A*Teens
Teen group leaves ABBA behind
By Kristi Singer
Morning Star Correspondent
Published July 27, 2001
Like the first single from their second U.S. release, the A*Teens have something to “bounce off the ceiling” about. The group's second album is quickly approaching gold status in the States, outpacing the sales of its first release, ABBA Generation.
The Swedish boy/girl pop group released the second album in February. The first album, released in 1999, was a compilation of ABBA covers that sold more than three million copies worldwide. Sixteen-year-old Dhani Lennevald said that outselling ABBA Generation feels good since the group was unsure about the response they would get with original songs after covering another group for two years.
“It feels great that people like it that much. We feel so honored, we're really happy,” Mr. Lennevald said.
Although the cover songs brought Marie Serneholt, Amit Paul, Sara Lumholdt and Mr. Lennevald success, the band wanted to take a different route with its second album and record original songs.
“It just felt natural to get a new challenge, to try something new and to just go on,” Mr. Lennevald said.
The original idea to cover ABBA was from the A*Teens’ record label.
“It wasn't our idea; it was the record company who came up with that. But when they said it to us, we thought it was a great idea because so many people haven't heard ABBA. . . so we thought it was a great idea to bring it back,” Mr. Lennevald said.
The A*Teens recorded their original tunes by different songwriters in Sweden. Mr. Lennevald said it seemed silly for the group to travel thousands of miles to record in the U.S. And the 10-minute bike ride to the studios was an added bonus for Mr. Lennevald.
“I could be home with friends and family. Just to be able to be home and at the same time to be able to do that was just so perfect,” Mr. Lennevald said.
It's difficult to be on the road at such a young age, let alone in another country. But lucky for the A*Teens, their parents were able to meet them recently in Florida where the group had three performances and three days off.
“Friends and family, everybody is so supportive about this. They know this has been our big dream since we were really small. So they're so happy,” Mr. Lennevald said.
The group chose the title Teen Spirit because the album is about the life of a teenager -- 13 tracks celebrating love, school, parties and friends.
The album's first single, Bouncing off the Ceiling (Upside Down) is about a boy or girl in school, who's “crazy in love” with someone and can't concentrate on school and homework.
The A*Teens are currently on a U.S. tour with Aaron Carter (younger brother of Backstreeter Nick Carter) until the end of August. The A*Teens haven't toured with the Backstreet Boys, but they have toured with ’N Sync and Britney Spears.
“’N Sync and Britney Spears were really nice people, just really normal and down to earth, and that's the way they should be,” Mr. Lennevald said.
So what does it feel like to be one of the only boy and girl pop groups? In all-male or all-female groups, Mr. Lennevald said, group members can easily become jealous of each other.
“I think it's so great to have both boys and girls. We're such a great group, we're such close friends, it's so perfect right now.”
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