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Stig Anderson | |
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 Anderson in 1968 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
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| Born | Stig Erik Leopold Anderson 25 January 1931 Hova, Sweden |
| Died | 12 September 1997(1997-09-12) (aged 66) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1950s–1997 |
| Labels | Polar Music |
Stig Erik Leopold "Stikkan"Anderson (25 January 1931 – 12 September 1997)[2] was a Swedishmusic manager, lyricist andmusic publisher. He was the co-founder ofPolar Music and is best known for managing the Swedish pop bandABBA.[3]
Stikkan Erik Leopold Anderson was born on 25 January 1931 inHova, Sweden,[1] the son of a single mother named Ester. Anderson began his career as a chemistry and mathematics teacher at a primary school, by taking night classes[3] after leaving school at the age of 15.[4][clarification needed] Having written his first song at age 16,[3] Anderson soon entered theSwedish popular music scene, becoming a music producer,manager and occasional performer.[3]
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Anderson began writing songs as early as 1951, and in 1959 gained his breakthrough with the song "Är du kär i mig ännu, Klas-Göran?" ("Are You Still in Love With Me, Klas-Göran?"), written for Swedish singerLill-Babs. During the 1960s, he was one of Sweden's most prolific songwriters. According to Anton Stimm in the Swedish SVT documentary 'Stikkan' Stig Anderson wrote 767 published titles. Anderson also founded Sweden Music in 1960, as well as several other companies. Three years later, Anderson co-foundedPolar Music with Bengt Bernhag.[citation needed]
By the late 1960s, Anderson was the manager and producer ofBjörn Ulvaeus andBenny Andersson, who would become the two main songwriters of ABBA. He joined the careers of these two, after previously managing theHootenanny Singers, of which Ulvaeus was a member. Later, in 1972, he began managingAnni-Frid Lyngstad, and finally in 1976Agnetha Fältskog (until December 1975, Fältskog was still bound to Cupol/CBS Records under a contract).[citation needed]
Before his time with ABBA, Anderson managed some of the biggest Swedish artists at that time, and had a huge number of hits on the Swedishcharts. His success earned him the nickname "The Business" since he often had several artists in the Top 10 at any time with whom he had written, published, and recorded the songs. When requiring fresh ideas, Anderson would travel to New York City, buy songs that had been American hits, and thentranslate ortranscribe thelyrics on the return journey ready for arecording session shortly after and then have the record on the shelves within a few days. Some songs were sent toIFPI/ASCAP forcopyright infringement.[citation needed]
For writing the Swedish lyrics to "Little Green Apples" ("Gröna små äpplen"), "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" ("Mamma är lik sin mamma") and "Ljuva sextital", Anderson was awardedLyricist of the Year during the firstGrammis Awards in 1969.[5]
In the early years of ABBA's existence, Anderson co-wrote many of the songs' lyrics, among them some of the band's biggest hits, such as "Ring Ring" (1973), "Waterloo" (1974), "Honey, Honey" (1974), "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (1975), "Mamma Mia" (1975), "S.O.S" (1975), "Dancing Queen" (1976), "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (1977) and "The Name of the Game" (1977).[6]
Sometimes referred to as the "fifth member" of ABBA, Anderson also owned the band's record label and publishing company.[7] He shared the ownership with Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus andMichael B. Tretow, the mainsound engineer for the company.[8]
Anderson was one of the dominant figures behind ABBA, representing their commercial interests and global success through successful record deals. At the same time, he also managed the investment of funds and the enormous financial incomes of Polar Music, holding the majority of stocks. This was an agreement dating back to 1974, and a great deal of the money came from individual record deals he struck for the group, including a ground-breaking agreement for record sales in theSoviet Union in which ABBA recordings were released in exchange forbarrels of oil. In the mid-1980s, a considerable part of ABBA's fortune was lost by mismanagement, bad investments, high demands fortax and the rise of credit rates.[citation needed]
The contract with the performers, as well as the international distribution, ran from a standard publishing and recording deal involving identical contracts, rather than from one written specifically with the performers of the band. This led to problems later, when three of the four ABBA members terminated their relationship with Anderson when it was revealed that Anderson had used this contract to take a percentage of profits at a value of 4.5 millioneuros over the course of many years. A complaint against Anderson was submitted to the Stockholm District Court in June 1990 by Agnetha Fältskog's companyAgnetha Fältskog Produktion AB, Benny Andersson's companyMono Music AB, as well as a Dutch company holding Björn Ulvaeus's rights. The dispute was eventually settled out of court in July 1991; the terms of the settlement remain undisclosed.[citation needed]
In 1982, Anni-Frid Lyngstad had sold all the shares in the Polar Music company given to her by Anderson, as she moved abroad.[3] She remains the only member of the band never to seek legal recourse for pastroyalty fees and was not involved with the legal proceedings against Anderson.[citation needed]
In 1989, Anderson made a substantial financial endowment to found thePolar Music Prize from money he made when he sold the multimillion-dollar record company Polar Records. In this deal nearly all utilisation and license rights, and the registered ABBA trademark, were sold for an unknown sum of money toPolyGram shortly before the ABBA members took him to court over royalty back payments. Previously, Anderson had licensed ABBA and the members' solo releases to labels internationally as a means to increase royalties. In 1998, PolyGram was in turn sold toSeagram and merged into what is now one of the Big Three record labels, theUniversal Music Group, the company that holds the rights to the entire ABBA back catalogue.[citation needed]
Stig Anderson was married to Gudrun Anderson (née Rystedt, 1931–2010), and had two sons, Anders and Lasse and a daughter Marie. His daughter, Marie Ledin (born in 1957, wife of Swedish star and ABBA concert backing vocalistTomas Ledin) was also involved in the music industry. In the mid-1980s she started a new, highly successful record label calledRecord Station (sold to GermanBMG in the early 1990s), followed byAnderson Records.Anderson Records released Anni-Frid Lyngstad's Swedish comeback albumDjupa andetag in 1996, as well as Michael B. Tretow'sGreatest Hits in 1999.[citation needed]
On 12 September 1997 at the age of 66, Stig Anderson died of a heart attack.[9] His funeral was broadcast live bySveriges Television.
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