Definition of Remix

Remix is the adaptation of an original piece of work that is taken by someone else and recreated to fit a new purpose whether it is through the same medium or a different one. Jenkins states, “ convergence represents a cultural shift as consumers are encouraged to seek out new information and make connections among dispersed media content”.

Thus, we analyzed a form of remix culture through several different generations and mediums. ABBA, A-Teens, the musical Mamma Mia, and the movie Mamma Mia are an example of remix culture.

ABBA

According to the official ABBA website (hyperlink), the ABBA story began in June 1966 when Björn Ulvaeus met Benny Andersson for the first time. Björn was a member of the Hootenanny Singers, a very popular folk music group, while Benny played keyboards in Sweden’s biggest pop group of the 1960s, The Hep Stars.

The pair wrote their first song together later that year, and by the end of the decade they had established a regular partnership as composers. By that time, Benny had left The Hep Stars, while the Hootenanny Singers only existed in the recording studio. The Hootenanny Singers released their records on the Polar Music record label, owned by Stig Anderson (1931–1997), who was to become ABBA’s manager. Stig also contributed lyrics to many ABBA hits during the first years of the group’s career.

In the spring of 1969, Björn and Benny met the two women who were to become not only their fiancées but also the other half of ABBA. Agnetha Fältskog had been a successful solo singer since releasing her first single in 1967. She and Björn were married in July 1971. Anni-Frid Lyngstad, also known as Frida, started her recording career shortly before Agnetha. Frida was of Norwegian origin, but had moved to Sweden at a very early age. Benny and Frida married in October 1978.

At first, the four members collaborated musically mainly by contributing songs, instrumental backing, production work or backing vocals to the recordings they each made as solo or duo acts. In 1970, the attractive sound of their four voices combined gave them the idea to put together the cabaret act Festfolk (which had the double meaning "engaged couples" and "party people"). This first attempt failed, but in the spring of 1972 they recorded a song called ‘People Need Love’, garnering a medium-sized hit in Sweden. At this time they called themselves Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid.

Encouraged by this success, they entered the 1973 Swedish selections for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Ring Ring’. They finished third, but the single and the album of the same name competed for the top positions on the Swedish chart. ‘Ring Ring’ also became a hit in several other European countries.

The group entered the selections again in 1974, this time with ‘Waterloo’, which took them all the way to the finals in Brighton, England. By this time they had changed their name to ABBA, an acronym of their first names. ABBA was also the name of a Swedish canned fish company, which luckily agreed to lending their name to a pop group. The Eurovision Song Contest on April 6, 1974 turned out to be the most famous moment in ABBA history, when the group won the international juries over with ‘Waterloo’.



ABBA top 10 songs of all time (According to about.com):

Waterloo 1974
Mamma mia 1975
SOS 1975
Dancing Queen 1976
Fernando 1976
Knowing me knowing you 1977
Take a chance on me 1978
Does your mother know 1979
The winner takes it all 1980
Lay your love on me 1981

All of the songs above, except for Waterloo and Fernando, have been adapted to the play/movie.

A-Teens

Four young teenagers, Dhani Lennevald, Sara Lumholdt, Amit Paul, and Marie Serneholt met as they were young children at a youth dance company in Stockholm, Sweden. They decided to form the pop music sensation, A-Teens in 1998 according to the official A-Teens website, www.a-teens.com. They originally formed as a tribute band to Swedish pop hit singers ABBA. They first named themselves as ABBA teens and decided to shorten it to A-Teens shortly after as request by two of the original ABBA members so people would know the difference between the groups. Many people mistaken the A-Teens members to be the children of the original ABBA members, but they cleared the air of the misconception that they are not the children of ABBA.

A-Teens released their first album in August 1999, called “The ABBA Generation”. Every song on the album is original cover songs from the ABBA group. The album sold more than 3 million copies across several countries in the world. According to the official A-Teens website, “the A-Teens broke sales records in Sweden with their first single, Mamma Mia, which entered the Swedish charts at #1.”

The hit teen sensation released 3 albums each very different following “The ABBA Generation” called, “Teen Spirit” in 2001, “Pop ‘til You Drop!” in 2002, and “New Arrival” in 2003. These three albums were all songs created by the band itself and not songs from ABBA. However, one of the top hits on their album, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is an original remake different from Elvis Presley’s smash hit from 1961. The song was played in the Walt Disney movie, Lilo and Stich. When touring in Thailand in 2001 the band found to their surprise that their faces were on 15 million Coca-Cola cans as the first international artists to appear on soda cans.

After six strenuous years together touring around the world, the A-Teens decided to take a break in 2004. However, right before their break, the teen pop band came out with a Greatest Hits Album, which listed sixteen of their greatest songs of all time. The album was released across the several countries in the world on May 12, 2004.


A - Teens Mamma Mia
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A-Teens Greatest Hits

1. Mamma Mia
2. Upside Down
3. Gimme Gimme Gimme (A man after midnight)
4. Floorfiller
5. Dancing Queen
6. A Perfect Match
7. To the Music
8. Halfway around the world
9. Sugar Rush
10. Super Trouper
11. Heartbreak Lullaby
12. Can’t Help Falling in Love
13. Let your Heart do all the Talking
14. The Final Cut
15. With or Without You
16. I Promised Myself

Four of the A-Teens Greatest Hits, Mamma Mia, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Dancing Queen, and Super Trouper, were all hits from the original ABBA group. Overall, A-Teens were known as a success selling more than 1.5 million albums in the United States alone according to the official A-Teens website. The A-Teens, not so much teens anymore, decided not to reunite the band after their break and announced their split up on April 15, 2006. The four members of the band decided to go their own ways and start on their own solo careers as singers.

Mamma Mia! (The Play)

Mamma Mia the Broadway Musical opened at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End area of London on April 6, 1999 and is still currently playing at the Prince of Wales Theatre as of February 6, 2010. The cast then traveled around to various destinations before making it’s US debut in San Francisco, California on November 17 2000 at the Orpheum Theatre. The musical visited three US cities before making its way to Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre on October 18, 2001 and the musical is currently still playing there as of April 28, 2010 and is directed by Phyllida Llyod. The musical have traveled to 35 countries, has been performed in eleven languages, and is the number one musical in the world. There are 13 songs performed in both Act 1 and Act 2.

Mamma Mia! (The Movie)

Mamma Mia the film was released in 2008 and was directed by the same director as the Broadway version, Phyllida Llyod. The film was produced by Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and two former members of the ABBA group, Bjorn Ulvaeus, and Benny Anderson. Ulvaeus and Anderson also had a hand in composing the musical as well as minor roles in the film. During the closing credits, Ulvaeus plays a Greek God who showers the girls with gold dust. Anderson plays the piano dressed as a fisherman while the cast dances to “Dancing Queen”. The film featured 24 songs from the ABBA collection and is the highest grossing musical of all time for the U.S. breaking the 30 year record of Grease. In Britain, Mamma Mia held the record of being the highest-grossing film of all time passing over Titanic until Avatar was released in 2009.

Comparisons of ABBA, A-Teens, and Mamma Mia! (the play and movie)

When comparing ABBA and A-Teens we find that all of ABBA’s greatest hits are also A-Teens most known song. Even though A-Teens later released albums with new songs, away from the ABBA generation, their greatest hits are all songs that were previously released by ABBA.

The movie and the play have very close similarities. Stated that the play is a live musical and the movie is film, the only thing that changes is the medium, the plot, characters, songs, and sequence of both remain the same.

Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson created the ABBA band in 1969. Both of them were later involved in the creation and production of the play Mamma Mia. They also were involved in the adaptation of the play to be made into film; they both make a small appearance in the movie in an extremely small role.

ABBA and A-Teens released music videos for their popular songs. The videos are a great example of the generation that the time period of the song release represented. In the original videos, disco was alive showcased by bell bottom pants, platform shoes, disco balls, and ruffles. A-teens highlighted the 90’s pop explosion in the music industry; this pop style reflected other bands such as Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Britney Spears, and even the Spice Girls.

The most logical comparison is the different mediums used to showcase these songs. ABBA used the radio, vinyl records, and music videos. A-Teens utilized the radio, television (show appearances), internet, iTunes, and music videos.

The musical is a Broadway production that utilizes the songs from ABBA that have taken new meaning in order to follow a storyline for the play.

The movie is just a straight convergence of the play into film that uses the same aspects of the songs converted into acting roles.