The Tribal Mind: The end of the CD era

Wednesday May 9, 2007 04:08 PM

Who We Are

To discuss whether "Australian culture" is an oxymoron, go to Who We Are

by David Dale
Of course, it was Agnetha's ass. That's the last piece of the jigsaw that explains Australia's obsession with Abba. The puzzle presented itself as I was researching a column about the CD age, designed to mark the tipping point (later this year) when Australians will obtain most of their music via digital downloads instead of silver discs. Sales estimates from the Australian Record Industry Association suggests a farewell chart ...

Australia's top selling CDs, 1985-2008
1. Whispering Jack (John Farnham) 1986
2. Come On Over (Shania Twain) 1998
3. Jagged Little Pill (Alanis Morissette) 1996
4. Innocent Eyes (Delta Goodrem) 2003
5. Music Box (Mariah Carey) 1994
6. Savage Garden (Savage Garden) 1997
7. Falling Into You (Celine Dion) 1996
8. Recurring Dream (Crowded House) 1996
9. Abba Gold (Abba) 1992
10. Immaculate Collection (Madonna) 1990
11. Age of Reason (John Farnham) 1988
12. The Very Best of (The Eagles) 1994
13. Don't Ask (Tina Arena) 1995
14. Remasters (Led Zeppelin) 1993
15. 1 (The Beatles) 2000
16. The Sound of White (Missy Higgins) 2004
17. Soul Deep (Jimmy Barnes) 1992
18. Forgiven Not Forgotten (The Corrs) 1996
19. Come Away With Me (Norah Jones) 2003
20 Back to Bedlam (James Blunt) 2005

It turns out that the first Australian-made CD is also our top selling CD of all time, which stirs a patriot's heart. Whispering Jack has sold 1.7 million copies, so one in five Australian households have John Farnham on their CD shelf.

The Swedes come in at number 9 -- an extraordinary achievement for a group who peaked during a decade when music was delivered on black vinyl. Having shifted millions of albums in The Decade That Style Forgot, and having broken up in the 80s, they could still sell nearly a million copies of a compilation CD called Abba Gold in the 1990s.

Their appeal had eluded me in the 70s, when I was preoccupied with high voltage rock and roll. I found them pleasant but bland, and then kitschy when revived via Muriel's Wedding, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Mama Mia The Musical. But the other night SBS showed Abba The Movie and I solved the mystery.

The film mixes lame comedy about a desperate disc jockey with footage of Abba's performances during their 1977 Australian tour. On the morning after their first concert, they are reading a Sydney newspaper with the headline "AGNETHA'S BOTTOM TOPS DULL SHOW".

Watching their performances after this scene, you discover that Agnetha (the blonde one) spends much of every concert with her back to the audience, wearing ski pants with no visible panty line, swaying and gliding across the stage. And it's true -- her bottom is superb. Not big, not small, simply a perfectly rounded phenomenon of nature. I could understand why so many 20-something males who should have been listening to Led Zeppelin were among the elderly ladies and pubescent squealers at the concerts and in the autograph queues. And why the happy memories would have propelled those men to keep buying souvenirs of the experience two decades later.

The next mystery from the farewell-to-CDs chart will be much harder to solve -- what on earth did we see in Celine Dion?

For more detail on the top selling albums of all time, go to The music Australia loved. To discuss Australia's Abba obsession, go to Comments

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

COMMENTS

How long did it take for you to work out she had a great arse?
30 years?
Better late than never I suppose.

Tribal Mind replies: Sadly for me, I'd never bothered to see a performance.

by Shane on June 02, 2008 at 05:36 AM

Did Agnetha have an animal on stage? David Dale apparently thinks so or is he a Yank? The Australian word for bottom is "ARSE" or doesn't Dale know that!

by Cayce on June 02, 2008 at 05:39 AM

Agnetha was my first great love...at the great old age of 7. Maybe it was the ski pants!

by Fomnie on June 02, 2008 at 06:22 AM

I agree with your evaluation of Agnetha's major asset, but it's an arse, in this country, not ass. I'd have thought the author of "Who we are - a snapshot of Australia today" would have known that.

Tribal Mind replies: There are now two spellings, depending on usage. When paying a lighthearted compliment to a woman, we use the American spelling.

by Steve C on June 02, 2008 at 06:25 AM

Agnetha's ass?
Surely our language hasn't reached the point where even David Dale joins the American polluters.
Have you ever heard an Australian say 'ass'?

by Richard Brett on June 02, 2008 at 06:37 AM

David, just wondering. Is there any way to take into account the population at that time. For example 1 million sales at a time when we had 16m people will be more impressive than 1 million sale at a time when we have 21m people.

Tribal Mind replies: It would make an interesting future column. The problem is a shortage of accurate sales data on albums before 1985.

by Neil on June 02, 2008 at 07:15 AM

Re Celine Dion, there was a moment there in the 90's when people seemed to think the louder & higher the screech and the more flowery the warbling over otherwise ordinary tunes, the better the singer (Mariah Carey, Witney Houston etc). People seem to know better these days, except for the people at Australian Idol.
Speaking of ass / arse , another peeve, when talking of the U.S. tv show 'Jackass' it's okay to say 'Jackass'. The Australian pronunciation of the word for a small donkey or colloquially, a foolish person, is not 'Jackarse' (as I keep hearing it). Just had to get that off my chest.

by darren on June 02, 2008 at 08:41 AM

Yes, I'm sure it was Agnetha's bottom. There's no way that it could be fun, singable melodies with simple messages, sung by amazing voices (well, the girls anyway) couched with complex, clever, harmonic backing vocals and music created by music geniuses (well, the boys, anyway) layered in a way that seems ho-hum now but was revolutionary at the time. Play any ABBA music from Arrival through to the Visitors and you'll find tracks of a quality that sound like they could have been created in the last few years - not 30 years ago.

by Glenda on June 02, 2008 at 09:35 AM

Hey David, I didn't know Agnetha took a donkey on stage ...
It's an ARSE or bottom or bum. Asses are beasts of burden.
Australian English, please. I expect better from a journalist of your experience.
The pollution of Australian English by American words and usage seems to be very popular at the SMAGE. I feel sick every time I see the word mum spelled as mom. Why? Ass. Guy. Fries. Eek. Lift the standard, David. You can do it.

Tribal Mind replies: It's about modern usage in Australia, which is indeed influenced by watching too much American television. Compare these two observations: "What a big arse" and "What a cute ass". The traditional Australian spelling and pronunciation is more likely to appear in a negative context these days.

by Skigod on June 02, 2008 at 09:36 AM

David you are wrong keep the americanisms out of it it's cringeworthy
Personally I did'nt think she had that great an "arse" remove the ski pants and it would probably dangle somewhat but each to their own i guess i like mine a little "tighter" personally

by Stanley on June 02, 2008 at 10:06 AM

A verrrrrrry nice bottom, and fashion sense as well (no VPL). The total package.
Sing?? did they?? I must have been distracted.

by steve on June 02, 2008 at 11:43 AM

She was a Scandinavian goddess in 1977 and remains a stunningly beautiful woman today-and as for that accent........

by Mark on June 02, 2008 at 12:28 PM

It may not be cool to admit to liking ABBA, but I agree with Glenda - they were well ahead of the pack in many ways - just the terrific video clips were revolutionary.
It's hard to not sing along with them!
I loved Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Magazine, etc, but still loved ABBA. Still do.
Also agree with David - "arse" is rude and horrible, "ass" is used when complimenting.

by Sal on June 02, 2008 at 02:15 PM

Does not matter how many times you hear their music you just do not get sick of it. Only a matter of time before they biggest selling group of all time

by Richard Salter on June 02, 2008 at 02:53 PM

Yes loved those big arsed swedish girls, that was the main attraction.

by nickh on June 02, 2008 at 06:02 PM

beaut arse from another womans point of view but yes that group is as timeless as one can get. I would love to see the statistics on the population per record sale

by Trudy Wilkie on June 03, 2008 at 10:28 AM

Hi David, is this Fairfax style? If so, it's a poor decision and a prime example of cultural cringe. Modern usage in Australia will still favour arse (remember, half our population is now over 45 and regard an ass as an ass.

DD replies: Why blame Fairfax for my ecentricities? I'm quite capable of being an idiot without instructions from management.

by skigid on June 03, 2008 at 04:27 PM

"Tribal Mind replies: It's about modern usage in Australia, which is indeed influenced by watching too much American television. Compare these two observations: "What a big arse" and "What a cute ass". The traditional Australian spelling and pronunciation is more likely to appear in a negative context these days."
Unfair comparison. Try comparing these two observations: "What a big ass" and "What a cute arse".
It's "big" which makes it negative, not "arse". And it's "cute" which makes it complimentary, not "ass".
David, it's journalists like yourself, with their hands on the levers of major media outlets, who can turn it around. If YOU go back to using arse instead of ass, Australia might have a chance of retaining its vernacular in the face of the American behemoth.
You can, we the average punters can't. Just do it, mate. Or go and ply your trade in Los Angeles or New York.

by Steve C on June 05, 2008 at 04:22 PM

Abba is a stunning musical phenomenon created by two musical geniuses (Benny and Bjorn). If you have any doubts about their musical abilities listen to their post-ABBA work (Chess and Kristina). So why are we still listening to their music instead of listening to "high voltage rock", I wonder? As Glenda says, it surely must be Agnetha's bottom...

by Vladimir on June 07, 2008 at 10:48 AM

"The traditional Australian spelling and pronunciation is more likely to appear in a negative context these days."
Nup. Not so. Only in the blinkered world of opinion columnists.
And yes, she had a cute bum.

by groucho on June 08, 2008 at 05:44 AM

Agnetha had more than a great "Arse", she had a wonderul voice which could go incredibly high.
The only Australians I have heard who use "Ass", are the 9-14 years olds force fed a diet of American TV.
Oh, and also David Dale.

DD remarks ... and he does it to stir readers.

by Simon on June 08, 2008 at 07:13 AM

Arse not Ass !.. please David knock off the septic speak ..ironic considering your informed observations..the endless invasion of the U.S mono culture is a disaster..cheers David

by david chambers on June 15, 2008 at 05:25 PM

Referring to "Australian culture" as an oxymoron simply defines you as someone that doesn't understand the great culture we have. Myself having spent great deals of time with other cultures, it becomes starkly apparent that yes we do have a great culture, so please refrain from disputing this in the future or at least try to understand how other cultures work so that you then appreciate ours.
I also grew up in the 80's and the fact is that many styles were available and acceptable back then, whereas its all conformist now. If you want to compare 70s style with 80s style, then be my guest.
The fact is that the 80s promoted achievement and development rather than the cynical attitude so present today.

by John on September 19, 2008 at 11:51 PM

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Who We Are

The Tribal Mind: The end of the CD era

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