A work about an MBA class. Mamma Mia case. It need to be finish in 3 hours.

486 PART 6 CASES

popular music. In i976. ABBA released Greatest Hits andThe Best of ABBA. These two albums contributed to the group's worldwide fame and helped them to achieve a number one rating in the U.S. with "Dancing Queen" in 1971 (which would be the only song ever reaching a number one place on the U.S. charts). At one time dur- ing the late 1970s, only the automakerVolvo surpassed ABBA as Sweden's top export.

In late 1976, ABBA released its fourth album, Aruivttl. This was fbllowed by concert tours in Europe the next year. The tour completely sold out and was conse- quently brought to Australia where the group decided to

,begin working on a tilm entitled 'ABBA-The Movie." In 1978 the

-eroup came to the United States on a pro-

motional tolrr that preceded the release of their sixth al- burr, Vtulez-Vous. However, earlier in the year, Bjcirn and Agnetha had announced their divorce. While the group remained determined to continue their work as ABBA. the news started l'umors of the group's breakup.

In late 1979, the group released a second compilation album, Greutest Hits Vot.2 that coincided with a rnajor tour of Canada, the United States, and Europe.

In March 1980, ABBA took their tour to Japan fbr what turned out to be one of their last live concerts. For the rest of the year. the -qroup recorded the album Sryrer Trouper

In February l98l Benny and Frida also announced their divorce. Many fans considered this the breakup of the group. Yet, the event did not stop the foursome from working together. At the end of the yeal ABBA released their eighth album, Tlrc Visitors.3

,.CHESS"

At the end of 1982. the -uroup decided to take a break. Benny and Bjdrn had tired of ABBA and were looking to branch out into musical theater. At the same time. Tim Rice was looking tbr someone to write the score for his musical, "Chess."

Working as a lyricist/producer, Rice reached fame by collaborating with producer Andrew Lloyd Webber in "Joseph and the Amazin-e Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Jesus Christ Superstar," and was considered to be a musical pioneer in theater'. As Rice pointed out:

Doing shows on record lirst und without a bookii rnay have been things that Andrew [Lloyd Webber] and I

iiA "book" is the baseline story behind the production and is similar lo r :clecnplal lbr a nror ie.

pioneered, but we really did it by mistake. The only reason we recorded "Jesus Christ Superstar" first was because we couldn't get a theater deal. It had no book because we didn't know anyone who could write one. Geography had a lot to do with our success. Had we been in America, we would have been subject to the Broadway tradition. But because we were so far away we felt there was no need to follow any rules. After the Beatles, anybody with ambitions to write songs went into records and performing. But since we weren't performers and since Andrew loved theater so much, we took all our tavorite rock things and used them in our scores. As with the Beatles. it finally wasn't bril- liant thinking so much as luck that made us so suc- cessful. We happened to be in the right place at the right time.+

Rice's reputation, and the work that he was doing (he has since been a major part of productions such as "Evita," 'Aladdin," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King," and 'Aida") turned out to be an instant draw for Benny and Bjom. They immediately signed on to the project.

Using the world of intemational chess as a metaphor. Tim Rice conceived to write a musical about how the Cold War aff.ected the lives of all those it touched. The story follows an international chess match frorn Bangkok to Budapest. The plot revolves around Florence, a Hungarian-born woman who works as an assistant for the upstart American challenger, Freddie. Freddie is jointly modeled afier Bobby Fischer and the tennis star John McEnroe. In the middle of the match with the Russian champion, Anatoly. the American precipitates a dispute. As the match seems about to fall apart, Florcnce, attempting to intercede, meets and falls in love with the Russian, who promptly decides to defect to the West. When the Russians pressure Anatoly to change his mind. he becomes the focus of an international tug of war.

Rice originally approached Andrew Lloyd Webber to write the score. but his former partner was already com- rnitted to other projects. Then, in 198 l. producer Richard Vos introduced Rice to Benny Andersson and Bj6rn Ulvaeus. The tearn immediately set about creating a con- cept album. Two numbers did well in the charts. "One Ni-eht in Bangkok" first appeared on the U.K. charts on November 10. 1984, and stayed there for 13 weeks, at one point reaching #12. ln the U.S., it jumped to #9 in April of 1985 and topped the charls in France, Australia. Belgium, Austria, South Africa. Denmark, Israel, West Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and Sweden. Another single, "I Know Him So Well" followed, eventualll' reaching #l on the U.K. charts during its l6 week run. With "Chess" ah'eady a worldwide phenomenon before