For those who do not know today’s artist by name, don’t feel bad. I didn’t either. In fact, I’m not sure if I knew Agnetha by name when she sang with the 70s pop band, ABBA. Back in the fall, in an edition of Saturday Songsuasion, I shared the news that the group reunited for the first time in decades promoting their new album release. Naturally this made me curious to know more what happened with the band members after the group broke up in the early 80s.
In no particular order, I decide to research Agnetha Fältskog first. I think it’s because she is the prettiest of the two girls. ABBA was made of four artists, two married couples. Agnetha was married to band member, Björn Ulvaeus. They had two children during their seven year union. The one thing I wanted to know was, did Agnetha’s music career go beyond ABBA’s fame? To answer that question, yes she did and in this two part series, I am going to share five studio albums in English that Agnetha released from 1983 – 2013.
Let’s kick things off with her first post-ABBA album Wrap Your Arms Around Me in May 1983.
The album became a moderate hit in North America and Australia, but reached the higher regions of the charts across Europe, including No. 1 in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium, and Denmark (where it became the biggest-selling album of the year), top 5 in Germany, The Netherlands and France and No. 18 in the UK. The album achieved sales of 1.5 million copies in the first year. Two singles from the album became hits in continental Europe: “The Heat Is On” became a No. 1 hit in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Belgium and No. 2 in The Netherlands and Germany. The song peaked at number 35 in the UK (and was Fältskog’s highest charting and only UK Top 40 hit until 2004). The album’s title track reached No. 1 in Belgium and peaked at No. 4 in the Netherlands. In North America, the album track “Can’t Shake Loose” was released as the lead-off single, reaching No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 23 on the RPM Top 50 singles chart in Canada.
Next up came Agnetha’s second album release in March 1985, Eyes of a Woman.
The album sold well in parts of Europe, peaking at No. 2 in Sweden and reaching the Top 20 in Norway and Belgium, but scraped into the UK Top 40 just for one week. The album sold up to 800,000 copies. The self-penned lead single “I Won’t Let You Go” achieved moderate success in Europe, reaching No. 6 in Sweden, No. 18 in the Netherlands and No. 24 in West Germany.
Agnetha’s fourth (3rd English) post-ABBA album I Stand Alone came out in November 1987. Normally I do not pay too much attention to the producer but Peter Cetera is a name I know.
I Stand Alone was a minor hit in Europe, except in Sweden where it spent eight weeks at No. 1 and became the best-selling album of 1988. More than 300,000 copies were sold throughout Scandinavia. According to Hans Englund, the Swedish head of WEA, more than 800,000 copies were sold globally. However, chart-wise outside of Scandinavia, the results were less impressive.
The single “I Wasn’t The One (Who Said Goodbye)”, on which Fältskog duetted with Peter Cetera, was released primarily in North America, and became her second solo single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 93. It was also a Top 20 Billboard Adult Contemporary hit. The track (along with “The Last Time” as “La Última Vez”) was also recorded in Spanish for the Latin American market as “Yo No Fui Quién Dijo Adiós”.
*quoted source: Wikipedia
Agnetha took a career break in 1988. In part 2, I’ll share with you things that may have played into her music hiatus and will share two more album playlists.
I haven’t forgotten about my mid-month BOTB. The results will post shortly. Watch for it to appear as a sticky at the top of my Home page. This CAAC signing off, stay tune for Monday’s Music Moves Me on Sunday with songs that compliment in honor of National Compliment Day and you’re invited to hit the dance floor. 
Have a songsational Saturday!
