"Don't Call Us the New Abba!"
by Jeff Jenkins for TV Week January 13, 1996
They are two men and two women, they're from Sweden, and they
sell lots of records. But don't you dare compare Ace Of Base to Abba.
"We're not Abba," says Ulf Ekberg. "Just as Mats Wilander was not
the new Bjorn Borg, we are not them."
"First, I never listened to Abba because in Sweden they were
something dirty and stupid. The media here treated their success as
something silly, something to be ashamed of. It's only now that
they've become gods and everyone has forgotten the bad vibes."
"Also, we have done much better than Abba ever did."
While Abba had only three U.S. Top 10 hits during their career,
Ace Of Base did that with their debut album, Happy Nation, which,
with sales of more than 19 million, is the biggest-selling debut of
all time. They are the only Scandinavian band to reach the top spot
in both the U.S. singles and album charts.
Ace Of Base - Ulf and siblings Jonas, Jenny and Malin Berggren - have
just released their second album, The Bridge.
Ulf has invested his millions in a Russian oil company and a new
restaurant chain. The first eatery is in New York and Ulf hopes to
open them in 10 cities, with Australia a possibility. "I love
Australia," he says. "Cairns is one of my favorite places in the
world. I went there two years ago for a holiday and had the best
time of my life."
Ulf says success destroyed his love-life. "It changed the way I
live. Everywhere I went I had a camera above my head, with people
watching what I was saying, wearing, eating...If I had dinner with a
girl, she would suddenly be in the papers as 'my girlfriend.' When
that happens a lot, it can make situations not so funny."
Ulf ended up moving to Spain, where Sean Connery is one of his
neighbors. He says he now likes to hang out with some of the famous
people he has met, such as Robert De Niro, Madonna and George Michael.
"It's fantastic to know them because they don't talk to you because
they want to use you. You are on the same level."
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