ABBA IN FRANCE AND ITALY

Abba success in france and italy have been limited for a unique reason which is logical , contrarely to Britain or the states , many pop artists in both france and Italy were doing exactly the same music and the most evident example is the italian experimental pop band 'Matia Bazar' , they had the same wonderful melodies , the same arrangement's aptitudes (completely absent in anglo-american pop , except stevie wonder ) the same perfectionism , the same female vocalist with large scales and flamboyant personality !

in france , many people in the media considered that they didn't bring anything new to the music scene , because they thought that french pop artist like gainsbourg , hardy or balavoine did the same pop ! of couse they didn't take the sound as a reference !

french and italian like to appreciate artists very different from their own (which is logical !)

in the USA , it's the opposite , american public like music very similar to the mainstream (rock pop or dance ) so if you want to succeed in america , you have to change your style of music , the way you sing and even your attitude (Celine dion did it !)

another important element was that few anglo-saxons acts did succeed in france and italy in the seventies early eighties apart from dance-disco hits .

ballads have to be understood so sung in the local language !

Belle from abbacadabra was a huge hit by Frida because of the french lyrics !

and hits like 'something's going on' and 'one night in bangkok' were huge hits in Italy like no other Abba hit simply because they both sound very different from the music of the era !

finally there's the political impact which could be the most determinant , in both France and Italy and even in Sweden ,there was the 'dictatorial good taste ' and if the media (left in majority in those countries ) said you are bad taste , then you're dead !!!