> Fred Bronson reported for Billboard that Fältskog told him in a 1988 interview that "[ABBA] had to ask permission and the factory said, 'O.K., as long as you don't make us feel ashamed for what you're doing'
I am fairly certain I saw Benny Andersson telling the story like this in a documentary many eons ago, but my ABBA fu fails me now and cant find anything to back me up.
> There was just one tiny problem with formalising the anagram; ABBA was also the name of Sweden's premier brand of canned fish. Fortunately, after some brief negotiations, Stig was able to placate the fish firm and they gave ABBA, the pop group, their blessing.
> ... the name was also that of a Swedish company which sold canned fish; whose directors were worried lest ABBA the quartet should bring the name into disrepute, but after Stig Anderson had assured them that ABBA were aiming to publicise the name in a very positive way, the convern abated.
All this stuff happened before Google come to existence. I recall a somewhat humorous conversation with a friend about an exotic Portuguese rock band. He insistent could not have existed, because he could not find anything about them via a Google search!
What become of the ABBA Seafood brand has a take on the history:
"The Abba brand and the pop group ABBA have been the subject of some confusion over the years. During the 1970s, Abbas' switchboard usually received calls from Swedish and foreign fans who, if they were not allowed to talk to any of the group's members, could settle for a signed idol card.
Before the group Abba broke through in 1974, they actually called from the record company Polar and asked for the green light to use the name. Per Brolund, then HR manager at Abba, gave his consent to a reservation. "That the young people behaved and did not damage Abbas' good reputation."
I don't understand your point about this being "before Google come to existence."
If your memory predates Google's ~1998 search services offering, it's surely possible that you've misremembered what Benny said?
And the first reference I gave was to a copy of "Bright Lights, Dark Shadows: The Real Story of ABBA" from 2001, only a few years after Google. I don't see how Google search per se is relevant.
The Orkla link you gave is in Swedish(!). Good thing there's Google Translate. It essentially supports the point that Abba was concerned about behavior, not jocular opposition to becoming fishmongers as you suggested.
I do find it interesting that the first source I gave says "managing director" while the one you gave says "HR director". I expected "managing director" to mean CEO.
Ha! There's an ABBA fandom entry about it (because of course there is), at https://abba.fandom.com/wiki/Abba_seafood , which references the same page and translates the term to "staff manager".
Perhaps there are organizational differences between Sweden and US/UK which make direct translation difficult?
> Fred Bronson reported for Billboard that Fältskog told him in a 1988 interview that "[ABBA] had to ask permission and the factory said, 'O.K., as long as you don't make us feel ashamed for what you're doing'