Today (November 15, 2010) is the 65^th birthday of Princess Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad Prinzessin Reuss von Plauen. She is probably better known as Frida, one of the members of the Swedish 70s super group ABBA. As part of ABBA, the band became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music selling over 375 million records and topping the charts worldwide from 1972 until 1983 when the band broke up. Frida went on to have some solo success.

In 1982, during ABBA's last year as a working band, Frida recorded and released her first post-Abba solo album which was also her first solo album in English. The Phil Collins-produced album was called Something's Going On and became a big success for her worldwide. A much rockier sound was found on many of the songs and Phil Collins' special drum sound contributed a lot, especially on the lead single. The album sold 1.5 million copies and spawned the successful single "I Know There's Something Going On", which topped the charts in four countries and reached the top five in many more. In the United States, the single reached a respectable #13 in March 1983 on the Billboard Hot 100, lasting an impressive seven months on the chart making it the 20th largest selling single that year. Many people do not realize that this song is sung by the same person who was a member of ABBA.

The song was written by Russ Ballard, who was the lead singer of the band Argent, and it is about a woman who is convinced her man is cheating on her. I am convinced that the involvement (and midas touch) of Phil Collins as producer, drummer and backing vocals really helped make this song the hit it became selling 3.5 million copies worldwide. This week's Flashback Video is "I Know There's Something Going On" by Frida...

That was her first and only solo hit in the U.S. She gained the Princess title in 1992 when she married a German prince of the former sovereign House of Reuss. Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss of Plauen died in 1999. She currently lives in Switzerland. Don't hold your breath for the long-demanded ABBA reunion. Frida has stated that she has no interest in ever returning to a music career. As a solo artist, you can add her to the long list of one-hit wonders from the 80s and that is never a bad thing.

That'll wrap up this issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you want to see the past issues of Flashback Videos, just type that into the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column and it should give you a list of most of them. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use that Google Search Box to find any past issues or topics you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on the "Like" button. Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. You can also follow Old School on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". Even though the blog only updates a couple times a week, I try to send out daily 80s tweets. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.