Arrival

by ABBA

In the days of my youth, Arrival was the only ABBA vinyl we actually had in our house. It was a perfectly legit reissue, its cover art almost identical to the “Western” one apart from the Cyrillic lettering АББА. It was loved and endlessly listened to and looked like this:

The times were a-changing. By the mid-1970s, the nomenklatura somehow came to view the contemporary Western pop as more palatable for the internal consumption than the contemporary Western rock. In a few years’ time, Boney M. were to visit Moscow. I remember — vividly — watching the original music video of Knowing Me, Knowing You on the Soviet TV. Money, Money, Money could be heard at every disco, often next to «Из вагантов». The ubiquitous Весёлые ребята did a Russian-language version of it called «Помню, помню» (with no money mentioned) featuring vocals by the very same Liudmila Barykina who sang on «По волне моей памяти».

Vladimir Vinokur made a parody of Money, Money, Money where he mocked not as much ABBA as a stereotypical military choir such as Alexandrov Ensemble. (During his army draft years, Vinokur used to sing in a choir of the Moscow Military District.) Here, he sports a ridiculos fireman outfit and presents his act as the ensemble «Огонёк» (i.e. “Little Fire”).

For me, the crown for the best cover of Knowing Me, Knowing You belongs to the great late Trevor Peacock as Jim in The Vicar of Dibley.

Happy 50th, Arrival.