Abbacadabra was created in 1991, turning original ABBA hits into dance versions fit for the club scene. ABBA’s originals have still never been remixed – but now DJ’s, ABBA enthusiasts and fans of great music all over the world, can once again rejoice in the magic through Abbacadabra, who still provide the best dance versions of ABBA songs to this day.
Over the last two decades, six albums and fifteen singles, this ‘semi-secret’ dance combo have proved to the world that they possess a real star quality and an enduring pop appeal. With various vocalists taking the leads throughout the Abbacadabra project, the original vocalists were Linda Taylor and Karen Boddington. However, a host of other singers helped to create that unique blend of Abba-esque sounding vocals, including Martin Jenkins, Pam Sheyne, Tracey Ackerman, Belle Lawrence and Jamie Knight…not forgetting of course the Almighty Crew who were compelled to regularly do BV’s! Following the project’s initial success, it was Maria Grimshaw and Nina Madhoo who took the Abbacadabra show on the road!
Going back to the beginning, in 1991 the group released their first single ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’, which was an immediate DJ favourite. Within a few months, came the much anticipated follow up single ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’, shortly followed by ‘Dancing Queen’ – which was a pivotal moment in both Abbacadabra and Almighty’s history. This single had such global interest, that after completely selling out of it’s initial vinyl pressing, label boss Martyn Norris gave up his full-time job to dedicate his time and attention to Almighty. This record firmly planted the roots for Abbacadabra, so much so that the legendary Pete Waterman started playing both ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’ on his late night TV show. After receiving so much international acclaim from this, he decided to pick up ‘Dancing Queen’ for a full scale release and promotion on his own label PWL. It soon entered the national charts, was licensed for many compilations and showed sustained sales in many countries around Europe for many years.
By the time they had issued their next few singles, Abbacadabra had enough material for an album. Their debut, ‘Abbasalute’ was a cleverly compiled 9 track selection of classic ABBA songs, which ultimately has become one of Almighty’s biggest selling albums.
In the 2000’s, Almighty decided that if they were going to keep the group relevant, they would have to move forward with a fresh sound. A few years later, ‘Voulez-Vouz’ was the first obvious choice for a comeback with this new ‘full-on’ club sound. Catapulting them once again to the top of the DJ charts and playlists all over the world, this more updated sound carried through on the next releases too.
It is internationally that Abbacadabra have gained their greatest commercial achievement and recognition. First in Japan with Avex and Toshiba/EMI, then in the US, where the popular remix team ‘Love To Infinity’ helped ‘Dancing Queen’ become a huge club hit while the act were signed to BMG.
As the best-selling act of all time on the Almighty artist roster, Abbacadabra have enjoyed chart-topping success around the world and will hopefully be loved for many more years to come.