home - talk - editorial - r.i.p. abbamail



R.I.P. ABBAMAIL | 4 November 2008

Last week the famous ABBA website ABBAMAIL closed its digital doors. It is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s dead. It’s a stiff (quoting Monty Python’s famous parrot sketch)

ABBAMAIL was for many fans the basics of internet ABBA fandom in the last twelve years. What originally started out as a mailing list became so much more. It was a community, a place for healthy debates, a superb site for all the latest ABBA news and much more. It was a place where people came together who had at least one thing in common: their love for ABBA music.

Fortunately site owners Graeme Read and Grant Whittingham made sure that the mailing list has been transferred to another fan. So the ultimate core of ABBAMAIL has been preserved. That was a great gesture from two men who no longer consider themselves ABBA fans.

The fact that the site was shutdown came as a great shock for me. I didn’t see it coming at all. There had been a few hard times in the past for the site, but I thought that G&G had survived everything. Obviously the site, the mailing list and their 2006 battle with Universal worn them out.

If you read their statements about the demise of ABBAMAIL at www.abbamail.com, you will understand why they called it a day. It makes me terribly sad that this happens to fans that devote a great part of their lives to a pop group.

The obituaries that ABBA fans from all over the world sent to the new mailing list ABBA Village showed how much ABBAMAIL meant to them. Some people made long lasting and very close personal friendships because of ABBAMAIL. What ABBAMAIL did for me, can’t be expressed in a couple of words.

Most of all it inspired me to stay ABBA fan no matter what. It inspired me to continue work on ABBA Plaza, it inspired me to write a book about ABBA fandom and much more. Sometimes when my ABBA fandom slowly faded away, I could rely on ABBAMAIL to keep the flame burning.

And now it’s time to say R.I.P. ABBAMAIL. I pay respect to Graeme and Grant who created ABBAMAIL: a unique place in ABBA history. Thank you guys for everything you did!

         

picture belonging to column R.I.P. ABBAMAIL

All editorials:
R.I.P. ABBAMAIL
OOPS
A big cheer
The museum
ABBA & Me
Life
The worst of ABBA
ABBA Live
The birth of a myth
Stuck
ABBA on eBay
Voulez-Vous
Passion
Casting a shadow
Givin' a little bit more – yeah right
So long
Dum Dum Diddle
The ABBA clothes
Kimono
1976 - The point of no return
Number One - at last
The end of the rainbow
No more champagne
Creating a bootleg
Dreamworld
The history book on the shelf
A sense of pride
If you change your mind
Goodbye Polar Studios
A single line
True Colours
Overkill
I have a dream
The heat is on
Checkmate
ABBA Naked
Happy new year
Just like what?
Mamma bloody Mia!
Reunion
Remixes

ABBA Plaza logo
 
nederlands   rss   sitemap   contact
nederlands   contact

game

play the discography game

rare fan items

picture of fabulous ABBA fan item

picture

show more ABBA pictures

buy my book

buy my book

plaza      book      rare      fun      talk      lyrics      downloads      galleries      video      tours      encounters      autographs      albums      collection     
plaza   book   rare   fun   talk   lyrics   downloads   galleries   video   tours   encounters   autographs   albums   collection  
 abba news 
 site changes 
 mail service 
 rss feed 
 most popular 
 sitemap 
 history 
 audio setting 
 links 
 webmaster 
 about the book 
 buy the book 
 reviews 
 fan cds 
 fan cd singles 
 buy cds 
 discography game 
 your abba calender 
 photo puzzle 
 the weakest link 
 lyrics race 
 cover quiz 
 video quiz 
 sound quiz 
 lyrics quiz 
 tic tac toe 
 e-cards 
 poll history 
 site award 2008 
 editorial 
 guestbook 
 album stories 
 tell a friend 
 contact 
 search 
 alphabetically 
 by language 
 by album 
 by category 
 by year 
 your own lyric sheet 
 complete albums 
 mp3 
 screensavers 
 wallpapers 
 abba logo 
 the movie logo 
 font 
 lyrics 
 2008 public reunion 
 2005 reunion 
 video 
 collectables 
 autographs 
 encounters 
 promo pics 
 slide show 
 abba costumes 
 formula 1 car 
 stills 
 description 
 1974 - 1975 tour of europe 
 1975 tour of the swedish folkparks 
 1977 european and australian tour 
 1979 north american and european tour 
 1980 tour of japan 
 ticket stubs 
 shine 
 chess 
 mamma mia '99 
 mamma mia '03 
 mamma mia '04 
 owe sandström 
 selection by abba member 
 ring ring 
 promotion card 
 tour programme 
 the album 
 waterloo 
 arrival 
 waterloo digipack 
 chess 
 chess dvd 
 agnetha 
 frida card 
 shine 
 something's going on 
 benny in falun 
 owe sandström 
 benny anderssons orkester 
 ring ring 
 waterloo 
 abba 
 arrival 
 the album 
 voulez-vous 
 super trouper 
 the visitors 
 discography 
 search 
 dolls 
 formats 
 not for sale 
 boxed sets 
 coloured vinyl 
 picture discs 
 pop up 
 mugs 
 stamp