“We traveled to Stockholm with the lyrics, the success was immediate”

“Little girl, tell me why your pain chains you today. In your eyes there is a shadow of great sorrow. I wouldn’t want to see you like this, even if you want to hide it. If you are so sad, why do you want to keep it quiet?”. It took seven years for ABBA publish your first song in spanish: in 1979, already established worldwide thanks to S.O.S., Mamma mia, Dancing Queen either Fernando, the band decided to reach out to a forgotten Hispanic audience on their tours. They never played in Spain or Latin America, even though their songs topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Hence the adaptation of Little girl was received with such impetus. The fury she aroused encouraged them to record an album entirely in Spanish which, currently, exceeds one million copies shipped. A conquest that, if it does not happen for a unknown marriagewould never have taken place: Buddy and Mary translated its lyrics.

They sent the proposal to Stig Anderson, representative of Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Frida, who did not hesitate to give them a chance. At that time, they were on the crest of the wave. There was no country that did not dance to the rhythm of its Europop. Five years had already passed victory in Eurovisionwhich is now 50 years old: after finishing third in the Melodifestivalen, the preselection to choose the Swedish candidate, with Ring Ring in 1973, the group decided to try again in 1974 with waterloo. She swept the show and, on April 6, repeated the feat in the United Kingdom. Since then, her name has been synonymous with success.

With the support of the public and the indifference of critics, ABBA began a pop jewelry collection which underlined the creative ingenuity of Björn and Benny and the vocal magnet of Agnetha and Frida. They released one album per year, each one with at least a couple of hits. This is how the classics happened Honey, Honey (1974), I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do (1975), Money, Money, Money (1976), Knowing Me, Knowing You (1977), Take A Chance On Me (1978), Does Your Mother Know? (1979)… Record sales translated into sold-out tours. Hundreds of mass baths took place in Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan. However, as soon as the 80s started, They decided not to do more concerts to focus on their families.. Thus ruling out any option of seeing them in Spain and Latin America. Two markets that experienced this turn of events with dismay just when the band was triumphing with the Spanish version of Little girl.

Locate Buddy and Mary

Buddy McCluskey was an executive at RCA Víctor, the label in charge of importing his music into Latin America. He was aware of any movement made by the group. And he wanted to take them there. But, given the latest news, the chances were slim. So, in a rush, he called his company with the only offer that could bring them closer to his native Argentina: translate, together with his wife, Mary, his elders balls. El Periódico de España, from the Prensa Ibérica group, has located him through his niece, Melody McCluskey, also dedicated to the music industry as road manager.

It is she who tells us Buddy’s current situation: He is 89 years old and lives in a senior center.. He hasn’t given interviews in a while and, when she did in the past, he barely highlighted this episode in his career. The last one he did it with was the journalist Gabriel Hernando, who collects his testimony in ABBA, the pop beast (Dunken, 2021), one of the few books that precisely addresses the Hispanic adventures of the Swedish group. When the author was contacted, he gave us permission to reproduce McCluskey’s words: “As commercial director of RCA Víctor, it occurred to me that, perhaps, the group’s reach towards the Latin American public could become even broader and deeper if it recorded its topics in Spanish. I contacted their representative and, after presenting the project to him, he shortly responded affirmatively.. The first adaptation was Little girlwhich was an immediate success.”

They worked with Agnetha and Frida

The million-dollar figures that it brought with it led them to emulate the play with I Have A Dreamwhose new title was I am dreaming. Once again, the reception exceeded expectations. And it was then that he considered releasing an album in this language: “My wife and I traveled to Stockholm with the lyrics ready and there we worked in the studio with Agnetha and Frida. Although the men were not present or participated in the process, their work was pleasant… above all, because a special connection was generated between them and my wife.”. On April 5, 1980, Thanks for the music arrived in stores.

In total, 10 cuts among which were Give me give me give me, The dancing queen, See you tomorrow, When walking and Knowing me, knowing you. In Spain, after reaching number 5 of the best sellers, 100,000 copies were distributed. “The task was rewarding, but also arduous. Not only did we write verses that matched the meter of each song, but we maintained and respected the spirit and meaning of the original texts”, continues McCluskey. From there, the quartet released two more albums until the disconcerting voyage from 2021: Super Trouper (1980) and The Visitors (1981). In the different editions that have been published since then, many other versions in Spanish were included with the seal of Buddy and Mary. Between them, There is no one to blame, It’s getting away from me, Andante, andante… A union that, although practically anonymous, ended up consolidating ABBA as a universal standard.