ABBA, Olivia Newton-John, and Andy Gibb on one stage, talk about a stacked lineup! This dream team of the disco era teamed up for an iconic collab for Olivia’s 1978 TV special. There are very few high-quality performances of ABBA and Andy that survived to the internet era, so this is such a special document of this incredible era. Fans were mesmerized by the sizzling star power on display, and those voices! Back in ‘78, you actually had to be able to really sing live to be a pop star.
This clip is proof of what an amazing era it was for live vocals – the best in the biz right there on one stage. Olivia opened the segment with her song “If You Love Me (Let Me Know),” which segued into ABBA performing “Dancing Queen.” The youngest brother of the Bee Gees, Gibb brothers Andy, then sang his hit “I Just Want to Be Your Everything,” with the ABBA members joining in. The Music Man has to say this collab has everything that made that era great: the effortless magnetism, classic songs, and sublime voices.
Fan channel ArgoWho uploaded the Olivia! TV special to YouTube, where it hit 11.6 million views. Fans loved the star-studded collab and added comments such as “The best thing about this is that they’re all singing live” and “To have them all together live with an orchestra in 1978 was a ONCE IN A BLUE MOON event.”
ABBA live performances from that era always deliver. One of the greatest came from their 1974 Eurovision Song Contest performance of “Waterloo.” The stage presence that Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog bring to this performance is just mesmerizing to watch. Those flawless live harmonized vocals combined with how much fun they’re having up there together make this a timeless performance. It’s easy to see why ABBA became the biggest Swedish act of all time.
The Olivia! variety TV special aired in the US on ABC on May 17, 1978. ABBA and Andy Gibb were the special guests for the show. All three hitmakers performed their own songs, as well as supporting each other in their performances. The Music Man readers might be interested to hear that the special aired just one month before Grease debuted in cinemas on June 16, 1978, which featured Olivia Newton-John in the starring role of Sandy Olsson.