, have been able to repeat the phenomenal success.
The first to become popular in the country was Abba, which was an acronym of the band members’ first names — Agnetha Faltskog, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. This writer first heard the band in 1974 when my brother sent me a 45rpm from Germany containing Waterloo on the side one and Watch Out on the other side. The quartet had submitted Waterloo in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, becoming the first Swedish act to win it. They had missed winning a year earlier when they submitted Ring Ring, which proved extremely popular with audiences, but was placed third in the judges’ ballots.
The year 1975 saw the release of SOS, a smash not only in Britain, Germany, Spain and the Benelux nations, but also in the US. There was no looking back for Abba as one hit followed another, including Mamma Mia, Fernando, Dancing Queen and Money, Money (not to be confused with The O’Jays’ song of the same name).
In Pakistan, Abba’s popularity with the release of each new single grew more and more. The release of both Knowing Me, Knowing You and The Name of the Game in 1977 added to the band’s fame and fortune. Voulez-Vous, released in 1979, was another smash hit.
The band released the album Super Trouper in 1980 and The Visitors in 1981, which was their final LP due to strains in relationships within the band. They officially split at the end of 1982.
However, throughout much of the world, especially Europe and Australia, the Abba phenomenon refused to die. Repackaged hit compilations keep hitting the charts from time to time. New artists continue to be inspired by the quartet: British dance duo Erasure released an EP of covers called Abba-esque, while an Australian group called Bjorn Again found success as Abba impersonators. Locally, even Salma Agha and her sister Sabeen released a Hindi album of Abba covers in the early ’80s which turned out to be quite a big hit.
Both Boney M and the Bee Gees also became popular around 1977. The only difference between them being that Boney M was a European phenomenon whom success eluded in the US, while the release of the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever saw the Bee Gees becoming popular all over the world.
Boney M consisted of four West Indian vocalists — Marcia Barrett, Liz Mitchell, Maizie Williams and Bobby Farrell — working as session singers in Germany. No sooner did German record producer Frank Farian tap their talent, the group found itself reaching the UK Top Ten in February 1977 with Daddy Cool. A remake of Bobby Hebb’s Sunny followed in April. Daddy Cool was again a huge hit in Pakistan as well.
In July 1977, Ma Baker missed the number one spot in the UK, while Belfast hit the Top Ten in December. The year 1978 saw the group’s popularity zooming with the singles Rivers of Babylon and Brown Girl in the Ring. The band’s album, Nightflight to Venus, topped the UK charts the same year while in October, Rasputin became another Top Ten hit. With the sole exception of Belfast, all the others became huge local hits.
Chart success continued in 1979 with the release of Hooray! Hooray! It’s a Holi-Holiday, which hit the UK Top Ten in May. The album, Oceans of Fantasy, hit the number one spot in September.
Like Abba, Boney M’s music continues to sell well in Europe as well as in Pakistan, too, with a compilation hitting the UK Top Ten in 1994.
The Bee Gees comprised three brothers: Barry Gibb and twins Robin and Maurice Gibb. When they started their career, they performed under a variety of names including the Blue Cats, the Rattlesnakes and eventually the Brothers Gibb. Finally, they took on the name the Bee Gees, the initials for the Brothers Gibb.
The Bee Gees career graph rose during the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and the ’90s. However, the band’s popularity was at its peak during the seventies when they reinvented themselves as the most successful white soul act of all time during the disco era.
The band’s career started in Brisbane, Australia. However, when true success eluded them they decided to move to England in 1966. They invented their sound anew in the environment of swinging London in 1967 with the release of New York Mining Disaster 1941. The single made the Top 20 in both England and the US establishing a pattern for the group’s work for the next 20 years. Soon there were successful follow-ups with Holiday and To Love Somebody. However, it was the release of the single Massachusetts — a chart-topper in England — that truly launched the group on their first wave of stardom.
The Bee Gees second era started in 1975 with the release of the album Main Course, which had an emphasis on dance rhythm, a funk beat and high harmonies. Spearheading the new sound was Barry Gibb who started singing falsetto and discovered he could delight audiences in that register.
In 1977, the group contributed to the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever. Each of their featured numbers — How Deep is Your Love, Night Fever and Stayin’ Alive — made it to number one on the charts. The album stayed in the top spot for 24 weeks. In the process, the disco era was reborn. The funkier soul sounds of Philadelphia had been incorporated into their music to make them the first white soul act.
The release of 1979’s Spirits Having Flown saw the band gaining more fame and fortune with the hits Tragedy, Love You Inside Out, and Too Much Heaven. ESP was released in 1987 which became a hit all over the world except the US, yielding a number one single, You Win Again. One was released in 1989, which again became a hit all over the globe and this time even generated a Top Ten single in the US in the form of its title track.
The Abba, Boney M and Bee Gees records had splendid melodies and lush arrangements. Their music was made even more attractive by the fact that their albums were superbly produced.
Three popular bands took the world by storm from the mid to the late 1970s, including Pakistan. They were Abba, Bee Gees and Boney M. Such was their popularity that there was hardly a household which was not listening to all three via LPs, singles and audio cassettes (videos and CDs were unheard of then). Besides, Radio Pakistan too used to play their hits during its half-hour slot of western music in the late afternoon. Few bands, if any, have been able to repeat the phenomenal success.
