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The juggernaut carries on…
The start of 1980 is quiet on the ABBA front due to their various commitments, though they do win Best International Group at the 1980 Helvmark Music Awards. However, as a special release purely for Helvmark, Polydor Helvmark release the Double A-side Gracias Por La Musica / Estoy Soñando as a limited release in March to trail the forthcoming Spanish language album Gracias Por La Musica. The single only manages to chart for 1 week at #39 on the HelvTop though Gracias Por La Musica reaches #10 on the HitList with Estoy Soñando reaching #17.

The album Gracias Por La Musica is released in April and reaches a very respectable #21.

After another long pause where music pundits were expecting the ABBA phenomenon to ease away they go straight back to #1 on the HelvTop for 5 weeks (#1 on the HitList for 6 weeks) in August with the new single The Winner Takes It All b/w Elaine. The video is extensively shown on television.

In October, just prior to the release of the new album and single both called Super Trouper, ABBA make a brief promotional tour of Helvmark where they record TopHits ABBA Special for HT-1 performing Super Trouper, On And On And On, The Winner Takes It All and Happy New Year (which is broadcast on the TopHits Christmas’80 show) and do an interview on HT-2’s Erik! They also appear to do small interviews on radio stations and in newspapers. It is very much a smaller scale affair compared to their promotional trips in the 1970s.
November sees the release of the single Super Trouper b/w The Piper which again claims the HelvTop #1 where it stays for 7 weeks, earning them the HelvTop 1980 Christmas #1. On the HitList, Super Trouper goes to #1 for 5 weeks, with The Piper getting to #4.

The album Super Trouper is also released in November and it stays at #1 for 11 weeks over two periods between November 1980 and February 1981.

During November, HT-1 broadcasts the TopHits ABBA Special which gets very good ratings, plus a programme made for British Independent Television which ABBA did to promote the album. Christmas Time sees HR-3 playing Happy New Year which peaks at #1 over the New Year period on the HitList. The earlier recorded performance is shown twice on HT-1, on the TopHits Christmas ’80 programme and during the HT-1 TopHits TopAwards show where ABBA win Best International Group, Best International Single (The Winner Takes It All) and Best International Album (Super Trouper).
Superstardom in Helvmark!
February sees the very first Helvmark Music Awards organised by Helvgramfor (the Recording Association of Helvmark). ABBA appear in person to collect their awards for Best International Group and Best Song for Mamma Mia. They perform Mamma Mia at the end of the show.
Fernando b/w Hey, Hey, Helen is released in March and is an instant success hitting #1 on the HelvTop for 5 weeks and #1 on the HitList for 8 weeks. The Greatest Hits album is repackaged and includes Fernando, this then hits #1 in April where it stays for a total of 13 weeks. To promote the single ABBA appear on HT-1’s TopHits and The Saturday Show; HT-2’s Erik! and on HR-3 Junior Choice and Kathy Morton.


In July, Helvmarks Television fly out to Stockholm to record ABBA at work in the recording studio and do an interview. The resulting programme This Is Abba is broadcast in October.
ABBA carry on their success in August with the release of Dancing Queen b/w That’s Me which hits #1 on the HelvTop for 7 weeks and #1 on the HitList for 10 weeks (the b-side also gets to #1 on the HitList in October). ABBA perform the A-side on HT-1’s TopHits.

The album Arrival hits the shops in October, at the same time HT-1 broadcasts This is Abba. With pre-orders of over 120,000 the album is one of the most successful in Helvmark’s recording history. It hits #1 on the first week of release where it will stay for 15 weeks in total. Also during October other tracks from Arrival reach the HelvList – When I Kissed The Teacher (reaching #1 in November) and My Love, My Life (reaching #2 in November behind When I Kissed The Teacher and in front of That’s Me!).
The second single from the album Money, Money, Money b/w Crazy World slightly hiccups in ‘only’ reaching #2 on the HelvTop, though it does hit #1 on the HitList in January 1977.
During November ABBA do promotion of both Arrival and Money, Money, Money appearing on HT-1’s TopHits, TopHits Presents ABBA (where they perform Money, Money, Money, Dancing Queen, That’s Me and Knowing Me, Knowing You plus an interview), HelvmarkTonight (performing Money, Money, Money and an interview) and The Charles Highton Show (performing When I Kissed The Teacher plus various ‘spoof’ clips).
In December, details are announced of a mini concert tour of Helvmark with two shows the Helvdovi Grand Theatre and two shows at the Rex Cinema in Cúvenbor. There are 1 million requests which would be enough to fill the Helvdovi Grand Theatre for a full season.
At the annual HT-1 TopHits TopAwards on New Year’s Eve ABBA win Best International Group, Best Single (for Dancing Queen) and Best Album (for Arrival). They also come top in various newspaper surveys including the prestigious Helvmark Telegraph’s Best Music Award for 1976.