The band agree to license a track for sampling.Abba have agreed to let Madonna use a sample of their music because of their admiration for the pop star, it has been revealed.
An excerpt of their hit single "Gimmi Gimmi Gimmi" features on Madonna's new single "Hung Up" but, as she reveals, it wasn't a straightforward coup:
"I had to send my emissary to Stockholm with a letter begging them and telling them how much I love their music," she told Attitude magazine in this month's edition. "They never let anyone sample their music. Thank God they didn't say no."
Licensing their back-catalogue is a rare move for Abba and Madonna's use of their legendary music is just the second time in their history the 70's pop act have agreed to it. The other act granted permission to sample was the Fugees, on their 1996 hit "Rumble In The Jungle".
"They had to think about it, Benny and Bjorn," Madonna adds. "They didn't say yes straight away."
Speaking in last weekend's Sunday Telegraph magazine, reports the BBC, Benn Anderson said he came to the decision with co-songwriter Bjorn Ulvaeus after considering Madonna's contribution to the pop landscape.
"She has got guts and has been around for 21 years. That is not bad going," he said. "Hung Up is really good. If it wasn't any good we would not have said yes. It is a wonderful track - 100 per cent solid pop music.''
In other news Madonna attended the New York premiere yesterday (October 18) of her new documentary film "I'm Going To Tell You a Secret," which provides a behind-the-scenes look at her 2004 "Reinvention" tour.
"Often, people in the entertainment business keep their truths to themselves; their secrets," Madonna said in an interview with a CBS reporter. "So, hopefully, I've revealed some of those things in the movie."
