Memories. Good days. Bad days. In 1992, U2 mounted their Zoo TV tour. U2 being U2, the gigs were over-earnest affairs, their showbiz razzmatazz never emulsifying with their agitprop posturing. But disbelief was colloidally suspended the night the show hit Stockholm – and U2 were joined on stage by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulväeus for a cover of ‘Dancing Queen’. In truth, that evening’s take on one of Abba’s meisterwerke was a lumpen affair. Bono had to drop his voice an octave for what ought to be the song’s soaring refrain. And while Björn looked happy enough strumming a few chords on an acoustic guitar, Benny, at a keyboard the size of a slipper, was patently flummoxed at how little of the song’s harmonic majesty could be retained when a beat combo is laying waste to your melodic line. Bono is a hard man to agree with even when he is right, but when he bowed to Benny and Björn and told them ‘we are not worthy’, he was spot on.
The clothes, it turned out, were ridiculous by design – the better to be tax deductible
Then again, says Giles Smith, in 1992 Abba themselves weren’t all that worthy.
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