ABBA In Japan – A Legendary TV Special Comes To DVD
The upcoming ABBA In Japan DVD celebrates ABBA’s adventures in Japan in 1978 and 1980. The centrepiece of the release is “ABBA Special”, a television extravaganza filmed when the group visited Japan in November 1978.
This legendary television special is now released on DVD for the first time. Moreover, it has been reassembled from the unedited material, which means that you will get more ABBA for your money! ‘Fernando’, which featured a couple of verses and a chorus in the original broadcast, is now seen in complete form for the first time. And the performance of ‘Summer Night City’, originally presented in a split-screen format with ABBA only taking up a quarter of the screen, is now focused entirely on ABBA. Finally, ‘The Name Of The Game’, which was edited out of the original broadcast, has been reinserted in its rightful place.
Every song in the television special has been synchronised with the latest stereo remasters, except for the three live numbers: ‘Money, Money, Money’, ‘SOS’ and ‘Thank You For The Music’.
The DVD comes with two bonus selections. The first is the fascinating fly-on-the-wall documentary ABBA In Japan Nov. 1978, which covers the group’s visit at the time of the television special. The disc also features the performance of ‘If It Wasn’t For The Nights’ from the special, but with the original, slightly different sound mix as featured in the broadcast – at the time, the song hadn’t been released on record yet and it was subject to further mixes by ABBA before finally being issued on the Voulez-Vous album.
ABBA In Japan is also released in a 2-disc Limited Special Edition. The contents of the first disc are identical to the single-disc version. The second disc in the Limited Special Edition features a very rare behind-the-scenes documentary from ABBA’s concert tour of Japan in March 1980. The disc also features two galleries: one containing photos from the visit in 1978, and one offering a generous selection of Japanese single and album sleeves. Further goodies come in the shape of three ABBA photo cards and the original tour sticker from ABBA’s concert tour of Japan.
Both versions of ABBA In Japan feature a fully illustrated booklet with an essay by Carl Magnus Palm detailing ABBA’s adventures in Japan and the making of the television special.
The international release date for ABBA In Japan is October 26, 2009, although the date may of course vary a little from territory to territory.
