All of these elements are in no way unique to ABBA says Levitin. Berklee’s Aldrich, who’s written or sung such regionally memorable jingles as “It’s time to Stop & Shop” and “Tweeter, for times like these,” agrees. “If you study it intimately, you will find there’s a tremendous amount of repetition in song style and form that really hasn’t changed much at all in 70 years,” says Aldrich, citing Tin Pan Alley scribes like Cole Porter and even classical composers like Handel as using similar approaches.
Phyllida Lloyd, director of Mamma Mia! and a veteran opera director, doesn’t need a scientist to explain why ABBA songs are so infectious.
“I think it’s a combination of things,” says Lloyd. “I think it’s genius melodies by Benny Andersson and really quite deceptively complex and intricate orchestration. They were sort of masters of studio production, and they used every gizmo in the book at that time available to man, including a very ornate use of vocal harmony and words used partly as orchestration.”
Lloyd is living proof that an inability to shake ABBA has no long-term side effects. Having had one or another of the songs in her head for the past 10 years as she shepherded Mamma Mia! onto both Broadway and the big screen, Lloyd says her sanity is perfectly intact.
“You wouldn’t think so, would you? Questions ought to be asked,” she says with a laugh. “I find that you just don’t tire of them.”
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