''Agnetha Fältskog'' is the debut studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Swedish pop singer and future

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

member

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...

. It was released in Sweden in early 1968 through Cupol Records.

Album information

Fältskog had been singing with the local Swedish "

dansband (; "dance band"), or in Norwegian and Danish, is a Swedish term for a band that plays ("dance band music"). ' is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired by ...

" Bengt Engharts in

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat of Jönköping Municipali ...

for quite a while when the group decided to send a tape of demos to Cupol Records in autumn of 1967. Singer, producer and

A & R Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...

man

Little Gerhard Little Gerhard, (born ''Karl-Gerhard Lundkvist'', 17 May 1934) is a Swedish singer and rock musician. He had big music hits between 1958 and the mid-60s, with songs like "Buona Sera", "What You've Done to Me" and "Den siste mohikanen". Biography ...

(né Karl-Gerhard Lundqvist) listened to the tape which included Fältskog's song "Jag var så kär". Lundqvist was so impressed with the song and Fältskog's voice that he called her at the car firm where she was working at the time and offered her a recording contract, only as a solo singer, without the band. Eventually, Fältskog's first recording session took place on 16 October 1967, at Philips Studio in Stockholm. This recording session produced four songs, which would all end up on her first album: "Jag var så kär" and "Utan dej mitt liv går vidare" (both composed by Agnetha herself) as well as "Följ med mig" and "Slutet gott, allting gott". "Jag var så kär" and "Följ med mig" were eventually be released as Fältskog's debut single (''CUPOL CS 45-211'') in November 1967, the latter up-tempo track being its A-side. But it was Fältskog's self-penned tear-jerker "Jag var så kär" which became her first entry and also number three on the all-important radio chart

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 cha ...

in January 1968. After this success and with selling more than 80,000 copies, the single topped Sweden's official sales chart at that time, Kvällstoppen. After the following success of the tracks "Utan dej mitt liv går vidare", "Allting har förändrat sig", "Den jag väntat på" and "Snövit och de sju dvärgarna", most of them composed by Fältskog herself, Cupol released her debut album in the spring of 1968, containing all tracks previously issued on these singles as well as a few new recordings. She wrote "Försonade" and submitted it to

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song ...

(Swedish Eurovision heat) for singer Gunnar Wiklund, but it was rejected. The song could also recently be heard in the film ''Låt den rätte komma in'' ('' Let the Right One In'') in the scene where Eli plays it on a

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present- ...

for Oskar. The album has since been re-issued both on CD and iTunes.

Track listing

Singles

Out of the 12 tracks recorded for Agnetha Fältskog's debut studio album, a total of ten songs were released as either single a-side or b-side in 1967 and 1968. Only two of them charted on the official Swedish sales chart at that time, Kvällstoppen. Also included in the following list is Agnetha's duet single with Jörgen Edman, which was released in 1968 but did not appear on the original album.

Svensktoppen

Throughout her pre-

solo career, Fältskog's success was mostly visible by looking at her entries in the famous Swedish

chart. This chart is not based on sales figures but compiled by a jury instead. A total of five songs of hers made that hitlist in 1968. It is interesting to mention that mostly her B-sides eventually made the Svensktoppen top 10.Svensktoppen archiv. http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2023&artikel=454888. Retrieved on 19 May 2011.

Sources

* Booklet, Agnetha Fältskog: '' Agnetha Fältskog De Första Åren'' * ''Bright Lights Dark Shadows – The Real Story of ABBA'' by

Carl Magnus Palm Carl Magnus Palm (born 1965) is a Swedish author and historian, writing in Swedish and English, best known for his work on the Swedish pop group ABBA. ABBA Carl Magnus Palm’s first book on ABBA was ''ABBA – The Complete Recording Sessions' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnetha Faltskog (album) 1968 debut albums Agnetha Fältskog albums Swedish-language albums