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Post by abbaprofessor on Aug 23, 2019 16:36:26 GMT
I was for decades under the impression in 1982 Abba had run out of ideas. Last winter i listened for the first time to JLT on Youtube. Catchiness in the chorus but something was missing. Now I found the full sax version on Youtube - and this is great great great ! All you who have praised the song are right.
So what the heck was going on in the group in 82. They recorded 6 songs - and the one miles better than the others was left unreleased. I simply do not understand.
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Post by josef on Aug 23, 2019 18:04:17 GMT
The sax version is the worst one. It totally dominates the track and is painful to endure.
The verses and the chorus do not go well together. That's the consensus amongst fans and BennyBjörn. I quite like the song but I don't think it's the masterpiece some people think it is. Fans would rave about any song that remained unreleased purely because of its unavailability.
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Post by foreverfan on Aug 23, 2019 18:20:38 GMT
It is the unavailability of the track that has taken it to iconic status.. in reality it is a good track and would probably be in most fans top 40; but not many top 10s. The sax version is rather over the top, naa naa version is similar in comparison, both are ‘ nearly ‘ there but not quite, and as for the Gemini version , a disappointment of what could’ve been. Alas we will probably never get a version officially released by ABBA. I know the time differences, but imagine that Opus 10, Just Like That, Dreamworld, I Am The City, Put On Your White Sombrero, Should I Laugh Or Cry, Lovelight Elaine, , Slowly, Cassandra, You Owe Me One, I still Have Faith In You, Dont Shut Me Down.. there you have it the Next Album..lol  |
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Post by Alan on Aug 23, 2019 21:27:26 GMT
Yes, it’s really not that good. As has been said, the sax just seems like a desperate attempt to throw anything at it to try and make it work. And it still doesn’t. And those verses...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2019 11:39:20 GMT
Foreverfan, your idea of an "Opus 10" album with your tracklist choice is brilliant.
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Post by HOMETIME on Aug 24, 2019 13:08:17 GMT
I find the sax irritatingly repetitive and grating. And it sounds like he's improvising in the gap between the end of the riff and the start of the verse. Somebody with better ears than I has also suggested that there some bum notes too.
I think the chorus is superb, though.
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Post by foreverfan on Aug 24, 2019 13:58:26 GMT
I know the time differences, but imagine that Opus 10, Just Like That, Dreamworld, I Am The City, Put On Your White Sombrero, Should I Laugh Or Cry, Lovelight Elaine, , Slowly, Cassandra, You Owe Me One, I still Have Faith In You, Dont Shut Me Down.. there you have it the Next Album..lol Apart from us few fans.. the vast majority of the public would have no idea of how old everything is.. saying that the ‘new’ tracks are old now ! So it wouldn’t matter..lol |
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Post by richard on Aug 24, 2019 14:29:08 GMT
Assuming that they like the chorus as much as a lot of fans appear to, it puzzles me that Benny and Bjorn won't write a different verse-melody for Just Like That. Maybe they spent so much time in the past trying to get it right and not succeeding that they're no longer interested in the song? That seems to be the case.
If so, it's a pity because, like Tony,, I think the chorus is superb; and it deserves every effort, still, to get the rest of the song to gel with it.
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Post by josef on Aug 25, 2019 8:37:11 GMT
^I'd hardly think BennyBjörn would really be arsed to revisit a song they recorded and ditched so long ago. Bonus if it ever was tweaked and released but I wouldn't hold your breath.
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Post by Alan on Aug 25, 2019 11:35:27 GMT
I imagine it would be tweaked in some way, the same as Sombrero, Dream World and I Am The City were. Very minor tweaks though.
What does still nark me about ABBA Undeleted is that you have to sit through the rubbish, or try to find the best bits. I’d still like a version of this that has every song separated into individual tracks. It could still run as one continuous “studio rehearsal” as they put it, but you could select the ones you want individually. And preferably the silly introductions one where they announce themselves in stupid voices as a separate track, so I’d never have to hear it...
The Just Like That segment has been released like that once - on a CD single along with Dream World, Sombrero and that Doris Day version thing. It was a promotional-only release but was official. As I write, one on eBay going for £80...
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Post by abbaprofessor on Sept 17, 2019 16:22:08 GMT
It would have been perfect if they had released When all is said and done after One of us and then Just like that
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2019 17:22:52 GMT
I agree I would have liked JLT to be released but as some of our friends within previous posts have pointed out that the track consists of two different songs and that is the reason why Benny and Bjorn were against a release. I guess they could have re-worked it but never had the time so it slipped from the net. Never mind, we can only hope that maybe one day a different ABBA version could be released.
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Post by gamleman on Jun 3, 2020 13:26:35 GMT
"Just Like That" is one of my favourite ABBA songs - for me, it has a magic that takes it almost to the level of "Dancing Queen". And I like the saxophone as an instrument, so I find that an attractive part of the arrangement. While I knew of its existence, I first heard it on "ABBA Undeleted" and it was my highlight of that 'medley'. I have the standalone clip on the 4-track promo-CD and at one time, if I ever created an ABBA compilation for someone, I would slip JLT on it. I also bought a fan-made CD which collects together different versions of the song from ABBA and other artists. I even wrote to Benny and Bjorn in the late 90s encouraging them to release an official version.
I don't really get B&B's reasons for not releasing it. OK, the ABBA and Gemini versions are different, but it's not as if they haven't released two different versions of the same song before... "Why Did It Have To Be Me" and "Happy Hawaii" (of which I prefer the latter). To think that we got "I Am The City" on "More Gold" when we could have had JLT... I find that almost criminal.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2020 17:00:22 GMT
I love JLT too. It is also one of my favourite ABBA songs and it could have been included on More ABBA Gold. Personally, I would have replaced IW with JLT instead. Shame it was shelved.
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Post by Michal on Jun 5, 2020 6:12:59 GMT
"To think that we got "I Am The City" on "More Gold" when we could have had JLT... I find that almost criminal. Actually, if it was the other way round, we would be raving about I Am The City today and signing petitions to have it released.🙂 I like I Am The City a lot, it's one of my favourites. I'm very happy it was released, but a full version of JLT should have followed on the Thank You For The Music box in 1994. I guess today Björn and Benny are so fed up with the constant attention the song gets that they won't allow it to be released while they're still alive. I wouldn't be suprised if they destroyed the tapes to make it absolutely clear we'll never get it... |
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Post by gamleman on Jun 5, 2020 8:56:48 GMT
It wouldn't have been the other way around for me - I have just never embraced IATC. It's my hope that they will surprise us with the 5 (?) new songs and also one or more bonuses, including a finished and official ABBA version of JLT  I really don't understand B&B's attitude of not wanting to give the fans what they've been asking for over many years - we've been expected to buy the same old material over and over again, yet they won't give us this one song. I think they tend to prioritise their own creativity over keeping the fans happy. This seems common with highly creative people - Kate Bush is much the same. |
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Post by voulez on Jun 24, 2022 21:44:22 GMT
I love the sax version of this song but i'd say that where the sax goes a bit on a tangent was just offered up by the sax player so that B&B could bury bits into the final mix (or chopped them out). It's very much a demo and doesn't compare to IATC which is a completed song.
I was so surprised to see JAN used in Voyage rather than this. JLT is a great soap-opera ABBA song and would have sat really well alongside DSMD or KAEOD.
Maybe in will feature on the next album (Are you reading this ABBA?)
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Post by Michal on Jun 25, 2022 7:16:30 GMT
I was so surprised to see JAN used in Voyage rather than this. JLT is a great soap-opera ABBA song and would have sat really well alongside DSMD or KAEOD. I was suprised by the inclusion of Just A Notion but not so much by the omission of Just Like That. I like the song very much (although I find the sax quite irritating) but Benny have said so many times that they will never release it, even claiming it's not complete, that I think it's highly unlikely he would change his mind. Moreover, both the original chorus and the verses were already released (the latter in a Chess på Svenska song). On the hand, how likely it was that ABBA would record a new album? So, I guess it's their favourite "never say never". If the original vocals were kept and the backing track reworked, it could make a great song. By the way, just recently a fellow ABBA fan told me that Frida is not present on the known recording of JLT and it's just Agnetha singing both the lead and the backing vocals. Does anybody know if that's true? |
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Post by AdamDawson2003 on Jun 25, 2022 8:29:45 GMT
I was so surprised to see JAN used in Voyage rather than this. JLT is a great soap-opera ABBA song and would have sat really well alongside DSMD or KAEOD. I was suprised by the inclusion of Just A Notion but not so much by the omission of Just Like That. I like the song very much (although I find the sax quite irritating) but Benny have said so many times that they will never release it, even claiming it's not complete, that I think it's highly unlikely he would change his mind. Moreover, both the original chorus and the verses were already released (the latter in a Chess på Svenska song). On the hand, how likely it was that ABBA would record a new album? So, I guess it's their favourite "never say never". If the original vocals were kept and the backing track reworked, it could make a great song. By the way, just recently a fellow ABBA fan told me that Frida is not present on the known recording of JLT and it's just Agnetha singing both the lead and the backing vocals. Does anybody know if that's true? You can definitely hear Frida in the chorus on the version of 'Just Like That' in the Undeleted medley. |
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Post by richard on Jun 25, 2022 11:19:09 GMT
Others will disagree, of course, but it's not obvious to me that Frida is actually on the demos of Just Like That at all in any version. I'm not sure I can hear the nuances of Frida's voice in the choruses, and that the lower tones are Agnetha's. (Mind you, I think it's Frida harmonizing with herself in Fernando, and that it's not Agnetha singing the upper harmony part. And I'm sure I'm in a very small minority in thinking that!) Regarding JLT, all the versions I've heard seem demo-like to me, instrumentally at least, in the verses. I no longer feel the problem is the sometimes claimed mismatch between verse and chorus: melodically, I now think they work very well together. Just Like That just won't go away, will it, for some ABBA fans - me included. But all discussion about it in vain, I fear. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 25, 2022 11:44:41 GMT
Frida speaks glowingly about JLT in Remko Van Drongelen's fab book about her. It's clear from what she says that she is on the track. She loves it so much that she was willing (at the time) to return to the studio to fix any problems with it. I presume she means problems identified by B&B.
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Post by Michal on Jun 25, 2022 12:04:51 GMT
...it's not obvious to me that Frida is actually on the demos of Just Like That at all in any version... ...I think it's Frida harmonizing with herself in Fernando, and that it's not Agnetha singing the upper harmony part.... I'm not so sure about JLT either. But the choruses are so rich vocally, that it's hard to tell. But HOMETIME's post supports the theory that Frida is there. As for Fernando... it's hard to believe that it's not Agnetha doing the harmonies, especially as she is featured in the video and every performance of the song  |
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 25, 2022 12:56:13 GMT
I found the quote from the book in a previous post. It comes from an interview from when the TYFTM box set was released:
"[...] What Agnetha and I did as singers, I thought was great. 'Just Like That', for example, still is a song that gets under my skin. I enjoy it every time I hear it. It's one of those songs where almost everything is just right, Agnetha's and my voice, the sound, the arrangement and the text. I actually wouldn't mind going back into the studio and fixing the verses, if the others agree, so it can be released on single."
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Post by richard on Jun 25, 2022 12:59:10 GMT
Michal , assuming Frida did the harmonising in her Swedish version of Fernando, it would be interesting to compare that with the English version in terms of vocal timbre. But of course Frida and Agnetha were brilliant at combining their voices, so it's often difficult to distinguish one from the other when they sang together. Regardless of what happened on a recording, for a video and live performances they could have presented it differently. In live performances of the Beatles' 'All My Loving', for example, George Harrison took over the lead in the third verse with Paul McCartney harmonising, whereas on the recording Macca does both. Oops, overlapping with Tony's post there!
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I really don't understand B&B's attitude of not wanting to give the fans what they've been asking for over many years - we've been expected to buy the same old material over and over again, yet they won't give us this one song. I think they tend to prioritise their own creativity over keeping the fans happy. This seems common with highly creative people - Kate Bush is much the same.
