ABBA prejudice shattered . . . .

In a past life I was a radio dj. It was the family business, so from the age of about 13 to about 20 I was on the air. It was great fun. That was back in the day when radio people really worked. None of these computerized satellite assisted new fangled devices. We just heated up the old vacuum tubes and did everything that had to be done. But that's another story.


In my last year or two of radio I played ABBA. Now there was nothing wrong with ABBA. But when you have to play the same songs over and over and over, which is what happened during their rather short span of popularity, you just get sick of it. For years the same thing happened to me with Christmas music. We would play all Christmas music for a couple of weeks prior to Christmas. It wasn't a satellite or a continuous play CD machine. It was just a dj putting holiday record after holiday record on the turntable. You wouldn't believe how many different covers of Little Drummer Boy there are. I got sick of Christmas music . . .and I love Christmas. So ABBA shouldn't be offended.

So it was with a bit of trepidation that I went to see Mama Mia. The trepidation was increased when I learned that Pierce Brosnan actually sang in the production.

It is a musical, fully and completely. Ususally I am disappointed by musicals made into movies.

But in MM the Greek Island setting, and the close ups of the faces of the chorus members (the townspeople) actually are an improvement over the stage.

For me, the "Dancing Queen" scene was worth the full price of admission.

The reviews were not great. But, it was fun. And fun goes a long way with me. So, go ahead, Take a Chance (a clever ABBA reference for those of you who know nothing of their music), if you just need to feel good for awhile. For those of you who read my stuff often, you probably know that I get a little intense about the world sometimes. So a feel good movie is important to me every once in a while.

For instance, my favorite movies include any Marx Brothers movie, National Lampoon's Animal House and Vacation, Dumb and Dumber, Stripes, and others of like weight.

So, now there is Mama Mia. It's all right if you want to wait till it comes out on DVD. You can save a little Money, Money, Money.

Then last night I went to see the Dark Knight. That's a completely different story for another time.