BEFORE ABBA BECAME ABBA, THEY WERE FOUR UNKNOWN SWEDES WHO COULDN’T CRACK THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD. They had a melody. They had ambition. What they didn’t have was someone who understood how to make words sing in English. So they called Neil Sedaka. He and Phil Cody sat down and rewrote “Ring Ring” — ABBA’s very first single — into the version that exploded across Europe. Björn, Benny, Agnetha, Anni-Frid. Four names the world would soon never forget. ABBA went on to sell 400 million records. But that first door? Neil Sedaka opened it. He wrote over 500 songs in his lifetime. Some made him famous. Some made other people legends. “It’s still very gratifying to hear my music played on the radio — the songs will outlive me.” They will, Neil. They already have.
BEFORE ABBA BECAME ABBA, THEY WERE FOUR UNKNOWN SWEDES WHO COULDN’T CRACK THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD. It’s easy to forget that…