WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.740 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. I want to start 00:00:02.740 --> 00:00:05.620 today by putting a very specific phrase in your 00:00:05.620 --> 00:00:07.700 head. Okay, I'm ready. It's a title, actually. 00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:10.320 And unless you've spent, you know, a significant 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:12.839 amount of time browsing vintage record crates 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:14.960 in Scandinavia, it probably won't ring a bell 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:16.940 immediately. Oh, the suspense. Let's hear it. 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:21.940 The title is Enledigdag. Ah, which is a beautiful, 00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:25.120 if somewhat unassuming, place to start. For those 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:27.660 of you who aren't fluent in Swedish, Enledigdag 00:00:27.660 --> 00:00:31.699 translates simply to... A day off. Day off. It 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:33.719 sounds breezy, right? Very. It sounds like something 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:36.119 you'd listen to while lying in a hammock. But 00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:38.079 the reason we are digging into this today isn't 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:40.020 because we want to talk about relaxation. Definitely 00:00:40.020 --> 00:00:42.700 not. It's because this specific track, which 00:00:42.700 --> 00:00:46.799 looks like an obscure 1960s pop single on the 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:50.100 surface, is actually the origin story for a global 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:52.479 superstar. It really is the seed of something 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.740 massive. Our mission for this deep dive is to 00:00:55.740 --> 00:00:58.299 trace how this one song connects a classic Italian 00:00:58.299 --> 00:01:01.939 melody, well, a massive chaotic change in Swedish 00:01:01.939 --> 00:01:04.579 infrastructure laws, and the start of a career 00:01:04.579 --> 00:01:06.959 that would eventually conquer the world. Yeah. 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:10.579 We are talking about the very first steps of 00:01:10.579 --> 00:01:12.640 Annie Fridlingstead. Better known to history 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.500 and to millions of fans simply as Frida, one 00:01:16.500 --> 00:01:19.519 of the voices of ABA. Exactly. But this is Frida. 00:01:19.900 --> 00:01:22.560 Before the sequence. Right. Before the Eurovision 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:25.700 wins and before the global fame. This is the 00:01:25.700 --> 00:01:29.239 moment where raw talent meets a very strange 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:31.920 historical coincidence. I just love this story 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:33.900 because usually when we talk about a big break, 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:37.299 we imagine a scout in a smoky club or, you know, 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:39.780 a viral Internet moment today. Yeah. The classic 00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:42.719 tropes. Right. But this story is totally different. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:45.959 This song hit the airwaves on the exact same 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:48.700 day that the entire country of Sweden was literally 00:01:48.700 --> 00:01:50.819 driving in a different direction. It's one of 00:01:50.819 --> 00:01:52.500 those truth is stranger than fiction setups. 00:01:52.579 --> 00:01:54.859 Totally. You have this collision of pop culture 00:01:54.859 --> 00:01:57.500 and public policy that created a really unique 00:01:57.500 --> 00:02:00.219 window of opportunity. But before we get to the 00:02:00.219 --> 00:02:02.569 chaos on the Swedish roads. We need to understand 00:02:02.569 --> 00:02:05.670 the vehicle itself, the song. Because Enledigdag 00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:09.169 didn't start in Stockholm. No, the research here 00:02:09.169 --> 00:02:10.830 paints a picture of a very different climate. 00:02:11.009 --> 00:02:13.909 If you strip away the Swedish lyrics, the DNA 00:02:13.909 --> 00:02:16.009 of this song is actually Italian. We are going 00:02:16.009 --> 00:02:19.270 back to 1964, right? We are. The song began its 00:02:19.270 --> 00:02:22.319 life as a track called... Weekend in Portofino. 00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:25.460 Weekend in Portofino. I mean, you can hear the 00:02:25.460 --> 00:02:27.780 Vespa engines just saying that out loud. You 00:02:27.780 --> 00:02:30.639 really can. It evokes this very specific romantic 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:34.219 Mediterranean imagery. Completely different from 00:02:34.219 --> 00:02:36.719 a Nordic autumn, certainly. The music was composed 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:40.479 by Bruno De Filippi with Italian lyrics by Matteo 00:02:40.479 --> 00:02:42.900 Cioso. Right. And it was originally recorded 00:02:42.900 --> 00:02:46.199 by an artist named Gian Costello. So in its first 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:49.000 life, this was a southern European ballad, likely 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:52.180 meant for coastal drives and espresso bars. So 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:54.680 how does a song about a weekend in an Italian 00:02:54.680 --> 00:02:57.479 fishing village migrate north and become a Swedish 00:02:57.479 --> 00:02:59.580 anthem about a day off? Well, that was really 00:02:59.580 --> 00:03:02.000 the engine of the music industry in the 1960s. 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:04.870 A good melody was a transferable asset. Sure. 00:03:04.990 --> 00:03:06.849 It didn't matter where it came from. If the hook 00:03:06.849 --> 00:03:09.150 was good, publishers would shop it around a different 00:03:09.150 --> 00:03:11.530 territory. Just looking for a local market. Exactly. 00:03:12.069 --> 00:03:15.270 And a Swedish lyricist named Bengt Sten got his 00:03:15.270 --> 00:03:18.090 hands on the music. He didn't just translate 00:03:18.090 --> 00:03:20.729 it directly, though. He rewrote the concept to 00:03:20.729 --> 00:03:23.090 fit a Swedish audience, transforming Weekend 00:03:23.090 --> 00:03:26.009 in Portofino into Enletic Dag. And here is where 00:03:26.009 --> 00:03:28.110 the timeline gets a little crowded. Because while 00:03:28.110 --> 00:03:30.590 we were focusing on Frida, she wasn't actually 00:03:30.590 --> 00:03:32.490 the first person to take a crack at this song 00:03:32.490 --> 00:03:35.550 in Swedish. That's a detail that often gets lost 00:03:35.550 --> 00:03:38.810 in the ABA -centric history. Yeah, tell us about 00:03:38.810 --> 00:03:41.930 that. In February of 1967, so about seven months 00:03:41.930 --> 00:03:44.569 before Frida even enters the narrative, a Swedish 00:03:44.569 --> 00:03:47.729 singer named Austin Warnerbring released his 00:03:47.729 --> 00:03:49.990 own version of the song. Was this just a quick 00:03:49.990 --> 00:03:52.849 demo by Warnerbring, or was he a serious contender? 00:03:52.909 --> 00:03:55.090 Oh, he was a serious artist. This wasn't a throwaway 00:03:55.090 --> 00:03:57.889 at all. He released it on an EP called Somervind. 00:03:58.009 --> 00:04:00.729 Which means summer breeze. Right. And the production 00:04:00.729 --> 00:04:03.400 value was very high. He was backed by Marcus 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:06.259 Estradal's orchestra. This was a fully realized 00:04:06.259 --> 00:04:09.259 orchestral pop production. So the song had already 00:04:09.259 --> 00:04:11.479 been tested on the public. Did Warner Brings' 00:04:11.539 --> 00:04:14.099 version fly? It hovered. It was a moderate success. 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:17.100 If we look at the Svensk Toppen, which is the 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:19.360 most important chart for Swedish language music, 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:23.459 his version reached number nine in June of 1967. 00:04:23.620 --> 00:04:26.660 Number nine. I mean, that's a top ten hit. It 00:04:26.660 --> 00:04:29.579 is, technically. But longevity matters in charts. 00:04:30.110 --> 00:04:33.089 And it only stayed there for a single week. So 00:04:33.089 --> 00:04:35.269 the Swedish public knew the melody. They had 00:04:35.269 --> 00:04:37.910 heard it on the radio earlier that summer. It 00:04:37.910 --> 00:04:40.350 was familiar, but it wasn't a cultural phenomenon. 00:04:40.350 --> 00:04:42.509 It was just a nice song that came and went. That 00:04:42.509 --> 00:04:44.829 context is so important because it means Frida 00:04:44.829 --> 00:04:47.750 wasn't debuting with a brand new unheard melody. 00:04:48.110 --> 00:04:50.170 She was stepping up to sing something people 00:04:50.170 --> 00:04:52.350 might have already hummed along to just a few 00:04:52.350 --> 00:04:54.269 months prior. Which adds a layer of difficulty, 00:04:54.430 --> 00:04:56.569 really. How so? Well, you have to make people 00:04:56.569 --> 00:04:58.569 forget the version they just heard and pay attention 00:04:58.569 --> 00:05:00.790 to yours. You have to own it. So let's move the 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:03.170 timeline forward. The song is out there in the 00:05:03.170 --> 00:05:06.029 ether. Summer is ending. We arrive at September 00:05:06.029 --> 00:05:10.170 1967. And this is where the story pivots from 00:05:10.170 --> 00:05:13.750 music trivia to a major national event. Yes. 00:05:14.050 --> 00:05:17.629 The date is September 3, 1967. If you mention 00:05:17.629 --> 00:05:19.970 this date to anyone of a certain generation in 00:05:19.970 --> 00:05:22.870 Sweden, they will have a visceral reaction. Because 00:05:22.870 --> 00:05:26.329 this was Dagen H. Dagen H. The H stands for Herger 00:05:26.329 --> 00:05:29.730 Traffic. or right -hand traffic i still find 00:05:29.730 --> 00:05:31.689 this so hard to wrap my head around we aren't 00:05:31.689 --> 00:05:34.829 talking about a gradual phase in we are talking 00:05:34.829 --> 00:05:37.970 about an entire country deciding to switch from 00:05:37.970 --> 00:05:40.389 driving on the left side of the road to the right 00:05:40.389 --> 00:05:43.899 side of the road all at once on a specific Sunday 00:05:43.899 --> 00:05:46.439 morning. It was a massive nationwide logistical 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:49.980 operation. Imagine the sheer scale of this. Every 00:05:49.980 --> 00:05:52.620 road sign in the country had to be moved or replaced. 00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:55.180 Wow. Every single bus stop had to be relocated 00:05:55.180 --> 00:05:57.399 to the other side of the street. Lane markings 00:05:57.399 --> 00:05:59.540 had to be repainted. It was an infrastructure 00:05:59.540 --> 00:06:02.259 overhaul that affected every single square meter 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:03.800 of the country. And the risk factor must have 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:05.800 been through the roof. You have millions of drivers 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:08.240 who have decades of muscle memory for driving 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:10.439 on the left suddenly being told, OK, today we 00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:12.500 go right. Which is exactly why the authorities 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:15.160 didn't just suggest people stay home. They essentially 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:17.879 locked down the roads. Just banned driving. Non 00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:20.439 -essential traffic was banned for parts of the 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:23.379 day to allow the work crews to change the signs 00:06:23.379 --> 00:06:27.939 safely. The streets were eerie. It was quiet. 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:31.180 The entire nation was basically grounded. So 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:34.019 you have a population that is stuck inside. They 00:06:34.019 --> 00:06:36.120 are nervous about the traffic switch. They can't 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:38.160 go for a drive. What are they doing? They are 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:40.680 sitting in their living rooms glued to the television. 00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:43.060 Of course. They are watching the news coverage 00:06:43.060 --> 00:06:45.500 of the switch, waiting to see if chaos erupts. 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:48.100 It was the ultimate captive audience. And in 00:06:48.100 --> 00:06:50.399 the middle of this national lockdown at a venue 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:53.839 called Skansen in Stockholm, there is a talent 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:56.120 show happening. Exactly. Skansen is this beautiful 00:06:56.120 --> 00:07:00.639 open air. museum, and venue. And on this historic, 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:03.959 chaotic day, they are hosting the national final 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:07.339 of a competition called Naya Ansikton. Or New 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:10.519 Faces. Yes. Enter Annie Friedlingstad. She's 00:07:10.519 --> 00:07:12.600 there to compete. And the stakes are incredibly 00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:14.240 high because the winner doesn't just get a pat 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:15.720 on the back. The winner gets to perform live 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:18.540 on television that very evening. Precisely. If 00:07:18.540 --> 00:07:20.420 you went on Dagan Age, you were singing to the 00:07:20.420 --> 00:07:22.420 entire country because nobody has anything else 00:07:22.420 --> 00:07:24.959 to do. And she wins. She takes the trophy. Yeah. 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.240 And just like that. She is booked for the evening 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.939 broadcast. Now, think about the irony of the 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:33.500 song choice here. Right. The country is going 00:07:33.500 --> 00:07:37.199 through perhaps the most stressful, work -intensive 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:40.079 logistical flip in its history. Thousands of 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:42.699 workers are out there moving signs. The police 00:07:42.699 --> 00:07:46.139 are on high alert. And this young woman steps 00:07:46.139 --> 00:07:48.899 up to the microphone to sing her debut song. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:53.060 And a lot of gag. A day off. It's poetic, isn't 00:07:53.060 --> 00:07:55.819 it? she is singing about leisure and relaxation 00:07:55.819 --> 00:07:58.420 on a day when the country is turning itself inside 00:07:58.420 --> 00:08:01.850 out It provided this perfect, calm counterpoint 00:08:01.850 --> 00:08:03.990 to the reality outside the window. It's a moment 00:08:03.990 --> 00:08:05.810 you just couldn't script. If she had won that 00:08:05.810 --> 00:08:07.949 contest a week earlier or a week later, maybe 00:08:07.949 --> 00:08:10.189 half the audience is out having a picnic or visiting 00:08:10.189 --> 00:08:13.089 friends. Absolutely. But on September 3rd, 1967, 00:08:13.449 --> 00:08:15.910 she had everyone's attention. That exposure is 00:08:15.910 --> 00:08:18.149 what launched her. But, and this is critical 00:08:18.149 --> 00:08:20.110 exposure, is fleeting. You have to back it up 00:08:20.110 --> 00:08:22.290 with product. You need to get that song recorded 00:08:22.290 --> 00:08:24.550 and into stores while people still remember your 00:08:24.550 --> 00:08:27.050 face from the TV screen. The clock starts ticking. 00:08:27.230 --> 00:08:30.610 The performance was Sunday, September 3rd. When 00:08:30.610 --> 00:08:32.970 does she actually get into the studio to put 00:08:32.970 --> 00:08:35.830 this down on tape? It happens very quickly. Just 00:08:35.830 --> 00:08:39.870 over a week later, on September 11th, 1967, she 00:08:39.870 --> 00:08:42.750 heads into Europa Film Studio in Stockholm. And 00:08:42.750 --> 00:08:45.090 she's working with a producer named Ollie Bergman. 00:08:45.230 --> 00:08:47.769 Right. They are there to cut the single. They 00:08:47.769 --> 00:08:50.289 also recorded a B -side called Peter Kom Tilbaka, 00:08:50.470 --> 00:08:53.529 which is a fun deep cut, but the focus was entirely 00:08:53.529 --> 00:08:56.960 on... capturing the magic of in letting dag now 00:08:56.960 --> 00:08:59.220 i want to pause here because we have access to 00:08:59.220 --> 00:09:01.799 the production notes and there is a detail about 00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:03.480 this recording session that i think tells us 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:05.379 more about frida's potential than winning the 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:07.379 talent show ever could you're referring to the 00:09:07.379 --> 00:09:09.580 take count this is the stuff that gives audio 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:11.919 engineers goosebumps we're talking about a debut 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:15.039 artist someone who has performed live sure but 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:17.519 the recording studio is a totally different beast 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:20.159 it's sterile it's intimidating the red light 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:23.059 goes on and every breath is magnified usually 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:25.379 a new artist, even a really talented one, needs 00:09:25.379 --> 00:09:27.759 time. You do five takes just to warm up. You 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:29.639 do 10 takes to get the phrasing right. Right. 00:09:29.700 --> 00:09:32.320 You punch in, you punch out. Exactly. You maybe 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:34.580 splice together the best parts of three different 00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:37.500 takes to create the final vocal. It's a process 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:40.500 of construction. But not this time. No. According 00:09:40.500 --> 00:09:43.279 to the records, Annie Fridlingstad recorded the 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:47.399 vocals for Enledig Dag in a single take. One 00:09:47.399 --> 00:09:50.740 take? One take. She walked in, stood in front 00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:52.639 of the microphone, and delivered the performance 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:54.600 you hear on the record from start to finish. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:57.879 Without stumbling, without pitch issues, without 00:09:57.879 --> 00:10:00.639 nerves. That is almost unheard of for a newcomer. 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:02.620 It speaks to a level of professionalism that 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:05.679 was just innate. It shows that she wasn't just 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:08.200 a talent show winner. She was a vocalist who 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:10.440 had total control over her instrument. The raw 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:13.460 talent was all there. Completely. When we look 00:10:13.460 --> 00:10:16.120 at her later career with A .B. Gay, the complex 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:18.820 harmonies, the studio perfectionism that wasn't 00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:20.720 something she had to learn from scratch, that 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:23.299 foundation was already solid in 1967. It really 00:10:23.299 --> 00:10:25.559 separates the amateurs from the pros. She was 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:28.539 ready. She was absolutely ready. So we have the 00:10:28.539 --> 00:10:30.539 ingredients for a smash hit. We have the one 00:10:30.539 --> 00:10:33.419 take wonder. We have the massive TV exposure 00:10:33.419 --> 00:10:37.039 on the most historic day in modern Swedish history. 00:10:37.340 --> 00:10:39.779 We have a catchy melody that people already kind 00:10:39.779 --> 00:10:43.460 of know. You would assume logically that this 00:10:43.460 --> 00:10:45.139 record flew off the shelves the next morning. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:48.500 You would assume that. Logic suggests a straight 00:10:48.500 --> 00:10:51.879 line to number one. But the music industry has 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:54.470 a way of defying logic. What actually happened 00:10:54.470 --> 00:10:57.090 when the single hit the stores? The commercial 00:10:57.090 --> 00:11:00.470 reception was quiet. Surprisingly quiet. How 00:11:00.470 --> 00:11:03.110 quiet? Well, remember how Esten Warner Brings' 00:11:03.250 --> 00:11:05.350 version hit number nine on the Svensstoppen? 00:11:05.470 --> 00:11:08.330 Yeah. Frida's version didn't chart on Svensstoppen 00:11:08.330 --> 00:11:10.850 at all. Wait, it missed the main chart completely? 00:11:11.029 --> 00:11:13.309 Even after the Dagan H performance? Missed it 00:11:13.309 --> 00:11:15.190 completely. Didn't break into the major leagues. 00:11:15.250 --> 00:11:16.990 That is baffling. You have the whole country 00:11:16.990 --> 00:11:20.889 watching you sing, and then nothing. It's a really 00:11:20.889 --> 00:11:24.169 fascinating lesson in consumer behavior. Just 00:11:24.169 --> 00:11:26.269 because people saw it doesn't mean they ran out 00:11:26.269 --> 00:11:28.470 to buy it. Maybe they were too distracted by 00:11:28.470 --> 00:11:30.750 the traffic confusion to go record shopping. 00:11:31.129 --> 00:11:33.529 Maybe they felt Warner Brings version from a 00:11:33.529 --> 00:11:36.590 few months prior was enough. It shows that viral 00:11:36.590 --> 00:11:39.590 moments, even in the 1960s, didn't always translate 00:11:39.590 --> 00:11:42.129 to immediate sales. But it wasn't a total failure, 00:11:42.149 --> 00:11:44.429 right? It appeared somewhere. It wasn't a ghost, 00:11:44.490 --> 00:11:47.059 no. It did find some traction on a secondary 00:11:47.059 --> 00:11:49.200 chart called Top and Tip Set. Top and Tip Set. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:51.779 Okay, so the B League. Essentially. It reached 00:11:51.779 --> 00:11:56.200 11th place on October 15th, 1967. And the following 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:58.539 week, it was sitting at 13th place. 11th place 00:11:58.539 --> 00:12:01.360 on a secondary chart. That is a far cry from 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:03.960 Dancing Queen. It is. And this is a really important 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:06.279 takeaway for anyone listening who is interested 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:09.159 in creative careers. We look back at legends 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:12.139 like Frida and assume they were superstars from 00:12:12.139 --> 00:12:14.419 day one. We assume it was an overnight explosion. 00:12:14.889 --> 00:12:17.570 But the reality is, it was a slow burn. So this 00:12:17.570 --> 00:12:20.110 wasn't just a fluke with this one song. Her early 00:12:20.110 --> 00:12:23.470 career was a struggle. It was a grind. This pattern 00:12:23.470 --> 00:12:26.009 continued for a while. She was releasing singles. 00:12:26.129 --> 00:12:28.450 She was working. She was talented, as proven 00:12:28.450 --> 00:12:30.830 by that one take recording. But she didn't get 00:12:30.830 --> 00:12:33.990 that massive, undeniable breakthrough until two 00:12:33.990 --> 00:12:37.490 years later. What was the catalyst in 1969? 1969 00:12:37.490 --> 00:12:40.049 was the year she competed in Melodifestivalen. 00:12:40.269 --> 00:12:42.850 That's the massive Swedish selection competition 00:12:42.850 --> 00:12:46.100 for Eurovision. She sang a song called Herlig 00:12:46.100 --> 00:12:49.179 er vor jord, which means our earth is wonderful. 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:52.899 She also started touring with Charlie Norman's 00:12:52.899 --> 00:12:55.690 cabaret shows. That combination of primetime 00:12:55.690 --> 00:12:58.330 competition and live touring finally tipped the 00:12:58.330 --> 00:13:00.570 scales and made her household name. So, and Lady 00:13:00.570 --> 00:13:03.190 Diag was the spark, but it took two years for 00:13:03.190 --> 00:13:06.309 the fire to really catch. Exactly. Historically, 00:13:06.350 --> 00:13:09.570 we view September 3, 1967 as the turning point 00:13:09.570 --> 00:13:11.570 of her life. It's the moment she transitioned 00:13:11.570 --> 00:13:14.149 from amateur to professional. Right. But if you 00:13:14.149 --> 00:13:16.629 were just looking at the sales data in late 1967, 00:13:17.090 --> 00:13:19.570 you wouldn't have seen a future superstar. You 00:13:19.570 --> 00:13:21.490 would have seen a singer with a minor hit on 00:13:21.490 --> 00:13:24.259 a secondary chart. It really emphasizes that 00:13:24.259 --> 00:13:26.960 data doesn't capture potential. The number 11 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:29.000 on a chart doesn't tell you that this woman is 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:32.659 going to help define 1970s pop music. It just 00:13:32.659 --> 00:13:34.480 tells you what people happen to buy that week. 00:13:34.580 --> 00:13:37.539 It misses the bigger picture entirely. I want 00:13:37.539 --> 00:13:40.700 to talk about the song's life after 1967, because 00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:42.639 originally this wasn't on an album, correct? 00:13:42.980 --> 00:13:45.899 No. In the 60s, the single was king. You released 00:13:45.899 --> 00:13:48.759 the 45 RPM record, and if it wasn't a smash, 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:51.940 it often just faded away. It wasn't... attached 00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:54.159 to an LP at the time. But obviously, because 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.240 of who she became, the song has been rescued 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:58.679 from obscurity. Oh, absolutely. It's been canonized. 00:13:58.820 --> 00:14:01.080 If you want to listen to it today, you don't 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.700 have to hunt down a rare vinyl. It appears on 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:06.059 several major compilations. Like which ones? 00:14:06.299 --> 00:14:09.080 It's on the album simply titled Annie Fridlingsad. 00:14:09.460 --> 00:14:12.580 It's on a collection called Trake Fart from New. 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:15.779 And for the completists, it's the opening chapter 00:14:15.779 --> 00:14:19.980 of Frida, 1967 to 1972. And I've seen it on those 00:14:19.980 --> 00:14:21.779 joint compilations too, the ones that pair her 00:14:21.779 --> 00:14:24.419 with Agnetha. Agnetha and Frida, the voice of 00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:30.039 ABA. Yes. Placing in Letty Dag on those collections 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:34.059 is significant. It solidifies this track as the 00:14:34.059 --> 00:14:38.480 seed. It draws a direct line from this 1967 Italian 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:42.019 -Swedish cover to Waterloo and everything that 00:14:42.019 --> 00:14:44.519 followed. It frames this song as the prologue 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:47.299 to the ABBA story. It's fascinating to think 00:14:47.299 --> 00:14:49.850 about the butterfly effect here. If she hadn't 00:14:49.850 --> 00:14:52.350 entered that contest, or if the traffic switch 00:14:52.350 --> 00:14:55.049 hadn't happened on that specific day... The variables 00:14:55.049 --> 00:14:57.230 are endless. If the traffic switch had been a 00:14:57.230 --> 00:14:59.610 year earlier, maybe the TV audience would have 00:14:59.610 --> 00:15:02.289 been smaller. If she hadn't nailed that one take 00:15:02.289 --> 00:15:04.649 recording, maybe the producer wouldn't have championed 00:15:04.649 --> 00:15:06.970 her. But the stars aligned, the traffic stopped, 00:15:07.309 --> 00:15:09.889 the cameras rolled, and she delivered. She delivered. 00:15:10.009 --> 00:15:11.950 And that's the part she could control. She couldn't 00:15:11.950 --> 00:15:13.669 control the traffic laws, she couldn't control 00:15:13.669 --> 00:15:15.769 the Italian songwriters, but she could control 00:15:15.769 --> 00:15:17.330 what happened when the red light went on in the 00:15:17.330 --> 00:15:20.639 studio. And she nailed it. So when we step back 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:22.720 and look at this deep dive, we aren't just talking 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:24.299 about a song called A Day Off. We're talking 00:15:24.299 --> 00:15:27.240 about resilience. We are. We are talking about 00:15:27.240 --> 00:15:29.960 the long game. Success isn't always a vertical 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:32.639 line shooting up a chart. Sometimes it starts 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:35.559 with a single take on a chaotic Sunday. And the 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:38.269 results don't fully manifest for years. I think 00:15:38.269 --> 00:15:40.590 that's a powerful thought for the learner listening 00:15:40.590 --> 00:15:43.169 today. You might do your best work on a day when 00:15:43.169 --> 00:15:45.769 the world feels upside down. And even if the 00:15:45.769 --> 00:15:48.629 immediate reward isn't a number one hit, it doesn't 00:15:48.629 --> 00:15:50.429 mean you aren't on the right path. Absolutely. 00:15:50.809 --> 00:15:54.350 The song is titled A Day Off, but for Annie Fridlingstad. 00:15:54.809 --> 00:15:58.330 That day in September 1967 was actually the first 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:01.269 day of decades of hard work. It was the day the 00:16:01.269 --> 00:16:03.409 work really began. And what a career it turned 00:16:03.409 --> 00:16:05.490 out to be, from a traffic jam in Stockholm to 00:16:05.490 --> 00:16:07.690 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not a bad journey 00:16:07.690 --> 00:16:11.549 for a cover song. Definitely not. I want to leave 00:16:11.549 --> 00:16:13.389 you with a final thought to mull over today. 00:16:13.909 --> 00:16:16.190 We talked about how the traffic switch created 00:16:16.190 --> 00:16:18.529 this captive audience. But what if the government 00:16:18.529 --> 00:16:21.029 had chosen a different day for Digging H? What 00:16:21.029 --> 00:16:23.049 if it had rained and canceled the talent show? 00:16:23.230 --> 00:16:25.370 It makes you wonder what serendipitous moments 00:16:25.370 --> 00:16:28.309 are passing us by every single day. Just waiting 00:16:28.309 --> 00:16:30.230 for someone to step up and do it in one take. 00:16:30.429 --> 00:16:32.269 Thanks for diving in with us. We'll catch you 00:16:32.269 --> 00:16:32.850 on the next one.