James Macdonald never thought performing at his local pub would lead to him playing in one of Australia’s biggest ABBA tribute acts.
For 25 years the guitarist has played Bjorn Ulvaeus in BABBA, touring Australia and the world.
“I wasn’t quite prepared for how successful it would become,” he said.
The journey started at Royal Derby Hotel, Fitzroy, where Macdonald was a regular in a pop-rock band “along the lines of Crowded House”.
“I was living as most musicians do, from hand to mouth,” he said.
“That said, Melbourne was fantastic (at the time) – you could play in three or four bands and earn good money.”
One night the hotel’s manager asked him to play ABBA songs with university student Michael Ingvarson and three others.
“This came out of leftfield,” he said.
“As a musician you kind of take gigs that will supply you with an income.”
The show was a hit and Macdonald and Ingvarson, as ’Benny’, have played together since, in a tribute act lasting twice as long as ABBA itself.
“When people hear us it’s as close as we can possibly get to what was on the radio,” Macdonald said.
The band studied ABBA interviews to mimic Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Frida, even talking in Swedish accents between songs.
“It’s not as full on as the Swedish chef on The Muppets,” Macdonald said.
“When you listen to Benny and Bjorn talk in interviews they have very international accents and speak very softly.“
The band gained fame at hundreds of gigs across Australia and often had concerts go well into the early morning.
They recently played on a cruise alongside Darryl Braithwaite and last year performed with Canberra Symphony Orchestra for 15,000 people.
“Way back in the day” BABBA had a Friday night Geelong gig, where Macdonald spotted Cats ruckman John Barnes, he said.
The band returns to perform at Sphinx Hotel on 17 November.
“I always like coming to Geelong,” he said.
Macdonald was surprised at the number of 19-to-25-year-olds at BABBA concerts, especially at recent university shows.
“I think it’s been passed down through their DNA,” he joked.
“I’ll have to get a scientist to test that. More likely it’s through the movie (Mamma Mia!) or their parents’ record collection.”
ABBA songs stood the “test of time” because of well-constructed melodies and catchy lyrics, he said.
“There’s a lot to each song musically, which you probably don’t get unless you have to play them.
“That’s why they have such impact on people.”
