The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Take a chance! Rare ABBA memorabilia up for auction in Sweden Posted: 03 Jul 2013 05:39 AM PDT Two rare ABBA recordings, along with clogs and clippings, will go under the hammer in Stockholm in August when a vast collection of memorabilia of the legendary Swedish pop group goes on sale, an auction house said last Friday. The Stockholms Auktionsverk expects the sale of the some 25,000 ABBA items on August 10 and 11 to fetch some 830,000 kronor (RM 394,500). Among the rarities are two maxi singles that ABBA recorded in Swedish but never released commercially: "Hovas Vittne", made for their manager Stig Anderson's 50th birthday party in 1981, of which there exist around 200 copies; and "Saang till Goerel", a song recorded for their record company assistant Goerel Hanser's 30th birthday in 1979, of which there are only some 50 copies. "Hovas Vittne" has an opening bid price of 25,000 kronor (RM 11,900), and "Saang till Goerel" 15,000 kronor (RM7,100). "Those two records really stand out in the collection," auction curator Beata af Donner said. "The ABBA Collection by Thomas Nordin", the largest collection dedicated to the iconic disco group to be sold at auction, comprises objects collected since 1974 when ABBA burst onto the international scene winning the Eurovision contest with their song "Waterloo". Nordin, an ABBA fan who was nine at the time, has since then collected rare items and unusual merchandise from around the world, such as ABBA clogs made exclusively for the American market, rare ABBA soaps and dolls, a large collection of clippings and books, and original posters. "He has fantastic books of ABBA clippings from 1974 until today. ABBA's entourage didn't collect all the clippings about the band back then so these are really unique, you can't get these anywhere now. Everything is in chronological order," Af Donner said. Nordin, who says ABBA's flamboyant stage costumes inspired him to become a tailor, said that his dream was originally to open his own ABBA museum. "But for various reasons, that didn't happen. And it feels good to bring (the collection) to an end now, even if it feels very empty at home now, in many ways," he said. The quartet dominated the 1970s disco scene with their costumes, kitsch dance routines and catchy melodies such as "Voulez-Vous", "Dancing Queen" and "Take a Chance on Me". They split in 1983 and have vowed they will never reunite to sing together again. - AFP/Relaxnews, July 3, 2013. |
| Trekkies lose: Vulcan not for new moons Posted: 02 Jul 2013 08:42 PM PDT After a successful online campaign that propelled "Vulcan" - the most well-known planet from "Star Trek" - to the top of a poll to name two moons orbiting Pluto, fans found out yesterday that the moons would be named "Kerberos" and "Styx" (which placed second and third) instead. The SETI Institute explained that despite the popularity of "Vulcan" (in large part due to a Twitter campaign by "Trek's" own William Shatner and endorsed by castmate Leonard Nimoy), the name was not new to the world of astronomy, reported CNN today. "The (International Astronomical Union) gave serious consideration to this name, which happens to be shared by the Roman god of volcanoes," SETI stated in a press release. "However, because that name has already been used in astronomy, and because the Roman god is not closely associated with Pluto, this proposal was rejected." (IAU rules state that the moons must be named after characters from the underworld of Greek or Roman mythology.) Shatner made no bones about his displeasure with the decision on his Twitter feed. "I'm sad," he tweeted. "So they name a moon Kerebus because there's already a Cerebus asteroid but a mythological planet knocks out Vulcan?" But the members of the band Styx were positively giddy. "Styx is proud to accept this new heavenly chart position as we add orbiting Pluto to our ever expanding touring map," guitarist and songwriter Tommy Shaw told Ultimateclassicrock.com. "As always we have our fans to thank for it and I predict a new Styx T-shirt in the making!" - July 3, 2013. |
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