ABBA
In the early stages of ABBA, Anderson co-wrote many of the songs' lyrics, among them some of the band's biggest hits, such as "Ring Ring" (1973), "Waterloo" (1974), "Honey, Honey" (1974), "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (1975), "Mamma Mia" (1975), "S.O.S" (1975), "Fernando" (1976), "Dancing Queen" (1976), "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (1977), and "The Name of the Game" (1977).
Frequently known as the fifth member of ABBA, besides contributing to the lyrics, he also owned the record label and the publishing company. Anderson gave shares in the company as gifts to Bjorn, Benny, and Michael B. Tretow out of friendship as the group became highly successful. Tretow worked on the mixing board and was the sound engineer for the group. According to PolarmusicPrize.org, Anderson's most treasured award was Billboard Magazine's "Trendsetter Award". Such a distinction had only been presented to one European person before Anderson, and that was Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles.
Anderson was one of the dominant figures behind ABBA, representing their commercial interests and global success through successful record deals. At the same time, he also managed the investment of funds and the enormous financial incomes of Polar Music, holding the majority of stocks. This was an agreement dating back to 1974, and a great deal of the money came from individual record deals he struck for the group, including a ground-breaking agreement for record sales in Russia in which ABBA recordings were released in exchange for barrels of oil. In the mid-1980s, a considerable part of ABBA's fortune was lost by mismanagement, bad investments, high demands for tax, and the rise of credit rates.
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