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My My!: ABBA Through the Ages
‘A lovely book – as bright, shiny and uplifting as an Abba hit’ Daily Mail
‘[A] witty and affectionate account . . . It’s not a stretch to say that, at its core, My My! is a book about time, death and the possibility of immortality’ Sunday Times
My My! The story of ABBA told through a selection of their greatest hits.
This year is the fiftieth anniversary of Waterloo (the song, not the battle) – a seminal moment in pop history which saw Swedish sensation ABBA burst on to the international music scene. How is it that half a century later this seventies Eurovision act is bigger than ever – reaching listeners of all ages and spinning off into musicals, museums and holograms? Giles Smith, writer and music fan, sets out to find out why.
My My! is a celebration of ABBA through the ages. It’s one fan’s way of thank you for the music.
‘[A] witty and affectionate account . . . It’s not a stretch to say that, at its core, My My! is a book about time, death and the possibility of immortality’ Sunday Times
My My! The story of ABBA told through a selection of their greatest hits.
This year is the fiftieth anniversary of Waterloo (the song, not the battle) – a seminal moment in pop history which saw Swedish sensation ABBA burst on to the international music scene. How is it that half a century later this seventies Eurovision act is bigger than ever – reaching listeners of all ages and spinning off into musicals, museums and holograms? Giles Smith, writer and music fan, sets out to find out why.
My My! is a celebration of ABBA through the ages. It’s one fan’s way of thank you for the music.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
335 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 9, 2024
16 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Giles Smith
20 books7 followersGiles Smith is a British journalist for The Times. In 1998 he was named best journalist of the year. He attended Colchester Royal Grammar School.
Smith was one of the members of a band called Orphans Of Babylon who in 1983 produced the cassette Pinch Me - I Think I'm In Kent, which was recorded and Produced by their friend, Dave Hoser at Future Studios in Chelmsford. Additional tracks were recorded at Dave Hoser's house in Wivenhoe (Terry and Jean's Fast Fruit and Vegetable Centre). The tracks were edited ( there were over 200 edits ) and mastered at Octopus Studio by Dave.
This cassette featured 36 tracks - including "Helluva Break By Ray Reardon", "You Lawn Tennis", "The Babylon Shuffle", "Love Me Love My Rabbit", "Guru Guru Guru", "Icarus Dicarus, I Smell A Nail", "Tree Mouse", "Banana Legs" and "Rock 'N' Roll Orphans". The artwork for the cassette was produced by Lorna Oakley. The album was remastered by Dave Hoser in 2014.
In 1986 Giles joined the Dumb Mermaids for a one-off concert at the Quay Theatre Sudbury.
Smith's career in journalism began when he joined The Daily Telegraph in 1990 after a spell as one half of the 1980s band The Cleaners From Venus with Martin Newell. Since then he has written chiefly for The Times.
He has published two books, Lost In Music, about life and growing up with music, and Midnight In The Garden Of Evel Knievel, a collection of extracts from his sports columns.
He currently writes a motoring column in The Times, and a thrice weekly sport column in The Times. He was a regular contributor to The Word Magazine. He also writes for the Chelsea FC website.
Smith was one of the members of a band called Orphans Of Babylon who in 1983 produced the cassette Pinch Me - I Think I'm In Kent, which was recorded and Produced by their friend, Dave Hoser at Future Studios in Chelmsford. Additional tracks were recorded at Dave Hoser's house in Wivenhoe (Terry and Jean's Fast Fruit and Vegetable Centre). The tracks were edited ( there were over 200 edits ) and mastered at Octopus Studio by Dave.
This cassette featured 36 tracks - including "Helluva Break By Ray Reardon", "You Lawn Tennis", "The Babylon Shuffle", "Love Me Love My Rabbit", "Guru Guru Guru", "Icarus Dicarus, I Smell A Nail", "Tree Mouse", "Banana Legs" and "Rock 'N' Roll Orphans". The artwork for the cassette was produced by Lorna Oakley. The album was remastered by Dave Hoser in 2014.
In 1986 Giles joined the Dumb Mermaids for a one-off concert at the Quay Theatre Sudbury.
Smith's career in journalism began when he joined The Daily Telegraph in 1990 after a spell as one half of the 1980s band The Cleaners From Venus with Martin Newell. Since then he has written chiefly for The Times.
He has published two books, Lost In Music, about life and growing up with music, and Midnight In The Garden Of Evel Knievel, a collection of extracts from his sports columns.
He currently writes a motoring column in The Times, and a thrice weekly sport column in The Times. He was a regular contributor to The Word Magazine. He also writes for the Chelsea FC website.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 14, 2024
A great book for anyone interested in music from the 1970s, whether an Abba fan at the time or someone who has puzzled over their enduring popularity despite the fickleness of the public about them over the years. A series of mostly short chapters as the author visits several Abba-related events to fathom the secret of their appeal. Excellent deconstructions of several of their songs make you go back and listen to previously tired songs with fresh ears. A really intelligent and insightful book. Only fell short of five stars for me because I felt he could have advanced a few more theories about the reasons behind their immense and sometimes puzzling popularity. But otherwise a great book that has led me to investigate the author's other publications.
June 26, 2024
Very much the author’s personal view and experiences of the band, which still makes this an interesting and entertaining read though it wasn’t what I’d expected. I appreciated the photos, as I always do. There were a few too many off-subject tangents.
January 10, 2025
Um livro interessante, com uma data de factos e curiosidades, mas nada de novo para os fãs mais atentos de música ou da banda em particular.
November 8, 2024
This book is for all ABBA fans, and lovers of pop music from any era. Giles Smith encapsulates both the sheer joy and strange shame that come along with loving anything that is fun, campy, and occasionally corny. This isn't a deep dive into the roots of ABBA and the many twists in the road the band endured through the decades, but a history of the biggest culturally significant moments of a band that critics and the media at large could never truly pin down. From Eurovision to the Voyages tour, Smith details the big releases, the television spots, the cryptic album covers, and the cat dresses that made ABBA such an intriguing and polarizing act. This is a fun, quick read that will launch you right back into the discography we all know and love.
September 4, 2024
2.5
This is not quite what I expected, as it is neither a music biography nor a biography of ABBA. Certainly Giles Smith gives us some details about ABBA, but really nothing that most people did not know.Nor is it a book about the music of ABBA, the inspiration for the songs, the way the songs came together etc. Rather it was a book about Giles Smith’s journey with ABBA through his life as a young teenager first hearing ABBA win the Eurovision song contest with Waterloo in 1974 up to his going to see ABBA Voyage for the second time in 2023. This was interspersed with recollections of him listening to ABBA and the changing landscape of music in these years.
As I am about the same age as Giles Smith, I can relate to many of his experiences even though I live in Australia, where ABBA have always been huge. Even with that, the book was just okay, it just didn’t hit anything remarkable. What I did like was the remembrances of ABBA: their music; their personalities; and of course their amazing stage clothes. The fact that all of the ABBA songs use both the soprano voice of Agnetha and the mezzo soprano of Anni-Frid to create such absolutely amazing harmonies was just sheer genius. It is also one of the reasons why so many ABBA cover versions just don’t work. What I didn’t like was the musical references, which while they may be necessary (but I don’t really think so) are just a distraction for those of us who do not have any music knowledge.
This is not quite what I expected, as it is neither a music biography nor a biography of ABBA. Certainly Giles Smith gives us some details about ABBA, but really nothing that most people did not know.Nor is it a book about the music of ABBA, the inspiration for the songs, the way the songs came together etc. Rather it was a book about Giles Smith’s journey with ABBA through his life as a young teenager first hearing ABBA win the Eurovision song contest with Waterloo in 1974 up to his going to see ABBA Voyage for the second time in 2023. This was interspersed with recollections of him listening to ABBA and the changing landscape of music in these years.
As I am about the same age as Giles Smith, I can relate to many of his experiences even though I live in Australia, where ABBA have always been huge. Even with that, the book was just okay, it just didn’t hit anything remarkable. What I did like was the remembrances of ABBA: their music; their personalities; and of course their amazing stage clothes. The fact that all of the ABBA songs use both the soprano voice of Agnetha and the mezzo soprano of Anni-Frid to create such absolutely amazing harmonies was just sheer genius. It is also one of the reasons why so many ABBA cover versions just don’t work. What I didn’t like was the musical references, which while they may be necessary (but I don’t really think so) are just a distraction for those of us who do not have any music knowledge.
September 1, 2024
Birthday gift from Cosmo.
June 16, 2024
Early in 2024 I was walking through Wynwood, Miami. Wynwood is one of Miami’s coolest districts, known for its urban art. It’s a district alive with music, loud, modern and ubiquitous, seemingly emanating from every doorway. Despite this ubiquity one song stood out, that sunny afternoon in February; SOS by ABBA, as welcome to me as it was surprising.
But it shouldn’t have been a surprise. ABBA is, of course, everywhere in the early decades of the twenty-first century, no longer the guilty pleasure of my adolescence. Still an enigma, but assuredly popular, ABBA are now part of our universal cultural fabric.
Giles Smith’s glorious book attempts to explain this apparent dichotomy, contrasting his own adolescent relationship with ABBA with their current resurgent popularity. Smith’s ABBA experience in the 1970s is, I am sure, shared by many of us who grew up in that decade, a time of pre-recorded cassettes, ‘Seaside Special’, school discos and ‘Top of the Pops’. Like Giles, I loved ABBA, but it was a love that dared not speak its name, especially in those early years of the 1980s, as I approached my ‘O’ Levels.
Giles Smith makes that time live again, but he also engages with heart of the matter, the real explanation of ABBA’s ultimate longevity; the music is simply, effortlessly sublime. Smith’s appreciation of key songs in the ABBA canon is deftly done, a compelling analysis that exposes ABBA’s musical genius. On behalf of all of us quiet ABBA fanatics, Smith offers a heartfelt ‘thank you for the music’.
Indeed, we will all always be grateful.
But it shouldn’t have been a surprise. ABBA is, of course, everywhere in the early decades of the twenty-first century, no longer the guilty pleasure of my adolescence. Still an enigma, but assuredly popular, ABBA are now part of our universal cultural fabric.
Giles Smith’s glorious book attempts to explain this apparent dichotomy, contrasting his own adolescent relationship with ABBA with their current resurgent popularity. Smith’s ABBA experience in the 1970s is, I am sure, shared by many of us who grew up in that decade, a time of pre-recorded cassettes, ‘Seaside Special’, school discos and ‘Top of the Pops’. Like Giles, I loved ABBA, but it was a love that dared not speak its name, especially in those early years of the 1980s, as I approached my ‘O’ Levels.
Giles Smith makes that time live again, but he also engages with heart of the matter, the real explanation of ABBA’s ultimate longevity; the music is simply, effortlessly sublime. Smith’s appreciation of key songs in the ABBA canon is deftly done, a compelling analysis that exposes ABBA’s musical genius. On behalf of all of us quiet ABBA fanatics, Smith offers a heartfelt ‘thank you for the music’.
Indeed, we will all always be grateful.
September 22, 2024
This is a book for a superfan. I am not one, just a casual listener helping keep ABBA in top 10 most streamed artists every week (except for ‘Dancing Queen’ which I will never not skip after having heard it a few billion times too many). I don’t know whether Giles Smith is neurodivergent or not – I am both autistic and ADHD, which means that once I get really interested in something, I will learn EVERYTHING about it. Including how little there actually is to be learned; with ABBA Gold always everywhere all at once, I never realised that their career lasted a few years, then their hiatus and the aura of naffness for decades.
This is EVERYTHING about ABBA. From pre-‘Waterloo’ to ABBAtars, there is all of it. Anecdotes, tours, music deconstructed into separate chords and proof that those chord progressions or addition of, I don’t know, a marimba at 0:34-0:37 mean ABBA are geniuses. Which they are. Smith’s explanations of why, though, go into academic territory. I am very interested in music in general, but I wonder how many fans are as interested as Smith. (Did you know that at 2:49 the chord is elevated by… thus reconstructing an obscure classical composition by…? I am only exaggerating by using the word ‘obscure’.)
At the same time, while it was hardly a read to devour in one go, I enjoyed it a lot. There’s British humour, which happens to be my favourite sort. There was information I’d never have found elsewhere and my life would have been worse without it – such as the gatefold double vinyl Greatest Hits album cover, which I googled and it is everything the author said it was. And then there is a tour of the tree where the photo was shot and the disappointment that not only ABBA don’t still sit there, but the bench itself has aged. Lots of excerpts from articles that prove a thesis that’s been proven to death, that of media’s sexism Back Then (it’s still around, only uses longer words and there are fewer close-ups of women’s buttocks). There’s just… LOTS.
I whole-heartedly recommend this book to big fans. Perhaps real superfans would pftftft at Smith for having been so superficial and glossing over the really important chord progressions, but as a superfan of Pet Shop Boys I would love someone with Giles Smith’s level of special interest/obsession to write a book like this about them.
(6.5/10, rounded down to 3/5 for Goodreads)
My ratings:
5* = this book changed my life
4* = very good
3* = good
2* = I probably DNFed it, so I don't give 2* ratings
1* = actively hostile towards the reader*
This is EVERYTHING about ABBA. From pre-‘Waterloo’ to ABBAtars, there is all of it. Anecdotes, tours, music deconstructed into separate chords and proof that those chord progressions or addition of, I don’t know, a marimba at 0:34-0:37 mean ABBA are geniuses. Which they are. Smith’s explanations of why, though, go into academic territory. I am very interested in music in general, but I wonder how many fans are as interested as Smith. (Did you know that at 2:49 the chord is elevated by… thus reconstructing an obscure classical composition by…? I am only exaggerating by using the word ‘obscure’.)
At the same time, while it was hardly a read to devour in one go, I enjoyed it a lot. There’s British humour, which happens to be my favourite sort. There was information I’d never have found elsewhere and my life would have been worse without it – such as the gatefold double vinyl Greatest Hits album cover, which I googled and it is everything the author said it was. And then there is a tour of the tree where the photo was shot and the disappointment that not only ABBA don’t still sit there, but the bench itself has aged. Lots of excerpts from articles that prove a thesis that’s been proven to death, that of media’s sexism Back Then (it’s still around, only uses longer words and there are fewer close-ups of women’s buttocks). There’s just… LOTS.
I whole-heartedly recommend this book to big fans. Perhaps real superfans would pftftft at Smith for having been so superficial and glossing over the really important chord progressions, but as a superfan of Pet Shop Boys I would love someone with Giles Smith’s level of special interest/obsession to write a book like this about them.
(6.5/10, rounded down to 3/5 for Goodreads)
My ratings:
5* = this book changed my life
4* = very good
3* = good
2* = I probably DNFed it, so I don't give 2* ratings
1* = actively hostile towards the reader*
February 7, 2025
Um livro quase estonteante em algumas passagens quase vertiginosas.
É, no fundo, a visão de um fã dos ABBA.
Debruça-se sobre algumas canções e todos os álbuns mas, como referirei abaixo, de modo desequilibrado. E, para mim, injusto.
Ficamos a saber alguns dados curiosos do grupo de que sou fã assumida desde sempre. E de alguns factos do mundo artístico contemporâneos do grupo sueco.
Também vem ao presente para fazer ponto da situação atual e para fazer algumas retrospetivas.
Não posso deixar de me admirar com dois factos: 1) que havia como alguma vergonha de se ser fã; sempre fui; 2) o autor parece que não teve tempo de se dedicar a "Super Trouper" e, pior, "The Visitors". De facto dispendeu, na minha opinião, demasiado tempo com Mamma Mia e SOS (não que não mereçam), mas assim tem um livro desequilibrado para o que pretendia.
O livro retrata essencialmente o que se passava (e passa) no Reino Unido.
Deixa-me a perceção de que os ABBA estão mais vivos que nunca inclusivé com outros livros, de outros autores, que eu pretendo adquirir.
É, no fundo, a visão de um fã dos ABBA.
Debruça-se sobre algumas canções e todos os álbuns mas, como referirei abaixo, de modo desequilibrado. E, para mim, injusto.
Ficamos a saber alguns dados curiosos do grupo de que sou fã assumida desde sempre. E de alguns factos do mundo artístico contemporâneos do grupo sueco.
Também vem ao presente para fazer ponto da situação atual e para fazer algumas retrospetivas.
Não posso deixar de me admirar com dois factos: 1) que havia como alguma vergonha de se ser fã; sempre fui; 2) o autor parece que não teve tempo de se dedicar a "Super Trouper" e, pior, "The Visitors". De facto dispendeu, na minha opinião, demasiado tempo com Mamma Mia e SOS (não que não mereçam), mas assim tem um livro desequilibrado para o que pretendia.
O livro retrata essencialmente o que se passava (e passa) no Reino Unido.
Deixa-me a perceção de que os ABBA estão mais vivos que nunca inclusivé com outros livros, de outros autores, que eu pretendo adquirir.
March 4, 2025
I have had this book sitting half read for ages, I have picked it up a few times along with listening to the audio and I am happy to say that I have finally finished it. I love non-fiction but it's not something I tend to read in one go, it's something I pick up when the mood takes.
I did enjoy this book, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would, I am a huge ABBA fan, but I didn't read this book and come away thinking I had learned anything new about them. It was really about the authors enjoyment of them through the past few decades, which was good but just not what I thought I was picking up.
I thought the physical book was stunning and really loved the pictures throughout.
If you are an Abba fan, you will enjoy this book.
I did enjoy this book, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would, I am a huge ABBA fan, but I didn't read this book and come away thinking I had learned anything new about them. It was really about the authors enjoyment of them through the past few decades, which was good but just not what I thought I was picking up.
I thought the physical book was stunning and really loved the pictures throughout.
If you are an Abba fan, you will enjoy this book.
March 28, 2025
Listened on audio book . I selected this because I had enjoyed Lost in Music the authors earlier book . The book is witty and brings back memories of the 1970's when ABBA were in their prime . Unfortunately the narrator sounds incredibly smug rather than amusing . Probably much better consumed via a traditional hard copy book .
April 11, 2025
O livro é bom para qualquer fã ou interessado na história dos ABBA, mas a mim desiludiu-me porque a maioria dos capítulos perdem-se em dados e comparações difíceis de alcançar, diria até desnecessários.
Sempre que o autor fala das suas próprias experiências a sensação de leitura torna-se bastante mais prazerosa.
Sempre que o autor fala das suas próprias experiências a sensação de leitura torna-se bastante mais prazerosa.
August 28, 2024
I ABBAsolutely loved this book. I loved the humour in it, the personal touches with stories of how the author experienced ABBA growing up. A nice change from just reading facts that fans have all read before. I find myself wanting more every time I come across these gems.
October 15, 2024
Takes a little while to get used to as it's a semi-biography of the band, interwoven with the author's life and relationship to the music, but def has a uniqueness to it. Only wished I had a playlist alongside this as there are many times very specific references are made to songs
July 10, 2025
Enjoyed this book, don’t normally read this type of genre but was nice to learn more about ABBA. This kinda put me in a reading slump, but most of the book was well written. Mostly targeted to older audiences
November 28, 2024
3.5 Stars. A lovely fan tribute to the band.
April 26, 2025
4,5⭐️
July 14, 2024
This one ended up being my first dnf of the year which sucks a bit because I had really high hopes! Buuuuuuut this one just wasn’t my sort of non-fiction sadly! Now I don’t think this is a badly written book or anything of the sort but just a miscommunication between me and the blurb of the book when I thought this would be a history of ABBA but was more the history of this authors experience with ABBA which are two very different things 😅 i can totally see an ABBA lover really enjoying reading the authors experience with ABBA and bonding over that but just not me!
July 28, 2024
Of course now I have several ABBA songs stuck in my head, and I really want to see the ABBA Voyage show.
June 2, 2024
A life-long ABBA fan of some 45+ years I did not expect it love this book as much as I do. It’s so wonderfully written and made me laugh and tear up a little and nod along with Giles’ observations - so much so that I had to just read a few extracts out loud!! It was so wonderful to have the context of my 1970’s experience reminisced in such a poignant and interesting way. I have read a lot about ABBA over the years and yet I couldn’t put this book down! Thank you for the….well the words and memories Giles!
June 9, 2024
This was not what I thought it would be… I enjoyed learning a bit more about ABBA though!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews