Top 40 has been the main hit list in the Netherlands since 1965. In the Today section we look back at events in pop music that happened exactly X years ago. In Today’s episode: the Eurovision Song Contest win that gave ABBA’s career a major boost.

On April 6, 1974 The Eurovision Song Contest takes place in the English city of Brighton. The level promises to be high first, as a participant Mouth & MacNeal, PeretGigliola Cinquetti and Cindy & Bert each of them already has international fame. On behalf of England, Olivia Newton-John participated, who made her breakthrough in 1978 thanks to Grease. The Swedish entry is a foursome of Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. ABBA. A year earlier they scored a top 5 hit in the Netherlands with Ring Ring.

With the song Waterloo, ABBA remained at the forefront of the cruel competition and the quartet won the Eurovision Song Contest. Meanwhile, opinion in their own country regarding the record is divided. Many Swedish journalists considered Waterloo too commercial and upbeat for a song about the bloody Battle of Waterloo. They did not receive much support worldwide, as Waterloo managed to dominate almost all global charts. Waterloo reached No. 2 in the Top 40 in the spring of 1974, behind Be My Day by Cats.

But we haven’t reached ABBA’s glory days yet. This was also evident from Mamma Mia remaining at number thirteen in 1975. It is important to note that the pop group ultimately scored eight number 1 hits, while Waterloo and Mamma Mia are more well known ABBA records than number 1 hits such as Fernando ( 1976), Chiquitita (1979), Super Trouper (1980) and One Of Us (1982). On the other hand, Waterloo had increased ABBA’s popularity significantly, making a record of nineteen consecutive top 5 hits (in the period 1976–1983) possible.

On April 6, 1999 exactly 25 years ago ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo. To mark the occasion, the musical Mamma Mia! premiered in the West End. It is the first musical based on a pop music artist to enjoy commercial success. This formula (music about an act, accompanied by a famous recording of the act) is used in the 21st century in musicals about Queen (We Will Rock You) and Elvis Presley.

Here’s what else happened on April 6:
TLC’s Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes is on April 6, 2002 involved in the death of a Honduran boy.

Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was driving in a van with her friends around 9 p.m. when suddenly 10-year-old Bayron Isaul Fuentes Lopez crossed the road. The van hit the boy, who was seriously injured. Lisa and her friends immediately took the boy to the hospital, but to no avail. He died in hospital from his injuries a day later. The vehicle was not driven by Lisa herself, but by her assistant Stephanie Patterson. The singer provided financial support to the family for hospital and funeral expenses. Assistant Lisa will not be prosecuted because she could not prevent the collision. Surviving relatives even praised Lisa for her actions during this fateful situation. At the time of the accident, they did not yet realize that Lisa was world famous.

Lisa Lopes is in Honduras for reflection. He is very spiritual and interested in astrology and numerology. Together with several friends, he lived in a house in the middle of the forest. His activities in Honduras were filmed to later be made into a documentary about the trip. She also spoke on camera about her youth and her relationship with American football player Andre Rison. He also spoke about his fear that he was surrounded by evil spirits. He thought the ghost should have it, not the man. He noticed that the boy had the same last name as him, except for the last letter.

Nineteen days later, disaster struck. On April 25, Lisa Lopes died in a car accident during her vacation. This time he was the driver of the vehicle.

Also on this day:
1991: Massive Attack rose to first place with the nickname Massive with Unfinished Sympathy. However, sympathy for Massive (Attack) seems to be coming to an end. This hegemony only lasted one week and after that the trip-hop act no longer scored Top 40 hits.
1998: Tammy Wynette died at the age of 55 due to heart arrhythmia. In 1975, the American country singer scored a number 1 hit with Stand By Your Man and in 1992 he sang the number 2 hit Justified And Ancient with the dance formation The KLF.
2001: Charles Pettigrew died at the age of 37. In 1992 he scored a monster hit as part of the R&B duo Charles & Eddie with Would I Lie To You?. Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You stood in the way of number 1. Charles was diagnosed with cancer in the late 1990s and the disease proved fatal.
2016: Dutch boy band Mainstreet announced that they are calling it quits. After five years of success, the band will release one more single and will hold a farewell concert in Utrecht on June 19.
2016: Janet Jackson posted a video on her social media explaining why she postponed her tour. She wants to focus on growing her family with her husband. Then in 2016 it was revealed that Janet Jackson, now 50, was pregnant.
2016: BMI, the American organization that regulates music rights, announced that Taylor Swift will receive the ‘Taylor Swift Award’. Swift became the second artist to receive the award in her own name. The first, the ‘Michael Jackson Award’, was awarded in 1990.

Born today:
1943 – July Rogers,
1944 – Bernd tower, when he died 73 years old,
1944 – John StaxBeautiful Things
1947 – Tony ConnorHot chocolate
1950 – Peter Van HookeMike + Mechanic
1950 – Steven “Cat” Coore,Third world
1951 – Ralph CooperAir supply
1952 – Patrick Hernandez,
1962 – Stan CullimoreThe Housemartins
1964 – Zero RoosVlemmix & Chicken
1965 – Black FrancisFairy
1966 – Maria RadstenOnce again
1984 – Sjoerd JanssenShow
1987 – Arnar Rosenkranz HilmarssonOf Monsters And Humans
1992 – caza,

Today at number 1:
1968 – 1 (1) Cinderella Rockefella– Esther and Abi Ofarim (Philips), 2 weeks at number 1
1974 – 1 (1) Tiger’s Paw– Mud (Rak), 2 weeks at number 1
1985 – 1 (1) Night shift– Commodore (Motown), 2 weeks at number 1
1991 – 1 (6) Unfinished Sympathy– Massive (Around), 1 week at number 1
1996 – 1 (1) Captain Jack– Captain Jack (CDL), 2 weeks at number 1
2002 – 1 (1) Anytime anywhere– Shakira (Epic), 9 weeks at number 1
2013 – 1 (2) Sonnentanz– Klangkarussell (Universal), 1 week at number 1
2019 – 1 (1) When It’s Evening– Suzan & Freek (Suzan & Freek), 2 weeks at number 1

(06/04/2024)